Chapter 726: Worth Watching Three Times

Regardless, the Palme d'Or always carried weight. Fury Road winning the Cannes Palme d'Or added a layer of anticipation for the fans who had been eagerly waiting for it. Especially for fans outside North America, the Palme d'Or was still quite a dazzling halo.

Right after the Cannes Film Festival wrapped up, Duke rushed back to North America. Fury Road was on the verge of its global release.

On May 22, a massive crowd gathered in front of the Hollywood Chinese Theater. The North American premiere for Fury Road, already hyped to a fever pitch by the media, was being held here.

Leading up to this, the North American media and fans who had caught early screenings couldn't wait to shower the film with praise. Declarations calling it a "universe-level masterpiece" emerged in an endless stream.

Standing just outside the red carpet of the Hollywood Chinese Theater, Norman Hiller watched Duke quickly pass by. He had no intention of lingering outside; he was ready to head into the theater and watch the movie. He had waited far too long for this film!

Directly ahead, the promotional poster for Fury Road was exceptionally eye-catching.

Set against the sprawling yellow sand on the poster, wild, arrogant letters posed a question: Are you crazy enough?

"Maybe Duke himself went crazy this time," Norman Hiller muttered as he looked at the poster.

A man next to him suddenly said, "I don't think Duke went crazy. He just has enough passion and energy to produce such a cool movie."

Standing in the noisy premiere venue, the man took the initiative to extend his hand.

"Hello, Hiller. I know you. You're the head of the Los Angeles Duke Rosenberg Fan Association, right?"

Norman Hiller nodded and shook his hand.

"Hello. I know you too, Johnson. You're a member of the San Francisco Duke Rosenberg Fan Association."

The two smiled at each other. Bypassing the jam-packed main entrance, they walked toward the side door open for fans.

Johnson spoke as they walked. "I went to Cannes and saw this movie."

"Oh?" Norman Hiller immediately asked. "It's being hyped so intensely by the media now, and it won the Palme d'Or. It seems Duke's past films haven't gotten this kind of treatment?"

"I think the treatment Fury Road is getting still isn't enough."

They entered the theater and found suitable seats.

After sitting down, Johnson said to Norman Hiller, "This is by no means a simple commercial film. In an era where audiences are gradually becoming numb, this movie can make a person's blood boil. If you haven't seen it yet..."

He pointed at the large screen.

"Don't hesitate, witness it with your own eyes."

"However," Johnson finally added, "I can't be sure you'll like the style of this film. It's a bit special, and it's an R-Rated Film. The audience won't be as large as Duke's past films."

Norman Hiller had seen the trailer and roughly understood the style of the movie. He chatted with Johnson for a few more sentences, and when the large screen lit up, he quickly shut his mouth and focused all his energy on the film.

The opening of the film was full of wonder, wildness, and dominance. It easily gave him the sensation of soaring into the sky!

Although his expectations had already been driven extremely high by the various praises on Instant Sharing and the media's review reports, after watching for no more than twenty minutes, Norman Hiller was completely certain that the film far exceeded his infinitely raised expectations!

This was entirely the story of a bunch of lunatics chasing another bunch of lunatics, filmed by a lunatic!

Yes. The plot was incredibly simple. He could summarize it in a single sentence: a bunch of lunatics chasing another bunch of lunatics!

The backdrop of the film was a boundless desert, with yellow sand dancing in the wind. Inside, there was Tom Cruise with stubble and wearing a muzzle; there was Charlize Theron with short hair and a severed arm, who also got stabbed twice; there was the big sister of the Victoria's Secret angels, Alessandra Ambrosio, sporting a huge pregnant belly and eventually receiving a C-section; there was also the Little Green Goblin, James Franco, acting like a maniac and constantly clamoring about dedicating his life to the Lord, only to actually do exactly that; and there was the main villain—he didn't know who played him, but he acted incredibly well, though it was a pity his face was torn to shreds at the end...

There were also all sorts of freaks... various wildly imaginative action scenes... Violence! Madness!

There were all kinds of modified cars that Norman Hiller couldn't name. They were constantly on the road, roaring and spewing furious red flames!

At that exact moment, another grand premiere was being held in Los Angeles. Over in Chandler Hall, the screening of The Adventures of Tintin was already drawing to a close.

Gross could be described as a hardcore Tintin comic fan. As he watched the film playing on the large screen, a massive wave of confusion swelled in his heart. The movie had no obvious flaws, and it did everything it was supposed to do, but it just left him feeling somewhat bored.

As a "Tintin fan," he had held high expectations for this film beforehand, yet after watching the movie, he found it quite dull...

Tearing his gaze away from the film, Gross frowned and thought for a moment, roughly picking out some of the movie's shortcomings.

The progressive narrative with clear character orientations found in Spielberg's previous films had completely vanished in The Adventures of Tintin. It was replaced by a confusion of character motives. The model ship at the beginning of the film lost its narrative efficacy before its mystery could be further fleshed out, giving way to a "treasure map," and before the motives of each character regarding the "treasure map" were clearly expressed, a familial blood feud hastily took the stage.

Therefore, the sense of purpose driving the progression of the characters' actions and behavior remained blurred throughout.

The ensuing problem was that the characters were fractured across block-like scenes. This inconsistency prevented the film's character development from being achieved through narrative action; what he saw was a series of fragmented farces. These multiple farces, aside from providing a viewing experience that showed off 3D technology, served no purpose in building character personalities or forming new narrative momentum.

This rendered the so-called "adventure," which should have carried a smooth narrative chain, completely unviable.

The flattened character images and ineffective character setups also highlighted the thinness of the film. Tintin, the protagonist, didn't give off the feel of an adventurer at all; he was merely a rash kid brimming with luck. This rendered the so-called "adventure," which should have carried a smooth narrative chain, completely unviable.

He was deeply disappointed in this film and felt that it was a total waste of the dollars he had spent.

Inside an IMAX Cinema in Hong Kong Central, Wang Xiaobei's eyes were wide as saucers. Following the plot of the film, his emotions were constantly surging. He didn't have the slightest regret over his impulse to fly to Hong Kong to watch the movie after reading Guan Yadi's blog.

Because this movie was so fucking worth it!

This was absolutely a badass, mind-blowing heavy metal movie!

Although the movie's plot was incredibly simple, the padding of various tiny details made it feel impossible to take everything in. First was the color—the dry desert yellow established the overall tonal foundation, supplemented by the blue of the desert sky, the distinct iron gray of the battle-damaged vehicles, the flashy red clothes of the guitarist and the Flamethrower Electric Guitar in his hands, the mighty lightning orange-red in the sandstorm, and the quiet, ruthless moonlight blue of the desert night. It was simply rich yet perfectly harmonious!

The fight scenes were very clear, not moving at such a fast pace that they overwhelmed the eyes or made people dizzy. There were also various wasteland-style trinkets—Tom Cruise's initial muzzle, the various metal skull logos on the Citadel's war rigs, Theron's mechanical arm, the heavily retro-styled guns with fine textures, and the use of various weapons during the car chases. Add to that the Victoria's Secret models' distinctive, soft clothes that showed off their figures. Most importantly of all, the entire background score truly had a way of elevating the film and pulling the audience right in. Coupled with the flashy red guitarist playing rhythmically on his bungee cords, the sense of thrill practically erupted from the screen!

Especially that Wang Feng hanging there with the electric guitar, who absolutely represented the kind of person who would die if they couldn't show off. The final close-up of the smashed guitar also proved the old saying: show off and get struck by lightning!

When the film ended, Wang Xiaobei, like the other audience members on site, stood up and clapped desperately. The movie was so much more brilliant than Guan Yadi's description!

After finishing Fury Road, he finally understood why many people said Fast and Furious 4 was as sissy and ridiculous as a bunch of eunuchs pulling hair, because Duke Rosenberg had completely gone wild!

With hormones raging everywhere, all kinds of badass fights and pursuits, and even the black screen and blood-red subtitles at the end, it went completely against the grain of today's mainstream high-tech, flashy "sci-fi." Gone were the satellite positioning, electronic technology, spaceships, aliens, and super weapons; it relied solely on primal techniques like pure action, as well as both the good and evil sides going all out to brawl and pummel each other in modified vehicles.

This back-to-basics, highly imaginative, brilliantly refreshing sci-fi blockbuster flowed with primal and wild cinematic blood.

Fury Road was absolutely a good film capable of entering the rankings of world cinematic history. This kind of setting, figure, action, and character... holy crap... it was simply awesome!

Harboring these thoughts, Wang Xiaobei rushed all the way back to his hotel, opened his laptop, and got onto Guan Yadi's blog. There were already a lot of comments about Fury Road here, and he typed out a paragraph at top speed.

"I'm the guy who was provoked by Guan Yadi into flying to Hong Kong to watch Fury Road. Talk about having the wrong friends!"

"But I'm glad I came to Hong Kong this time, because what I saw was an absolutely universe-level masterpiece! I watched this entire film on my knees in my heart!"

"The story of Fury Road is simple but complete, and all the characters are extremely precise. It's incredibly difficult to achieve precision in a simple story, so I have to bow down to the story once."

"The cinematography is badass, stunning, and mind-blowing; the overall visuals are near perfect. The cinematographer is Duke's long-time collaborator, John Schwartzman. He's a veteran scenery hound, so I have to bow down. The art design is badass, stunning, and mind-blowing; all the details make your heart scream, 'WTF! How did they come up with this?' I believe everyone will love that guitarist, and Goddess Theron's mechanical arm design and short hair look are also incredibly amazing."

"And the action choreography is badass, stunning, and mind-blowing! Several action scenes are cinema-history level—I had doubts about this before, but after watching it, I silently knelt in respect. The music and sound design are badass, stunning, and mind-blowing! It's textbook level, and you could listen to the soundtrack for a month straight. The actors are all fantastic. The female lead portrayed by Goddess Theron is one for the history books, and the scene of the Victoria's Secret supermodels with their white clothes fluttering in the yellow desert is breathtakingly beautiful. For fans of this genre, it's worth watching three times!"