- Joined
- Oct 13, 2006
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- 12,684
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I just watched Independence Day here in China and there were people laughing during some scenes with horrible product placement. It was quite obvious while watching this film that the studios are really counting on China's box office. They even put Angelababy in the film who is a huge star over here.
I think studios are too focused on movies doing well in China. They play it safe in order to get past censorship and by partnering with China they always put some random actors in who are never given proper character development and it just comes off as cheap.
It all started with Iron-Man 3 having special scenes in it for Chinese audiences but since then it's gotten worse. Transformers: Age of Extinction is probably the worst example of this. But now with Disney purchasing Star Wars you see it in their films as well. The weakest scene in The Force Awakens imo was the scene with that stupid tentacle monster and the random Asian actors (wtf was that? They're not even Chinese. Maybe they thought Asians would like this?) who all had no point in being there. Hopefully Donnie Yen and Jiang Wen are not wasted in the upcoming Rogue One.
Oh and let's not forget all that controversy surronding Doctor Strange. A character was changed just to please China.
This is a trend that is just going to become more and more noticeable as time goes on.
If people make good movies, audiences around the world will go to see it regardless. Hell, look at Titanic. It's a film I don't really care for but the movie is hugely popular in China.
I think studios are too focused on movies doing well in China. They play it safe in order to get past censorship and by partnering with China they always put some random actors in who are never given proper character development and it just comes off as cheap.
It all started with Iron-Man 3 having special scenes in it for Chinese audiences but since then it's gotten worse. Transformers: Age of Extinction is probably the worst example of this. But now with Disney purchasing Star Wars you see it in their films as well. The weakest scene in The Force Awakens imo was the scene with that stupid tentacle monster and the random Asian actors (wtf was that? They're not even Chinese. Maybe they thought Asians would like this?) who all had no point in being there. Hopefully Donnie Yen and Jiang Wen are not wasted in the upcoming Rogue One.
Oh and let's not forget all that controversy surronding Doctor Strange. A character was changed just to please China.
This is a trend that is just going to become more and more noticeable as time goes on.
If people make good movies, audiences around the world will go to see it regardless. Hell, look at Titanic. It's a film I don't really care for but the movie is hugely popular in China.