2019 Year in Review: Top 10 Blockbusters in Chinese Cinema
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Holiday season is here, which for film buffs also means that awards season fast approaches. In the face of an economic downturn and fierce competition from online streaming platforms, 2019 hasn't been the best year for the Chinese movie industry, especially at the cinema. Luckily, the second half of 2019 performed much better than the first, and while box office takings for last year maxed out at the RMB 60.9 billion point, as of Dec 12 this year we've already reached RMB 60.6 billion, with a full 19 days of the year still to go.
Let’s take a look at the top 10 box office hits of 2019, and how they were received both critically and commercially.
10. Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw
Box Office: RMB 1.418 billion
Reception: Douban 6.3/10; IMDb 6.5/10; Metacritic 60/100 (Critics), 6.6/10 (Users); Rotten Tomatoes 67% (Critics), 88% (Audience)
9. Better Days
Box Office: RMB 1.532 billion
Reception: Douban 8.4/10; IMDb 7.5/10; Metacritic TBD; Rotten Tomatoes 100% (Critics), 97% (Audience)
Better Days, directed by Hong Kong's Kwok Cheung-tsang (Lover's Discourse, Soul Mate) was a dark horse in this year's Chinese movie market. The film centers around Chen Nian, a high school student under investigation for her suspected role in murdering a classmate. The plot, which largely revolves around school bullying – admittedly not the sexiest of topics, so we can't blame Chinese cinema being slow to tackle – resonated far and wide with audiences, indicating the serious and widespread nature of abuse in Chinese schools. The movie was also lauded for its realistic portrayal of adolescence, a time in which students are usually thought to be docile and undistracted from their studies, when in fact they're anything but. The weight of the subject matter meant that the story needed a wholesome, satisfactory ending to pass muster with movie regulators, but thanks to clever screenwriting and skillful portrayals by its young cast (including TFBoys' Jackson Yee), Better Days still manages to convey the cruelty and rawness inherent in bullying, and this delicate stage in people's lives.
8. The Bravest
Box Office: RMB 1.676 billion
Reception: Douban 6.6/10; IMDb 5.4/10; Metacritic N/A; Rotten Tomatoes N/A
Based on the true story of a pipeline explosion and oil spill that occurred in Dalian on Jul 16, 2010, and claimed the life of one firefighter, The Bravest follows the first responders as they try to minimize damage from the catastrophe. Unfortunately, the touching story and great CGI are tainted by melodramatic heroism and a shallow portrayal of those people whose lives are at risk, leaving anyone actually interested in what happened that day better off reading newspaper reports about the incident than going to the cinema. Despite these flaws, audiences do love a hero (especially during the 70th anniversary of the CCP), as backed by the impressive RMB 1.676 billion shelled out at the box office.
7. Pegasus
Box Office: RMB 1.703 billion
Reception: Douban 6.9/10; IMDb 6.3/10; Metacritic N/A; Rotten Tomatoes N/A
Pegasus is the third movie directed by blogger-turned-director Han Han, who has completed transformed himself from a bestselling millennial author to a successful director, putting his other love – cars – front and center of his films. As a part-time racer himself, Han Han sure knows his way around the track, and audiences seem to enjoy seeing him turn his passion into movies. In Pegasus, we follow washed-up racecar driver Zhang Chi as he strives to return to the circuit, and simple tale that became the seventh most successful film at the box office this year, even though fans considered it largely lacking when compared to Han Han's debut, The Continent.
6. Crazy Alien
Box Office: RMB 2.183 billion
Reception: Douban 6.4/10; IMDb 5.8/10; Metacritic N/A; Rotten Tomatoes 50% (Audience)
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Reception: Douban 6.9/10; IMDb 5.9/10; Metacritic N/A; Rotten Tomatoes 71% (Critics), 96% (Audience)The second real-life action movie on this list, The Captain fell into the same pitfalls as The Bravest, but even worse. The filme is based on the May 2018 incident in which Sichuan Airlines Flight 8633 was forced to make an emergency landing after a heavy storm partially detached the plane's cockpit windshield. Amazingly, there was no loss of life of serious injury, which may be why the writer and director decided to ruin an otherwise incredible story by flooding it with unnecessary subplots and common sensical nonsense. The film was officially supported by the Civil Aviation Administration of China, and hundreds of aviation professionals were apparently involved in the film's creation and filming, which might explain the terrible acting that blights this film – the final nail in the non-extistent coffin as it were. Many trundled to the cinema hoping for a Chinese Sully, only to receive this flying turd instead. It still took in RMB 2.848 billion at the box office, proving what we've known all along: there's really no accounting for taste.
4. My People, My Country
Box Office: RMB 2.963 billionReception: Douban 7.9/10; IMDb 6.5/10; Metacritic TBD; Rottentomatoes 64% (Audience)While this film's subtitle: “A birthday gift for the 70th birthday of the People Republic of China,” is enough to turn anyone off, My People, My Country was not as awful as you might first predict. While it's undoubtedly propaganda, it's not propaganda told in a condescending fashion from up on high, but rather from the point of view of the 'common people,' who help map out the incredible journey that China has undertaken over the past few decades. The movie is comprised of seven disparate stories; one for each decade between 1949 to 2019. The stories include everything from the preparations for the historic first-ever raising of Chinese flag on the day the country was born to rekindling the thrill of excitement when Samaranch announced Beijing would host the 2008 Olympic Games. While it's unlikely to be as goose-bump inducing for foreigners, the film provides a window into how many Chinese people see their country, which in turn explains why this type of movie always finds a keen audience.
Reception: Douban 8.5/10; IMDb 8.5/10; Metacritic 78/100 (Critics), 7.8/10 (Users); Rotten Tomatoes 94% (Critics), 90%(Audience)The grand finale for the Avengers or a prologue for the new Marvel universe? Avengers: Endgame left superhero fans with more questions than answers, and they were happy to pontificate on the meaning behind the many hidden details within the film for hours. Thanks to the loyal fanbase in China and the extra expensive IMAX tickets, the movie also achieved the highest box office takings in China in a single day with RMB 0.5 billion rolling in on Apr 27. It then became the fastest movie to reach RMB 1 billion box office in Chinese movie history. As for the strength of the plot, we'll leave that to be discussed by the longer-than-a-PhD-dissertation reviews found online.
Box Office: RMB 4.618 billion
Reception: Douban 7.9/10; IMDb 6.0/10; Metacritic 57/100 (Critics), 5.6/10 (Users); Rottentomatoes 76% (Critics), 52% (Audience)
Box Office: RMB 4.934 billion
Reception: Douban 8.5/10; IMDb 7.7/10; Metacritic 54/100 (Critics); 9.2/10 (Users); Rotten Tomatoes 87% (Critics), 98% (Audience)
READ: The Books That Caught Our Eye and Stoked Our Imaginations in 2019
Photos courtesy of the movie studios, Douban
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