Depressive Screenwriter

In the pitch-black screening room, it began with a chaotic battle.

Su Yan had moved the background of Rurouni Kenshin to a period of chaotic history in Sakura Island, a century or two ago, within the Xia Kingdom.

Backgrounds are easy to adapt; the history of the Xia Kingdom is full of periods of peace for a century or two, followed by strife and turmoil, with both traitors and patriotic heroes.

On the movie's backdrop, slowly emerging text introduced the story's background.

Qin Yishan wasn't very familiar with the chaotic period of Sakura Island's history, but it wasn't hard to understand.

Just like the various dynasties and great powers in Su Yan's previous life, the dynasty was monolithic when it was strong, but towards the end, it was a matter of nominal allegiance, with various warlords rising.

This was the case on the mainland of the Xia Kingdom, let alone the distant Sakura Island.

Those who had seen the TV version of Kenshin understood that this scene corresponded to the period after Yukishiro Tomoe's death when the forces Kenshin served eventually took control of Sakura Island during that period of turmoil.

Kenshin fulfilled the promise he made to his master, Hiko Seijuro, when he descended the mountain.

To end the war and save the turbulent Sakura Island.

Interspersed throughout were scenes from the Reminiscence arc, which were re-filmed in the movie version.

Such as the scene where Yukishiro Tomoe's fiancé, Kiyosato, was killed by Kenshin.

The story of Kenshin and Yukishiro Tomoe's acquaintance, love, and ultimately, the origin of the cross-shaped scar on his face.

The movie's opening, a two- or three-minute interlude, basically explained the background clearly.

However...

The sorrowful BGM and Kenshin's slightly skilled action scenes in the interlude already had Qin Yishan's eyes widening slightly.

Could it be this cool?

Action scenes are either good or they're not.

Even if it's a choreographed fight scene, the effect is completely different depending on the height, weight, speed, and strength.

Just like one of the Kung Fu Emperor's disciples in Su Yan's previous life, the action scenes he filmed became a laughing stock online, and you could immediately see the difference in level compared to his master's actions.

There are many action movies in the Xia Kingdom, and Qin Yishan has seen many related films, but even so, the opening three minutes of this movie still got her into the state, and she sat up a little straighter.

In the snowy forest, Saito Hajime, one of the top swordsmen in Kenshin's world, said to Kenshin, who wanted to retire after the great battle:

【Born by the sword, die by the sword, we have no choice!】

And Kenshin simply stuck the blood-soaked sword into the ground with a sad expression and turned to leave.

Until...

Among the piles of corpses, a swordsman who had been defeated by Kenshin woke up and grabbed the sword Kenshin had left on the battlefield.

His expression instantly twisted.

In this type of martial arts action movie, it doesn't matter if there are exaggerated scenes of killing intent and sword energy. It's also acceptable that Kenshin's blood-soaked sword became a cursed blade after being abandoned by Kenshin, and that Udo Jin-e, also a master swordsman, had a sudden realization after feeling the sword's killing intent.

So, in the later part of the movie, his motivation for wanting Kenshin to return to his bloodthirsty self after being influenced by the sword also made sense.

But right now, Qin Yishan was a little confused.

But soon, she focused on the actor playing the role of Udo Jin-e.

Hou Zhigao, a famous villain actor in Xia Kingdom martial arts movies.

He's practically a professional villain.

The opening ended, and then came the main storyline.

After the words "Ten Years Later" appeared, many people in the screening room who had seen the Kenshin TV series made some noise in unison.

Kenshin was fifteen or sixteen years old when he killed Yukishiro Tomoe; in the movie, he's twenty-five or twenty-six years old.

A low, chanting BGM started, and ten years later, Kenshin arrived in this city by boat.

The streets were full of merchants; the scenes from the TV series, where the streets were full of criminals, vagrants, assassins, and swordsmen, disappeared.

Then, the movie's opening introduced three parties: besides Kenshin, there was the government side.

The villain, the merchant Takeda Kanryu, who secretly dealt in drugs in this city.

The Rurouni Kenshin movie version isn't complicated. A female traitor, Takani Megumi, appeared in the villain Takeda Kanryu's team, preparing to report Takeda Kanryu's criminal activities. To capture this female traitor, Takeda Kanryu sent the swordsman Udo Jin-e, who appeared at the beginning but now worked under him, to hunt her down.

In the process, Udo Jin-e killed many police officers with his sword, and this was witnessed by the heroine, Kamiya Kaoru.

Then, Kenshin appeared and saved Kamiya Kaoru.

In terms of plot, it progressed smoothly without too many unexpected twists.

But...

The highlight of this movie is the action scenes.

When Kamiya Kaoru was about to be killed by Udo Jin-e, Kenshin jumped off the bridge and swung his sword at Udo Jin-e from behind, which was blocked by the opponent's backhand blade, then he switched hands to counterattack, and then Kenshin dodged in the air, landed and rolled to hug Kamiya Kaoru. This series of complex attacks and defenses didn't use strange editing to switch the camera back and forth.

Udo Jin-e's movements were already beautiful enough, but Kenshin's series of attacks, dodges, twists, and rescues in the air, the whole process didn't even take two seconds, and the two actors' eyes were online throughout, the tense atmosphere almost jumping out of the screen.

Qin Yishan's mouth was already open.

The word "beautiful" floated in her mind.

One-shot action scenes are just good-looking. She, who knows a little about filming, wondered how many times Su Yan had to fail to succeed in this shot?

Moreover, these high jumps are easy to get injured. It's not like hanging on a wire solves everything; carelessness can still cause sprains and fractures.

And such action? It appeared at the beginning of the movie?

She just didn't know that Su Yan would avoid using auxiliary equipment whenever possible when filming the Kenshin movie, and this shot was only filmed five times. It wasn't that Su Yan made mistakes, but that the actor Hou Zhigao's reaction speed wasn't fast enough, so Su Yan had to slow down his movements to cooperate with him several times to film this shot.

Qin Yishan felt a little numb here.

Whether the plot of a work is good or bad requires the brain to understand and depends on personal preference for the plot.

But action doesn't.

Beautiful and powerful actions will make anyone sigh in their heart.

What, the haters say this action is nothing great? Then let him try it. If he can do it, then what the haters say makes sense.

And the fact is, Qin Yishan couldn't think of any other actor who could make the movements of Kenshin in the previous shot.

The plot continued to advance.

After Kenshin saved Kamiya Kaoru, he officially met this beautiful girl.

And his identity as Himura, the most famous killer swordsman in the Sakura Island region, was also leaked.

Kamiya Kaoru, who inherently hated those who wantonly killed and committed crimes in the previous era, also harbored resentment towards Kenshin, her savior.

But the next day, when Kamiya Kaoru's family's swordsmanship dojo was harassed by Takeda Kanryu's men, hoping to force her to sell the house so that it could be built into a criminal den.

Kenshin stepped forward again...

Qin Yishan stopped thinking here.

The plot of action martial arts movies is often not particularly complicated or brain-burning, because the highlight is on the action scenes.