Before the release of "Manslaughter 3", a joke was already circulating on social media: once or twice, it can be called "manslaughter by mistake", but the third time, it is obviously "murder", right? This is of course just a joke, but the ridicule also reveals the audience's concerns - will this film just be a simple repetition of the successful routine of the previous film?

"Manslaughter 3" poster

Facts have proven that this worry is both right and wrong. It is right because the film has no innovation at the artistic level, and still revolves around the core proposition of "father/mother saving daughter/son", and still focuses on the emotional value communication of the sinking market, and still uses suspense/reversal as the biggest magic weapon to attract audiences.

The reason why it is wrong is that the film did not rest on its laurels. On the contrary, its pace is faster, with more twists, more characters, more complex puzzles, and a simpler and more direct plot. The whole movie is like a car running wildly on the highway, unable to stop at all, and not wanting to give the audience any breathing space. The desire to get a good return in business almost fills the entire big screen.

However, if you ask me, it would be better to make a short drama instead of a movie like this.

Xiao Yang as Zheng Bingrui

Although the entire movie is nearly 2 hours long, it is definitely not out of place when it is split into dozens of short videos of two or three minutes. While watching the movie, the images in my mind are already vivid: Xiao Yang's daughter was kidnapped, everyone in the house was busy, and then Tong Liya suddenly smiled evilly; people in the police station were all worried about the complicated case, and then Duan Yihong suddenly smiled evilly; everyone thought Gao Jie was the mastermind and culprit behind the scenes, and when they were celebrating the unsolved case, Liu Yase suddenly smiled evilly...

Liu Yase as Yayin

Anyway, the logic of the movie is: you think it is like this, but it is actually like that; you think he is a good guy/bad guy, but it is actually the opposite; you think the problem has been resolved, but it is actually not... Isn't this a typical short drama narrative technique?

At this point, we can bring up a question that is more worthy of discussion: What is the difference between micro-short dramas and movies?

In fact, we don’t need to use very “profound” academic theories to explain this problem. As long as we think back to those excellent movies that we remember, the most profound impression must be the characters that can reflect complex human nature. But in micro short plays, due to the length and narrative characteristics, there is no need to consider “character creation” at all - whether it is a good person or a bad person is basically written on the face. This is why the performances in micro short plays always look exaggerated and melodramatic.

Looking back at "The Accidental Murderer 3", all the characters in the film can be clearly divided into two camps of good and evil. The bad ones are extremely bad, for example, the protagonist played by Xiao Yang is so crazy that he has no humanity; the good ones are also extremely good, for example, Duan Yihong and Zhang Rongrong are willing to sacrifice their lives to fight the criminals to the end.

Duan Yihong as Zhang Jingxian

But compared with the first two parts, especially the mother played by Chen Chong in the first part of "The Manslaughter", it is not difficult to find that the flattening of the characters in the "The Manslaughter" series has become more and more serious. Although they are both "bad", Chen Chong not only shows the mother's love and care for her son, but also shows the ferocity and viciousness when abusing lynching. More importantly, only with sufficient foreshadowing and foil can the audience fully identify with the logic of this character's actions, and understand that this mother also has unspeakable difficulties and endures the torment of conscience. In the third part, why are the villains so "bad" and what drives them? There is always a lack of detailed explanation and explanation. So that although Xiao Yang and others' performances are hard, they make people feel inexplicable.

The second difference is that no matter how "commercial" or "entertaining" a movie is, it still needs some clear spiritual core. Donnie Yen's "Ip Man" is quite popular, but it also contains vivid interpretations of traditional Chinese martial arts, such as the importance of tolerance, humility, and standing up in times of national crisis.

But short dramas do not need any "meaning". Whether it is a domineering CEO or a vengeful son-in-law, their every move is just to satisfy the audience's emotional value. There is no need for any thinking about life. In short, it's "cool".

Stills from "Manslaughter 3"

Isn't that the case with "Manslaughter 3"? On the surface, the promotional selling point of this film is to combat child trafficking, but in fact this is just an optional setting of the film. Whether the crime committed by the protagonist is murder or arson has no effect on the trend of the film. What kind of social mechanism has caused the rampant phenomenon of child trafficking, what serious social problems have been caused, and what are the difficulties in solving related cases? This film has no interest in discussing these topics at all, but puts all its energy into creating one reversal after another. In the final analysis, the main creative team does not really care about the issue of "child trafficking", but regards it as a social hot spot that can be "taken advantage of", that's all.

The worst thing is that "The Accidental Murderer 3" is not alone at all. The selling point of this year's National Day movie "The Road to Fire" is also "fighting against human trafficking", but in the second half of the plot, it crammed elements of road movies, revenge movies, action movies, etc. into the text, completely becoming a "genre stitching monster". Similarly, "The Silence", which has achieved impressive box office results, superficially reflects the problem of school bullying, but in essence it is still an extended version of a short drama that emphasizes "sense of excitement".

Stills from "Manslaughter 3"

Since the beginning of this year, from comedy movies to suspense movies to romance movies, more and more works have left a deep impression on the audience with a sense of "patchwork". It is undeniable that the current short videos and micro short dramas have indeed had a fierce impact on the entire film industry, but as practitioners, we should think more about how to highlight the irreplaceable characteristics of movies, rather than rushing to chase trends, or even shooting movies as short videos. This is not only impossible to be a way out for movies, but is more likely to lead movies astray.

Once a movie is "short videoized", it will directly affect the performance of the actors. Xiao Yang, the leading actor of this film, conquered the audience with his vivid and natural acting skills, not relying on his appearance or hype. He was originally one of the most eye-catching middle-aged male actors in recent years. However, recent films such as "Safe Entry and Exit", "The Road to Fire", and "The Accidental 3" have made his acting career narrower and narrower, and even his own performances have become more and more similar and repetitive. Such a phenomenon cannot but make people worry: if the creation of movies becomes more and more obsessed with the industrial assembly line production of short videos, then even the best filmmakers will find it difficult to maintain their spirituality and characteristics.

At that point, will the movie still be a movie?