How to evaluate Ang Lee's new film Billy Lynn's Long Half-time Walk?

Billy Lynn's original novel "Long Half-time Walk" looks at the world around him through the eyes of a 19-year-old boy and describes his thoughts and feelings. Empathy is maximized in the director's 120 frame 4K 3D lens. The director used the subjective perspectives of many roles. The two big scenes in the movie, the halftime performance of the ball game and the battlefield of the Iraq war, this subjective shot made of 4K 3D 120 frames suddenly turned the audience into Billy Lynn. Some viewers even think that the criticized 120 frame is too clear, but it will be unrealistic to present it on the big screen. But in fact, whether it's the ball midfield with gongs and drums or the Iraq battlefield with bullets, although they are real realities, they transcend the scenes of daily life and simply present Billy Lynn's perspective as icing on the cake.

As a viewer, the 3D of 120 frame is clear and not a virtual reality technology. Did not subvert people's viewing habits. The director still needs to tell the story through clever use of lens language and use technology to add color, instead of forcing the audience to approach and understand the characters through this technology. In the process of watching movies, I didn't feel forced into the story at all. I even forgot to wear my glasses when I watched it. I watched a 3D movie, totally absorbed by the story, and felt Billy Lynn's confusion, struggle and his repressed emotions. However, after the film, several scenes in the film will always stay in my mind for a long time. Perhaps, the frame of 120 brings an unforgettable experience. [1 1] (1905 comment)

The technological innovation of the film not only affects the picture, but the director obviously thinks that the actor's performance mode also needs a breakthrough revolution under the new technical expression. The most obvious actor often looks directly at the camera, which is a bold way to break through the fourth wall in traditional film theory and should be used with caution. Moderate use can be understood as the lens representing the first perspective of the characters and enhancing the audience's sense of substitution. However, after all, the movie is not VR, nor is it a first-person design game. The audience is still more accustomed to the sense of security behind the fourth wall. Moreover, the main point of view of the film is not only locked in the protagonist, but all kinds of passers-by may become the first-person point of view of the camera, and the change of various perspectives makes people uncomfortable.

Of course, Ang Lee's fans are mainly young fans, and the audience will not ask his films to have the visual bombing frequency of popcorn movies. But in the story, the film really lacks surprises, trying to tell a story that was originally mediocre and lacked highlights with constant flashbacks. Moreover, even the characterization that director Ang Lee is best at has fallen off the chain this time, and most of his lines are very plain and shallow. Although you are alternating between the old and the new, there is no way to save the boring movie core. [12] (Sohu Entertainment Review)

In most shots of the film, there is a character standing in the foreground with a blurred background, but the character in the foreground is very clear and looks like a high-definition photo cut from a magazine. The ultra-clear 3D technology used in the movie makes the movie look weird, just like a movie shot with a camera in the 1980s.

On the narrative level, Ang Lee's works are as clumsy and lacking in passion as its title. Ang Lee didn't understand the emotional connection between these soldiers at all. The dialogue in the film wanted to be funny, but it finally went offline. Billy's pursuit of cheerleader Fei Sen in the film is particularly bad. They are as stiff as a pair of aliens trying to communicate.

Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk is a boring viewing experience, not only because of the lack of emotional level, but also because of the lack of cohesion in the film, leaving only unprovoked sadness in the end. The super-clear protagonist and the extremely vague supporting role and background, the picture of this film gives people the feeling that it is not real, but more like myopia. (summary and review)

The film has some merits in the plot, but the technology used in the film is not successful. This film shows his persistent exploration and pursuit of new possibilities of camera language. This film, like Brokeback Mountain, is a simple description of those alienated Americans. But Billy Lynn, like Ang Lee's previous works, lacks a reliable script and has a good theme, but it is accompanied by vulgar and trite dialogue and false southern accent.

The film's attempt at high frame rate is more to satisfy technical curiosity than a mature innovation. In the last war scene, Billy recalled the details of his exchange of fire with the enemy, and captured every bloody detail in this battle in a nearly documentary style. The scene of the intermission performance can be made into an independent short film, which is in sharp contrast to the doomed melodramatic performance and Billy's embarrassment. [13] (comments on Indiewire)