The movie "Guardian of the Brave Soldier" earned nearly 25 billion VND after one week of release, ranking behind "Summer Vacation, Fear of Retirement" and "A Gentleman Overcome Rich" on the occasion of National Day.
On the evening of September 2, the historical work by director Nguyen Phan Quang Binh ranked fourth in the top five most popular movies of the holiday. After nearly a week of release, the film attracted about 200,000 viewers. The revenue of The Guardian Soldier was below the producers' expectations when previously, the work was predicted by many audiences to be a blockbuster, creating a "fever" at the box office this year.
The ticket sales speed of The Guardian Spirit is slower than the other two Vietnamese films - Summer Vacation, Fear of Retirement (Huynh Lap) and A Gentleman Beyond the Rich (Quang Dung). Not only the revenue, the movie's screening rate is also lower than its competitors: about 1,500 screenings per day nationwide, equal to 60% compared to Summer Vacation, Fear of Retirement.
In recent days, manufacturer representatives have been making efforts to improve revenue effects. On August 31, after a few days of release, listening to feedback from the audience, the team introduced a new version, with a duration of 135 minutes, 20 minutes shorter than the first version. The new version was recreated by director Ham Tran - famous for the film Death Battle in the Air - focusing on the action part, speeding up the pace of the film. The producer coordinated with a unit to release a new trailer for the shortened version, in response to many comments that the old trailer was less attractive and not dramatic enough.
Protecting the Soldier's Spirit: The Mystery of King Dinh's Tomb belongs to the historical genre, set in the event of King Dinh Tien Hoang (played by artist Le Vu Long) passing away from murder. According to the secret instructions left by the king about the burial, the soldiers were given orders to take the coffins in different directions. The purpose of the mission is to deceive the enemy who wants to sabotage the tomb.
The film's plus points mainly lie in the setting and costumes. The image of Ninh Binh mountains appears ancient, depicting the contrast between the vast, majestic nature and the small human figure. The props and weapons are crafted in a variety of ways, creating the feeling that the character is actually holding and using them. In some scenes, director Nguyen Phan Quang Binh mobilized about 40 horses at the same time. The martial arts part was convincingly choreographed by Johnny Tri Nguyen with fast-paced fights and powerful blows.
However, the script has many flaws and the character lines lack depth. According to critic Nguyen Thanh Son, the story of the Guardian Spirit still covers everything, from the secret of the 99 coffins, the intrigues of the court, to the journey of adventure, martial arts, love, loyalty, and fortunes. The love story of the main characters - Nguyen Phong (Tuan Tran) and An Nhien (Thien Tu) is also under time pressure, making the relationship not deep enough to create nostalgia and emotion when the incident occurs.
Summer vacation, fear of retirement leads the September 2 holiday race, revenue reaches 170 billion VND. Borrowing the story of a startup as a premise, Huynh Lap exploits intergenerational conflicts because of different lifestyles and living ideals. The work has the advantage of being shown two weeks before the holiday, creating a word-of-mouth effect and stable revenue growth. A representative of Box Office Vietnam - an independent room monitoring unit - assessed that the film could reach the VND 200 billion mark in the near future, becoming Huynh Lap's second project to conquer this milestone.
A Gentleman Overcome Rich - the movie Quang Dung remake from a foreign script - ranked second with 35 billion VND. The work belongs to the family comedy genre, revolving around the story of a wealthy couple (played by Thu Trang and Tien Luat) pretending to live poor to raise their children. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone still retains its heat despite being re-aired after 25 years, earning 24 billion VND thanks to its large fan community.
