Film Name: 黑猫警长之翡翠之星 / Mr Black : Green Star
As a brand revival, this film is reasonably successful. After all, it doesn’t merely rehash old footage or tack on awkward 3D effects like previous remakes from Shanghai Animation Film Studio. This time, it at least presents a fresh story with new characters—a meal that’s still warm off the stove.
From the 1980s science-popularization nostalgia of the “Inspector Black Cat” series to today’s “Mr. Black” feature film with its Marvel-esque superhero flair, the film has shed some of the brutal realism inherent in science education—such as female praying mantises devouring males, or the monkey-eating eagle harming small animals—and replaced them with a simplistic good-versus-evil dichotomy. This transformation has turned the “Mr. Black” narrative into a hamburger-like simplification.
Only one scene truly moved me: the trapped citizens of Emerald Star doing what they could—forming arms with their phones to support the hero. This sequence possesses an emotional power that instantly connects the hearts of ordinary people, heroes, and even the audience watching the screen. Other scenes are mostly mundane, demanding only the audience’s attention without eliciting emotional investment, relying instead on the occasional appearance of a goofy duck to entertain.
The film attempts to establish a pig named Mou Sandu as a new folk hero, yet this portrayal lacks logical foundation. Can someone truly become a hero merely by idolizing them and aspiring to their role? This oversimplification is as implausible as the film’s premise that Sandu inherits piloting skills simply because his father was a pilot.
As the ultimate antagonist, Dr. Big Ape’s failure to be redeemed feels jarring. A character driven by revenge stemming from a one-sided misunderstanding never escapes that delusion, robbing the film of its most potent emotional moment. That moment—when he finally understands his friend and struggles to free himself from vengeance—is precisely what could have delivered a warm, uplifting message to the audience. The positive energy we often discuss shouldn’t only come from heroes like Black Cat Police Chief, but also from villains who turn over a new leaf.
The film never attempts to explore the villain’s emotional journey, as if they were inherently evil and deserved to be eliminated. Take One-Ear, for example—doesn’t he have his own story? The two random thugs he recruits midway appear inexplicably and vanish just as mysteriously, delivering the film’s sole dialect—apparently Henanese. Is this the director projecting his impressions of Henan natives onto the screen? This dialect effect fails to entertain, instead creating a jarringly incongruous symbolism. These two thugs are utterly wasted characters.
The film prompts us to rethink many questions. Foremost among them is what truly defines a hero. Is someone who knows a few half-baked martial arts moves, can make a flashy entrance, and spout some fancy rhetoric really a hero? The film’s portrayal of Black Cat Police Chief is almost entirely superficial. Secondly, what defines a mother? If I were a mother, in my child’s most critical moment, my first thought would be how to break through the glass to save my child—not to become just another member of the crowd performing generic supportive actions. A mother is never just an ordinary bystander! Third, when should the medal be awarded? The film has Black Cat Police Chief confer the medal on Mou Sandu midway through the story. This ceremony ultimately becomes nothing more than a joke. Shouldn’t the film conclude with a renewed, more solemn hero commendation ceremony? Finally, what is friendship? A touching bond could have developed between Sandu and his pet robot Xiao Q. Yet not only did Xiao Q fail to appear in the crucial reprise scene at the end, but their friendship was left entirely unresolved.
Finally, the visuals. For a major film, basic investment in cinematography is essential. The countless copy-and-pasted extras feel like bugs, screaming “rushed production.” How can such carelessness yield quality? Here’s a random still as a puzzle: count how many characters were duplicated through scaling or mirroring!
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