''Only Fools Rush In'' is a 2022

comedy-drama film Comedy drama (also known by the portmanteau dramedy) is a hybrid genre of works that combine elements of comedy and drama. In film, as well as scripted television series, serious dramatic subjects (such as death, illness, betrayal, grief, etc. ...

written and directed by

Han Han Han Han (; born September 23, 1982) is a Chinese author, rally driver, singer and filmmaker. He is also the creator of print magazine ''Party'' and online magazine ''One''. In May 2010, Han was named to the ''Time'' 100 list. In September 201 ...

. It was released in China on 1 February 2022 and was received poorly by audiences.

Plot

The film follows Wu Renyao (nicknamed Ah Yao), a young motorcycle enthusiast who begins to bond with his estranged father Wu Renteng who he has not seen in many years. He also befriends young waitress Zhou Huansong and her brother Zhou Huange who is the leader of a motorcycling gang. After Huange dies in an accident while swimming in the sea, Renyao and Huansong embark on a journey to the city of

Guangzhou Guangzhou, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Canton or Kwangchow, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guangdong Provinces of China, province in South China, southern China. Located on the Pearl River about nor ...

to try and start a new life together.

Cast

Liu Haoran Liu Yuan (born 10 October 1997), known professionally as Liu Haoran, also known as Turbo Liu, is a Chinese actor. Liu haoran 18th on ''Forbes'' Forbes China Celebrity 100, China Celebrity 100 list in 2020, 19th in 2019, and 89th in 2017. In 2021 ...

as Wu Renyao * Liu Haocun as Zhou Huansong *

Shen Teng Shen Teng (born 23 October 1979) is a Chinese comedian, actor and director. He is known for starring in the films '' Goodbye Mr. Loser'' (2015), '' Never Say Die'' (2017), '' Hello Mr. Billionaire'' (2018), ''Crazy Alien'' (2019), ''Pegasus'' (20 ...

as Wu Renteng * Yin Zheng as Zhou Huange * as Uncle Zi liang * as Dong Tu *

Wang Yanlin Wang Yanlin (, born 28 July 1989), also known as Ian Wang, is a Chinese actor. He is best known for his works in '' Wu Xin: The Monster Killer'' (2015), '' The Starry Night, The Starry Sea'' (2017). He also starred in the film ''Operation Red ...

as Debt collector *

Huang Xiaoming Huang Xiaoming or Mark Huang ( zh, s=黄晓明, p=Huáng Xiǎomíng, born 13 November 1977) is a Chinese actor and singer. Huang rose to prominence for playing Emperor Wu of Han in the television series '' The Prince of Han Dynasty'' (2001), foll ...

as Showta (special appearance) * as Hong Chen (special appearance) *

Feng Shaofeng Feng Shaofeng (, born October 7, 1978), also known as William Feng, is a Chinese actor. Feng rose to fame with the time travel series ''Palace'' (2011). He is also known for his roles in TV series '' Prince of Lan Ling'' (2013), '' Ice Fantasy'' (2 ...

as Officer Li (guest appearance) *

Jordan Chan Jordan Chan Siu-Chun (born 8 July 1967) is a Hong Kong actor, singer and dancer, known for starring in the ''Young and Dangerous'' film series and for his role in the 1998 TV adaptation of Louis Cha's novel, '' The Duke of Mount Deer''. In ...

as Qiu Ge (special appearance) *

Wu Yanshu Wu Yanshu (; born 1938) is a Chinese actress. Wu is considered a National Class-A Actor in China. Wu first garnered recognition for her acting in 2016, when her performance in '' Finding Mr. Right 2'' and earned her a Golden Horse Award nomin ...

as Wu Renyao (special appearance) *

Alex Man Alexander Man Chi-leung () better known simply as Alex Man is a Hong Kongese actor. Born in Hong Kong to Hakka parents, Alex Man became a television actor for ATV in the 1970s. He joined TVB Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB; zh, t ...

as Uncle Liu (special appearance) * Gao Huayang as Ju Xiong * as Chun Juan (special appearance)

Production

The film's Chinese title ''Sì Hǎi'' (四海) literally means "four seas" or "the whole world". An early working title was ''Niánqīng de Gùshi'' (年轻的故事), "a young story". The project was officially launched and gained approval for filming in February 2021. The same month, it was reported that shooting had started. It was filmed on

Nan'ao Island Nan'ao or Nanao (), formerly romanized Namoa, is an island and county of the prefecture-level city of Shantou in Guangdong Province, China. The county spans a land area of , and sea area of . As of 2020, the county had a permanent population of ...

and in

. Production was finished on 20 August 2021 in Guangzhou. The film features

motorcycle racing The motorcycle sport of racing (also called moto racing and motorbike racing) includes motorcycle road racing and off-road racing, both either on circuits or open courses, and track racing. Other categories include hill climbs, drag racing and ...

scenes and a variety of different motorcycles. The film's director,

, who has experience filming car racing, said that motorcycle scenes are much more difficult to film than car scenes. When filming a car scene, Han said, a

drone Drone or The Drones may refer to: Science and technology Vehicle * Drone, a type of uncrewed vehicle, a class of robot ** Unmanned aerial vehicle or aerial drone *** Unmanned combat aerial vehicle ** Unmanned ground vehicle or ground drone ** Unma ...

can get very close to the vehicle to get a good shot, and in the event of a collision the damage to the drone is a tolerable cost, but when filming a motorcycle the filmmakers cannot risk a drone accidentally striking the driver.

Release

''Only Fools Rush In'' was released in

mainland China "Mainland China", also referred to as "the Chinese mainland", is a Geopolitics, geopolitical term defined as the territory under direct administration of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in the aftermath of the Chinese Civil War. In addit ...

on 1 February 2022 (

Chinese New Year Chinese New Year, or the Spring Festival (see also #Names, § Names), is a festival that celebrates the beginning of a New Year, new year on the traditional lunisolar calendar, lunisolar Chinese calendar. It is one of the most important holi ...

) and was shown in

IMAX IMAX is a proprietary system of High-definition video, high-resolution cameras, film formats, film projectors, and movie theater, theaters known for having very large screens with a tall aspect ratio (image), aspect ratio (approximately ei ...

theaters. It was advertised as an uplifting film. It was released in the United Kingdom on 4 February 2022.

Reception

Box office

The film was highly anticipated, earning $44.48 million CNY in presales- It went on to gross an opening day of $225 million CNY ($33.74 million USD) placing second at the Chinese box office, after ''

The Battle at Lake Changjin II ''The Battle at Lake Changjin II'' (released in the United Kingdom as ''The Battle at Water Gate Bridge''), is a 2022 war film, war drama film co-produced and co-directed by Chen Kaige, Tsui Hark and Dante Lam, written by Lan Xiaolong and Huang J ...

''. After receiving negative reviews, the film's daily box office grosses began dropping dramatically, to $62 million CNY ($9.79 million USD) by its third day and $25 million CNY ($3.98 million USD) by its fifth. By the end of the first week of the Chinese New Year holiday, the film had grossed a total of $475 million CNY ($76.3 million USD) ending up sixth place below ''

Sniper A sniper is a military or paramilitary marksman who engages targets from positions of concealment or at distances exceeding the target's detection capabilities. Snipers generally have specialized training and are equipped with telescopic si ...

''. The film continued to drop in popularity and by 12 February had dropped below '' Dunk for the Future'' with a daily gross of $5.1 million CNY ($0.81 million USD).

Critical response

Though the film did well in pre-release ticket sales, it was a disappointment upon its release, receiving negative reviews from audiences. It received an average rating of 5.5 out of 10 on

Douban Douban.com (), launched on 6 March 2005, is a Chinese online database and social networking service that allows registered users to record information and create content related to film, books, music, recent events, and activities in Chinese ci ...

and 8.7 out of 10 on

Maoyan Tianjin Maoyan Weiying Culture Media () is a Chinese company that owns the largest online movie ticketing website in China, maoyan.com, with 30% share of the market in 2015. In 2016, Wang Changtian of Beijing Enlight Media offered to buy a contro ...

. Sun Jiayin of ''

Xinmin Evening News ''Xinmin Evening News'' (), formerly known as ''Xinmin Po'', is a state-owned newspaper published since September 1929 in Shanghai, China. It is owned by Shanghai United Media Group. History In 1990, Xinmin Evening News personnel were dispatche ...

'' wrote that the film's storyline and themes were very similar to Han Han's previous productions (''

The Continent Continental Europe or mainland Europe is the contiguous mainland of Europe, excluding its surrounding islands. It can also be referred to ambiguously as the European continent, – which can conversely mean the whole of Europe – and, by so ...

'', ''

Duckweed Lemnoideae is a subfamily of flowering aquatic plants, known as duckweeds, water lentils, or water lenses. They float on or just beneath the surface of still or slow-moving bodies of fresh water and wetlands. Also known as bayroot, they arose fr ...

'', and ''

Pegasus Pegasus (; ) is a winged horse in Greek mythology, usually depicted as a white stallion. He was sired by Poseidon, in his role as horse-god, and foaled by the Gorgon Medusa. Pegasus was the brother of Chrysaor, both born from Medusa's blood w ...

''), so much so as to make viewers feel as if they had seen it before.

Notes

References

External links

* * * {{IMDb title, 14509614 2022 films 2022 comedy-drama films Films about families Motorcycling films Chinese comedy-drama films IMAX films