Currently, the Australian filmmaker Wang is firmly entrenched in the status of the most interesting horror director of modern Hollywood. This is not surprising, because out of 11 of his directorial works, 6 are part of the most popular franchises: the short film “Saw” marked the beginning of a series of 8 films, “Astral” - of four, “The Spell”, taking into account “Annabelle's Curse”, also of four. Among other things, for the unique author’s style, James Wang was introduced to the epic “Fast and the Furious”. From this perspective, the director is really an ideal film artisan who generates authorial “long-playing” projects and harmoniously joins others. Given Wang’s indicative creative activity, it’s scary to imagine how many franchises we can get from him. The best paintings from the James Wang filmography are dedicated to this publication.
“Saw: A Survival Game”
The 2004 film “Saw” is positioned by individual foreign film critics as a life-saving reed for the Hollywood thriller and horror genre, which was at its last gasp at the time of its release. Director James Van removes the tape for only $ 1.2 million, but the film’s rental fees amount to an astronomical figure of $ 103,096,345. At the same time, the film itself triumphantly takes 7th place in the ranking of the highest grossing film projects of all time. The plot of the project is an extremely complicated story, the main character of which does not kill people. He suits those who, in his opinion, need spiritual rebirth, deadly ordeals. The dynamic process of storyline development itself seems surprising, which ultimately comes to a logical and shocking ending. Movie rating IMDb: 7.70.
Astral
While short-sighted critics tried to explain the box-office success of “Saw” by brutal cruelty, introduced the concept of “torture porn” into the vocabulary, the director did not sit idle. “Dead Silence” and “Dog Paradise” were released - films by director James Wang, which he used to warm up before starting to launch another franchise. The visionary prepared a project, in a sense, the opposite of “Pile”, because “Astral” is also a horror, only with a soft age rating of PG-13, i.e. almost "bloodless". A movie about ghosts clearly demonstrated the full creative potential of James Wang, including the ability to earn his talent. Today, the “Astral” franchise has grown to four paintings, and the box office of each regular is growing in comparison with the previous ones. Is there any need to say that evil spirits probably will not leave us alone soon.
The spell
In the spell horror, James Van prepared a gorgeous surprise for fans of the genre. The picture is a successful combination of the most sought-after subgenres of mystical horror. Firstly, the plot is a classic story of a haunted house, an ominous basement, mysterious closets and niches, creaky doors and a suddenly stopping clock. Secondly, this is a certain retelling of “The Last Exile of the Devil”, because the audience’s interest in this ritual has not diminished for many decades. And thirdly, the narrative is full of references to stories that the viewer liked about attempts to film manifestations of otherworldly forces on an amateur camera (Paranormal Activity, Reporting, Apartment 143, etc.).
After the triumph of the first “Spell”, James Wang could not be restrained. He began to branch the project. But after the first part, it was not the second one that was released, but the prequel “Annabelle's Curse”, where all attention was focused on the supposedly damned doll.
After that, “Spell 2” starts, representing almost a set of individual horror scenes, while remaining a cut above the majority of what was created in the horror genre over the past decades.
Astral 2
“Astral 2” James had to end his career in the horror genre due to an invitation to another movie (“Fast and the Furious 7”), so many critics perceived the picture as a kind of report, summing up the topic “What I learned in ten years from "Saws" to "Astral 2". But Wang does not claim to be a reformer or a prophet, but it is impossible to deny that he is one of the most skillful and technical directors in the genre of horror. His franchises "Spell 2" and "Astral" returned fashion to the "good" old-fashioned mystical films - clearly narrated, soundly set, professionally shot. A true gold standard that many filmmakers should be equal to.
"Fast and the Furious" is "Fast and the Furious"
The Fast and the Furious is an amazing movie in itself. The seventh part, shot by James Wang, is an unusually dynamic, spectacular, stunt movie, in which the Australian filmmaker added a touch of apocalyptic pathos. Just imagine, familiar to the viewer Brian O'Conner, Dominic Toretto and their friends are sent to Abu Dhabi to get a flash drive with a unique computer program. The coveted device is contained in the complex of skyscrapers “Etihad Towers”. So, with the light hand of James Wang, the heroes will not only have to fight at height, but also jump into a nearby skyscraper by car, and then do it again.
"Spell 2", "Aquaman" and others
Despite the fact that the unusual genre obeyed the director with enviable ease, James Wang nevertheless remained faithful to his beloved horror. In 2016, he took the director's chair in the sequel to “Spells”. The picture turned out to be outwardly effective, in the good sense of the mainstream, saturated with competently implemented screamers. The director coped with the task perfectly, as evidenced by the impressive box office.
Before starting directing Aquamen, James Van in the films “The Lights Go Out ...”, “The Curse of Annabelle: The Origin of Evil”, “Astral 4: The Last Key”, “The Curse of the Nun” realized himself as a producer and co-author the script.
According to the forecasts of critics, the Australian will definitely add afterburner drive and fervent humor to Aquaman, however, you should not hurry, the project premiere is scheduled for December 2016. Now in the media and the network you can only meet a photo of James Wang, from the filming of the upcoming blockbuster premiere.
There is an opinion that a possible restart of the Resident Evil will also be entrusted to the restless creator of franchises. His name is one of the reasons to believe with all my heart and wait for work.