Two new action films depict North Koreans as the bad guys. At least they give the Germans, the Brits and the Russians a break
With the US studios desperate to establish a foothold in the fast growing Chinese market, it is clearly a very bad idea to have too many films with heroic Rambo types taking on Red Army soldiers, opium smugglers or cyber hackers. The same applies to the Middle Eastern and North African market. India (through the Reliance Group) is already helping bankroll big American movies.
Audiences watching the film probably won’t be aware that the North Koreans are themselves the fall guys in this instance. Those diabolic paratroopers were originally supposed to be Chinese but the film was digitally re-edited because of Hollywood’s new-found hyper-sensitivity about compromising its chances in what is rapidly becoming its most important market.
