The Chinese version of the latest installment in the animated series “Men’s” included modifications to the film’s closing scene stating that the police had managed to arrest the villain’s character and that his imprisonment made him a good person.
“Men’s: The Rise of Grow” opened in Chinese cinemas on August 19, the fifth part of the “Despicable Me” series.
This part deals with the story of the youth of Gru, who is the super villain in the series.
However, in contrast to versions presented in other countries, an alternate epilogue is adopted in the version for mainland China.
No changes were made to the animated movie scenes, but a set of still clips and commentary were included at the end. In the original version of the film, Gro’s teacher Will Carnage escapes justice after an attempted robbery, by pretending to be dead.
But in the version shown in China, Karnage was arrested by the police and sentenced to 20 years in prison. The punishment led to a reform of his behavior, so he continued his “passion for acting” by “creating a theater group”, according to the text included at the end of the film.
As for Gro, he became a model parent and “back on the right track”, as the alternate ending suggested, unlike in previous films in the series.
The committee oversees the review of Chinese and foreign television and film works before they are shown on the giant screens of the Asian country. “Minins” is not the first foreign film that has been modified to make it compatible with what the authorities consider “sound” values, especially with regard to works aimed at young people and young adults.
And this year, the closing scene of the famous movie “Fight Club” directed by David Fincher was modified so that the Chinese “Tencent Video” platform could provide it for viewing, more than two decades after the American work was launched in international theaters in 1999.
The film, starring Brad Pitt and Edward Norton, also had a text at the end stating that the police had thwarted the main character’s criminal scheme and “stopped all the criminals”. The audience was also stunned that dialogues referring to the homosexuality of one of the characters of the famous American series “Friends” were cut from the version provided by a streaming platform in China in February.
It was not immediately clear whether the ending of “Minins” in mainland China was altered at the behest of the censors or the film’s producers. Some producers, on their own, sometimes delete scenes from films or series in order to obtain approval for broadcasting in the Chinese market.