Time Raiders

Awesome, Entertaining, Hope This is the Set Cast for ALL Future Adaptations.

This is the 2nd series in this universe I've seen, the first being Ultimate Note which I loved. I saw one film in the Mystic 9 universe but it was very rushed and short so didn't give all the details you wanted. But now with the possible news that the iron triangle from this show may be the set cast in future remakes and adaptations, it made me happy because after Joseph Zeng and Xiao Yu Liang played Wu Xie and Xiao Ge respectively there which I really loved, the two actors here are definitely close second as favorites and even though this was the first of all books, you could already tell that Xiao Ge was slowly forming a bond with Wu Xie and these two actors coming off a costume drama where they didn't interact at all in their scenes to also be in this one was cool. Unlike XYL who's more of an introvert until you get to know him, CZ is giggles all around so made for some hilarious BTS' and just great connection. So I hope this iron triangle cast will be the set cast for ALL future remakes and adaptations.

Pros: What I really loved was that they connected a lot of obvious and not so obvious things to ultimate note, like the uncle swap and when that happened plus showing both uncles one with a face mask towards the end. The bloody writing on the wall and how Wu Xie read it wrong until he rewrote it in UN and finally started to understand things. His uncle having two fumbles in what he said referring to the Wu's in third person like he wasn't one and Wu Xie catching him. Or how he hired ZQL; first version on the recommendation from a friend and then in the very next episode he's now XG and he's proficient at everything, knows everything and is basically super human, etc. That was not a very skilled switch there, ma dude lol. Also Wu Xie remembering his almost bipolar personalities like one would be ready to kill someone over a fight, while the other was very chill all in a span of maybe a day. All things XG pointed out when his uncle told him things that XG did to throw his nephew off the scent. The tie ins were pretty good and I liked the connection. At first I didn't understand the connection to the first one being Legend of Zang Hai which aired earlier this year but then it had those three bronze fish and some sort of treasure no one found as well as some mountain with ghost soldiers and weird mechanisms, so you can sort of see it. I wonder with the iron triangle gang, where the 3rd fish went? Iron triangle created themselves whether they wanted to see it or not; even if they went their separate ways for now.

What blew me away were the actual world building; not everything was CGI but actually built massive sets and you could tell the budget for this one was way larger than UN which was a dark horse. Some of those sets just made you gasp at the size and intricacies of them like the tree. All the adventures and creepy crawlies were also perfect for this time of year (autumn, Halloween). Though the mutated sea monkey looked like a mutated lycan or some weird cryptid and the white furred thing like a leprechaun so many things around in our current paranormal world. Costumes, music, all of that on point.

Cons: Though glad we got express, one episode a day for a while was hard. I also didn't think Daisy played a good Ah Ning as Hani did in UN. Daisy just didn't have that ruthlessness about her like Hani was able to portray so that's a casting choice that's questionable as well as both Pan Zi and Pang Zi; just felt the other two actors from the other show really did their characters much more convincingly. But I guess that's in the eye of the beholder.

Given how much extra information we were already given, I do wish we weren't left with a cliff hanger. Also should have introduced the Xie kid as it seemed he and Wu Xie knew each other well enough because when reading the bloody handwriting, WX acted like he didn't know who XLC was and that was a disconnect. As much as the disconnections with UN when he met Wenjun who he apparently knew then but for some reason not here, all the theories XG left him seemed to not exist. So while this series connects a lot of dots, that series disconnects others and it becomes a bit confusing. Needed to remember what other series did and try not to mix things for an observant viewer.

Also how did whichever uncle get a hold off the map and whatever else that XG said he then swapped out for fakes? Some of these things needed to be explained further and not just left hanging.

Would I recommend it? I absolutely would. I like this for the most part understandable and very well told story with creatures and dangerous and cool characters (human or not). I hope thy continue with this trend of the two actors as their chemistry pops and they only met for the first time; bring fatty a bit closer to what he should do and be and we've got the perfect iron triangle with the best friends primarily being WX and XG.

Read More

Inoffensively OK

In some ways it's better than the two seasons of previous adaptations of the same books.
It's more cohesive, there's less wasted time and it's more of a complete story.
It also starts pretty great - everything feels quite gritty and real, the locations are cool and the older actors well selected. (this iteration of badass gritty Panzi is probably my favourite)
But when we go inside and stay with the Iron Triangle only, it gets into the same old rut - mainly running or walking through dark hallways.
I think my main issue with this season is the main trio - they're only "fine".
You want each actor hitting character-specific traits and all three having good chemistry.
These three guys are not the worst I've seen in these roles, but they're not the best either.
In the end I'm left with "Yeah, I've seen this before, this version is ok."
Minor nitpicks:
- I didn't like A Ning - too soft and idoly for my taste. Not a believable mercenary.
(EDIT: !!!! I just realized she's played by Daisy Li, who I ADORED as Yan Zi in "Weasel Grave". Goes to show how much a type of the role matters for an actor. I just rewatched WG and she was so fun in that. Man, I did NOT recognize her.)
- I was constantly put off by really really subpar ADR - the voices were just too off.
I'll still watch more if they make more with this cast. It'd be neat to get more seasons with the same actors.

Read More