This review may contain spoilers
It's so bad... but so good? What sorcery is this?
It's a typical romcom cdrama but with a STRONG Thai flavor. The "vibe" kinda reminds me of the Thai drama "Pit Babe," but Speed and Love is much more mild (even though it tries to be a tad bit risqué at times).
Let me start by saying, He Yu is absolutely stunning. When I saw him I was like, "Who is this guy?" Then, after a quick bio check, I realized he featured in "Dashing Youth," but somehow I can't remember him? Anyway, I'll never forget who he is after watching Speed and Love. And my god, the chemistry between him and Esther Yu was electric (by cdrama standards, that is).
Speaking of Esther Yu, I want to start by saying (for the thousandth time, lol) that I LOVED her performance in "Love between Fairy and Devil." I thought the role matched her strengths as an actress really well. But... after watching a few of her other shows, including "Love Game in Eastern Fantasy" and "My Journey to You," I'm still convinced that she isn't a particularly versatile actress. Whenever she's placed in a serious role, she resorts to a type of "wooden" performance style and never quite seems to be immersed in the role. To counteract this, she sometimes slips out of character back into her main (and most successful) persona, which is the extra bubbly, innocent, almost childish character that embodies a specific Chinese trope (particularly when it comes to their taste in women). Anyway, that's basically what happened in Speed and Love. She slips out of character a few episodes in and embodies the pouty, irrational, child-like persona, which made the romance aspect seem less mature and feel a bit clumsy, almost? I'm used to watching cdramas, so I was able to tolerate it... but as someone who also watches Thai dramas, it really felt like Speed and Love missed some major opportunities to push the envelope in the spicy department (which is the show's main appeal, obviously). The storyline is weak, but judging by the 8.5 rating, people clearly don't mind! Like most romcoms these days, the show starts off strong and then fizzles out midway. So don't expect consistency. But it's worth a weekend binge with snacks. 7.5/10
Let me start by saying, He Yu is absolutely stunning. When I saw him I was like, "Who is this guy?" Then, after a quick bio check, I realized he featured in "Dashing Youth," but somehow I can't remember him? Anyway, I'll never forget who he is after watching Speed and Love. And my god, the chemistry between him and Esther Yu was electric (by cdrama standards, that is).
Speaking of Esther Yu, I want to start by saying (for the thousandth time, lol) that I LOVED her performance in "Love between Fairy and Devil." I thought the role matched her strengths as an actress really well. But... after watching a few of her other shows, including "Love Game in Eastern Fantasy" and "My Journey to You," I'm still convinced that she isn't a particularly versatile actress. Whenever she's placed in a serious role, she resorts to a type of "wooden" performance style and never quite seems to be immersed in the role. To counteract this, she sometimes slips out of character back into her main (and most successful) persona, which is the extra bubbly, innocent, almost childish character that embodies a specific Chinese trope (particularly when it comes to their taste in women). Anyway, that's basically what happened in Speed and Love. She slips out of character a few episodes in and embodies the pouty, irrational, child-like persona, which made the romance aspect seem less mature and feel a bit clumsy, almost? I'm used to watching cdramas, so I was able to tolerate it... but as someone who also watches Thai dramas, it really felt like Speed and Love missed some major opportunities to push the envelope in the spicy department (which is the show's main appeal, obviously). The storyline is weak, but judging by the 8.5 rating, people clearly don't mind! Like most romcoms these days, the show starts off strong and then fizzles out midway. So don't expect consistency. But it's worth a weekend binge with snacks. 7.5/10
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