This review may contain spoilers
A Rare Sci-Fi Drama in the Era of Historical, Transmigrating, Romance Novel Adaptations
As the title suggests, Mobius stands out amongst its peers airing in the same year as it is one of the only of its genre. If I had to choose one to compare it to, it would be Seven Relics of Ill Omen which falls in a similar category of sci-fi-fantasy-paranormal. At the time of this review, Mobius stands at a 8.2 which is a great disservice to the drama as it had a highly concise plot (little to no draggy moments) and excellent acting from the entire crew.
Mobius is quite an interesting drama if you analyze it deeply. It takes place in Guangdong (?)/Southern China and likewise features a hybrid cast of mainland Chinese and Hong Kong actors. If you were around long enough, you'd recognize a couple of big names like Cheung Kwok Keung who is well known for his triad and police roles in HK dramas and films. Given this unique setting, it was surprising that this drama allowed for dialogue in Cantonese and Southern dialects of Chinese. While it wasn't exactly HK Cantonese (more like mainland Cantonese), it was surprising that there was no dub over of standard Mandarin Chinese. Watching Bai Jing Ting who has a very very very strong Beijing/Northerner accent speak Cantonese was hilarious. This man tried but his accent and vowels were so rigid that he really couldn't pass for a Southerner. It is also worth mentioning that the dialogue switching for the cast was seemless. In heated moments, they used the dialect and in more sober moments, they used standard Mandarin. While a small detail, the addition of a dialect adds to the audience's immersive experience and becomes a more accurate representation of how different regions in China speak on a daily basis.
Bai Jing Ting is great, but I watched this drama mainly because Janice Man looks so good in those glasses. Often when I watch for an actor/actress, it ends poorly because they either get too little of lines or they performed poorly. To my delight, JM did get a substantial role and performed well alongside BJT. Her outfits and styling were the epitome of the career-driven, Southern Chinese city girl. It didn't (IMO) feel like Guangdong styled career woman (more like Shanghai or JiangXi) but it was close enough. There's not much to comment on for BJT other than he outdid himself. He has a history of action/police/military dramas which he performs well in so it wasn't a surprising role for him. Compared to the heavier, more serious police/action dramas he's done before, Mobius is more well suited for him as it incorporates a couple of comedic moments which allow for his true personality to come through. From his various variety show appearances, we know that he has a particular brand of humor which meshed really well with his character in Mobius.
My only bone to pick with this drama was there were a couple of plot holes and issues with the logic. An example would be when we realize the villain was the one who was reversing time, but then there were moments where ML says that there are different 'loops' (as in different pathways since the loops originally were supposed to be the same every time). Later it is explained as due to the villain (who was so close to ML) realizing that someone else was conscious during those loops and changing his actions which created a butterfly effect. At the same time, we have people who may remember fragments from those loops which affects their memory and their health, but then in the final loops when everything is resolved, though the ML and villain suffer quite a bit from health issues, the others that have 'deja vu' are perfectly fine. Even the professor and ex-MOMA researcher who both came back to life after the loop reset did not show adverse health effects. The open ending was a nice touch though (even if it's a bit cliche for sci-fi dramas to end this way).
Mobius is quite an interesting drama if you analyze it deeply. It takes place in Guangdong (?)/Southern China and likewise features a hybrid cast of mainland Chinese and Hong Kong actors. If you were around long enough, you'd recognize a couple of big names like Cheung Kwok Keung who is well known for his triad and police roles in HK dramas and films. Given this unique setting, it was surprising that this drama allowed for dialogue in Cantonese and Southern dialects of Chinese. While it wasn't exactly HK Cantonese (more like mainland Cantonese), it was surprising that there was no dub over of standard Mandarin Chinese. Watching Bai Jing Ting who has a very very very strong Beijing/Northerner accent speak Cantonese was hilarious. This man tried but his accent and vowels were so rigid that he really couldn't pass for a Southerner. It is also worth mentioning that the dialogue switching for the cast was seemless. In heated moments, they used the dialect and in more sober moments, they used standard Mandarin. While a small detail, the addition of a dialect adds to the audience's immersive experience and becomes a more accurate representation of how different regions in China speak on a daily basis.
Bai Jing Ting is great, but I watched this drama mainly because Janice Man looks so good in those glasses. Often when I watch for an actor/actress, it ends poorly because they either get too little of lines or they performed poorly. To my delight, JM did get a substantial role and performed well alongside BJT. Her outfits and styling were the epitome of the career-driven, Southern Chinese city girl. It didn't (IMO) feel like Guangdong styled career woman (more like Shanghai or JiangXi) but it was close enough. There's not much to comment on for BJT other than he outdid himself. He has a history of action/police/military dramas which he performs well in so it wasn't a surprising role for him. Compared to the heavier, more serious police/action dramas he's done before, Mobius is more well suited for him as it incorporates a couple of comedic moments which allow for his true personality to come through. From his various variety show appearances, we know that he has a particular brand of humor which meshed really well with his character in Mobius.
My only bone to pick with this drama was there were a couple of plot holes and issues with the logic. An example would be when we realize the villain was the one who was reversing time, but then there were moments where ML says that there are different 'loops' (as in different pathways since the loops originally were supposed to be the same every time). Later it is explained as due to the villain (who was so close to ML) realizing that someone else was conscious during those loops and changing his actions which created a butterfly effect. At the same time, we have people who may remember fragments from those loops which affects their memory and their health, but then in the final loops when everything is resolved, though the ML and villain suffer quite a bit from health issues, the others that have 'deja vu' are perfectly fine. Even the professor and ex-MOMA researcher who both came back to life after the loop reset did not show adverse health effects. The open ending was a nice touch though (even if it's a bit cliche for sci-fi dramas to end this way).
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