This review may contain spoilers
If you want to see Wen Ning kick ass in a fight, this was made for you
Basically what it says in the headline. I think this movie was made to show off concepts they developed for Wen Ning that didn't make it into The Untamed. This is a low production value TV movie with limited cast and a very, very cliched script. I saw the "twist" coming a mile off. However, I came here to see Wen Ning rattle his chains and kick ass, and I was not disappointed. The chains are pretty cool-looking in action and I don't feel like I wasted my time.
As for everything else: I thought the emotional hook with his character was sort of trite, but executed okay. I have problems with how Sizhui was written in The Untamed and while there's nothing much to complain about here, I think the actor who plays him is just much too bland on camera. There's a running gag in the movie about Sizhui calling Wen Ning Wen-shushu and him correcting it to Wen-qianbei that I just found odd. Lan Sizhui is actually a patrilineal relation of Wen Ning and that's also a big secret, so I thought he might object for that reason, but instead he's complaining that "uncle" sounds too "old". Wen Ning knew Sizhui when he was in diapers! Maybe it's a Chinese thing and I don't understand. It also doesn't fit his characterization of being long-suffering and socially timid. It does fit a pattern of a hastily written and cringe script. Get this, in one scene, Wen Ning delivers the badass line "There are no ghosts, just cowardice" (okay, it was more badass in Chinese where it repeats 鬼...鬼) to the camera. Okay, that was kind of cool. Then, in the very next scene, he's talking to Sizhui and repeats the same line to him. Sorry, Wen Ning, you now sound like that weird uncle who practices his lines in front of a mirror before trying them out on the unsuspecting. All that being said, this movie is infinitely more watchable than the Nie Family Special.
PS: I hate that you must give a numerical rating to give a review. I don't feel like it's fair. Yeah, this thing objectively kind of sucks but I *enjoyed* it. If you know what you're getting into and that's what you want, don't let the rating deter you.
As for everything else: I thought the emotional hook with his character was sort of trite, but executed okay. I have problems with how Sizhui was written in The Untamed and while there's nothing much to complain about here, I think the actor who plays him is just much too bland on camera. There's a running gag in the movie about Sizhui calling Wen Ning Wen-shushu and him correcting it to Wen-qianbei that I just found odd. Lan Sizhui is actually a patrilineal relation of Wen Ning and that's also a big secret, so I thought he might object for that reason, but instead he's complaining that "uncle" sounds too "old". Wen Ning knew Sizhui when he was in diapers! Maybe it's a Chinese thing and I don't understand. It also doesn't fit his characterization of being long-suffering and socially timid. It does fit a pattern of a hastily written and cringe script. Get this, in one scene, Wen Ning delivers the badass line "There are no ghosts, just cowardice" (okay, it was more badass in Chinese where it repeats 鬼...鬼) to the camera. Okay, that was kind of cool. Then, in the very next scene, he's talking to Sizhui and repeats the same line to him. Sorry, Wen Ning, you now sound like that weird uncle who practices his lines in front of a mirror before trying them out on the unsuspecting. All that being said, this movie is infinitely more watchable than the Nie Family Special.
PS: I hate that you must give a numerical rating to give a review. I don't feel like it's fair. Yeah, this thing objectively kind of sucks but I *enjoyed* it. If you know what you're getting into and that's what you want, don't let the rating deter you.
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