Good enough to watch, wish it had been better
This is an entertaining watch, at times a Chinese variant of spaghetti westerns. When there is a three-way fight and the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly-like theme is playing, the homage is maybe too obvious, but throw it into 1911 China, where the Qing dynasty has less than a yesr left, and you get something distinct. The fight scenes thaf naturally emerge from tbjs premise are well choreographed, and the show manages to avoid getting overly repetitive.
The story feels a bit ridiculous at times, these martial arts experts with their blades are unstoppable in 1911. It seems to be partially a point about the Qing dynasty's impending doom, and that these lead characters are doomed regardless of who wins the main battle. Unfortunately that is a strong clue about how the story will end.
The story itself is good, not great. Some of the plot requires that tbe characters suddenly brcome even denser than they had been. The ending also feels rushed and a couple of deaths are not well executed (no pun intended).
The acting is generally good, although the depiction of Zhuo Bufan as a leader of a martial arts gang isn't particularly convincing. He feels more like a reluctant team leader af a mid-sized insurance company.
The show has its own dustinct humor. The constable character, Wang Jialuo, has a comic tendency to start unwinnable fights and then stave off death (plot armor doesn't begin to describe the latter). The ongoing arguments of the Liu Lin character with Lucky and Men Sandao somehow work as effective comic relief.
The soundtrack is a plus -- they really did create a versions of some music from old movie westerns with Chinese twists. The electric guitar laden riffs are also distinct.
In summary, smart and distinct premise, but execution is merely OK with a mostly unhappy ending. I hope someone picks up a similar historical fiction premise, because this could have been better.
The story feels a bit ridiculous at times, these martial arts experts with their blades are unstoppable in 1911. It seems to be partially a point about the Qing dynasty's impending doom, and that these lead characters are doomed regardless of who wins the main battle. Unfortunately that is a strong clue about how the story will end.
The story itself is good, not great. Some of the plot requires that tbe characters suddenly brcome even denser than they had been. The ending also feels rushed and a couple of deaths are not well executed (no pun intended).
The acting is generally good, although the depiction of Zhuo Bufan as a leader of a martial arts gang isn't particularly convincing. He feels more like a reluctant team leader af a mid-sized insurance company.
The show has its own dustinct humor. The constable character, Wang Jialuo, has a comic tendency to start unwinnable fights and then stave off death (plot armor doesn't begin to describe the latter). The ongoing arguments of the Liu Lin character with Lucky and Men Sandao somehow work as effective comic relief.
The soundtrack is a plus -- they really did create a versions of some music from old movie westerns with Chinese twists. The electric guitar laden riffs are also distinct.
In summary, smart and distinct premise, but execution is merely OK with a mostly unhappy ending. I hope someone picks up a similar historical fiction premise, because this could have been better.
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