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The failed promise of an human adventure about revenge
Finally we got a cdrama this year that does take the audience seriously !It's the first cdrama imo with a writing that is actually good in 2025 (so far, we're in june, nothing actually decent was given by drmaland since january) and pretty impressive.
The intrigues were quite well put together, some things were stereotypes & predictible but the storyline was solid and following neccessary steps that made the story relevant, and which caught not only my attention but also my curiosity.
I hoped for more angst & thrill tho but they weren't there. I feel like there was a lack of ingeniosity in the portrayal of the story.
The acting and directing were very interesting, especially from the older cast and of course the main lead, Xian Zhan.
I'm very glad xz picked an actual good script after so many years, I was so tired of seing him not picking the right drama or movie to display his skills.
People compare it to "Nirvana In Fire" or "Joy of Life" but to be honest, it is very not at their levels at all. The drama failed to actually impress me and for many reason :
1. The pacing is bad, it's actually for me the main flaw of the drama. It left, on most episodes a sense of heavyness since they slowed down the storyline by dragging a lot of scenes for too long, scenes that were actually meaningless just for the sake of filling those 40ep.
If the drama has 20 to 25 eps, it would've been far more impressive, the thrill of the intrigues wouldn't have diminished after 10ish episodes.
2. The dialogues in the beginning were interesting but it didn't last long. The dialogues were just there to move through the story, not really to express layers nor depth.
"When you value your bond with others above it all, it makes you easy to be deceived ... The most powerful skill in this world is to deceive others with truth and honesty."
3. The chemistry of the cp is non existant which made their scenes so boring to watch for me. I didn't feel any connection while watching them interact. The fl acting wasn't bad of course, but it was def lacking a lot of aura and presence, imo she didn't fit the role.
4. The storyline around the revenge was too mechanical for my liking, I was expecting more emotional depth. I feel like the writer shouldn't have centered the revenge into one big villain during the first episodes. They should have play more with the idea of uncertainty and confusing elements to make the suspense around the journey of discovering the the truh more exciting.
5. I wish the psychology of the characters would've been more realistic.
All those vilains don't display enough grey areas in the way they are written. All of them are the evil cunning bad guys, it's too simplistic imo.
6. It lacks creative freedom, the directing is actually nice, but I wish it would've been more brave in adding unexpected artistic texture.
Don't get me wrong, the whole story around the gui seal is what was truly interesting for me but precisely the director could've done something more impressive with it.
There weren't enough scenes where you could feel the characters living real life lol, you know from the get go the characters play " the game of chess" for the sake of a fictional story, at no time you could connect what they are going through with actual real life ... not sure if what I'm saying makes sense but well, that's what I felt lol.
7. The whole idea of "deceiving others with truth" wasn't diplayed properly, it wasn't convincing enough. It's a shame because it could have bring more depth in the story. I dont understand why with so much potential, the director didn't choose to highlight and work better on those scenes where we could dive in precisely in the confusion between truth & lies, between the idea of deceiving while still loving at the same time etc ...
8. Some cgi were cringe as hell, especially those fire scenes, ruined the vibes lol.
Overall, the story was interesting but the oversaturated male energy (from the conception itself of drama as a whole) kind make it lose the spark it was supposed to have.
At no point I got emotional, and I don't think it's because of the acting, precisely the directing & how the story unfold wasn't displayed in an authentic way. Nothing in this drama looks real or natural.
ps : the first episode was actually the best one + the 4 last ones.
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An everlasting spirit of breathtaking and fantastic adventure !
It's rare for the second film in a trilogy to be better than the first, but this is definitely the case here ! It's been a long time since we've had such a good Chinese movie.This second part was incredible : super action scenes, the acting was good, very creative directing, a great cast with a lovely chemistry. It was epic, highly entertaining, filled with splendor, glory and epic tragedy.
The direction is really nice and also very convincing. You can tell that the team behind this film was highly motivated and put a lot of effort, love, and rigor into depicting the story as best as possible. A boundless energy emanate from this movie. It really feels like a breathtaking tragic adventure !!
The aesthetics, sets, costumes, and landscapes are reminiscent of many classic fims from Hong Kong & China, which I really appreciated.
The writing succeeds in combining extremely serious and triggering subject matter but also very specific to tragedies (such as perfidy, the themes of justice and revenge, legacy, legitimacy, what is right, good or bad, love, desire, the occult, friendship, the group, self-esteem, jealousy, the question of beauty, strength, the extremes that can provoke power or the monopoly of power, courage, spirituality, the idea of duty etc.) with a lot of humor, and a truly wonderful and adventurous childlike spirit (in a good way).
Some acting perfs could've been far better, I wish we got more depth through the dialogues.
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