Princess gambit is a mixture of 'The prisoner of beauty' with 'The double'.
Listen, I'm writing this review because the drama does deserve support. It actually has a lot of merit. So hear me out. This show had such high expectations that viewers were too ready to be unforgiving if it missed the mark in any way. The hype up has led viewers to be dismissive and disappointed easily. Then the other issue is, that even though the first 22 episodes or so are interesting and good, the story and writing begins to kind of get ridiculous, over the top or overdone.
First off, let's address the acting. Liu Xui Yi is a great actor and delivers a great and believable performance. He is always fantastic. I really like how he plays this character in this drama. Meng Ziyi does a good job. Could she have done better? Sure, any actor can. But she did actually do a good job and I did enjoy her in this role. All the other actors and their acting were fine as well. Most the characters were interesting. There really wasn't any terrible acting. Just that one ridiculous love affair which was just too ridiculous and gross for me.
Second, the sets and the costumes. Everything was truly beautiful and rich in colour and textures and it all really set a deep and emotional and thrilling vibe. The sets felt new and unique, so they created a fresh world to engage with. The first six or so episodes have been quite stunning and really got us excited for what could come.
I can't remember the music. I think it was average, which is fine.
So what are some of the biggest issues that played into viewers disliking the drama? For one, the main twist in the story which just seemed so over-the-top and random at the same time. I didn't really feel like there was too much filler or fluff. But there was enough clipped scenes which will make scenes seem abrupt or static because the editing seems to be clipping movements or space. I noticed this more with the fight scenes, so they don't feel flued. This is actually a failure to the actors because for viewers it makes it seem like an acting problem but its not necessarily. There are also some minor inconsistencies that occur throughout the drama, but we see this in almost every drama as well. Also some CGI issues here and there.
The story set up did give us interesting characters, some good plot points, and the story had the making for something great! Which is why the writing having fallen short for the end story is so disappointing. We always hope the story will become more interesting and engaging with the end story and when it isn't viewers will naturally blame and dismiss the whole series. Yes, there are a lot of overdone elements like being poisoned or fighting between princes or the revenge of our main ML. That's fine when the viewer still feels like the characters and world are different enough and I did. There are enough variations and directions that are unique to this story for it to not feel like 'this has been done before'. I truly was most disappointed with the last 10 episodes or so especially with the writing and story points they went with and felt the saying 'there is no bad script only bad actors' is not true. I just didn't like, and I think most viewers really didn't like the way things played out in the last 10 episodes or so.
I will say that the pacing was good. It didn't have a lot if dead weight gaps or too much back story-telling. Some minor storyboarding issues, but most dramas have a few. The episodes have good flow for the most part.
We don't need to tear down the actors or the drama. It definitely missed and I'm sure everybody is disappointed. But even still, we are all thankful for the hard work the actors and crew put in so we could have something to watch. This work is grueling, but it doesn't need to be thankless. They really work hard during these dramas whether it turns out to be good or popular or not and for us who sit on our butts doing nothing but watching to be so harsh is not cool.
Honestly, I have rewatched his drama three times now. I skip through the parts that are just ugh and enjoy what is decent. Most of it is actually great. Having now watched 'Love in the Clouds' and 'shadow love' I'm just like, oh sh*t this is actually better than I really gave it credit...because those two...those are bad...like really bad and disappointing.
First off, let's address the acting. Liu Xui Yi is a great actor and delivers a great and believable performance. He is always fantastic. I really like how he plays this character in this drama. Meng Ziyi does a good job. Could she have done better? Sure, any actor can. But she did actually do a good job and I did enjoy her in this role. All the other actors and their acting were fine as well. Most the characters were interesting. There really wasn't any terrible acting. Just that one ridiculous love affair which was just too ridiculous and gross for me.
Second, the sets and the costumes. Everything was truly beautiful and rich in colour and textures and it all really set a deep and emotional and thrilling vibe. The sets felt new and unique, so they created a fresh world to engage with. The first six or so episodes have been quite stunning and really got us excited for what could come.
I can't remember the music. I think it was average, which is fine.
So what are some of the biggest issues that played into viewers disliking the drama? For one, the main twist in the story which just seemed so over-the-top and random at the same time. I didn't really feel like there was too much filler or fluff. But there was enough clipped scenes which will make scenes seem abrupt or static because the editing seems to be clipping movements or space. I noticed this more with the fight scenes, so they don't feel flued. This is actually a failure to the actors because for viewers it makes it seem like an acting problem but its not necessarily. There are also some minor inconsistencies that occur throughout the drama, but we see this in almost every drama as well. Also some CGI issues here and there.
The story set up did give us interesting characters, some good plot points, and the story had the making for something great! Which is why the writing having fallen short for the end story is so disappointing. We always hope the story will become more interesting and engaging with the end story and when it isn't viewers will naturally blame and dismiss the whole series. Yes, there are a lot of overdone elements like being poisoned or fighting between princes or the revenge of our main ML. That's fine when the viewer still feels like the characters and world are different enough and I did. There are enough variations and directions that are unique to this story for it to not feel like 'this has been done before'. I truly was most disappointed with the last 10 episodes or so especially with the writing and story points they went with and felt the saying 'there is no bad script only bad actors' is not true. I just didn't like, and I think most viewers really didn't like the way things played out in the last 10 episodes or so.
I will say that the pacing was good. It didn't have a lot if dead weight gaps or too much back story-telling. Some minor storyboarding issues, but most dramas have a few. The episodes have good flow for the most part.
We don't need to tear down the actors or the drama. It definitely missed and I'm sure everybody is disappointed. But even still, we are all thankful for the hard work the actors and crew put in so we could have something to watch. This work is grueling, but it doesn't need to be thankless. They really work hard during these dramas whether it turns out to be good or popular or not and for us who sit on our butts doing nothing but watching to be so harsh is not cool.
Honestly, I have rewatched his drama three times now. I skip through the parts that are just ugh and enjoy what is decent. Most of it is actually great. Having now watched 'Love in the Clouds' and 'shadow love' I'm just like, oh sh*t this is actually better than I really gave it credit...because those two...those are bad...like really bad and disappointing.
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