"Fractured Fairytale" Fails to Fascinate
Firstly, please allow me to state that I don't like to rate shows poorly, and always look for the positive so that a review can be fair and not a waste of the reader's time.
There are many positives here. FL and ML both employ excellent acting skills with the roles they are given. I would expect a high standard from ML in particular; I do like both of these actors and consider that they did a great job of showing the way it affects a relationship and the individual feelings of the two people involved when someone is considered to be repulsive or monstrous in appearance.
The secondary couples have to carry a heavy load in keeping the story moving along when it is has such a tendency to drag heavily due to very little action in the plot. I particularly enjoyed the Kitten and the Snake. Their acting was good, their characters credible and enjoyable, and they kept me going when I wanted to give up watching.
The plot was paper thin and many characters alarmingly shallow, to the point of being unbelievably stupid or just downright annoying. One had to suspend logic a number of times. I would expect that in a fairy tale, but when it grates, it means it isn't really working.
For example, the princess was, as some reviewers state, "kidnapped" and therefore well within her rights to behave a certain way. OK. Well, if CZY wants to kidnap me and hold me hostage in a palace with a full time servant, deal me in. Many of the obstacles in the story arose from the princess's own selfishness, sense of entitlement, and lack of regard for other people. She caused a problem in the very beginning by rudely barging in on someone's private space, and that caused an ongoing issue for which she continually blamed the other person and insisted on receiving an apology for, even though she herself was the cause of this and many other misunderstandings. She had no problem with being dishonest herself. I was particularly upset by the princess using drugs to manipulate somebody; the first time was potentially excusable, but by the second time she knew she was doing harm. Nevertheless, she continued to fully believe in and throw herself into her "victim" role.
As such, it was very difficult for me to "warm" to the princess character.
The FL's costumes were gorgeous but ML's make up was a bit dodgy. And a criminal over-use of false eyelashes!
All the usual C-drama tropes were there - do they have to be there or a show doesn't get funding?
*girl whirls under falling blossom
*obsessed unwelcome girl turns up out of nowhere (in dire need of a psychiatrist)
*nasty dad uses innocent victim daughter
*cute child
*spoilt didi
*pushy a-yi
*nasty suitor
*spitting up blood
*camera angle from the bottom end of the sword blade
*slashing self with sword for essential blood products
*heroic self-slaughter
and so on...
Some lovely songs which I shall continue to listen to, and a very creative use of durian.
There are many positives here. FL and ML both employ excellent acting skills with the roles they are given. I would expect a high standard from ML in particular; I do like both of these actors and consider that they did a great job of showing the way it affects a relationship and the individual feelings of the two people involved when someone is considered to be repulsive or monstrous in appearance.
The secondary couples have to carry a heavy load in keeping the story moving along when it is has such a tendency to drag heavily due to very little action in the plot. I particularly enjoyed the Kitten and the Snake. Their acting was good, their characters credible and enjoyable, and they kept me going when I wanted to give up watching.
The plot was paper thin and many characters alarmingly shallow, to the point of being unbelievably stupid or just downright annoying. One had to suspend logic a number of times. I would expect that in a fairy tale, but when it grates, it means it isn't really working.
For example, the princess was, as some reviewers state, "kidnapped" and therefore well within her rights to behave a certain way. OK. Well, if CZY wants to kidnap me and hold me hostage in a palace with a full time servant, deal me in. Many of the obstacles in the story arose from the princess's own selfishness, sense of entitlement, and lack of regard for other people. She caused a problem in the very beginning by rudely barging in on someone's private space, and that caused an ongoing issue for which she continually blamed the other person and insisted on receiving an apology for, even though she herself was the cause of this and many other misunderstandings. She had no problem with being dishonest herself. I was particularly upset by the princess using drugs to manipulate somebody; the first time was potentially excusable, but by the second time she knew she was doing harm. Nevertheless, she continued to fully believe in and throw herself into her "victim" role.
As such, it was very difficult for me to "warm" to the princess character.
The FL's costumes were gorgeous but ML's make up was a bit dodgy. And a criminal over-use of false eyelashes!
All the usual C-drama tropes were there - do they have to be there or a show doesn't get funding?
*girl whirls under falling blossom
*obsessed unwelcome girl turns up out of nowhere (in dire need of a psychiatrist)
*nasty dad uses innocent victim daughter
*cute child
*spoilt didi
*pushy a-yi
*nasty suitor
*spitting up blood
*camera angle from the bottom end of the sword blade
*slashing self with sword for essential blood products
*heroic self-slaughter
and so on...
Some lovely songs which I shall continue to listen to, and a very creative use of durian.
Was this review helpful to you?
