Salatheel

I could really rip into this on a number of counts, but I think that would be unfair. Because, on its own terms and in its own genre, it’s quite good and sometimes really good. I try to resist the temptation to criticise something for what it never set out to be, and this one is clearly teenage fantasy land as far as romance and politics goes. Therefore to ask it to be sophisticated is not fair. There is a naivety about it that can get quite eye-rolling, particularly as far as the politics goes. But unlike, for instance, Alchemy of Souls, it is well directed with some good performances that help to carry you through the credibility gaps. But unfortunately there are quite a few of those…

But first the good bits. Apart from the CGI, which I’ll get to later, I loved the colour palette for the series. It was rich and saturated and provided a sumptuous backdrop for the action. This was supported by dynamic camera work that helped to focus in on the action.

Having been adapted from a book, there had been some thought put into the formation of the characters which were varied. Because of this, I was never in doubt as to who was who. In general the cast stepped up and delivered, managing to lift an at times banal and clumsy script. You know it’s not good when during the climax you are explaining backstory and the tension plummets. The ultimate villain of the piece however, was fairly cringey. The character was a good idea and Yu Cheng En tried his best, but I don’t think it will be one for his CV. The writing didn’t help him, it was laboured and repetitive. Such a character is hard to get right.

The lovers delivered in spades and there were plenty of opportunities for romantic and playful interaction. I suspect this is the basis for the high rating and if romance is your primary interest, then this is definitely worth a watch. I agree with PeachBlossomGoddess, Hou Ming Hao being drop dead gorgeous doesn’t do any harm and easily papers over any deficiencies in his acting. Lu Yu Xiao melted nicely into his arms and wasn’t too pouty petulant either. There was both chemistry and affection aplenty.

The pacing for the first thirty episodes was very good. It skipped along at a pace that managed to leap across the yawning chasms of the plot holes, giving you no time to reflect on how you nearly crashed and drowned. Unfortunately the last six episodes didn’t make it, more about that in a minute.

Now for the negatives… The basic idea was sound, but the execution of it was sadly lacking. The fantasy magic was an all purpose anti-biotic which cleared up every sort of woe. Just point your fingers and mumble some words that preferably include heart and array, throw in some agonising pain, then without exception it all gets cured. All sorts of previously unheard of miraculous spells and occurrences leap in to quickly dispense with a dilemma. It’s a sign of a badly thought through world building exercise. If the scriptwriter has no concept of how things should work and what the limitations are, then how can the audience invest credibility into it. Yes, it isn’t real, it isn’t possible, it’s fantasy, but, that doesn’t mean that the imaginative element should not have structure and reasoning behind it, rather than just be a convenient way to solve plot problems.

Those last six disastrous episodes… As I said it rips along perfectly well until that is you get to the big plot twist around episode 30. Which instead of landing with a bang, sort of flopped into existence and everything after that just fell apart and underwhelmed. There was too much plot to be adequately explained for the time available and as a consequence the chasms started swallowing chunks of storyline, so that all that was left was random happenings desperately straining to hold onto one other.

But the main reason it didn’t come up to expectations can only be laid at the door of the budget. The CGI and fight sequences were bad. Sorry but there’s no other word for it. The CGI for the qi was very basic and not well integrated into the image. It had a sameness to it that became predictable and unconvincing. The green screens were often lurid instead of subtle, with a colour palette totally out of synch with the overall feel. In a story about warriors, there is naturally an expectation of at least some decent fights. But even the finale followed the same limited point and shoot style and was so easily solved that it made a nonsense of the whole build up beforehand. As for the spinning parasols, I must admit I couldn’t suppress the laughter, you’d think that auto-twirl would have been built into the design, but obviously the props budget couldn’t stretch that far.

This one is for the romance junkies who can overlook its glaring faults.