Salatheel

Another Chinese romance from the mould. It’s a style that reminds me of a lazy summer holiday, where nothing much happens, the sun shines, there’s a couple of rainy days and occasionally you go see some sights, but mainly hang out on the beach under an umbrella listening to the sounds of waves lapping the shore. In true Chinese fashion, the goodies get the prizes, the baddies get punished and the occasional grey character reaches self improving realisations and regrets their transgressions. All nice and clean, warm and cosy.

It’s a pleasurable enough state and let’s face it, we all want that unchallenging moral certainty. Especially in the current global crisis, it’s a place to hide in and recuperate.

However, I must admit that my comfy satisfaction was constantly under threat of disintegration because of wardrobe malfunctions. Poor Chen Xing Xu. I can’t believe that he has ever been so badly turned out in his life. Imagine turning up to work in something cool, and then having to change into a suit disaster in turd brown, so big it looks like an 80s power jacket with the shoulder pads removed, cut so badly that the sleeves pucker and wrinkle at the top and pants that made his bum look saggy. All whipped up in a shoddy material made from recycled plastic bags and bubble wrap. Not be outdone however, Lu Yu Xiao was all dumbed down in a similar shit brown potato sack at one point, and was forced into shoes that looked like steel toe caps on a night out. The only character who looked the part was Dai Xu, maybe he had a clause in his contract…

To be honest, this one didn’t shine above the average for me. The chemistry was a bit lacking, more on his side than hers I think. The scripted murder mystery theme provided a great start but wasn’t really woven into the story very well later on and promised more than was delivered.