Why did they make this
As an avid lost tomb fan, I understand the need for them to remake the first season, what with it being pulled off air and also 10 years old now. Every decision after that has left me kind of baffled. From the tone, to the decision to extend the season to contain multiple tombs, each one felt like it was made without proper consideration of how this is a very beloved story with a lot of existing IP to compare it to. Even on its own, it's just not that good of a show.
Tone: The opening scene of the show set the tone for the rest of the episodes and it pissed me off so badly I had run it back to make sure I wasn't being pranked. A large part of why the Lost Tomb draws so many people in is because you feel so connected to Wu Xie and the initial mystery. You start off just as naive as Wu Xie as to where the story is going to take you which makes for an incredibly engaging series because you are discovering things in real time with him. This season immediately throws you information you are not supposed to find out for ages and sets the tone to be dark and gritty, not a fun adventure, which is what it is originally supposed to be. This trend of revealing important information way too early continues for the entire season and the really takes you out of the immersive experience you are supposed to be having with Wu Xie. I'm getting mad thinking about it again.
Acting/Characters: All of the actors in this were actually quite good. I thought that the new Wu Xie and Wu San Xing had great chemistry as nephew/uncle and that the choice of actor for Zhang Qiling (arguable the hardest role to fill, especially when we are just getting introduced to him) was strong. Pang Ze did fine since he's a bit less fleshed out in the beginning and Pan Zi's actor was a little odd for who he is supposed to be but a fine actor none the less. What lost me was the chemistry, as in there was no chemistry between the Iron Triangle. The root of the entire series, outside of the mystery, is that the Iron Triangle have this incredible bond. None of the three of them had chemistry with each other that made me want to see more of them interacting. It made watching it a much greater slog than it already was, which sucked because it was only 18 episodes long. However, I was so endeared by Xu Zhen Xuan as Wu Xie and his facial expressions that I was willing to forgive.
Sets: That forgiveness was revoked IMMEDIATELY when I saw the sets we were working with. The first "tomb" was fine, it's not hard to improve upon the original from a decade ago, but the proceeding sets? How are you going to let a show that came out 5 years ago make sets 10x better! Like half of the excitement in tomb raiding shows are the tombs and they did such a poor job making them feel real and not just like dressed up sound stages. I actually started to get angry at how much better the 2019 version was, which shouldn't be a problem if you never watched that, but I don't think the sets hold up on their own either against a 2025 standard.
Visuals: The show looked fine. Not great, often times much too dark, and there were a lot of cuts that are unfortunately common in these types of cdramas so I won't count that against it. The direct did not do anything special, none of the shots felt particularly weighty even in moments that deserved more emotional heft or focus, instead making everything kind of blend together. The cgi was also disappointing and ugly. It was also disappointing that they lost a lot of the rich visuals that the 2019 series had. The flashbacks looked cheap and were hard to distinguish as flashbacks, the lighting was flat for the most part, and they didn't give you time to absorb scenes, most of the time they just kept everyone moving constantly.
Music: There is one song in the show I cannot find anywhere but was so beautiful that I am debating screen recording the scene and taking out the show sounds just to have it, which is deeply on par for a lost tomb series.
Lost Tomb shows get money put into them, I know that much, but all of it must have gone into the casting because I couldn't find it anywhere else. My honest advice is look up what happens in the first tomb (the original first season is straight up bad) and then start with the 2019 show instead of this. You will gain a lot more of a feel for the characters and be much more immersed in the mystery if you do it that way, rather than watching this.
Tone: The opening scene of the show set the tone for the rest of the episodes and it pissed me off so badly I had run it back to make sure I wasn't being pranked. A large part of why the Lost Tomb draws so many people in is because you feel so connected to Wu Xie and the initial mystery. You start off just as naive as Wu Xie as to where the story is going to take you which makes for an incredibly engaging series because you are discovering things in real time with him. This season immediately throws you information you are not supposed to find out for ages and sets the tone to be dark and gritty, not a fun adventure, which is what it is originally supposed to be. This trend of revealing important information way too early continues for the entire season and the really takes you out of the immersive experience you are supposed to be having with Wu Xie. I'm getting mad thinking about it again.
Acting/Characters: All of the actors in this were actually quite good. I thought that the new Wu Xie and Wu San Xing had great chemistry as nephew/uncle and that the choice of actor for Zhang Qiling (arguable the hardest role to fill, especially when we are just getting introduced to him) was strong. Pang Ze did fine since he's a bit less fleshed out in the beginning and Pan Zi's actor was a little odd for who he is supposed to be but a fine actor none the less. What lost me was the chemistry, as in there was no chemistry between the Iron Triangle. The root of the entire series, outside of the mystery, is that the Iron Triangle have this incredible bond. None of the three of them had chemistry with each other that made me want to see more of them interacting. It made watching it a much greater slog than it already was, which sucked because it was only 18 episodes long. However, I was so endeared by Xu Zhen Xuan as Wu Xie and his facial expressions that I was willing to forgive.
Sets: That forgiveness was revoked IMMEDIATELY when I saw the sets we were working with. The first "tomb" was fine, it's not hard to improve upon the original from a decade ago, but the proceeding sets? How are you going to let a show that came out 5 years ago make sets 10x better! Like half of the excitement in tomb raiding shows are the tombs and they did such a poor job making them feel real and not just like dressed up sound stages. I actually started to get angry at how much better the 2019 version was, which shouldn't be a problem if you never watched that, but I don't think the sets hold up on their own either against a 2025 standard.
Visuals: The show looked fine. Not great, often times much too dark, and there were a lot of cuts that are unfortunately common in these types of cdramas so I won't count that against it. The direct did not do anything special, none of the shots felt particularly weighty even in moments that deserved more emotional heft or focus, instead making everything kind of blend together. The cgi was also disappointing and ugly. It was also disappointing that they lost a lot of the rich visuals that the 2019 series had. The flashbacks looked cheap and were hard to distinguish as flashbacks, the lighting was flat for the most part, and they didn't give you time to absorb scenes, most of the time they just kept everyone moving constantly.
Music: There is one song in the show I cannot find anywhere but was so beautiful that I am debating screen recording the scene and taking out the show sounds just to have it, which is deeply on par for a lost tomb series.
Lost Tomb shows get money put into them, I know that much, but all of it must have gone into the casting because I couldn't find it anywhere else. My honest advice is look up what happens in the first tomb (the original first season is straight up bad) and then start with the 2019 show instead of this. You will gain a lot more of a feel for the characters and be much more immersed in the mystery if you do it that way, rather than watching this.
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