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Deng Kai in this is like Niki Lauda riding around in a 1989 Ford Fiesta.
Deng Kai.
We know he has charisma to burn. He has star power. But his range and depth - while improving all the time - can only get better with practice. He needs to keep working, keep working, keep taking new roles. No job is too small or too large for Deng Kai. But in a bad production, he's about as inconspicuous as a giant tiger trying to hide behind a fake palm tree.
The discerning reader such as yourself has probably already ascertained that I'm calling this a bad production. And indeed I am. That 7 is plus about 2 points just for Deng Kai alone.
What's wrong with this thing.
First off, the story is A) just dumb and B) it doesn't follow an emotionally logical chain of events. And therefore, it's not emotionally believable. That right there is the death knell for a romance drama. So you can just close the book on it before you even start.
But there's more. We got a few good outfits, but there's also a lot of drab clothes. And there's nothing lyrical, profound, poetic, or elevated about the dialogue at all. Not even during confessions. Daisy Li was unable to keep up with the demands of the FL's character, and **honestly who can blame her**. They ask too much of her, and of the viewer. So the performance came out looking passable at best. And same goes for the extras who apparently were chosen because they all just happen to be nearby that day and were just pulled off the lighting and sound crews and the food truck or somethin. 2ML ---aishhhhhhh idk. He's young, and needs experience, but --- let's just say he's not attention grabbing and he has to overcome the mid-tier face card the Creator bestowed him with. And the bgm/ost volume vs dubbing is way way out of whack, some of the notes the female singer hits sound like a cat yowling and your ears are like WHOA, bring it down.
Makeup.
On the good side. This stylist was working with the philosophy that you should enhance a person's NATURAL beauty. And I do like that very much.
But on the bad side. This entire drama looked like a BB cream sales convention. I have no idea how much BB cream was used in the production of this drama, but somebody should have taken a credit card and scraped it off everyone's face at the end of the day and put it in a big pile and then sent it to Guinness world records to have it officially weighed. And this stylist likes to pat - not lightly dust, but pat - powder into the surface of the BB cream. The effect is not great. The lighting and rez are unforgiving to the makeup techniques that were used.
Between that and the stupid hairstyles, they managed to age Deng Kai for the screen by like 10-15 years. Good job, guys.
Without Deng Kai in this drama, there is nothing to watch it for. So I'd recc it ONLY to people interested in following his career. Even as a red-flag romance, there's dozens of dramas that have done the same thing, only with far more style and sophistication.
Do you want a ride in an old piece of sh*t Ford Fiesta? No. Do you want a ride in an old piece of sh*t Ford Fiesta but only Deng Kai is driving it?
That's the only question you have to ask yourself here.
We know he has charisma to burn. He has star power. But his range and depth - while improving all the time - can only get better with practice. He needs to keep working, keep working, keep taking new roles. No job is too small or too large for Deng Kai. But in a bad production, he's about as inconspicuous as a giant tiger trying to hide behind a fake palm tree.
The discerning reader such as yourself has probably already ascertained that I'm calling this a bad production. And indeed I am. That 7 is plus about 2 points just for Deng Kai alone.
What's wrong with this thing.
First off, the story is A) just dumb and B) it doesn't follow an emotionally logical chain of events. And therefore, it's not emotionally believable. That right there is the death knell for a romance drama. So you can just close the book on it before you even start.
But there's more. We got a few good outfits, but there's also a lot of drab clothes. And there's nothing lyrical, profound, poetic, or elevated about the dialogue at all. Not even during confessions. Daisy Li was unable to keep up with the demands of the FL's character, and **honestly who can blame her**. They ask too much of her, and of the viewer. So the performance came out looking passable at best. And same goes for the extras who apparently were chosen because they all just happen to be nearby that day and were just pulled off the lighting and sound crews and the food truck or somethin. 2ML ---aishhhhhhh idk. He's young, and needs experience, but --- let's just say he's not attention grabbing and he has to overcome the mid-tier face card the Creator bestowed him with. And the bgm/ost volume vs dubbing is way way out of whack, some of the notes the female singer hits sound like a cat yowling and your ears are like WHOA, bring it down.
Makeup.
On the good side. This stylist was working with the philosophy that you should enhance a person's NATURAL beauty. And I do like that very much.
But on the bad side. This entire drama looked like a BB cream sales convention. I have no idea how much BB cream was used in the production of this drama, but somebody should have taken a credit card and scraped it off everyone's face at the end of the day and put it in a big pile and then sent it to Guinness world records to have it officially weighed. And this stylist likes to pat - not lightly dust, but pat - powder into the surface of the BB cream. The effect is not great. The lighting and rez are unforgiving to the makeup techniques that were used.
Between that and the stupid hairstyles, they managed to age Deng Kai for the screen by like 10-15 years. Good job, guys.
Without Deng Kai in this drama, there is nothing to watch it for. So I'd recc it ONLY to people interested in following his career. Even as a red-flag romance, there's dozens of dramas that have done the same thing, only with far more style and sophistication.
Do you want a ride in an old piece of sh*t Ford Fiesta? No. Do you want a ride in an old piece of sh*t Ford Fiesta but only Deng Kai is driving it?
That's the only question you have to ask yourself here.
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