A refreshingly light approach
The "FL with a terminal illness" trope is one that has been used (and sometimes, abused) over and over in Japanese cinematography, be it in movies or in dramas. It would therefore be quite understandable that viewers might feel a bit wary of the Nth tale featuring said trope. But if they were to shy away from this movie because of that, well, they'd make a terrible mistake, imho. This one is a fresh take on the old trope, graced by some nice writing, by a fantastic performance from both leads (Nagasaku Hiromi and Sasaki Kuranosuke), and last but not least, by a light approach on this tough topic which gives it a somehow original flavor.Was this review helpful to you?
Great mystery part, a bit lacking action-wise and in the comedy
A bit weaker than the first movie, this "Detective Chinatown 2" is imho extremely good in the mystery part, where it manages to be interesting and quite gripping, while it lacks a little action-wise, particularly if compared to the previous movie (I suppose that setting it in New York City didn't help with that - I hope the Tokyo setting will provide better action opportunities in the third chapter!). The comedy is also definitely not as effective as it was in the original movie: Tang Ren's character is often way over the top and sometimes even borderline annoying; also the supporting characters left me with mixed feelings, a few of them are a nice touch (like the cute hacker), but most of the others are little more than extras and don't add much at all.Was this review helpful to you?
Weak script...
Sooner or later it was bound to happen: here's the first C-drama that left me with a "meh" impression...^_^;Okay, this was my first "wuxia" and I have to confess it didn't leave me wanting for more of that genre.
But let's start with the good points: I decided to watch it because I had been very favorably impressed by Dai Lu Wa in "When We Were Young", and I can't say that she let me down in this drama, despite her character not being particularly well written (I loved her in the final episode though, LOL! That's how villains should be treated, in my book! ^___-). As far as I'm concerned, though, Jean Kao really stole the scene here (wow, seriously! Gorgeus!). As for the actors, I particularly liked Li Bin, Wei Yi Bo and Zhang Yu Jian. I really loved the costumes and the scenography, as well as the photography; the music too was quite nice.
And now to the drawbacks.
The drama itself could be roughly divided into three chunks: the first one was the most interesting and best done; it got a little confusing in the middle part, which was anyway still enjoyable; the problem is that the last third was barely watchable, with a weak plot, ridiculous villains and generally an inconsistent script which tried to put too much stuff together and failed miserably.
I also found part of the cast way below par (particularly Zhu Jia Zhen, he had me climbing the walls every time he was on screen - as I always say in these cases, "compared to him, even Dick Dastardly from 'Wacky Races' was a realistic, sober and credible villain"!).
Last but not least, I must confess probably not being a big fan of the genre; I suppose it's somehow a cultural limit of mine: just as I'll never understand America's passion for their spandex-clad superheroes - nor Japan's penchant for their "tokusatsu"! >__< - I'll probably never fully get those combats with people flying; as an Italian, if I really have to see actors pretending to fight, I'd choose a "Bud Spencer & Terence Hill" kind of flick any day of the week ^__^; (oh, BTW...Zhang Yu Jian's character actually reminded me a bit of one of those funny types always portrayed by Terence Hill!).
Regardless of personal preferences, though, I still think this show could've been much more enjoyable with a more solid and coherent script; as is, I can't give this anything more than a "7", sorry.
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MASTERPIECE!
I must confess I've never written a review for a drama which already had 49 (FORTY-NINE!) reviews...it's kinda intimidating...^_^;;;Not to mention, you might ask why anybody would want to add just another review...as if there were anything new to say that hasn't been previously discussed, right?
Well, I'm sure that there's nothing new I could actually add to all that the C-dramophiles here have already written, therefore I've decided to write a review targeted at my fellow J-dramophiles, the ones who - like I used to do until last year, before "discovering" C-dramas! - only watch Japanese productions.
Folks, whatever your excuse is for never having tried watching a Chinese production until now, take that excuse, stick it into a deep drawer and forget about it! And don't do it because I'm telling you, no, do it for yourselves! Believe me, you don't want to miss out on gems like this drama! This is a complete masterpiece (yep, you got it: M-A-S-T-E-R-P-I-E-C-E!!!), splendidly written, acted (honorable mentions for Wan Peng, Neo Hou and Dai Lu Wa!), directed, filmed...everything in this production is absolutely *top-notch* (starting with the beautiful opening credits accompanied by that lovely song!) and it'd be such a pity to deprive yourself of the pleasure of watching this only 'cause it doesn't come with a Japanese flag on it, see? ^___-
So, what are you waiting for? Go watch this right now!
I'm pretty sure you'll thank me later! ^___-
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A streetcar named...Hope.
In these chaotic, apocalyptic times we're living in, I've often asked myself "What's the purpose? What are we supposed to do?"...and this short yet splendid SP happens to contain some really good answers.What can humanity do in its darkest hour, when everything seems lost?
We can find hope, it's as simple as that.
And hope can come from all sorts of apparently insignificant (but instead oh so meaningful!) things: a small gesture of generosity from a passer-by, a simple act of selflessness...but also the kindness and compassion we can have for each other, as well as each and every one of the plenty of things we take for granted all the time - but shouldn't! (watch this SP and I'm sure next time you'll see a peach, a 5-yen coin, a cucumber, a wire...and of course, a streetcar!....well, you'll look at them a little differently, and you'll feel thankful).
What more could we ask of a short SP than to teach us such a marvelous lesson?
And while doing so, provide us with the lovely message that, whatever happens, "...NOT EVERYTHING CAN BE DESTROYED".
Great script, wonderful cast, lovely music...in one word: perfect.
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Still, the very good cast (Abe Hiroshi and Oshima Yuko above all else), some very funny comic-relief (Abe Hiroshi on skis is as hilarious as he was in "Kekkon Dekinai Otoko"!) and some pretty sleek action scenes (the "car-chase" with the kei-van and the fantastic snowboard-chase most of all!) grant this movie a solid "7", in my book ^___^
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Still, the screenwriter managed to make this a very pleasant watch by accurately dosing and mixing all the ingredients, adding a lot of funny humor, some brilliant ideas here and there, and some endearing minor characters.
To top it all, the acting is better than average (except for the stone-faced ML whom I found plainly terrible, sorry) and there's some very nice music.
I would've given it an even higher grade, weren't it for the fact that I think 17 episodes were a tad too much, and the last 4 or 5 felt a bit draggy, imho.
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Quality-wise, a real rollercoaster
Already halfway through this "Tamagawa Kuyakusho of the Dead", I started wondering how the heck I was gonna review it. Why? Well, because it is, quality-wise, a real rollercoaster: one moment you climb up high, the next you take a plunge into the abyss! Normally I am a dedicated advocate of comic relief (of course it depends on the genre, but let's simplify a bit for the sake of discussion), but here it is, for the most part, just idiotic (I'd say the decent part is, like, only 10% of it). On the other hand, the "serious" part of the story is where this dorama reaches its high points (take episode 6 as a perfect example of what I'm saying), but the fact that it is so constantly and obnoxiously intertwined with the aforementioned übersilly scenes just ends up stealing some of its value.And that's a real pity, 'cause apart from that, the dorama is surprisingly better than expected. Indeed, by watching the opening credits one might expect one of those westernized dramas that I refer to as "Western TV series in disguise", but it doesn't take long to realize that, luckily, it isn't the case here; yes, the form might be a bit "westernized" sometimes, but the substance, the core, the values...oh, they're all Japanese, folks! Thus the deeply original (and so beautifully humane!) approach to the zombie genre...which, I repeat, without the too many silly scenes would've deserved this title a much higher grade.
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Without the movie it's great but unfinished, with it it's half ruined
I haven't read the manga this dorama is based on, but considering that 99% of times Japanese adaptations from manga are very faithful (sometimes even too much for their own good, but that's another story), I bet the original was a real "page-turner"!The premise is as catchy as they come, the constant twists and turns keep the viewer's interest Everest-high, all the superb cast does - bar one notable exception (*) - a great job (particular praises to Oguri Shun who's very good, to Shibasaki Kou who's a wonderful tsundere, and to the always great Nishida Toshiyuki), and the production level is absolutely top notch. I wasn't enthusiastic about the use of modern music at first (also, not being a fan of recent music - unless it's made to sound like it's older), but I have to admit it kinda works after all.
Honestly, I would've given this a 10, hadn't they decided to scr*w it all up by wrapping the story up lousily in a mostly poorly written, boringly diluted, obnoxiously hollywoodian movie. Without it, the dorama is great but feels unfinished; with it, it's half ruined. What a bad decision!
(*) Horibe Keisuke is plainly terrible as the Shogun (quoting myself from another review: "...compared to him, even Dick Dastardly from "Wacky Races" was a credible, realistic and sober villain!!! >__<")
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Too bad, 'cause everything had been top notch until then: the script, the acting, the photography/directing/editing/etc....
I normally shun remakes, but if this were to be remade, say, by Tom Tykwer (the director of "Lola Rennt" and "Der Krieger + die Kaiserin" - movies that have something in common with this one, imho) and if, while remaking it, they changed the ending...well, in that case I'd very much like to watch said remake! ^__-
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