A Chinese Odyssey: Part Three Movie Review

Title: A Chinese Odyssey Part Three

Genre: Fantasy, Comedy, Folklore, Action

Release Date: September 14, 2016

Origin: China

Cast: Han Geng, Tiffany Tang, Jacky Wu Jing and Karen Mok.

This is the third movie in the franchise, and a different twist to the original ending of part two.

After getting a hold of Pandoras Box, Zi Xia (Tiffany Tang) uses it to see into the future, of how she and Joker (Han Geng) are going to be in the future, only to witness her own death. When returning, she tries to read Jokers heart, and finds out that if he falls in love with her, she is bound to die, but might have a different fate if he returns to Bak Jing Jing (Karen Mok). This leads her to look for Jing Jing, who not only doesn’t believe Zi Xia, but refuses to accept Joker as the Monkey King.

As a last resort she decides to look for the Bull King (Zhang Chao) and marry him, in order to make Joker forget about her, but Joker who already has fallen for Zi Xia, saves her and ends up in a fight with the Bull King. During all this, the Longevity Monk (Jacky Wu Jing) finds Joker, to tell him about his identity. At the same time, the Monkey Kings arch enemy the Six Ears Monkey (Han Geng), with the Jade Emperor, try to take down the possible rebirth of the Monkey King…

To tell the truth, Han Geng was the reason I opted to watch this trilogy. I had seen that the third instalment had Han Geng as the lead, which is why I watched the entire thing. Though I have to say Han Geng was amazing, in portrayal of the monkey king, and the imitation of Stephen Chow, which by the way was flawless. The cameos were great too, and I gotta admit, I enjoyed this movie, though I was hoping for something different. It wasn’t necessarily boring, but I wasn’t totally into it, as the storyline was a bit… the same? I mean, I get it’s the third instalment, and we are doing the entire “retelling of the second movie”, but I honestly felt, I could’ve done without this movie.

So, all in all, an enjoyable movie, but noting out of the ordinary.

☆☆☆½ / 3½ out of 5 stars

♥♥♥ / 3 out of 5 hearts

Queen of the Ring Review

Title: Queen of the Ring

AKA: Three Color fantasy – Queen of the Ring

Genre: Romance, Fantasy

Episodes: 6

Broadcast Period: Mar-2017 to Mar-2017

Cast: Kim Seul Gi, Ahn Hyo Seop, Yoon So Hoon, Hwang Jung Min, Jeon No Min, Lee Tae Sun, Choi Tae Hwan,

Story about a girl Nan Hee (Kim Seul Gi) who does not believe in herself because she feels she does not look as pretty as others. One day she receives a ring which holds a family secret. Due to the magical ring, she gets Se Gun (Ahn Hyo Seop) who's a handsome guy but has a cold-blooded personality to see her as his ideal type.

It’s a very short cute love story. I don’t have much to say about it than if you have an evening where you are not doing anything, this would be a nice way to fill up your time. Kim Seul Gi never sieze to amaze us with her humoristic acting. And Ahn Hyo Seop is a newbie who I’m pretty sure everyone is looking forward to see more of him. All in all, I wouldn’t let this little gem go lost.

☆☆☆☆  / 4 out of 5 stars

♥♥♥♥ / 4 out of 5 hearts 

KO One Re:member Review

Title: KO One: Remember

AKA: KO One 4

Genre: Comedy, Fantasy, Action, Romance

Episodes: 60

Broadcast period: 2016-Jun to 2016-Sept

Opening song: Boyz on Fire by SpeXial

Ending song: I'm not the one you love by Pets Tseng

Cast: Pets Tseng, Lou Hong Zheng, Huang Wei Jin, Sylvia Wang, Zhao Zhi Wei and Chen De Xiu.

After receiving news about K.O One class being in danger, Lei Ting (Pets Tseng) and Xiu (Chen De Xiu) return to the gold dimension, only to be separated. Xiu manages to return to the class and meets up with Gu Zhan (Lou Hong Zheng), Zhi Ge (Huang Wei Jin) and Qiu Qiu (Sylvia Wang), but unfortunately Ling Tei seems to have disappeared. They soon track her down to a house, where they meet a trio from another school led by Zhi (Zhao Zhi Wei), though the trio admits to finding her, but haven't done anything to her. Tension arise, Lei Ting appears, but she seems to have lost her memories.
While the K.O One class try to help Lei Ting retrieve her memories, there seems to be other forces going about the gold dimension, and soon enough even Lei Ting acts very different than usual...

Out of all K.O. One seasons, this one has the best quality when it comes to the fighting scenes/use of magic. Also, this is the first season without Wang Da Dong (Jiro Wang), which means the storyline follows the "newer" characters that weren't in the very first season. This also means the K.O. series has changed both leads and shifted the narrative. This isn't necessary bad, as it kind of needed some freshness to it, and these actors actually manage to keep it interesting. Unfortunately, the only thing that I really liked in this drama was the couple of Gu Zhan and Qiu Qiu: everything else was way too 'melodrama' and there was a huge lack of fighting. I know that K.O. One isn't only about the fighting, but considering the title "K.O. One", the drama should be about the K.O. ranking, which was only mentioned very few times. And they really saved a lot of fighting for some reason. Even though the acting and the dialogues were good, there were too many fillers to be honest. I was actually yearning for more lead couple moments because of it – which by the is one the reasons for my rating. Another one is because, even if this is on the frivolous side, the overall acting is quite great.
So in all, an okay fourth instalment of the drama :)

☆☆☆ / 3 out of 5 stars

♥♥♥½ / 3½ out of 5 hearts

My Only Love Song Review

Title: My Only Love Song

Genre: Fantasy, historical, Romance, Comedy

Episodes: 20

Broadcast Period: Jun-2017

Cast: Lee Jong Hyun, Gong Seung Yun, Lee Jae Jin, Kim Yun Seo, Ahn Bo Hyun, Park Joo Hyung, Lee Chul Min,

Soo Jung (Gong Seung Yeon) is a conceited pop star who believes that status and money can get you anywhere. She accidentally falls into a time-slip portal and travels to the past, specifically to 6th-century Goguryeo, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, while it is under the reign of King Pyeongwon. There she meets On Dal (Lee Jong Hyun), a man who loves money and will do anything to earn it. However, he has a soft spot for the weak and helpless, and gives to them with a generous heart.

A little gem Netflix decided to release back in June. I watched it a few days after it was released (yes, I’m so behind with this review), and literally I watched it in one night. It just grabbed me and didn’t let go, and for so many reasons it’s still vivid in my memory, like it was yesterday. I love web dramas, that are invested in. Because there are some of them that are just pure failure, but this one had a quality as if it was a full broadcast network drama. Why I liked it? The sassy actress/princess, I can’t emphasize how much I loved watching her. Some actresses fail in being feisty and lively because there are just so many characters like that, but Gong Seung Yun did a splendid job by making the character unique. Lee Jong Hyun was also good, he has definitely put his idol image aside and turned into a real actor. I liked the story, it wasn’t a new concept, but overall it’s enjoyable, however one thing that bugged me is that I just couldn't figure out the connection between the title and the storyline. Maybe if some of you understood, please let me know.
Like I said in the beginning, since the quality of the production shined through, there are no major things that would bother you. So definitely a weekend watch, and it’s so easy if you have Netflix ;)

☆☆☆☆ / 4 out of 5 stars

♥♥♥♥ (1/2) / 4 (1/2) out of 5 hearts

The Legend of the Blue Sea Review

Title: The Legend of the Blue Sea

AKA: Remember the Blue Sea

Genre: Romance, Fantasy, Comedy

Episodes: 20

Broadcast Period: Nov-2016 to Jan-2017

Cast: Jun Ji Hyun, Lee Min Ho, Lee Hee Joon, Shin Won Ho, Lee Ji Hoon, Hwang Shin Hye, Shin Hye Sun, 

Sometime during August, 1598, newly appointed governor Dam Ryung (Lee Min Ho) stays for a night at an inn run by Mr. Yang (Sung Dong Il). During that evening, Mr. Yang shows Dam Ryung a captured mermaid named Sim Chung (Jun Ji Hyun). Later that night, Dam Ryung releases her into the ocean and, before she swims away, Sim Chung reaches out her hand to Dam Ryung which he briefly holds.

In the present day, Joon Jae (Lee Min Ho) is a smooth talking conman with magician like abilities. He works with Nam Doo (Lee Hee Joon) and Tae Oh (Shin Won Ho). For their next score, Joon Jae impersonates a prosecutor and swindles a large amount of money from a wealthy suspect's mother. Joon Jae then travels abroad and stays at an oceanside resort. Meanwhile, Sim Chung is swept up in a tidal wave and washed ashore near the oceanside resort.

It has been a while ago since I watched this drama, and my review was half finished, so I’m just going to try and sum up what I feel about it with the memory of it. I can already now say that it didn’t have an exceptional impact on me. It had the same feeling over it like  My Love From Another Star, and since it’s the same actress too, Jun Ji Hyun, I kinda expected something different. But I guess these kind of roles are her expertise, so she stays in the same lane. Lee Min Ho, I don’t know what to say, individually he didnt impress me, but as a couple with Jun Ji Hyun I kind of enjoyed their chemistry and humour. So I would say what saved him was his co-actors too, the 2 other conmans. One thing that stood out in this drama, was the beautiful cinematography, that I enjoyed for sure. I know this drama was really popular, but for me it didn’t hit all my expectations.

☆☆☆ ½ / 3½  out of 5 stars

♥♥♥ / 3 out of 5 hearts

Angel N Devil Review

Title: Angel N Devil

Genre: Fantasy, School, Idol

Episodes: 26

Broadcast period: 2014-Nov to 2015-feb

Cast: Sylvia Wang, Simon Lian, Teddy Chen, Cosmos Lin, Cheng Yu Xi, Lou Hong Zheng, Huang Wei Jin, Chen De Xiu, Lucia Chen, Ting Liu, Allie Jie and Sunnee Yang.

This story is the continuation of the Zhong Ji Series, but in the Copper Dimension.

Kate (Cosmos Lin), Yan Yan (Lucia Chen), Xiang Ning (Ting Liu), Allie (Allie Ji), Ding Dang (Sunnee Yang) and Xiao Yang (Cheng Yu Xi) are six high schoolers, living in the copper dimension. All sic have signed a contract with the guardian of light Xiong Ya (Teddy Chen) in exchange of one wish to come true. They fight the evils and demons, and protect the innocent at night.

One night while fighting a demon, Xiao Yang is attacked and dies as a result. The groups become bent of finding the killer, and soon meet Yin Xiao Feng (Sylvia Wang), who claims to be her younger sister.  At first the group is mistrusting, until they notice her fighting power. They decide to introduce her to the world, but Xiao Feng is reluctant to join. Wondering why her sister would sign a contract that would enable her to get harmed, for one wish, she questions Xiong Ya about it. She is told that her sisters wish is to keep Wang Cha Li (Simon Lian) out of danger and protect him. Soon she meets Cha Li, and finds out that he is Xiao Yangs boyfriend.

The two dislike each other at first, but when Xiao Feng signs the contract to find her sisters killer, the two find middle ground and decide to join forces…

Hmm, not sure of I got all it completely right with the summary, but I think most of it fits.

Continuing the series, this one has all the new actors from the Zhong Ji universe, though the characters are not the same. There is a small resemblance, but I think this series has the new cast in focus, mainly the A’N’D idol group. Though SpeXial is in it (and ends up taking more screen time than the girls), the main story is the girls and Sylvia Wang.

Considering its predecessors, this is a bit on the lower side of the bar, though the storyline is good. Unfortunately, there are too many fillers, and not a real guide for the new actors - they really are green. The ending was supposed to be epic, but was rather a headscratcher.  And the saddest part is that the stars in this one is Lou Hong Zheng, Huang Wei Jin and Chen De Xiu, though Sylvia Wang has moments.

All in all, a decent drama, but not that exciting - unless you really like the girl group A’N’D (and boyband SpeXial).

☆☆☆ / 3 out of 5 stars

♥♥♥½ / 3½ out of 5 hearts