Heroes (2024)

Three Blind Mice.

The Chinese title of this drama 天行健/Tiān Xíng Jiàn comes from a profound phrase 天行健, 君子以自强不息 from the ancient divination classic I-Ching. Loosely translated, it means in a dynamic world, gentlemen should constantly strive for improvement; to be virtuous. In the context of this drama, it alludes to how three very different individuals struggle for relevance against the overwhelming tide of history.

This production's rich historical and cultural texture has been widely praised by history buffs. The nostalgic opening sequence seamless weaves in scenes from the drama with real footage from that era. It is set in early 1911 which was a pivotal time in modern Chinese history. By then, impoverished by civil strife and foreign incursions, the Qing dynasty was on its last legs. While clearly the time of emperors was ending, China's struggle with what form of government it would adopt went on for almost 40 years. In this story, the court is divided between conservatives (Imperial Household Department) and reformists (Prince Qi); both of whom are trying to preserve some form of constitutional monarchy. Tongmenghui led by Sun Wen (Sun Yat-sen) are rebels who want to do away with the monarchy and go down the path of a democratic republic. The powerful Beiyang Army, (then led by Yuan Shikai, the unnamed fisherman) was a deciding player in Chinese politics right up to 1949 and beyond. At the time, foreign powers including the Japanese, actively meddled in Chinese domestic affairs. Thus while there are indeed too many factions, this accurately depicts the landscape at the time

There is a lot to unpack as this is equally a plot and character driven story. A map leading to a fabled treasure is stolen from the palace. The various factions realize that such a fabulous treasure could make a meaningful difference to the success of their cause. Thus begins a mad dash of a treasure hunt that entangles three individuals who are disenfranchised by the changing times: the personal guard of the deposed Guangxu emperor, a swordsman in the age of guns and a Confucian scholar after the abolition of imperial exams. Can these three blind mice grappling with their own outdated ideals be trusted to see the bigger picture and ensure the treasure ends up in the right hands?

Men Sandao was once the emperor's guard who dared to love a princess. He was imprisoned when the emperor's Hundred Days' Reform failed. Twelve years later, he is freed on the condition he retrieves the fabled treasure that is desperately needed to shore up the national coffers. He is pitted against Zhuo Bufan, the leader of the impoverished Rongtian sect who seeks the treasure as a means to make his sect famous. His nemesis Dagu constable Wang Jialuo doesn't care about the treasure; he just means to hunt down and hold Zhuo Bufan and the Rongtian sect accountable for nine murders in his county. They are all flawed and obsessive characters who are smart yet frustratingly intractable in their beliefs. Even Men Sandao, the fullest and most intriguing character remains true to the only two things that matter to him from the beginning to the end. Similarly, Zhuo Bufan refuses to ditch his cause until his cause abandons him. The greatest zealot is Wang Jialuo, who is the product of everything wrong with the Confucian exam system; a tradition so steeped in rote learning over original thought he is utterly incapable of operating outside of the Qing code.

Men Sandao is Qin Junjie's best role to date, one he delivers with a mastery that matches the stagecraft of the many veteran actors in the cast. The way he habitually held his hands as if they were still in shackles moved me as much as the forlorn tear he shed at Guangxu emperor's grave. His natural chemistry with the rest of the cast elevated the character interactions all around. Despite their conflicting agendas, Men Sandao shared a mutual respect and understanding with Zhuo Bufan and was also able to manage the more difficult Wang Jialuo. I laughed uproariously at how he turned Lucky into his lackey and enjoyed his spirited debates with Liu Lin. I could tell he saw a lot of his younger self in her and their relationship was the one I found most moving. All of the roles that mattered, including the villain roles, were well executed with many memorable scenes featuring Prince Qi, Cunqing and Zhong Haichao. Lin Anjing was the only notable weak link in an otherwise stellar cast.

There is never a dull moment in this well-written screenplay that seamlessly weaves in multiple interlocking character stories into the action and adventure. Told with dark humor, wit and irony, the narrative does not shy away from blood, violence and sudden death. Though a bit a bit heavy on slow motion and close ups, the action scenes are intense and well shot; with the occasional dose of bizarre humor. I laughed hardest at Wang Jialuo's Tarantino like foolish bravado in the face of certain death and his absurd resurrections. But laughter aside, I really didn't much care for him or Zhuo Bufan and their romantic entanglements. The only characters I rooted for were Men Sandao, Gege, Liu Lin and the ubiquitous Lucky with his uncanny knack for popping up just when needed. Though some characters got endings they didn't deserve, the ending overall is quite fitting and not surprising. This is ultimately a dark story, reflective of the times. One of the better dramas of 2024 for me that deserves more attention. I rate this 8.5/10.0.

Scroll down for more detailed spoiler ending thoughts.









MAJOR ENDING SPOILER COMMENTS



I found both Zhuo Bufan and Wang Jialuo's ending very fitting and oddly justified. Make no mistake, Zhuo Bufan was not a great guy. He betrayed many jianghu codes of conduct in his quest for greatness and sacrificed his sect members with callous indifference. It is no wonder they turned on him. He arguably would have never really given up were it not for the fact that the Rongtian sect was no more. He also conveniently forgot he promised Wang Jialuo that he would settle accounts with him and tried to ride off into the sunset after abandoning the treasure hunt. There was so much blood on Zhuo Bufan and Huo Qin’s hands including Wang Jialuo's shifu and the poor, heroic Tan Xian that there had to be consequences. Of course Wang Jialuo was no better and ultimately also betrays his true love and his beloved Qing code in his obsession with closing his case. It is both ironic and fitting that he was his own judge and executioner. It cracked me up that Men Sandao went after him in case for the tenth time he didn’t really die dead.

The most undeserved deaths were those of Lucky and Liu Lin, who were the true heroes of this story. They represented the best, most idealistic and hopeful voices of their movement and the future their world had to change for. Their deaths were not necessary and far more cruel and pointless than telling us that Men Sandao and Gege never reunited after Fujian. In any case, there were no lasting good outcomes for anyone during that time in history. Any survivors would have had to face an ugly 40 years of civil war with Tongmenghui ultimately ending up on the wrong side of history. So it has to be enough that they fought the good fight that led to the movement’s finest moments. RIP Liu Lin and Lucky Hao Han who was definitely a hǎohàn/好汉/good guy but just not that lucky.






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Out with the Ancient & In with the Modern

Finally this elf on a 2 year shelf saw the light of day. I watched this primarily because of LYN and his character as this was again a different role and character for him plus I believe this was his first real foray into martial arts characters. I also knew QJJ from a previous series and a few of the supporting characters. Ironically though they never had a scene together here LYN plays sworn brothers with ZME in Eternal Brotherhood and that was filmed back in 2021, while here the latter was Lucky's Shifu. In any case, I'm glad I watched this as it it was all about out with the ancient and in with the modern.

Pros: They didn't skimp on the martial arts here. That was my number one favorite thing in this entire series. Every episode had at least one great fight be it long or short, the quality was fantastic. From camera angles to the fights themselves. Everyone went all out. Considering they used some actual history here (which I only knew through speaking with others), it looked pretty authentic and believable. From costumes to sets everything was very well done, even the accents of the different region's characters was a nice touch. Favorite OSTs were LYN's and his with JF who played HQ (his lady love). LYN has a very wide range in his vocals so to have someone who can not only match him in harmony, Melody, and power, was impressive to say the least. They made the song sound like something from a powerful western genre.

When it came to favorite characters, I liked MSD aka ML or QJJ the best though ZBF played by LYN came in right on his heels. I like how we didn't know exactly when MSD switched sides because he was always so private and secretive about it, even struggling with it a bit. ZBF was morally grey because of his ambition but a protagonist nonetheless. He was willing to give everything up to live a peaceful life at the end, it's a shame they never got a chance. MSD and ZBF though started out on opposite sides, still respected each other and towards the end there was even a bond between them that was obvious. When these two would lock swords, it was a feast for the eyes. I'd rewind a lot of their fights because that's how awesome they were. Other favorite characters were Gege, LL, Lucky, Getai, the monks, some of the members of ZBF's sect that died, even HQ though she started off whining, she never wavered from her support of ZBF even choosing to die with him.

The story was ever winding and moving, you never felt bored or like it was dragging anywhere. They only found the treasure at the end but the entire thing was about it though with other things too. The ever changing alliances between good and bad also kept things interesting. Not to mention the cheesy introduction that was placed as the opening credits in some of the episodes. When good characters perished, they were given a send off of small clips and a song of how they affected us as viewers or what they wish had happened as opposed to what did. Some really left you feeling the way they died was unfair although you knew the body count would be large. Those clips left you teary-eyed. The show overall was good.

Cons: At first I wanted to add WJL to the pros as he was an important part of the trio and finding the treasure, I really didn't like the way they wrote the character at the end. He was the most stubborn of the three but also the most gullible, naive, and ultimately just plain stupid. He never evolved, in fact he got worse. It was like yes he could recite laws and scriptures but he never knew what any of them of them represented or truly meant. He was dumber than a donkey and it caused him to kill people without even thinking. I hated the way he killed ZBF and HQ (who was technically innocent in his charges to begin with); he executed them by gunfire and a battalion of people; ZBF was severely injured and WJL didn't even fight him sword to sword like he did ZBF's juniors but ambushed him; it was an embarrassment. He went back on his promise to MSD and ZBF in regards to the seal. He literally became the very thing he supposedly despised. The writers really did his character dirty. I would have understood if he never understood why the revolution mattered and stuck to his ways but the fact that he never really understood the very things he learned and became the absolute worse of himself, was de-evolution. In the beginning, he seemed funny because he was like a cat with nine lives, but at the end he just became a repetitive monkey and I was very glad he off'd himself.

LAJ who played the spy aka "lady love" of WJL was probably the worst character in terms of over acting and being horribly unconvincing. If it had been anyone but WJL, she would have been dead long before the third to last episode. I think she was miscast, simple as that. You had all of these actors in both good and evil roles that were nailing it and then you had her and it just fell flat.

Felt like the ending was rushed because they really had to step up the body count; so it took off with YHJ the money whore taking his sect mates, & officially betraying ZBF by severely wounding and nearly killing him twice (second time they were saved by MSD and Lucky), followed by the annihilation of the sect and ZBF and HQ's murders at WJL's and army's hands, bald asswipe general's death, then Lucky, LL, the Japanese spies, and finally WJL himself. All in a span of 2 episodes. Way too much, plus they located the treasure and still had time to give all of the good characters their send offs. They could have spaced that out way better.

Would I recommend it? Despite the flaws as each drama has something; I really enjoyed this one very much. If you like a good storyline, with great martial arts, this is the story for you. Enjoy it.

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A Must Watch if you like history and politics

Intelligent, intriguing and well-directed. I haven't come across a C-drama as riveting as this since The Ingenious One and The Long Ballad. If you enjoy political dramas that are inspired by history, Heroes (2024) might be the one for you. Set in the turbulent period just before the fall of the Qing dynasty, this story artfully and intelligently depicts human nature at its worst and best in times of socio-political instability. In pursuit of ancient treasure that is believed to be able to change the fate of its possessor, the motivations of each protagonist is revealed. Greed, patriotism, political idealism and personal loyalties meet head-on and are called into question as each protagonist fights to get a hold of the treasure.

Plot aside, the acting and fight scenes are stellar. I love how the director wants the actors to speak in accents that are native to each region...although I am not sure if all the actors are able to do it. Cinematography is beautiful as are the sets and costumes. And lastly and by no means the least, the music which is a mixture of traditional Chinese and modern genres is on point, reflecting the atmosphere and feelings of the characters in each scene aptly.

My hope is that this drama sustains my interest till the end and finishes strong.

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Heroes who died on the path of democracy

Overall, I watched a good series. I liked it too. It was a good explanation. There were only disruptions in the last episodes. I think there is a problem with binding the endings. Everyone who participated in the revolution, fought for this cause, and searched for gold died. This was the worst part of the series in my opinion. Was a success story told? Or is it a failure story? Was the revolution successful or not? Did the gold work or not? For example, I didn't understand anything about these. It remained unclear. Most of them ended in betrayal, and the deaths of heroes were truly heartbreaking. It hurt my heart to see lovers parting and saying goodbye together. Especially the incident where Wang Jia Luo killed the woman he loved was very dramatic, perhaps the most crucial part of the series. Others followed him. The events of Bu Fan also dying with the woman he loved and Lin Hao Han being shot were dramatic. Finally, Liu Lin dies while driving. So the last episodes were terrible.
Other episodes, mystery, action, espionage, political and military events were handled well. I like. I wish the ending had been tied up nicely. I liked the actors very much. A bald head suits Qin Jun Jie better. The beauty of your face is revealed. I watched a few TV series of this actor in which he played with this outfit and historical clothes. Her baldness really suits her very well. These roles suit him very well. I saw him with his hair in the last scene and I didn't recognize him. To that degree. It doesn't suit. Maggie Huang has a very beautiful face, I call these faces of four seasons. He has a rare face shape in China. A blessing for an actor. But I don't know if he uses it well. I guess he can't use it. That's why he can't get rid of supporting roles. Maybe he's lazy. I do not know. That's why it is not preferred. If I found such a player, I would definitely not leave him. He is a rare face and with this face he can play any role easily. Big eyes and all. Something rare for a Chinese actress. Li Yui Ning was as usual. I liked it but there was no advantage. Pang Hang Chen actually gave a very good performance. This actor has outdone himself. I liked it very much. Well done. Chen Tiang Ming is really lucky with that face of his. She drew a different character with a grin. He did well. I like. I liked Huang Hao Yie. She was very good. She played a pure and clean role. I didn't like Chen Si Che's scenes very much, except for his death scene. He seems like a bit of a slow player. But he still mastered his role. These were the eyesore. Especially CAST is very well chosen. Everyone played well. I like it a lot. The series dragged me. However, the last episodes made me sad. It left it a bit unclear. I liked the series except for the last episodes. I would recommend it to everyone.

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GREAT DRAMA. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

"The drama tells the story of a group of individuals with different backgrounds who were unexpectedly drawn into a mysterious treasure-hunting journey during the late Qing Dynasty. Amidst the grand and tumultuous historical tide, they gradually strengthened their ideals of saving the country." 4 opposite side groups of people; Loyalist of Qing Imperial Guards lead by Irgen Gioro Mu Qing / "Men San Dao" (Qin Jun Jie), ambitious little RongTian Sword Sect lead by Zhuo Bu Fan (Liu Yu Ning), Single unnerving Dagu County Yamen constable Wang Jia Luo (Pang Han Chen), plus Japanese agents. In the beginning these people meet like domino effects: Men San Dao's people are pursuing traitor the WuZu Reformers, Wang Jia Luo is pursuing killers in his jurisdiction which're RongTian Sword Sect people, Zhuo Bu Fan's sect are pursuing treasure map helping Prince Qi the head of rebel, as wells as Japanese agents for treasury map.

They're colluded as their case are interconnected and interference in each other throats. They out smart each other, work in their group with each dilemmas and love interest, everyone has a spy around them to hijack the mission.
So far, I only watch up to ep 11 and still going on but....

What I love about this drama is the opening credit: Black and white videos of Chinese lifestyle in Shanghai, historical facts about concession of Japanese, English, France, American authorities in 19th century Shanghai. All actors acting remarkably good from the Main Leads and supporting actors, scripts is flowing flawless great, awesome action, subtle romances, setting and costumes are beautifully appropriate century, great angle cameramen, love the OST. It reminded me of movies in the 60th.

Liu Yu Ning is very good in here....I think his expression is on point.

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