This review may contain spoilers
Excellent ensemble and the acting is super, but it was too long (68 eps)
The Rebel Princess is a costume/historical drama starring Zhang Zi Yi, Zhou Yi Wei, and Tony Yang. It is about politics and power between the Wang and Xie family. Internal turmoil within the imperial family and Princess Wang Xuan's father is the mastermind behind all the disruptions and killing of the Emporer and many innocent people, including her mother.The acting is exceptional in this drama, from the main actors and the entire ensemble. My major complaint was that it was too long, with 68 episodes where it dragged out too long. It could have been excellent with a 9.0 or even 10.0 rating if it was cut short by 10-20 episodes.
It took a while for me to finish the 68 episodes on prime video. It was not realistic to have one prime minister overpower the entire kingdom. Her brother is useless for not standing up against his father even when he was expelled from the imperial palace.
I would be more satisfied if the ending where Princess Wang Xuan is the one to kill her father for his selfishness and power desire without any remorse.
I enjoyed the drama and gave it an 8.0 rating, but it was too long.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Phenomenal
This is probably one of the most amazing storyline, characters, cinematography, fight stunts, settings, i've seen in more than 400 chinese and korean drama i've watch over the years. After i have watched the last episode, it just left me speechless and in awe of what i have seen in the past 4 days. My lack of sleep because of this drama was all worth it. And i should say that REBEL PRINCESS is definitely at par with my all time favorite chinese drama, Ten Miles of Peach Blossom and korean drama, Moon Embraces the Sun.Firstly, and probably the most important for me, as a big fan of a historical romance drama, the love between xiao qi and awu is something to be proud of, even as a viewer. I love how this couple started and how they fell in love in the process. And despite all the odds, their love and trust for each other has brought them to their goals as a husband and wife. I have so many favorite episodes and scenes with how the story showed the love between them, most especially lord yuzhang's love for his wife. The scenes gave me goosebumps and the lines he said was so heart flattering moments.
Secondly, i love the charisma of Lord Yuzhang and Princess Yuzhang. They both exudes the quality of how the characters were supposed to be. They were perfect in characters. As a general, lord yuzhang , when his face is on screen, you know right away that he's a mighty general. And awu, i dont probably need to say it, her face itself is a princess.
Thirdly, with so many characters revealed on thw entire 68 episodes, the love it that the scriptwriter did not waste any actors performance in the story, no matter what characters they played on. The storyline gave each characters their story, from servants to soldiers to the royals. All of them played a very important roles. And there were so many characters with unexpected twist, which, made the drama, in my opinion, one of the best stories made.
Fourtly, the fight stunts and cinematograhy has left me breathless and amazed. The fight were extraordinary and well thought of. It gave me goosebumps watching general xiao qi and his soldiers fight.
I am usually not a fan of long dramas but i sometimes give exceptions to a few, just like, ten miles of peach blossom, princess weiyoung and general and i. They are one of my favorite long dramas. And Rebel Princess is also an exxeption, 68 episodes flew by so fast. No episodes were wasted, no dull moments, every scenes were as important. Not to mention, the drama also boast beautiful visuals and costumes and a very dramatic OST. I love everything about this drama.
I most highly recommend it to those who love historical drama with lot of heartfluttering moments and a storyline that will leave you satisfied. Thank you to the scriptwriter, directors, and actors who made this amazing drama for the audiences. This will go down on ny rewatched list.
Was this review helpful to you?
Casting
The actors in this drama were all great. The problem that I had with it was that they chose and almost 40-year-old woman to play the role of a 15 to 16-year-old princess, and you could tell. A'Wu never seem like she was in her teens, and as time went on she started looking much older than the age she was supposed to be. It's also applies to some of the mail actors And people she supposedly grew up with. The acting was great, It was visually stunning, the story was a little long but was fun to watch . A younger actress would have made the story much more compelling.Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
The Rebel Princess
Xiao Chi has a wonderful character and the author should be congratulated for creating such a characterIt is true that we see many of these brave commanders who care about their people and share their food with them, but Xiaochi is better than any commander I have ever seen! Not only because he eats the food of his soldiers and takes care of the families of the soldiers who died in the war, but also because he is willing to retreat to save the lives of his soldiers! When told that our army has never retreated, he says well this is the first time. If other commanders say that dying in war is an honor! It is true that it is an honor, but until now we thought that maybe a family does not need to be proud and the only thing it needs is a father, husband or son
Was this review helpful to you?
It is a mid drama that feels like the best drama at first 20 or 30 eps
I just finished watching this drama and I feel a lot of emotions rn but I will try my best not to be biasedcoming from an experienced drama watcher I will tell you all about this drama in a way without spoilers (if ur lazy to read just skip to the last paragraph)
okay so first of all this drama is very appealing to the eyes and has very good actors especially our girl "the princess" Zhang Zi Yi I can see a lot of people criticizing her becoz she is a 44yr old actress playing a"16" yr old princess from the start and yes I do agree when I start watching this drama I had this feeling that the female actor looked older than her parents and her uncle and aunts lol and it was very clear she does have a older appearness BUT! after completing this drama i think she was a very strong and perhaps only likable character except her mother and the ml and also becoz of her and the ml i did not drop this drama in the middle.
I actually was hooked at the first episode and I binged watched like 16 eps in a day this drama surely brings up excitement and curiosity,As an experienced drama watcher myself most of the time I was trying to guess what would happen next becoz when u watch a lot dramas u know there is always a pattern. but jeez this drama script is so weirdly good at some places and so horribly cliche and confusing at other places it was still pretty predictable towards the end but at the start I have to give them the credit for making it pretty interesting
another good thing about the drama is the ost It is pretty nice and nostalgic lmao
And i think the title really suits this drama becoz if u look at all the political drama and the 5/10 romance and the weird plot we can see that our princess is pretty rebellious becoz she is the only woman who do not want power and is always love sick for her family most of the time and try to "fix" the bad doings of almost everyone in the palace. that's why she is rebellious becoz she is different from all the women in the palace but she is way too soft-hearted and confused most of the time lmao
now for the romance, some people said it was a slow-burn romance lol full bs i think it was way too rushed and they stay in that same romance stage for the rest of the show its weirdly good and satisfying at first but let me tell you you it was so frustrating towards the end
let me tell u about the story It is all boring politics played by beautiful people with beautiful clothing and almost everyone switches from absolutely selfish power seekers to absolutely miserably apologetical,regrets everything and some characters switch between these 2 characteristics or stays in 1 and almost everyone dies that at end u don't care who dies at this point.the romance in this drama is like not there most of the time and all the characters are indulged in everything but romance
the romance showed in this drama was 35% in 100% and the other 65% was political drama and the plot the 20% was the romance between the fml and ml and the 15% of the other romance is by the side characters like emperors,second leads yeah all the side characters almost had the same amount of romance between them than the actual main leads .
IN ALL HONESTY, this drama is fr a 7/10 only becoz of its good main leads and really good acting and the costumes are 10/10 everyone was eye candy to watch but is it worth a watch in one word NO but it does depend, big no for students, hard-working busy lads who likes to watch drama in free time, people who rarely get time to watch dramas but wanted to give this drama a chance, if u belong here in anyway if ur okay to spend ur time and really wants to give it a try go ahead its ur choice at the end of the day.If u are a starter in watching dramas, if u have a lot time in ur hand like if ur young then yeah/MAYBE .i deff wasted my time in this drama, especially becoz its so long there are much much better dramas to watch in the industry so yeah . its a good drama to understand whether u like this type of palace political stuff and drama. the main problems about this drama is the bad plot and a lot of characters turn unrealistically evil and horrible characters, there is not even a single character in this drama with character development its annoying, frustrating . almost too cliche and too many unneeded killings of every good characters
Was this review helpful to you?
Was this review helpful to you?
Don't forget to watch The Rebel Princess
Nice drama I like all casts and songsThis is the best
Best couple Best song ♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️At first I think this drama will bore but when I watch episode 1 attract me to watch next episode I loveXiao Qi because he love his wife No alcohol he has good mind so I like Xiao Qi role I thank all The Rebel Princess Team I am very pleased because I have a chance to watch The Rebel Princess I hope all the casts will be happy in their life I can't express the best of this dram this drama is the best for me
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Loved This
This was the second drama I watched, and I am saving it to watch again and again. I pretty much liked the story line, but the ML made the movie for me. The chemistry between him and the FL was delightful. However, admittedly, I just loved watching this guy. He smoldered in every scene and I am mesmerized! I am going to watch it again just to look at him.That being said, it was a passable story, but I didn't care for the indiscriminate killing off of so many of the characters (especially the good ones that I liked). The costumes were fantastic. The cinematography was great. Realistic. All in all I really liked this piece.
And I'll say it once again - Zhou Yi Wei : hot!
Was this review helpful to you?
Wang Xuan was really a rebel who was not wise towards his own family
Many of these drama stories are not very realistic, I agree more with Wang Lin (The Prime Minister), because the ruling emperor is not as qualified at all, like: Ma Zilong even cannot make wise decisions, Ma Zidan has no intention of taking care of the country ..... even though Wang Lin is ambitious but the reason makes sense when he is in power might make people's lives more prosperous .... while wang xuan is very unreasonable, can sacrifice his family for the sake of an unclear government and make the people miserable as he saw when he returned to the capital.... it is very unwise and cruel to his own family. ... the very good story in this film is only when the story is about the rebellion of the 2nd prince, the tactics and common sense should be that way .... don't be like wang xuan which in my opinion is actually a rebellious according to the title ... sacrificing family to defend an obscure kingdomWas this review helpful to you?
When the recipe works ....!
A super production with a complicated plot, with Game of Thrones costumes, Lord of the Rings background music, set in an unspecified Ancient Chinese Kingdom... What could have gone wrong??Strangely not that much. The recipe worked for one more time.
The badass but cool prince fights and saves his beautiful wife (that she is not a rebel and she is not a princess either) and the whole Kingdom countless times, with surgical accuracy and perfect timing while the rest of the characters are able to do all about everything in their fight for the Kingdom's throne.
Unfortunately the princess herself is the weakest link. Not because she is not pretty, not because she is not elegant but because she is expressionless, and very aware about her looks.
It is a pity that such a renown and experienced actress as Zhang Zi Yi is, fell in the trap of looking eternally pretty instead of spoiling a bit her looks and as a consequence her chance to give the acting performance of her life, in her own -actually- drama.
Putting aside this, this drama has some great performances from the rest of the cast, with Zhou Yi Wei - that I've never heard of him before- stealing the show with his performance. This guy is acting so expressively that I didn't need to read the subtitles in order to understand what he was saying. (And no... I don't speak Chinese. I have no clue of Chinese). His acting reminds me that of Toshiro Mifune whose face expressions changed so fast and so accurately that saying his lines was actually optional. Zhou Yi Wei
acting is of this class.
So in order to conclude. The Rebel Princess is an almost perfect production based on a well tested recipe, with beautiful cinematography and photography, some great performances from the majority of the cast, huge filming sets, luxurious costumes, and an interesting but dragging for way too many episodes plot.
If you don't mind the literally decorative presence of Zhang Zi Yi , I would recommend to watch it.
Was this review helpful to you?
Best Chinese Historical Drama of The Year
Before watching:1) Who is the actor playing the Male Lead character, Xiao Qi/Yuzhang Wang?
I did compared him with Ye Hua (Mark Chao) and Dong Hua (Vengo Gao) from The Eternal Love & Eternal Love of Dream at first. But I guess I was so wrong this time and seeing is believing indeed. Although I wasn't convinced watching an unknown Male Lead in the beginning, but from the very first episode I must say Zhou Yiwei really swept me off my feet. Totally, completely & absolutely perfect for the role and no other actor can play the character of Xiao Qi better than Zhou Yiwei, in my most honest opinion.
P/S: Zhou Yiwei deserves an Oscar for his performance throughout the whole drama! If not Oscar, well Best Male Actor of 2021 also will do... ;-)
2) Based on the novel, Wang Xuan/A'wu/Princess Shangyang was supposed to be around 15-16 years old at the beginning of the show, but played by 38 years old Zhang Zi Yi at the time of filming. Will there be any issue?
Totally not, from my humble opinion. Zhang Zi Yi look much younger than her actual age with her slim and slender figure, youthful & gorgeous complexion and her energy level that was as good as always. Although of course, she won't be able to look just like a 15 year old lady but she really did aged beautifully and certainly "a pleasant to the eye" kind of heroine still. Her portrayal as A'wu was undeniably good and her chemistry with the male lead, Zhou Yiwei who played Xiao Qi was SPLENDID! From this couple, we can learn a lot about what an ideal marriage would look like and how gentleman gestures can impress a lady much more than we thought.
P/S: Xiao Qi character was so well developed and played, a very rare encounter for Male Lead role in a drama and is second to none by far while Zhang Zi Yi performance perfectly balanced the role as his Princess Consort. :-)
Was this review helpful to you?
Rebel Princess
For a drama with 68 episodes, the pacing was very good. The costumes, cinematography, the acting are great. This drama has political power struggles, intense fight scenes, betrayal, romance, greed and an incestuous royal family.The cast is good. Even though it's not the popular baby faced regular eye candy, their performance was spectacular and each character has their own unique charm and attractiveness.
The ML and FL are both intelligent. ML is a powerful general and FL is initially a spoilt Princess that I find to be a bit naive throughout the drama. Both are determined to change their fate ( being pawns in the power struggle...which I guess makes her a rebel) and despite coming from different social backgrounds they grow to love and respect each other. They had good chemistry. The scenes with them together are limited, however when together the moments are usually sweet.
The major obvious villians have perished or were punished. However, I feel the end was a bit rushed and leaves some questions. We see that the FL' s brother is the new Prime Minister so he is obviously calling the shots, but who takes care of the infant emperor? What happened to those corrupt noble ministers? ( Did they just become saints and escape punishment) Will the emperor be required to still marry from the Wang family when he is of age?
The ML and FL get a happy ending, so overall its a good watch.
Was this review helpful to you?
