Three-Body (2023)

The Three Body's problem is its non existent scifi plot!

This review contains spoilers so don't read it if you intend to watch this series either way.
I have read the book that the series is based on.




The problem of Three Body series is its uneven and self cancelling sci fi plot that follows closely the book that it is equally uneven and badly constructed. The book and the series are full of interesting ideas and scientific information, but it is obvious that the author of the book on which the series are based on, was not able to manage and develop properly his ideas and his material ending up having a flimsy plot that doesn't stand on its own and it needs a lot of special effects and complicated explanations in order to make sense.

The scifi plot lies on the imaginary Trisolar planet whose inhabitants have a non linear civilization, a civilization that is progressing in "episodes" due to the unpredictable way that their planet is destroyed constantly and it is literally reborn from its ashes. ( which is a very interesting idea btw).
All the rest of the plot and the subplots and characters and their actions take place on Earth and can be explained with many alternative ways. There is f.e a cult that believes that the aliens are coming to invade the Earth and is inspired by the ideas of a rather psychologically disturbed scientist. There are scientists that commit suicide and others that get killed. There are strange phenomena that are happening and make scientists hallucinating. There is a cop that is trying with unconventional methods to solve the mysterious deaths of the scientists. In other words loads of interesting ideas that could make the plot suspenseful without relying in complicated pseudoscientific explanations that mash up all about everything. From alien life,to environmental distraction, to particle accelerators! ( ok... whatever)

Instead the whole story about the Trisolar planet, turns out that is just an assumption made by the characters of the books, enhanced with plenty of fantasy presented into a VR game and there is nothing else in the book and nothing in the series to support and make realistic the whole Trisolar planet plot, other than the claims of the disturbed female scientist main character about the exchange of just four messages that supposedly are the base of this messy plot.

The messages go as following:

Message 1/ (Earth people send a message to space with the hope that someone will answer it).
"Hello we are from planet Earth and we have a multicultural civilization here and we are looking to contact other civilizations".

Message 2/ (An alien civilization replies:)
Don't send another message because we will come to conquer you. ( why??!)

Message 3/(The disturbed female scientist replies).
Do come and conquer us because we can't solve our own problems and our world is in a mess and we need the expertise of your civilization, ( that according the way that WE imagine that your civilization is, can't solve not even your problems),

Message 4/(The Aliens reply).
Ok we are coming. We'll be there in 450 earth years! In between will destroy with some sort of advanced technology (that we have but we don't use it to save our lives and our planet), your science in order not to be able to confront us when and if will manage to come, because we are considering you the equivalent of bugs!

Now how both of these civilizations came up to these conclusions is not explained.
Neither how the Earth people acquired information about the history and the environment of the Trisolar planet. Or how the Trisolarians figured out that Earth is suitable for them from this correspondence.

I assume that by now you can see what is the problem of the scifi plot.
That there is no actual scifi plot! Or there is one that of some aliens that are coming....!

This series though has an expensive production, some great acting, some very touching scenes by the actresses that play Ye Wen Jie, some very light criticism towards the Chinese Cultural Revolution ( Destruction) - in not to offend Zi Xiping I assume- and that's about all. I could go on and on and on writing about the plot holes of the sub plots, and the awful last episodes, but its meaningless.

The sci fi plot is not there and the VR game that we are forced to watch through the eyes of its players is boring as hell and has bad CGI. This demo didn't persuade me to buy the equipment that is needed in order to play it.


5.5 out of 10 from me for the whole concept.

Read More

Based on an authoritarian propaganda piece

My main reason for dropping the title is that the book plot eventually revolves around war and authoritarian regimes and normalises xenophobia. We can further understand the mindset of the author, Liu Cixin, for his statement defending the Chinese government's mistreatment and mass internment of its Uighur Muslim population.

Speaking on the show, it's a slow moving story with multiple repetitions, eg. "The scientists are killing themselves!" every so often which was unnecessary. The people investigating these suicides don't really seem to care nor have any intelligence capabilities. It all rests on one scientist to act as a spy agent and provide them with answers and a cop that acts as his handler. Three Body is based on the first of three books. 30 episodes is overdoing it for an already slow moving plot.

The aspect that originally attracted me was the science which the series then proceeds to drive the point that "physics isn't real", again repeatedly.

Up to the mid of the 9th episode, the women in the series don't seem to serve much purpose apart from minor roles and eye candy. An apparently talented female officer is treated like a maid and 'errand boy' while doing the work of 10 men and not paid much (by her own admission). So much for equality.

There's also a game which seems pointless. One of the benefits of a computer is it allows us to do calculations and run simulations at a faster rate than a human would take. If a pattern exists, a computer would likely find it as long as some basic information is provided. The game offers no insight towards a solution. It's just added CGI effects to further drag the plot along that explains nothing. With every episode you are left with more questions than answers.

After reading the author's disdain for other humans, I didn't feel the need to watch further and it pretty much killed my curiosity. If these things don't bother you, you might be able to enjoy this lengthy series.

Read More

It could have been better

I saw the first 2 episodes and didn't like what I saw. Stuff that was not in the book and that didn't add anything to the story was already visible then, so I said to myself I'd rather wait for the Netflix production. But then some of my best (Chinese) friends convinced me to give it another try as they were it watching it every day. So I continued until ep.6 and then I had enough when falling asleep twice while watching the episodes because the series is so slow. Really really slow. Why not take something out of the "Korean Playbook" and make just 16 or 18 episodes? Cut out the fluff and you should be fine. Anyway, then there are the usual exaggerated reactions that some people in the series have to completely mundane situations, familiar to anyone watching Chinese series, and the insisting on trivial matters to the point of getting on one's nerves, again just like with most Mainland series. The disconnect between how people live and act in China nowadays and what they present in their series is getting bigger and bigger everyday. You can see it with constantly the same stories, the horrible ageism and even in hyped up series like this one. I'll stick with the Korean series for the time being.

Read More

Una parola sola, eccezionale! Ma prima è meglio leggere il libro!

Un drama eccezionale, perfetto adattamento cinematografico del libro, con un dispiego di mezzi e quindi risorse economiche non indifferente.
Una fantascienza diversa da quella che amo e alla quale sono abituata (vedi Asimov, Heinlein, P. K. Dick ecc) ma intrigante e introspettiva.
E' un drama lento perché rispetta fedelmente il racconto dello scrittore, perfettamente rappresentato in ogni sua parte: vengono persino riportate intere frasi dal libro.
Ottimamente interpretato, dall'introverso e gentile scienziato esperto in nanomateriali Wang Miao, all'esplosivo ed eclettico poliziotto Shi Qiang il quale con la sua intelligenza razionale e meno raffinata rispetto a quella del corpo scientifico, infonde il coraggio per continuare a lottare e non arrendersi. Le risorse della Natura sono quelle che meglio di tutte dimostrano che la resa è per i deboli, mentre i forti, i perseveranti, vincono.
La ribelle fisica Ye Wenjie dà l'avvio ad un cambiamento totale del futuro dell'umanità, credendo di darle una opportunità di redenzione per tutte le ingiustizie che perpetra nei confronti del nostro Pianeta, ma che se in mano a personaggi fanatici e senza scrupoli, ne decreta la fine.
E' consigliabile leggere prima il libro, di non facile lettura lo ammetto, e poi vedere questo stupendo drama, il quale farà luce a parti spesso incomprensibili per chi non è studioso di certe materie scientifiche.
Un binomio quello di libro e drama che si completano l'un l'altro.
La ost è superlativa! Musiche di Xueran Chen, un compositore, musicista e cantante eccezionale. Tutte dedicate a seconda del momento in cui la storia si svolge, un lavoro non indifferente.
Sono rimasta stupita per l'accuratezza della produzione, per gli effetti visivi, per il la realizzazione delle locations passate e di quelle future e del videogioco.
Ora non ci rimane che sperare nella realizzazione cinematografica degli altri due libri di Liu Cixin al quale va un grande applauso per questo capolavoro! Grazie come sempre ai sottotitolatori. Ottima traduzione dal cinese anche dei testi musicali! Bravissimi.

Read More

Un SF comme on aimerait en voir plus souvent!

De la SF ici, chez les chinois? Pas du type "time travelling" ou comédie romantique. Un genre où le scénario privilégie la réflexion ainsi qu'une intrigue intéressante et angoissante. Plutôt inhabituel et confirme la volonté des chinois de s'imposer dans des domaines où nous n'avons pas l'habitude de les voir. Ont-ils réussi? Pour chéri qui est un fan de SF genre "Star Trek", la réponse est un grand "OUI".

Une intrigue qui a été judicieusement maitrisé et astucieusement amené jusqu'à son point culminant. Voici un des points forts de ce drama. Si la lenteur des épisodes peuvent rebuter ainsi que l'absence d'action musclée, il faut garder en tête que le drama se focalise essentiellement sur le développement progressif des protagonistes. Afin de ne pas trop en dévoiler, je ne dirai pas grand chose sur l'intrigue, mais le fait que le puzzle s'imbrique avec beaucoup de logique et de sens apporte une satisfaction réelle jusqu'à la toute dernière image. Ce n'est pas évident pour une novice comme moi de comprendre tous les termes scientifiques et je vous avoue qu'en anglais, c'est 10 fois plus compliqué à suivre. Malgré tout, on s'immerce involontairement dans cette folie absurde et nous arrivons tout de même à cerner l'enjeu de l'intrigue.
Nous avons fortement apprécié le jeu de la coopération avec le monde. Bien que le QG se soit installé en Chine, la place donné aux autres pays est assez inhabituel. Oui, après 40 ans de "nous sommes les plus forts" (vous savez de qui je parle), c'est rafraichissant de voir qu'ici il n'y a pas de "j'impose et vous me suivez" mais plutôt un enjeu planétaire qui implique tout le monde. Et, avouons le, des personnes qui parlent anglais, russes, espagnols ou japonais (avec chacun sa petite oreillette), cela me semble plus logique qu'une langue universelle (vous savez aussi de quelle langue je parle).

La réalisation est souvent à la hauteur de son budget. Il n'y a donc pas de scènes grandioses ou bluffantes comme il siéra à une série de SF et pourtant, le soin apporté ici comble parfaitement le manque d'effets spéciaux. Les CG du jeu virtuel est plutôt correct sans être extraordinaire et le but atteint : celui de nous impliquer et nous faire comprendre. La scène des derniers épisodes avec le bateau....sans entrer dans les détails et afin d'éviter le spoil est magistralement réalisée. La tension grandissante et l'exécution de la scène est parfaite! On applaudit donc une réalisation maitrisée malgré un budget limité. Croisons les doigts, un budget plus extravagant pour la seconde saison serait vraiment génial.

Je finirai sur mon personnage favori du drama. Après un premier quart où nous trouvions ce personnage fat , arrogant et lourd, il devient au fur et à mesure le personnage sur lequel le protagoniste peut compter envers et contre tous. Leur relation difficile au départ prend une tournure étonnante faite de complicité tacite et d'amitié solide. Je parle de Shi Qiang, l'inspecteur bourru et à l'attitude un peu vulgaire et familier. Il a été une révélation dans ce drama, son sens de la justice est mis en valeur par une volonté de ne pas se laisser abattre par l'équation inconnu. S'il faut se battre, cela sera jusqu'au bout. Que cela soit dans la douleur ou pas. Il est le personnage qui soulève des montagnes! Et sa dernière tirade dans le dernier épisode, sa démonstration a été incroyable. Epique. Magnifique. J'en ai pleuré, bouleversé par cet acteur de génie! Une fin comme on en voit si peu. Grandiose.

C'est donc avec impatience que nous attendons la saison 2, le spin off. En attendant, le livre traduit en anglais devrait aussi arriver à la maison. Fan de SF, n'hésitez pas.

Read More