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Even before this drama, I was a fan of Neo Hou but this cemented my opinion on him, that he isn’t just a pretty face but a great actor, too. He hit Wu Xie’s kind nature but also slight arrogance perfectly. I also came off this series a big fan of Cheng Yi which I didn’t expect at all. His aloof Zhang Qiling who always had the softest of looks for Wu Xie alone. And Zhang Boyu as Pangzi who finally threw all pretense of being in this for the money in the wind and just decided to stick around and be Wu Xie’s bodyguard because someone had to watch out of Mr. Naive…
Also, there was the maybe-maybe-not budding romance between Wu Xie and A Ning and unlike in the previous season, in this it pushed all my buttons. Because A Ning was so much harder than Wu Xie and also older yet she couldn’t help but grow so fond of him, despite herself. Wonderful.
Also #2, the whole current generation of the Nine Families, not just Wu Xie but also Xiao Hua, Xiu Xiu and the others! I loved that regardless of their parents’ or grandparents’ issues with each other, this generation stuck together and walked through fire together and they were all so very fond of each other.
And as much I’m not a fan of long flashback scenes, the one about Lt. Zhang in this drama was just wonderful. And heartbreaking. And spooky.
This series simply made me happy. I always looked forward to each and every new episode and the Iron Triangle’s mad adventures, underwater and in the hot jungle and in the snow covered mountains… Highly recommended, all thumbs up!
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I think Neo Hou (Minghao) played Wu Xie so well I was completely satisfied and as always we get more characterization and back stories, but I especially fell hard for the Qi Ling doppelganger story about the Republic, I think that's where Cheng Yi shined, and the role of Xie Yu Cheng played phenomenally by Liu Xue Yi, a super emotional, but morally ambiguous guy who is dangerous to anyone who crosses him yet is deathyly loyal to his cousins and his friends!
And Zhang Bo Yu was just perfect as Fatty, as always with his snark and fierce loyalty, his character made me laugh hysterically even when I was crying sometimes!
I can't wait for the next season!
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This review may contain spoilers
Adventures Upon Adventures
The characters have great chemistry. Like the first part of the Lost Tomb Series, the continuations takes you on many different journey.However, there are still too many loose ends even if there is another season. Some of the loose ends should have been tied up this season.
What is the deal with Little Brother? This is not revealed yet. Nor why is he shown as the protector of Wu Xie, What is the deal with Ah Ning and her father? What is the deal with Wu Xie's uncle?
What really happened after they "seemed" to be rescued by Wu Xie's uncle? How did Wu Xie loose his memory. And lots more.
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Iron triangle never lets you down. ❣️❣️❣️
There are dramas where the viewers know more than the leads do about the story, but here every episode seems to be accompanying the leads. The characters having different behavior pattern that blend right in. Watching this season without watching the first might lead to being slow in knowing about the character development but it doesn't actually stop you from directly watching this season. Still the first season is worth the watch. Completion of each episode makes you want more. The fact that Wu Xie's uncle seems to be more mysterious than mysteries of the tomb😂. The entire cast really did justify the characters; the emotions, the dialogue delivery. All in all this was an amazing piece for me.Was this review helpful to you?
Wikipedia pages narrated.
Honestly feel like this season delivered close to nothing. Other installments I have seen were either completely ridiculous so I could laugh about them or had a great and interesting cast of the characters I got extremely invested in. Here they gave me some of these for a few episodes, but the rest was just boring.I think the biggest issue was the length of the show - this was not a plot to be stretched for 40 episodes. 30 should have been the max they went for. Too many scenes seemed like filler and I was slowly losing any focus and interest. By the last 10 episodes I was completely lost about what exactly is going on, since the story was not told in an engaging way.
Storytelling wise one thing that I was not on board too was the countless flashbacks and side stories from various different timelines. I truly did not care about the majority of them.
All that said, I enjoyed the chemistry between Wu Xie, Qi Ling and Pang Zi. These three together were so much fun to watch. Just them chatting was enough to keep me entertained. They all had vastly different personalities and that’s what made the dynamics that engaging.
The acting was great. The fact they were able to keep a serious and straight face with all the flying fighting scenes and Scooby Doo monsters was impressive. I also appreciate Cheng Yi’s portrayal of Zhang Qi Ling. His version of the character, even though still stoic and detached, was more humane and relatable.
Production value was definitely higher than the first drama in the series. While the CGI still left a lot to desire, the improvement was clearly visible. What I found disappointing was the lack of wide shots of the scenery. They filmed in quite a few beautiful locations and I wished they showed it a bit more. Another aspect that could have been improved was the poor lighting. I understand that tombs are dark, but there are ways around it. Many adventure driven shows and music found ways to introduce more light sources in said tombs, so the beauty of them could be appreciated more.
Overall, I sadly barely had fun.
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Started great but ended okay.
I love Daomu Biji series with all my heart but I guess it was wrong for me to have discovered the series through Sound of Providence (which is a recent one with great actors and CGs). Lost Tomb 2 is an important part of the whole story which was accurately and greatly conveyed by this drama in its first half. The second half started to become a little dragging and most importantly, it ended with a major cliffhanger. I'm happy to be late in the game to have seen this drama this year when "The Ultimate Note" came out cause if I watched this last year I'd be completely bummed for wanting to know what happened next (although I did searched and read summaries of the novel immediately after cause seriously I WANT TO KNOW HOW THINGS ENDED). This drama is also a good intro for me to Neo, such a good actor.Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
The proper Intro to the Exciting & Thrilling world of The Lost Tomb Series~ <3
PERFECT with its IMPERFECTION~!!Note: I'm writing this review months after I completed the drama and this is my honest take of the whole show.
First of, I must say that this is the best way to start the The Lost Tomb Series. IF you're reading this, I must inform you that TLT Series should be watch in chronological order cause you'll find yourself lost of everything IF you failed to do so. (Not to mention how confusing it is even watching it in order. Hahaha)
This show solidified the series for me. It was the fiery start who encouraged me to binge-watch the series till the very last adaptation there is.
This is definitely not the most well adapted but it is a great contender when it comes to Story, Graphics, Cinematography, Action and Acting. This show isn't lacking in one bit. There surely are few downplays to this drama and you might feel weirded out and lost most of the time but this drama is probably one of the BEST out there.
P.S. Don't wanna give so much spoilers. But watch out to my additional sentiments below.
Story - 10, This may be very confusing to others who are watching the series for the 1st time but for someone like me who have completed the entire adaptation there is, this is probably one of the most well adapted among ALL. It is jumpy & confusing but all of it is for a purpose. You might even get disapointed by the cliffhangers but thank god the continuation is already up there for people to watch compared to how I suffered back in the days since the sequel's not aired yet.
Acting/Cast - 10, Neo Hou is definitely the Best Wu Xie of all. His portrayal is impeccable and would be hard to be compared to the others as he really owned it. He gave the most coolness, confidence, chick and charm to this character and above all he knew what he's doing. He nailed it. As for the other Characters, Like Zhang Qiling & Pang Zi they also performed well and left a great impact and lasting impression to their characters. A-Ning of this drama is probably my most favorite of all.
Music - 10, I honestly forgot the Music used for this show but I remembered getting so into it watching the scenes with it's thrilling BGMs and the Mellow sound they played during Wu Xie's scene after he went out of the Under Sea Tomb, so does explain my score.
Rewatch Value - 10, I would, DEFINITELY. If there's an adaptation I'm willing to watch over and over again, this would be it.
Overall - 10, Deserved! I started this Journey with the mindset "This is a series so I should expect to feel disappointed with cliffhangers and such" and that made me enjoy the whole show. It is even my most favorite Series of all dramas in general out there. It provided me so much fun & entertainment and helped me cope up with boredness and loneliness. All love and adoration for this show.
IF you find my review helpful please let me know.
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This review may contain spoilers
It's fine.That's the most accurate and positive thing I can say about this season.
Daomu still remains the less good tomb raider series for many reasons (I'll list a few at the end), but this series is actually quite watchable, unlike Tomb of the Sea.
There's less clan politics and more tomb raiding, which is good in my book! And the tombs look quite good, I gotta say - the sets and CG are quite competent. (CG animals still look terrible, but that's just normal Cdrama stuff)
Honestly, the story is by far the weakest point - there's very little structure, no themes or character arcs, it's all plot. Stuff just happens in a mostly linear way.
And the usual bugbears appear - characters show up with 0 set up and leave the story with no payoff.
Remember Wu Xie's Gollum childhood friend? Yeah, we'll never hear from him again. Remember those rival tomb robbers? Yeah they just die. Look, it's the Shades guy from Tomb of the Sea! Why is he there? Who knows? We'll never find out, he's just suddenly there.
Can they actually resolve anything in 40 frikkin episodes? Nope. Will they end it with an out of nowhere cliffhanger? YOU BETCHA!
And what's up with that end part in the Snow Village, which is eerily similar to Eagles and Youngster?! Is it just one tomb writer ripping off another tomb writer? Or are they both based on some real world local story?! (seriously - snow village near a gold mine? A forbidden mountain area that poisons people? Previous expedition disappeared? A young local man whose sister is a great hunter against local custom?!)
The actors are...fine. Fatty is the best, which is somehow 100% legit standard in all these tomb raiding shows. Wu Xie has a very narrow range of Cheery optimistic --- Puzzled and Inquisitive --- Action boy saving his friends. He's fine.
Little Brother is...there. (honestly, not the worst actor to do this character, but also stiff as a wooden plank, as most of them are. The guy in Time Raiders remains the best one.)
Uncle guy is played by the same guy as boss Ma in TotS, which is not confusing, just weird.
TL;DR: If you're watching these to find out what the big mystery is, don't waste your time and just watch Tomb of the Sea. (and even then, I don't guarantee it'll make much sense)
It's solid tomb raiding for most of the time, with a decent dose of humour and mostly silly action.
It's fine.
(PS: Reasons why Candle in the Tomb is better than Daomu? This series once again reminded me how differently the two franchises treat local people and ethnic minorities during these tomb raiding adventures. See, in Daomu they're mostly portrayed as superstitious country hicks, weirdos or outright idiots. They also betray or mistreat the main characters most of the time.
In CitT? They're shown as interesting cool and caring people who just live differently. They have actual character instead of insulting caricatures.
I think this ties into the whole framing of the two stories - where in CitT the main characters are underdogs with barely anything to their names, the guys in Daomu are members of rich gangster clans who own massive houses, drive expensive cars and dress like clowns in what's supposed to pass for high fashion I guess. Like Wuxie is kind of a sweet boy, but his idea of a problem is "How can I afford this massively expensive artifact at this auction? Oh I know, my friend will sell one of his multiple mansions.".
I could go on.)
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A Rewatch!
I have to give a shout out to those in the main leads, OMG y'all did great keeping the suspense and the momentum going. The Visuals and Fantasy, the animations, and graphics were off the chain. Unbelievable but BELIEVABLE!Neo Hou who played Wu Xie, I applaud you! You are awesome!
Cheng Yi who played Zhang Qi Ling, I applaud you! I don't know what to say, everything you did, the martial arts was my favorite thing about you as an actor. Your acting is so believable.
Zhang Bo Yu who played Wang Pang Zi, dude I threw my shoe at my tv several times at you, you had me laughing and mad. I applaud you!
Li Man who played A Ning, I wish your acting parts were many in this drama. You shine woman!
I got fooled at the end! Not going to give it away, not unless most of you like to dip to the end before you start, I would not do that if I were you! You will be missing the best parts.
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Fun and surprisingly addictive
It took me a few episodes to warm up to this one, but it really is a fun ride (even if it meanders a little) and it has great rewatch value. Yes, it’s corny at times. Yes, some of the acting is weak. However, the storyline(s) is enjoyable, the writing is engaging, and the Iron Triangle have great chemistry—especially Wu Xie and Pangzi, which is so nice to see. It would have been awesome to have more Zhang Qilin in the mix, but when he is there it is evident how much he brings the Iron Triangle, which is of course how it should be. All in all, it might have the budget or perfect acting of Reboot, but it definitely contains the next-best onscreen Iron Triangle.Was this review helpful to you?
One of the best my tomb raider story
The lost tomb 2 continuous from the lost tomb 1, but the lost tomb 2 have a bit more story about mystic nine than lost tomb 1. I personally recommend to watch mystic nine firstFor the cast, i personally love all the cast in this story because the all match with the characters of this story from main role to support role especially Neo Hou, he is the best wu xie after i watch all lost tomb until now except the reunion. I became fans of Neo because of this story.
The story have a lot element like suprise,horror,funny, and sad
So personally recommended and i already rewatch it twice
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