Mysterious House (2009)

A disappointing series of events, direction, and screenwriting

I was immediately intrigued with this story, although it isn't really the genre I like (costume drama); however, I got interested in the story right away, until I got confused about the story timeline. Anyway, I persevered, and got the gist of the plot. I tried hard to find a review or a synopsis, till almost half way through the episodes I realized that the title on the opening scene was Mysterious House. The title I selected from the line-up was Counterattack of Fallen Miss.

The cinematography was poor, the sets were unimpressive, the costuming was suitable for the period, I suppose, but I wasn't really impressed with any of it. The storyline kept focusing on the really vicious and conniving villains, none of whom got any comeuppance (big issue for me watching these dramas, I like me my Karma!) The faithless servant, the fake niece - both got away scot free after playing heinous roles in the downfall of the people around them. The main villain didn't get enough Karma for me, I'm afraid - and the matriarch! Geez Louise! She was as clueless as ever.

ML was a long-suffering, spineless character who paid the ultimate price in the end - and the FL was annoyingly self-sacrificing and pathetic in her attempts to make the people she loved happy (even if it meant forcing her man to 'like' her sister). A surprise to see a young Wu Lei as the kid, but man! Could he bawl and whine and throw tantrums! Thankfully he grew into a pretty good actor (and handsome as all get-out too!). The maids were your typical garden variety airheads - and the sister was just delusional. I'd say about the only character worthy of note was Jia Ming - and it kinda leans towards him being the one who gets the happy ending (eventually).

Didn't see that ending coming. It was logical, and since I wasn't really invested in the couple anyway, it didn't hurt much. It hurt me much more that the deceitful couple Wuchang & Xiaoping got their happy ending with no comeuppance. Boo!!!

This drama had potential. Even the actors could have been much better in their roles with some effective direction and maybe better screenwriting, and the production might even have been much better. Unfortunately, the whole thing fizzled fast - a confusing mess with loopholes everywhere, and a lot of silliness to fill in the time. Good luck watching it, I have to say that I kept coming back hoping for something to pull it all together and make the sacrifice of my time worth it, but it never happened.

Read More