Don't fret over the beginning
Before even starting this review, let me tell you: Do not judge this series by its beginning. The start of it is pretty horrific and I admit it does not get better until like episode 8 or 9. Also, this review is especially for people who watched other adaptations of the Daomubiji series of dramas.Story:
+ the story works well in itself and there are almost no plot-holes
- the story does not work well regarding its continuity to its prequel and sequel
Overall I have to say, I enjoyed the story, especially the later half of the drama. The story pace is quite steady, fast enough to not get bored, slow enough to enjoy scenes. There were some story parts (side story mainly) which I just could not enjoy though.
Some characters were re-casted, while others weren't and it is noticeable. The chemistry in the beginning is way off and you will feel like some of the actors first have to grow into their roles. Will they be your favorite casting of all the adaptations? Probably not. Are they doing a good job? Yes.
This drama also makes it one of its main missions to show you new perspectives to characters you might already know. If you expect your usual main protagonists, forget it. It is interesting though how some relationships are displayed in the drama, some totally new from what we have seen before, some just a new perspective. This goes from Wu Xie and his uncle to how Wu Xie deals with betrayals from his closest friends.
The music is actually really really good and I caught myself enjoying the intro and outro a lot. Regarding the special effects and CGI, I am quite sure all the money went into the last two episodes. You will notice green screen but if you blink your eyes a few times, it is not that bad.
Overall: I will probably end up re-watching some of it over time, as I did really enjoy the new character relationships and some of the scenes are really a small treasure. I will probably avoid re-watching all of it though. I totally recommend watching the show after some time has passed since watching the other adaptations, as what makes this series so hard to watch is mainly the comparison, and less the series itself.
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This review may contain spoilers
Went a little below expectation...
I had high expectation since I've been waiting for this for years and simply because its prequel with Neo Hou is one of my fave among all the adaptations. All in all I must say that I started it with the mindset "I'm used to them changing Wu Xie and Zhang Qilin so lemme just enjoy it" so I watched it with my usual clean slate adoration and expectation.I basically LOVE the idea that this sequel finally happened and even when the plot changed a bit compared to how we were left with the cliffhanger on The Lost Tomb 2; I was still able to pick up the pieces after several episodes and allowed me to enjoy it like how I always do. But my most OUTSTANDING SCENE is on EP.18, probably the most GAY-ISH SKINSHIP we've ever get between WX & ZQL throughout the entire series'. I died with so much flatter and joy with the camera focused during those moments and also I love how WX addressed some annoying issues about WPZ (I like him and got used to his character all this time and I love the Iron Triangle but WPZs behaviour has been bothering me since then and finally it was addressed and highlighted this time).
Things I dislike are mostly the underwhelming production and story/plot. I feel like they could've done better in terms of plot twist and some effects but it simply never happened. As always I got used to JUMPY scenarios with The Lost Tomb Series but something just didn't sit properly with me while watching it. It also felt rushed at the end and a little bit too dragging at the middle part of the story. I feel like they could've done better. This is probably my 2nd least favorite installment right after Lost Tomb 1 with Li YiFeng.
Story - 8.0, As i mentioned It felt dragging and rushed and they seriously could have done better to make it WORK!
Acting/Cast - 9.5, I never got issue with WX & ZQL character changes but they felt a little distant in this series. I felt like they went a little less closer but the skinship made up for that— In terms of acting Bai Shu did his best and I LOVE that he has some expressions/views that look exactly like Neo Hou and he look like him countless of times as well same thing with ZQL since he reminded me of Arata Mackenyu and Suho of EXO so I was satisfied watching them the entire time. Their acting itself felt a little different but is still pass-able!
Music - 9.0, Like what I always say on my reviews 'We can never go wrong with music' (that often lol) It has decent set of music that fits the scenes and it never bothered me. I gave it a 9 since I'm just not a big fan of suspense, creepy type of music and i usually prefer ballad and pop. Nonetheless I enjoy the music accompaniment on this series.
Rewatch Value - 7.5, I probably won't rewatch it unless i have decided to watch the entirety of The Lost Tomb Series when everything has been completely adapted. But till then nope, I won't rewatch. But hey!! this series is decent.
Overall - 8.5, I really wanted to give it a higher Mark but the most important factor for me is Plot && Production and I felt like they lack so much in that area. Nonetheless this is a decent adaptation; probably not the best but certainly not the worst as well.
IF you find my Review helpful please let me know.
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A Bitter Taste
The only thing likeable in this drama are the songs. Bai Shu indeed is a talented singer. From his voice alone, I could imagine the scene and the emotion conveyed for the song in this drama and it is well-suited.HOWEVER...the acting and characterization really leaves bitter taste in my mouth.
The acting and characterization of the main actors are extremely terrible as they diverged too far from how they were written in the book. This AIN'T entirely the problem of the actors though but rather the BIGGEST SHARE OF THIS PROBLEM is the screen writer and the one directing this movie. It feels like they are taking a different perspective in approaching these three main characters which COULDN'T come full circle and COMPLETELY FAILED. Wang Pangzi may be loud but he'll never be crass. Wu Xie may be naive but he'll never be erratic and extremely stupid and extremely emotional. Zhang Qiling may be distant and emo, but he'll never be emo-angry whose angry emotions are so clear on his face. In addition to that Zhao Dong Ze could have dyed his hair black. Perhaps this would've helped his aura a little bit more.
Considering this is the 3rd season of DMBJ (chronological order of events by the book), the iron triangle's relationship here shouldn't be like this - HERE BUT NOT ENTIRELY HERE. You see them physically but their emotion is all over the place -UNCONNECTED.
There isn't any chemistry maybe because there wasn't much time training them how to establish such bond??
If only the script was written from an angle that shows the original Wu Xie's character and reactions from the book (which I have read), and WITH a director that could hit the spot when guiding talents, his acting and the others may have been different and perhaps better. If you look at their other movies especially Bai Shu, you'd see he acted really well! From the drama "Demi-gods and Semi-devils" to "The Blood of Youth" I could say that he DID AN OUTSTANDING CHARACTERIZATION and interpretation there. I SO DAMN LOVE HIS XIAO LINGCHEN IN Blood of Youth and his Duan Yu is Demi-gods and semi-devils! That's why I don't believe it's majorly a mistake on his part when he delivered a Wu Xie like this in this series.
I just hope that the upcoming series would have screenwriter whose HEART is really into DMBJ and a director that is strict and could make what they visualize a reality.
All in all, this series feels like it was created ONLY to fill the gap of the other series. Even filling some of the gaps failed.
Not rewatching it. If you want to watch it, go ahead.
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Very underwhelming
I love DMBJ, so I can't watch this and not be biased. I don't know if it's a decent Drama but it's the worst DMBJ/Lost Tomb adaptation I have ever seen. Including the "inspired" Movie Time Raiders.Nothing about this feels right, not in the slightest. I don't know if the ML Actor is bad or just not suited for Wu Xie, but it was the worst of all the disappointments in this adaptation. The same goes for the actor of Pokerface.
So maybe it is fun to watch as someone who isn't too much into the Novels or the other Dramas, but for me as a fan of the franchise who has watched literally everything and has read all the novels, this was an absolute failure.
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This review may contain spoilers
It met expectations but for some reason, it gave me a small sense of dissatisfaction.
Def there's something here. I bet there will be those who will not agree, but I've been fascinated with this chronicles since the very first Lost Tomb season and Mystic Nine side series and side stories... Infact, my addiction comes from even before this was adapted to motion screen and was just a light novel (Graverobber's Chronicles) so I feel like this is a very objective commentary considering how unworldly attached I am to the entire story.STORY
I feel a little unresolved. I loved how they tried to reconnect this storyline to the last 5 episode epilogue of the prequel, The Lost Tomb 2. They used a few clips that came from the prequel and refilmed the parts that had Neo Hu and pitched in Bai Shu. However, I feel a little unresolved with the changing of the story.
For example, the scene in the Changbai mountain. That part started when Wuxie(Neo Hu) found himself in Changbai mountain with no memory of what happened after they were almost buried by the rubble back in Lieutenant Zhang's tomb.
However in this sequel, although they finally explained what happened right after they were trapped under the rubble, they totally omitted the part were Wuxie woke up in the middle of Changbai mountain's "forbidden land" with no memory, and Fatty Wang purposely going to that village because "someone told me I'd find you here after you went missing from the hospital", that was in the prequel.
There was no resolution what was the serum they injected in xiao ge from the prequel and why he was losing control and temporarily lost his memories of WuXie. There was no resolution why WuXie lost his memories prior to Changbai mountain... Simply because they omitted the entire thing in the new sequel.
It was still as amazing adventure-wise as the prequels, aorat from the unresolved prologue that they changed up entirely. Props to the effort to connect the two series(since they're both part of the same arc albeit cut in two parts) considering the changes in main casting.
ACTING/CASTING
I tried hard not to be prejudiced with Bai Shu as last I seen him was when he played A Zhai in My Girlfriend's Boyfriend and his character setting was very mean and very much homophobic.
Contrary to how every actor who has ever played WuXie had impeccable chemistry to their xiao ge, Zhang Qiling, no matter which actor played him.
I was actually happy that Bai Shu did very well in playing WuXie and his unspoken bromance to both xiao ge and fatty Wang. However there were times he slightly emitted his inner A Zhai which I hated because even in the novel, no matter how naughty and sassy WuXie was, he never went over the line of being hurtful, no matter how unaffected fatty Wang was. (slight blame could be because of the scriptwriter I guess, but mostly because Bai Shu could've done a better execution of sounding like he was teasing than insulting). I didn't want to think that they only vasted Bai Shu because of his physical similarities to Neo Hu, but I felt how inferior he was to the previous casts for WuXie. But that's not entirely his fault, he could've done better in character representation had he had a better acting guide, like how he did in his newest 2021 Wuxia series, "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils"
Also Zhang Qiling's actor made me feel like I'm seeing an entirely different character. I know Zhao Dong Ze has good acting skills, no doubt. But I feel like he isn't that immersed in xiao ge's role compared to his predecessors. The previous actors perfectly replicated xiao ge's allof, poker-face and how his slit like eyes seemed to say the words his lips didn't.
But Dong Ze has very round puppy eyes that I can't really associate him with Zhang Qiling. He had too much emotions in his face as opposed to the supposed poker-face. He just looked like a tandom person with a really bad mood. And xiao ge doesn't have brunette wavy hair. So I don't understand what prevented him from completely expressing xiao ge's iconic looks that his predecessors perfectly remade in every season.
He had too much facial expression when he was supposed to be playing the role of a very detached dead-panned persona.
THE SOUND PRODUCTION IS QUITE ACCEPTABLE IN COMPARISON TO PREVIOUS SEASONS. Although not that exceptional , it also wasn't below standards.
REWATCH VALUE: I'd watch it again... Story wise. Once or twice... I guess... But I feel like this sequel made me think for the first time, that it may be far better when I was reading it... Simply because the slight flaws gave me a sense of dysmorphia in the whole character presentation of the the main characters.
And that unresolved feeling really bothers me so...
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Only For Fans
Out of all the DMBJ dramas, this one probably works the least well as a standalone. If you're watching them all without having read the novels, this one may also confuse you the most.However, what I personally dislike about it the most is how they did Pangzi dirty. He is played by the same actor as in The Lost Tomb 2, yet you immediately notice a difference in the way he is written. It's normal for him to be the butt of a joke here and there, but not to this extent. I also don't think Wu Xie would play a prank on him that would literally endanger his life, just for the fun of it.
Other than that, I'm actually ok with this Wu Xie. Bai Shu clearly did a great job (sometimes he eerily reminded me of Hou Minghao or Li Yifeng despite looking completely different), and the intense trauma the character just went through perfectly explains his erratic behaviour.
I also think people are judging this Zhang Qiling a little too harshly. I can't believe they didn't leave his hair black (why would he suddenly dye it??), but I think the actor did well enough.
The pacing is, as usual with this director, not great. Not sure if it's even worse than in TLT2 or if TLT2 just makes up for it with its other positive qualities. Either way, it does get better over time.
On the whole, it's my least favourite DMBJ drama and I wouldn't recommend it to newcomers, but it's not so bad that established fans can't get some enjoyment out of it.
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Not the best, but decent
Honestly, I didn't find it as bad as people said it was. Sure, the overall chemistry between the iron triangle was off and really odd compared to the other ones I've watched so far, but I was able to look past that because I wanted to watch the whole series. This one does not continue off from the Lost tomb 2, so it might be confusing for some people.PROS
The acting was okay, many people complained about how the actors were bad, but I think it was honestly a direction problem. I think the actors tried their best given the direction and how their characters were written for this one. In fact, I found Wu Xie's character a little adorable at times and it was interesting to see a Wu xie with his own faults.
-The ending music is quite good.
- FATTY played a very good role in this series. I personally thought he was the best part.
CONS
-NO CHEMISTRY between the iron triangle. Qiling felt very distant from Wu Xie and Fatty and didn't seem to have the same connection as the previous seasons.
-Left me with a lot of questions. I didn't know what the ending meant and there was various situations which left me hanging and not understanding the purpose of the scene.
- Barely any action. It really really disappointing that I could barely see any cool Qiling action like the other series.
Final opinion - I would recommend to wait until 6 or 7 episodes because it definitely gets better after that. I would also recommend to give this chance, at least to catch up on the story. This is definitely not the best one, but it's not as horrible as some people claim it to be. I think this is a one time watch for me unless I decide to rewatch the whole Lost Tomb series again.
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Okay standalone, but lacks action and charm
I'll start with what I have watched, which is actually all the series that have been released to date. But I will admit to skipping many scenes that I wasn't interested in, especially in Tomb of the Sea.The Lost Tomb (2015)
The Lost Tomb 2 (2019)
The Lost Tomb 2: Explore with the Note (2021, THIS SERIES)
Ultimate Note (2020)
Tomb of the Sea (2018)
Reunion: Sound of the Providence (2020)
So with that in mind, it is very hard for me to review this series without comparing it to the others. My review will seem mostly negative, but I do still recommend watching this for any Daomu Biji fans.
- Plot: 6.5/10
Don't try too hard to link this with the prequel and sequels. They have changed quite a bit. They might have tried to make it more interesting than the novel, I'm not sure. I will say that I didn't care at all for the plot happening outside the tomb, and even the plot happening in the tomb was merely okay. First half was pretty boring, but it got better in the second half, but still not super engaging.
- Action: 4/10
Probably the most disappointing part of this series is the lack of action and cool fight scenes. It's practically non-existent in the first half, and we only get some bits in the second half. And barely any from our resident badass Zhang Qiling. There is more shooting than martial arts. I suppose when the only enemies are birds or centipedes there isn't much room for kung fu.
- Tomb Exploration: 4/10
Another disappointment. Not many interesting traps/mechanisms/puzzles, some of the settings looked cool but that's about it. I will give them props for lighting everything nicely so I'm not struggling to make things out. Budget was pretty high for making realistic environments though.
- Characterisation: 7.5/10
This is usually where the DMBJ adaptations shine for me. My favourite version of Wu Xie is Neo Hou (TLT2), followed closely by Zhu Yilong (Reunion) and Zeng Shunxi (UN). This version of Wu Xie more closely matches UN personality-wise, which is fine but makes Wu Xie less calm and intelligent. This actor did a great job, but he didn't really give off the charisma and charm that Wu Xie should have, and can't compete with the talents of Zhu Yilong and Zeng Shunxi. This Wu Xie also makes some questionable choices, such as his reactions to Pangzi's supposed betrayal. Pangzi is just like from the prequel, which was my favourite version of Pangzi too. Money-loving, jokes a lot, but still has his core values and cares a lot about Wu Xie. He definitely does not deserve Wu Xie's judgement when Wu Xie himself has secret dealings with Ah Ning! Zhang Qiling... well, much better than the prequel, but much worse than Ultimate Note, and similar to the Reunion version. He's there, but might as well not be with how underwhelming his presence is in most scenes. Ep 18 is the only highlight. The other characters are all pretty solid. Everyone's acting was great, it mostly came down to the script.
-Pingxie? 6.5/10
Ep 18 was pretty memorable. Other than that though, there isn't really a whole lot of it.
- Music: 8/10
Quite good! Nothing to rave about, but they made a pretty good OST, especially the ED song. Can't compete with Reunion OST though.
Even with all these issues, I still feel that it is worth the watch. No need to binge-watch it like I did though. And don't expect it to be as good as Ultimate Note or Reunion. But who knows, you may enjoy it much more than me!
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Unbelievable Trash
This show is terrible, awful, bad, ungood.I've watched all the other tomb shows, I can overlook a lot and enjoy some b-level entertainment.
If the CG isn't great in some shots, if the acting is a bit ham, if the story isn't perfectly paced. The whole thing can still be enjoyable.
This is not.
I don't know if they had no money for this, but I've seen a lot better done with a small budget. This seems like incompetence.
The story is non-existent, we're just watching a series of events as people go from one place to the next and sometimes shoot at stuff. It's truly remarkable how little location and time are established and maintained. At few points was I even remotely able to tell who was where, in relation to other locations or other groups of people. It seems to suffer from character teleportation, where people are just suddenly in a scene, somehow. And then they disappear for a few episodes.
The characters are insultingly awful. Xiao Ge is not in the show at all. It's common for him to be in the background or missing for some parts, but here he's just not there until the end. Fatty and Wu Xie are both incredibly unlikable. I'd say I didn't like Xie's casting (and I don't), but his performance perfectly mirrors Fatty's - whiny, annoying, useless and unlikable.
I knew, roughly, what was supposed to happen in the story and it kind of did? But the majority of the running time is spent on doing nothing, while the important stuff is glossed over and mainly happens off screen. (no budget for CG?)
The show is ugly.
It's remarkably ugly. All the sets, all the shots are grey and dull and the CG is terrible and the black levels between live action and CG elements don't match. Youtubers could do better than this in this day and age.
I considered they might've been damaged by Covid, but then again - the Worm Valley series came out at the same time and it's everything this show is not - vibrant, pretty, well acted and written, with setup and payoff and a clear story structure.
The Daomu shows always tend to be somewhat lower production value, with loose and sloppy storytelling. But usually they save face by having neat and fun characters.
Not this one.
I get that we all want to know what happened in this part of the story, but it's almost not worth watching.
Read a story summary.
(I almost gave up twice)
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This review may contain spoilers
这部剧还是挺好看的。可惜的是结束的那么快，还要结局悬念让我感到很急。非常希望下一部快点出来像重启之极海听雷第二部来的快。回复
Last episode, cliffhangers, prediction on what happened - 我认为青铜门里的东西都是像小哥一样长生不老的人，所以小哥说是应付不了的东西。我猜呢，小哥曾进入里面，因此得到长身不老，而且是唯一能够出入那青铜门的“人”。多一个猜测，片尾胖子和吴邪看到的东西应该是非常非常老的小哥或者是裘德考（希望是裘德考，也非常希望小哥能够出来）。
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