Shining for One Thing: The Movie (2023)

Be sure to watch the Post Credit Scene

I saw Shining For One Thing: The Movie this morning in US and if you take nothing else from my review please WATCH THE POST CREDIT SCENE!

Key points:
- Happy Ending
- You don't have to have seen the show to understand or enjoy the movie
- Twists you didn't see coming (just like the show!)

General Thoughts:
The movie took to heart the key theme of parallel universes and expanded on that. Therefore, the movie is more adjacent to the series than a direct continuation but don't worry, we still get our Happy Ending! Of course because it's a movie with a limited run time and not spanning multiple episodes it's unable to create or show a real or psuedo-relationship like the main characters had in the show but it still does a great job of conveying how strongly and deeply they feel for each other. Also, this is all about Zhang Wansen & Lin Beixing; the side characters we also love aren't apart of the story much. As someone who watched the series I found it incredibly satisfying and cannot wait to watch it again.

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As a continuation to the drama series, the story hits harder than if it was a stand alone movie. As a movie, the first two thirds of the movie moved at a pretty slow pace and the inclusion of side characters didn’t really make sense or added to the storyline. However, if you’re a fan of the drama series, the snippets of side characters will bring back the nostalgia of a bigger and deeper world than can be contained within a movie.

Although the development and build-up was slow and at times, confusing, the last third of the movie really tied everything together and gave meaning to the characters’ actions. In the end, I think the writers ended up with a nice, cohesive story for the two characters where the focus was the depth of their feelings for each other rather than the mysterious action of time travel. A worthy watch for fans of the original drama or new watchers alike.

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