The Lonely Warrior (2023)

To the ends of the earth.

The Lonely Warrior is a crime thriller about one man's obstinate, obsessive thirteen year quest for justice. It is a highly dramatized account of a real life case. The movie version Endless Journey is led by Zhang Yi whereas this drama version is led by Qin Hao.

In the middle of a tense, emotional criminal case, an interrogation accident ends the careers of the elite Third Brigade investigative unit led by Cheng Bing. After a ten year stint in prison that costs Cheng Bing everything, he emerges hell bent on hunting down the violent killer Wang Dayong who eluded them all those years ago. He reunites with his squad, all of whom have at surface moved on with their lives but are still haunted by this cold case. They initially go to great lengths to help Cheng Bing but as a result of life commitments end up dropping out. Cheng Bing soldiers on deliberately, methodically pursing the vicious Wang Dayong seemingly till the ends of the earth, leaving no stone unturned.

The strongest aspect of this drama are the chase scenes and the way tension builds in a gripping and chillingly suspenseful way. What I didn't like was how Wang Dayong barely appears in the latter episodes. It was done to raise doubt over whether Cheng Bing was doggedly on the right track but it also made me quite frustrated with his obduracy. They failed to capitalise on Chen Minghao who delivers an incredibly menacing, ruthless and unpredictable Wang Dayong, a hardened criminal with exceptional survival instincts. I was also dismayed with what they did to his appearance; effectively obscuring all the nuances of his expressions. This would have been a lot better if they focused more in the cat-and-mouse chase between Cheng Bing and Wang Dayong with heart stopping near misses instead of pushing Wang Dayong off-screen for such long stretches.

My biggest issue with the narrative is that it delves too deeply into Cheng Bing's and the Third Brigade's personal stories. Qin Hao never fails to impresses in how he conveys deep emotions and he really out did himself in making us feel the weight of everything he loss. But I was not convinced at all by his relationship with Miao Miao. This is not a necessary character even though Ren Min does a good job with it. Add Tong Tong to the mix and I was just rolling my eyes. Even though I enjoyed the Third Brigade's camaraderie, they should either have had them see the case through all the way with Cheng Bing or not at all. It is very annoying to watch the narrative build up all of their personal stories only to see them drop out half way through. The most relevant and interesting relationship is the contentious one between Pan Dahai and Cheng Bing. These many digressions come at the cost of losing the momentum of the chase. This would be a much tighter and better drama with fewer episodes. As such, I am not surprised that the movie version has been better received than the drama even though I personally think the drama has a better lead cast.

Despite some pacing issues, this is overall a very enjoyable suspense thriller anchored by a stellar cast. Happy to rate it 7.5/10.0.

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The plot started out good but went downhill from episodes 11 to 19. It is also predictable.

The Lonely Warrior is a crime drama where a detective is sent to prison for a crime he did not commit when a criminal dies during his investigation.

The Synopsis tells the story of an interrogation accident that sent Detective Cheng Bing of the Third Brigade to prison to serve his sentence. His teammates were implicated, dismissed from the police, and demoted. The former elite Third Brigade of the police fell apart. After ten years in prison, Cheng Bing regained his freedom. He lost everything, but Wang Da Yong, the suspect in the case, is still at large...

Wearing a police uniform for a day brings justice for a lifetime. The Third Brigade needed to explain, but unwillingness turned into persistence. The sharp blade was unsheathed again. Cheng Bing and the brothers from the Third Brigade regrouped and embarked on the road to pursue the murderer. During the lonely and long journey, they cooperated with the police to chase the murderer for thousands of miles. In the process, we rediscover the meaning of life.

I am giving it a 7.0 rating for the following reasons:
1. The acting from the entire cast is good.
2. The story was engaging in the first 10 episodes, then went downhill. It is getting draggy and no longer believable when he goes rogue to investigate and go after the real killer himself without his buddies’ help.
3. He developed some new relationships along the way that were not related to the real killer.
4. Added unnecessary fillers.
5. It was frustrating to watch from episode 11-19. I skipped and FF a lot between these episodes with 1.5 and 2.0 speeds.
6. He has a bad relationship with his daughter instead of focusing on mending that relationship. He has another father/daughter relationship with some other girl.
7. It is predictable, and I think it would have been much better if it was part of light-on-series from iQiYi with only 12 episodes.

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