Cambear
This feels more modern than most since the female lead has more contemporary attitudes and, well, breaks just about every etiquette rule. In almost every episode I think “she should probably lose her head for doing that” and it never happens. She gets away with breaking nearly ever rule and somehow, someone is always protecting her, Other than being the star of the show, there’s no clear reason why she gets away with it all. That started to bug me after a while. Also, at one point, she because a pouty, airhead brat and that’s a definite turnoff. For a character that’s supposed to be brave and smart, that felt like taking 20 steps backward. Ugh.
Anyway, there are some great plot schemes and fun moments. It’s funny to see plot similarities and differences from Ruyi’s Royal Love since there are common people with wildly different interpretations.
If you like Palace Dramas, this one is a bit livelier and a fresher take, but it doesn’t feel really historically accurate.
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This movie reminds me of Armageddon (Earth in danger, group of unlikely people need to save the planet, lots of special effects, family), but this actually succeeds in making the story about the humans and family. There’s a greater focus on the characters even if many don’t get much story and the female characters are just as secondary.
There are some impressive visual effects and sets which helps offset some of the HIGHLY questionable science. Seriously questionable. But this is a popcorn flick and not a documentary so just enjoy the action and the ride.
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The beginning sets up the characters and the complicated political situation. All great stuff. Good cast, great costumes, beautifully shot.
Then...we start chasing our tails. They betray each other left and right, but shoemhow are alllowed to live. They battle to great big climax...and no one dies. The romance and bromance are stalled and repeat. Repeat.Repeat.
It got so bad, I felt Vazini from The Princess Bride — “He didn’t die? inconceivable!”
I wanted to like this, but got too frustrated with the last half. They needed some new characters or a new plot direction to keep the last third fresh.
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But then, the main characters were so limited and the story moves away from the dreams plot that the series starts to crash. Qi Qi is childish, not very bright and whiny for basically the entire series. Bo Hai is not only an iceman, but he does some terrible things which makes it hard to root for him. This is not a couple that I care about.
The secondary characters are better fleshed out with more dimension and seem more capable of leading this story than the main characters. It’s rare that this happens for me, but there’s a lot of talent (and handsome) in this cast.
If this were 16 to 20 episodes, this series would have been a lot stronger. Instead, the story meanders to the high stakes world of floral espionage (I kid you not). The early story runs out of steam so we get that odd story line and a finale that makes no sense so there can be some additional drama.
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It’s so difficult to balance all these stories and to develop all the characters. The whole ensemble is uniformly strong. It’s really a bunch of short stories which get pulled together in the last scene. It wasn’t needed to bring everyone together, but it is nice to see them all interact.
Also, hats off to all the animal wranglers since all the animals are great. It’s refreshing to see real animals and not CG everywhere.
So if you’re looking for something fluffy but with heart, this is lots of fun.
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Gorgeous art direction (surprising and fitting use of ONLY black, white and grey), beautiful camera work, excellent action sequences, terrific performances and morale ambiguity....all trademarks of his films. He’s an expert film maker and an expert movie maker. It’s exciting, suspenseful, surprising, heartbreaking and all the emotions.
It’s a smart and sophisticated popcorn movie for cinema buffs and for those looking for a fun movie, too.
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At first it’s interesting as we meet all the characters and see the female lead settle into her new job. Then things get cute and romantic as different possibilities open up. Then we run out of conflict since there really aren’t evil schemers and there aren’t enough plot twists to build any obstacles or interest. This is an odd drama that takes place at a work place, but doesn’t seem to know a lot about the work they do.
So the story sort of floats around with lots of characters that I care less and less about. There was a lot of promise at the start of the series, but it didn’t hit any really strong emotional points. Sure the two leads are adorable, but not enough for 16 episodes with little plot.
For a better Noona romance with better developed characters and chemistry, watch Something in the Rain.
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Then, about half way through, the ML basically does nothing for which completely halts character development. They keep describing him as “wild” but he’s really quiet and passive. He disappears and to make way for the second ML. Obvious plotting to sacrifice characters.
Then the last half meanders around and the second couple gets more screen time and it’s icky for a 32 year old teacher to chase after his totally immature student. I didn’t buy the chemistry between them either. Then we get to the ending where the FL gets a personality transplant. Yeah, this didn’t work for me.
So good start, but then it struggles since it should be at least 6 episodes shorter. Victoria song dresses great and pulls off the role until the end. Song Weilong needs to add some more personality to go with his youthful handsome. The second ML pulls off likable which is usually quite hard for the third wheel.
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The story is a bit surreal and non-linear and the characters are pretty flat. You don’t even see the lead characters face very often. (Mostly it’s the back of his head or in profile.) The characters and relating to the characters just aren’t that vital to the movie.
However, the writer/director loves doing long takes to really set a mood with lots of details and textures. The nearly hour long 3D sequence is (practically?) one long take which is beautiful and astounding. Some really interesting filmcraft here.
So if you are a film buff, there’s lots to admire and analyze here. If you want an involving story, this probably isn’t your best bet.
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It feels like a really adult romance since there aren’t scheming backstabbers and ridiculous pranks. The drama takes its time setting up the budding feelings and the dizzying joy of that initial honeymoon phase.
Of course there are obstacles in their way. Yes, a few characters are petty and one-dimsnional, but it’s more realistic than many dramas.
The two leads are terrific with lots of range and interest. She’s strong and flawed and weak. He’s an adorable puppy when he’s in love.
I didn’t expect a whole #MeToo subplot which was fascinating and tough to watch. Kudos for shinning a light on sexism and harassment in the workplace.
Overall, it’s a lovely serious and romantic drama.
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It’s super cute due to th adorable lead female (who was also so cute in The Eternal Love). She’s funny and cute without all the cutesy cliches that other actresses use so this is refreshing. The entire series rests on her and she carries it off.
In fact, her character is more of an alpha than the leading man which leads to some fun situations and school musical. It’s great that he’s totally fine with it and let’s her be her. The actor may not be a believable idol, but he’s adequate against her winsome character.
So if you’re looking for a big romance, this isn’t it. If you want a fluffy comedy, then this is cute.
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Enjoyable, but not as fun as the original
I loved the first season of The Eternal Love for its humor, romance and just the right amount of cheese. I also enjoyed the second season even if it’s not quite up to the joyous fun of the first.What’s improved since season one:
** Better costumes - Clearly there’s a bigger budget with more elegant costumes and improved wigs.. I do miss 14th Prince’s colorful costumes from season one. (RIP yellow furry shoulder pads.)
** Better sets - They are missing the cool elegance of the first season interior sets, but they expanded all the outdoor locations with some truly breathtaking locations
** More court intrigue - If this is more your thing, the plot focuses more on what’s happening at court and less on the romance
** Some really cool plot twists
**Xiao Tan doesn’t scream nearly as often (she was really shrill at the start of the first season)
Good stuff they kept since season one:
** The chemistry between the two main leads is as strong as ever
** A lot of the great songs from season one are back again
What didn’t work as well as season one:
** A lot of the relationship building for the main leads was taken for granted (which the characters actually admit). The fun of the first season was to see these characters go from hate to love and well, it’s short-changed and brushed over. Big romantic kisses come out of nowhere. This season is definitely less about the romance which is what I loved about the first season.
** A lot of the great supporting cast is back, but their characters don’t get any development. They are there for specific plot points, and the characterization is short-changed. If you didn’t watch season one, you wouldn’t care about their characters from just watching this season. Sad really and I would guess the actors feel that way as well. I really hope this gets fixed for season 3.
** Lots of plot holes. It’s a complicated story so these things happen with time travel and parallel worlds, but there are lots of them.
Overall, it’s worth watching, but just lower your expectations just a bit. I’m still really looking forward to season three!
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With all that going for it, I really should like it more. What’s not working? A cast of dozens and dozens underdeveloped characters.
There’s tons of characters which get introduced, serve a minor plot point and then reappear kind of randomly. Coupled with lots of dropped plot threads and it adds up to a writing team that couldn’t figure out how to balance pacing, plot and characters. Everything is a little off balance. If the writers ouldjust focus on the key characters we needed to care about, then I could get more emotional involved with the show. Instead, it was entertaining, but at a distance.
A couple of critical characters really needed more emphasis including Sang Sang, the lead character. She gets short changed A LOT. Since her character is soft-spoken and humble, hiding her isn’t helping things any. Sigh. Just another example of what didn’t go right.
Some of these dropped threads may be because they were counting on additional seasons to tell the story. So much feels incomplete which is pretty sloppy storytelling.
It was refreshing to see a lot of new and different faces. For once, the cast doesn’t look like they are all spokespersons for luxury brands once the wigs come off. It’s great to see a wide variety of faces and personalities.
Unfortunately it looks like they didn’t sign all cast members back for the next season so it will be ingesting to see what the new faces will do to the characters.
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Originality
Ambitious and complex story
Good cast who portrayed multiple characters, time periods and a wide range of emotions
Not using stupid misunderstandings to create conflict
Not dragging this out to too many episodes
I did like this drama, but the back and forth on the time travel wasn’t completely clear (not sure all of it made sense) so I stopped being logical and just watched for the emotions at the end. (They don’t follow the time heist rules for time travel.)
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The story works best when it’s focused on the main leads. There’s lots of fun and romance as this mismatched couple get to know each other. It’s so refreshing to see the role reversal and it’s not overplayed.
The secondary couples also have their moments and are actually pretty strong since I usually get bored by them. It helps that they aren’t the norm — scheming to get their love back by doing evil things that no one really notices. These characters get fleshed out and are almost too noble. Also very unique - people in this era aren’t obsessed with gender so much as the person. Nice to see some variety here.
One major hiccup — the story wanders around from episodes 20 to 40 as they need to stretch for time. This section is all about politics so it’s a lot of sitting around and talking. And talking. Yawn.
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