Good Series

Watched this in: iQIYI
[X ] As paid subscriber
[ ] Free

I consider this as
[ ] Excellent
[ X] Great
[ ] Good
[ ] Just Okay
[ ] My Mother taught me to be quiet rather than say anything bad.

As for recommendation:
[ ] Highly Recommended/Worth the Subscription Payment
[ X ] Add to your watch list
[ ] Watch if you need something to watch while waiting for a good one to release and can be seen for free.
[ ] Do not waste your time


What I like about this entire series:
[ X ] Production sets/Props used; attention to detail is evident
[ X] Wardrobes fitting scenes wellp
[ X] Artists portrayal of individual roles are good
[ ] Theme Music: opening credit, closing credit
[ X] Story and good way it was written for the screen
[ ] DIRECTOR'S creative vision and imagination translating the script into a visual form.
[ ] Awesome CGI
[ X ] Fight Choreographies are beautiful and synchronized.

What personally didn't work for me
[ ] Lead Actor's Role portrayal
[ ] Lead Actress Role Portrayal
[ ] Story
[ ] Costumes Used
[ ] Set Designs
[ ] Script Lines could have been better
[ ] Too many, too much corny & cliche scenes
[ ] Too many scenes that do not make sense at all. Inconsistencies
[ ] Too many fillers (useless scenes) to fill time.
[ ] The Director's work here can be described as "someone who got paid first, and did the bare minimum with didn't care attitude.

Read More

Couldn't continue

Watched this in iQIYi as a paid subscriber.

Early in the episode, I already got confuse with the cave scene wherein a young gir with her Dad wearing mask are trying to capture a robber.
What's confusing is that the robber saved father and daughter from the deadly live vines using fire but after they got saved the robber stabbed the father killing him. Seriously did not make sense to me. This is how vengeance became the lead female's motivation for continuing to wear a mask and hunt down her fathers killer. Then she comes across a general who is about her age and because she found the same ring the robber had from ten years ago, she assumed he isbthat robber. Didn't make sense again: he would have been a young kid like her in that cave. Nit even half way through and so many senseless scenes and lines casing me to lose interest.

I still continued watching even though the female lead doesn't seem to be working for me. The supporting actress looks better fitting the lead role. This lead actress' facial expressions are sometimes contradicting for the scene.
The male lead actor is handsome but seems to be lacking chemistry between him and lead female actress.

I tried to keep watching hoping the artists will grown on me and story will hook me however, it wasn't enticing enough. Story is not flowing smoothly and there were few contradictions in characters for both female and male lead on top of senseless scenes and lines.

There may be an explanation as to how the cat masked came about but i didn’t come across it before I dropped this series.

It wasn't worth the time for me and definitely wont consider rewatching it. I have dropped series before but placed it on list of possible rewatch but not this one. I do not recommend this series at alk but it is my perspective which can and may be different than yours so give it a try and decide.

Read More

Costume drama series, watched in VIKI app. Strong female character overcoming life obstacles using wit. Too much obstacles that got me to the brink of exhaustion but overcame it halfway through the series.

Start isnt great for me but it does get better so I am glad I stayed watching.

The male lead actor here did good. Having seen him playing different roles, to me he is best suited in antagonistic roles that he had done many of.

This is a good one to binge watch. This is very light on humor, but balanced drama, action and romance. It could have been done with less episodes tho. Lots of fillers to extend episodes.
Production did well with set scenes, props and wardrobe.

My opinion is that it is not worth paying to watch it but good one to add to your list to watch for free. Most likely it is available to watch for free in other apps like Bilibili, Youku, DailyMotion, etc. I think it may be free to watch in Viki app now too.

Read More

Recommended Watch

This is a sequel to Fantasy Magician which I haven't seen yet so I am doing this backwards.

The prequel was done in 2016 so it is considered old for me however, since this sequel is good, I will watch the prequel.

This film is supposedly shown jn Tencent app but I watched this in iQIYI as a paid subscriber. The title in iQIYI is FACES OF DUNJIA 2.

I enjoyed the CGI here. It was done well. It is convincingly gory on some but nothing too wild to accept. Mostly bugs as in spiders and flies.
The worst scene is the scene with the 1 month old baby; although nothing was shown and only inferred, I wish that scene wasn't included or maybe altered. In the beginning part of the movie, there was a scene of a young boy tho they added a line for viewers to know the boy didnt die, with the baby scene, they should have also added a line to let viewers know what happened. It became a plot hole.

You wont find beautiful, sweet and pretty wardrobe used in this film. Humor is light and will not invoke a laugh or chuckles. Romance is also light glossed over by a memory recalling.

You have to pay attention to the story until the very end because it will reveal a surprise. Even after the very end there is an added scene with the attempt to make viewers laugh, but it will make you smile at best.

Every artist did really well in portraying their role. The fight martial arts choreography is good with few close up hand fight choreography.

It was directed well and production did an excellent job with sets and props.

Overall I highly recommend to be watched. As for rewatch value, maybe as a weekend watch with friends and family, itll be alright to watch again.

Read More

Sequel is better

I happened to warch The Great Illusionist first before this one and although this gave a small introduction to the main character, the sequel would still be understood without watching this prequel.

The main character's personality is so different in this prequel, it is like night and day. I however prefer the character of the main lead in the sequel than here.

So unlike other mystery that later on gets explained how it was done, don't expect it from this film. The story is about Illusions that is a fantasy.
There is a crime commited that needs to be solved but it isn't a normal crime like in the real world.
Though humor was inserted here, the sequel made me burstbout laughing and it didn't do that for me here.

I will recommend seeing this only if you are searching for something to pass time. If you have to choose between this and the sequel The Great Illusionist to watch then watch the sequel.

Read More

Worth your time if you are into fantasy mystery

I am curious as to the 6.5 rating for this movie. The start wasn't that great but by halfway through, i have laughed and screamed already.
It is a mystery, with humor. The sidekick cracked me up, the mystery got me glued, and the gruesomeness is left foe the viewers to imagine so it is toned down.
It is well balanced comedy, suspense and mystery.
I enjoyed it and I hope you will give it a chance.
I am not familiar with the artists here but they all worked harmoniously in portraying their characters. Production did marvelous with the 1920-1930s set and props. The wardobe is fitting the era. And although it is a bit bland, it worked well for the scenes.
I urge you to watch while end credit is running.
The ending will be nothing you would expect. There will be scenes while credit is running.

Also, this is the sequel to The Great Illusion movie. You might want to watch that too.

Rewatch value - if I get invited by friends to watch it again or if i recommend this for weekend night movie, I definitely wont hesitate to watch it again..

My opinion, this is a pretty good movie to watch alone or with group of friends.
I watched this IN iQIYI. I AM A PAID SUBSCRIBER BUT IT IS UNDER FREE MOVIES.

Read More

It is best to watch Detection of Di Renjie first then this. This is the sequel to Detection of Di Renjie and continues the story after Di Renjie's girlfriend succumbed to the hit she received at the ending of that film.

This one i think is better than the prequel although the actress who played Ms Luo I think is mediocre and disnt seem to fit with the characters in this film.
Production is neat and good. Wardrobes, locatoon and props perfectly meshes with the scenes.

I am wondering who played the doctor because I couldnt find him on the list of actors/artist provided here. (After searching, it is Wen Zhuo who played thr part of ShoBai, the doctor)

This is highly recommended if you are a Di Renjie fan.

Read More

A nice queen?

Already at the edge of my seat 10 minutes through the film.
Am not too excited with the actor who played Renjie here.
Spectacular CGI with dragons and ghost soldiers
Zombies appeared here too. I was caught off guard of Di Renjie's being chopped the first 6 minutes of the movie. What I dont understand is the queens order to do the fineral in secret. Renjie has rendered meritorious achievements for the royal court and country and his death was cruel. The queen couldnt even grant him a descent funeral.
As the title says resurrection and the renjie that returned from the dead (he is pretending) is not timid at all and can be borderline pervert.

Read More

Zombified Dee

Title in Iqiyi Detective Dee: The Sly Red-Eye

Started gory but good CGI. Story starts with prior year military assignment in a cave discovering the first zombies.

Excellent production: location, wardrobe, props, etc. I love the hundreds of palace military soldiers lined up outside the palace shot.
Of course, it won't be the classic Dee Ren Jie if the queen is nice and sweet.
Story involves the living dead - zombies.

I am partial to any Dee Renjie movies and series and as many Dee Renjie work out, I still rewatch some of them.
I am glad that there's still interest in producing Dee Renjie series and films. I hope many more will be done. It is like the James Bond movies and series: the actor who plays the lead role may change but it doesnt stop being interesting enough to attract viewers.

Read More

Light & Nice

Director Hwang Kyu effectively utilized a restrictive amount of time to produce this lighthearted short series.

It touched a little bit of many aspect of life such as the reality of responsibilities in life relating to relationships and work. It also lightly addressed bullying be it at work or in relationships. I enjoy how a lot of things were included in this series even though I can see how difficult it must have been for the screenwriters and the director. I like the right balance of humor, comedy, & romance.

The actors did a great job in portraying their individual roles. Casting is effective and harmonious. For such a light series, the scene werein Yoo Jung Hun was talking about his mom made my tears roll down my face without me realizing it. He can act and can elicit emotions even though it was such a simple scene.

Production worked hard and it is evident with the props and set design. It effectively provided the ambiance for the scenes. I think wardrobe can be better tho.

I am so happy that Yoon Seo Bin played a part in this series. Kissable Lips sequel is currently on hold for some reason, I can only guess that it is because Kim Ji-woong made it to the the idol group ZeroBaseOne and agency thinks it wont be good for an idol group image to have a BL series attached to one of the members of the group when theyvare barely starting.

Overall, it is the type of series that you think you’ll not need to watch again but when you do, youll be happy that you did.

Read More

Title confusion with Song Ci movies

note: In iQIYI The title of this movie is FORENSIC MEDICINE SONG CI aka Forensic Scientist Song Ci: The Fraud
In MDL if you search for the title you found in IQIYI, MDL will take you to another Song Ci movie from 2020.

I enjoy Dee Renji and Song Ci movies and surprised that there's no review for this movie yet.

Plot is around Song Ci - SC assisting the emperor get back his throne after being plotted against by his trusted Shaman.

The production is not a huge budgeted film. It is simple yet perfectly done for each scenes. The location shoot was minimized but it didn't affect the way the story was relayed on the screen. Wardrobe was perfect for each scenes and each character that you won't feel slighted as a viewer. Even though it wasn't elaborate, the focus was majnly on the story.
I like that the simplicity of this movie still provided a satisfying watch.
The artists who played each character were professionals. They portrayed their character well enough even tho there are couple who probably could have rendered their lines and facial expressions better. This didn't impact the overall outcome of the movie anyways for me.

I am recommending this movie for anyone interested in period, costume and mystery movie.

Read More

Watch it & don't just listen to the reviews.

This is a sequel of 2018 movie The Meg.
A group of ocean scientists who studies a megalodon that is supposed to be an extinct breed of shark living at the bottom of the Mariana Trench encoutering problems created by people supposedlybpart of their team. They will try to survive not only being stuck in Marianas trench but also attacks of pre historic, weird sea creatures.

The movie is injected with lots of funny humor even during serious, scary situations that it helped viewers who don't fancy a "doom and gloom before successful ending" stay til the end. It is like sensing not every key character will die at the end and that makesbme feel more at ease watching this movie. Not everyone are chicken like me but this movie is a bit more of how I like it when it comes to an action packed film.

This movie isn't just about Jason Statham's unbelievable stunt and comedic straight face humor. Aside from a giant, pre-historic sharks, it has giant octopuses, sea anemones, and deep sea scarry, fast, walking lizards. All of them including vicious evil people, are creating a situation for key casts to escape from.

They made it a simple for the story as to the why the evil doers wanted to kill and destroy billion dollar worth stations and equipments but they made the "how" complicated and unbelievable. There's deep dive robotic exosuits, and unimaginable walk along the seafloor of a 25,000-foot-deep trench. Karate mive against the sharks, and incredible stunts done by key characters. This series is injected by implausible action moves and ways of surviving that viewers will understand that it is a movie that can't possibly have a chance of happening in real life. It is for entertainment and it will entertain.

All BGM used in this movie are my favorites which explains my rating.

Do I recommend it? I do, however much bad reviews it received I have to be honest that it will satisfy a weekend movie night craving.

Read More

Didn't fit as a movie

With this movie, viewers gets to understand Feng Ren better. The back and forth in time made this movie chaotic. If you are not sidetracked by the mediocre acting of the Wang Yu Wen, close attention is necessary and you should have watched the previous Noviland series to have a good grasp of the story.
I still have to find a series or movie with a role that will make me like Wang Yu Wen as an actress. I don't know what it is but her face is not jiving with the role. Her facial expression however minimal makes it look too much.
Zhong Dan Ni did really well in that character.
If this was turned into a series, maybe it would have come out better.

Read More

Good weekend binge

This started out well and the entire series has a lot of things going on from car accident, amnesia, evil stepmother, dementia, attempted murder, sibling rivalry, jealousy, corporate leadership, acquisition, bullying, etc all in 24 episodes. It got a bit overwhelming, that the onky good going for the lead characters are couplenof good friends and a great assistant.
Role portrayal by most were good. Lead male for me did not fit the character. Just didnt click for me the way he portrayed a cold CEO. His sweet face didnt jibe with the character.
The production was good. I believe it could have been directed better. Overall I am contented with it. Just didnt leave me with the feeling of excitement or anticipation.

Read More