whoissilmoy

Royal Feast is way way underrated. In WOL, people were commenting that the supporting casts were not multi-dimensional enough, or some of the characters were crazy or stupid but don't listen to that because WOL has a different aim for the audience to enjoy - it's light-hearted and part comedy and focus is on ml and fl conflicts; so, I started to think about what the person said, and Royal Feast came to mind, so here I am. Royal Feast does have a tinge of light humor but no comedy. It's a rather serious, matured ml and fl. The movie is not heavy at all, but serious enough, and follows a real prince in Ming dynasty (19 or 20 yrs old?). All the characters are highly intelligent, complex, intriguing, and all go through a transformation, and are as multi-dimensional as you can get, which is partly why it took me a while to grasp the schemes (maybe they cut some episodes out?). As you watch, you really have no idea what will happen next. IT keeps you interested. You feel for each character and there are so many of them. If the food scenes are too much, just fast forward it. Xu Kai acting in Royal Feast is masterful. Every emotion in every scene is perfectly captured by his subtle expressions. He even captures the characters mannerisms so well, it's really amazing to me to watch. Every time, I think of Zhu Zhanji, I can feel his deep love for Yao Zajin, so many sweet, tender, charming, and emotional scenes and serious conversations between them. Zhu Zhanji's conversations with his consort the second female lead is quite moving too, especially the scene where he tells her his true feelings and asked are you the one to be by my side and then the other scene where he and her are having a spat. In every one of his movies, Xu Kai portray the characters really well. I haven't' watched this movie for months; otherwise, I would write about the temperamental Zhu Zhanji I saw through Xu Kai interpretation. I feel like I really know Zhu Zhanji well. Xu Kai does not overact; his acting is natural, subtle and expressive, which is why I like this actor.

Xu Kai loves costume dramas because he likes physical activities. He says he loves horse riding and fighting. The actress in Yanxi Palace and Royal Feast, said in an interview that she was surprised how fast Xu Kai improved on his fighting skills in a year. Jing Tian said that she was surprised that on the set, they showed them how to do some moves, and Xu Kai learned it instantly. Also, his work on Snow Eagle Lord, the director expectation for Xu Kai was to do the fighting scenes by himself while others he would use special effects and stunts. But due to all the editing, unfortunately, it didn't' really showcase all his efforts. Xu Kai is not a professional at horse riding, martial arts, archery, etc. (probably never had any lessons as a kid) he only does it while on movie set, but he puts in extra efforts because he enjoys it, and because he can leverage his strengths to bring more to his audience.

well Jing Tian did say in interview, it hurt her hands trying to control those horses. For me, the fake horse is not important. Now I think about it, the western movies I grew up watching must have some fake horse riding too because of how Xu Kai looked in the fake horse riding, it reminded me of an old western movie. That's why I didn't realized it was fake. The way he rode it looked exactly like the way I remembered in the western movie, and it was also done for the intro. I thought Oh wow, Xu Kai rides it exactly like that western movie I used to watch. Wow he's so good, just like the cowboy shows. I had no idea perhaps the western movie also used fake horse riding too.

every Chinese costume drama people survive impossible injuries and have medicine or antidote ready to heal them, or they just come back to life somehow. the details are not to be dwelled on because it's a way to move the story along. I used to think Chinese dramas are ridiculous movies, watching people fly everywhere, and get stab all the time and survive, but now that I watch them, I realized, these are done for impact and not to be taken seriously. I just go along with it, and if done well, I enjoy it. I'm just watching to enjoy the story and the acting.

the climax and turning point of the story is ep 30/31

Their conflicts cause a lot of emotional distress in their relationship. The important thing is that they always reconcile to rebuild the trust because there is an unbreakable bond between them that can withstand any conflict. You will see that if you watch all the way to the end.
In a movie, no conflict, no fun. In real life, most couples don't experience real conflicts until after they get marry, then they end up divorce.

Cui Lin has a very strong personality and is very competitive person. She grew up like a boy among men, competing with army of tough male warriors. Her father said she is more capable than a thousand men. She is supposed to be just like her father, the great fierce general Cui Yi - like father like daughter. It must have been very lonely for her to suffer like that - her constant injuries she can't let a guy see them. She had no mother or sister around growing up, to help her or soften her up. Since she is not as physically as strong as men, she has to be resourceful, smarter, cunning, develop instincts and intuition, and other means to overcome men, but still maintain her honor (she would never betray Li Ni army). She is a person who puts up a wall around herself, does not let her guard down, and let people see her vulnerabilities, and she doesn't trust people. She's had plenty of practice her whole life pretending to be a man.
Cui Lin is not perfect. When it comes to the people who matter the most to her in life, she doesn't seem to know how to deal with her emotions. Perhaps it is the way she grew up without a mother. When we see her emotionally distraught, we see no matter how tough her exterior is, she can command an army but when it comes to matters of the heart, inside she can be a mess. No one is immune to a breakdown.

LCF is a sad character. His life growing up is anything but normal. Cui Lin was literally his life. Without her, he feels he will stop living. She is his "breath of life", his lifeline.

How many episodes would you like to explore all the characters dimensions? Each character serves a purpose. We don't need to know everything about every character. Then the complaint will be the movie has too many episodes and drags. However, you might be right that LCF is too one dimensional, marked only by his weakness and madness and not another trait to make him more interesting, but that was intended, he is not the main focus of the movie; but you want a different kind of story involving LCF.

LCF did not manipulate the two princes. It was mutual. The second brother wanted to eliminate Li Ni too. It wasn't' like he outsmarted anyone. He dangled a carrot in front of them and the brother foolishly took it due to his greedy ambition.

Don't make fun of the lovable bandits just because they are poor, lowly people with no education. The movie portrayed them as kindhearted, fierce, loyal, and brave fighters who are homeless, victims of war.

I don't know what you mean by LCF can take over armies? He is the commander of the Cui army, of course, his army would obey his orders, and Sun Jing would collaborate with him to defeat Li Ni's army.

Li Ni father and sons were portrayed as mediocre, foolish, and incompetent, that fits the narrative of the story about the Li royal family, but Li Ni is exceptional.

Most of the other main villains were scheming and clever and play the long game, even mysterious., kind of like in real life, you never know who your real enemy is. You think the person is nice to you, but they have hidden agendas.

The movie is mainly focused on ml and fl conflicts. LCF character purpose was to create conflict and chaos for twists and turns in the story. Even though he is a key character, somehow, I never focused on him much. I never felt the movie was about him anyway.

Does anyone understand the psyche of a madman?

LCF was an orphan. The movie showed him as a young boy 8 yrs.? running scared for his life and ran into Cui Lin same age, also running scared for her life. He saves her life that night. General Cui adopts him out of kindness, as a friend for his daughter, and also, he serves an important purpose that I don't want to spoil. LCF and Cui Lin grew up and did everything together. They were inseparable. He fell in love with her. He had no identify of his own (literally). Cui Lin was his "breath of life". Even Cui Lin father thought LCF might make a good husband for her someday. So LCF has these emotions for Cui Lin bottled up forever. Cui Lin loves him so much as a brother. He is unable to distinguish and thinks Cui Lin loves him the same way he loves her. He always believed that one day he and Cui Lin would marry and be together forever. Then one day, LI Ni shows up and his world is turned upside down. He has always been sicklying and weak, both mentally and physically. He panics at the thought of losing Cui Lin and becomes desperate to get rid of Li Ni. Without Cui Lin, he has no identify of his own, no purpose in life anymore.

Is that not motivation enough? There are real life stories of love triangles that ends up tragic.

I need to rewatch the movie again since it took me over 7 weeks to watch. But I thought that Jeshio enemies gave him a drug to make him strong. Thats why he went from weak to strong. Why is that not believable? Every other Chinese drama has God like or miraculous powerful drugs and poison to use.

there are plenty of dumb, stupid, incompetent rulers in history. they just don't make movies about them nor talk about them. The actor portrayed Li Ni father really well, brought to life a bumbling, simple-minded, foolish, cowardly, pathetic man whose insignificant existence is meaningless, yet he had such a huge impact on an exceptional son he can never understand, and who would make the greatest contribution to the empire.

The purpose of Li Ni's father and two brothers' characters showcased how mediocre and incompetent the Li family was and became the crux of the movie or the conflict to find a competent ruler; hence, they all got wiped out by rebellion, also used to highlight the exceptionalism of Li Ni.

I'm really looking forward to this drama more than Best Choice because of the tension between Han Ting and Ji Xing. Xu Kai had nothing in common with Yang Hua; yet he did a great job with it. He also has nothing in common with Han Ting, I can't wait to see how he portrays him. XK soft, gentle voice fit Yang Hua perfectly; so, it will be interesting how he uses his voice for Han Ting. This is only his second time using his own voice. Also, will be watching for XK mannerisms portraying Han Ting. Xu Kai is meticulous when it comes to imitating this character's manners. All the best to Xu Kai. Don't give AX the opportunity to pick on you.

in the old days before CGI existed, Hollywood had massive budgets and could hire thousands and thousands of extras. But I doubt WOL has that kind of budget and time. The film usually has to finish shooting 40 episodes in 3 to 4 months.

I think Jing Tian did an excellent job portraying Cui Lin’s diverse personality. She brought out the character’s multifaceted nature with great skill and nuance.

Xu kai and Jing Tian are experienced at riding horses. Xu Kai loves to ride horses. In Court Lady, he rode horses. In interviews, he always says he loves horse riding, archery, fighting, sword, spears, and anything physical. The horses for the main leads in WOL were imported, tall, and fierce horses that were hard even for the staff to control them. The scene where Li Ni is on his horse and says he will marry Cui Lin, he rides off fast and the camera clearly shows Xu Kai riding it because so often in editing, audience never know who is doing the actions.

Tell that to every other drama that has its own flaws. There was big fighting scene in a movie using heavy CGI to depict thousands of bodies fighting and none of the swords were stained with blood, and the bodies were blurred and looked so fake . I prefer if they can be creative and use 20 people and show some realistic fighting that is beautifully done. I prefer artistic work to computer generated fake stuff unless it can look realistic and not fake. If they could have found a beautiful location to film Wonderland, it would have really enhanced the movie but it's okay. it does not prevent me from enjoying the essence of the movie.

CGI when not done right looks fake. The story, plot, characters, and the acting are more important to me; the chemistry of the entire cast is the most critical to success of the movie. Chemistry can make or break a movie. Every movie has flaws. You can have perfect fake riding and perfect CGI but lack of chemistry, the movie will bomb.

How can you make an assertion that the actors cannot ride a horse, or is that your opinion?

so it is true then