Net Deception [TVB]

Written by Adelyn Lim

"To be honest, Jack Woo is the worst actor I've ever seen in TVB history. Apart from the fact that he looks young, fresh and good, he shouldn't even be onscreen, much less the lead actor."

SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS!

Cast
Wong Hei - Yiu Shing Tin
Myolie Wu - Kong Kin Yee
Jack Woo - Tong Ka Ming
Eddie Kwan - Chong Chin Pang
Tiffany Lam - Erika

Year of Production
2004

Genre
Modern

Number of Episodes
20

Summary
Yiu Shing Tin is a computer expert who owns a cyber cafe cum game producing company. He is also a hacker on the sly.

Chong Chin Pang, a Commercial crimes Police inspector has already spent a few years on Tin's tail, trying to get evidence of his crimes but to no avail. Apparently, Tin has conflicts with Pang, not only legally, but also privately. It turns out that Pang has a comatose girlfriend, whom he believed was comatose because of Tin.
However, Tin has always been too quick for Pang, so the latter never had the opportunity to nab him.
Pang then decides to deploy an undercover cop in Tin's midst.

He employs a nearly expelled police trainee, Tong Ka Ming to do the job. Ming was almost expelled as he was caught hacking into the police computer system, trying to alter his friend's marks.

Ming takes up the job and ends up as a waiter in Tin's cyber cafe, much to the dismay of his family.

From there, he meets Kong Kin Yee, whom he has met on a few occasions before. Unknown to him, Yee is Tin's half sister. Even Tin himself does not know of her existence. Yee and Ming soon become fast friends.

Tin soon realises that Ming is a cop, but does not expose him. Instead, he convinces Ming that he indeed commits crimes, hoping that one day Ming may be persuaded to join the "dark" side.

Ming soon finds out Yee's identity but promises to keep it a secret, yet Pang causes him to reveal it to Tin unknowingly.

Tin is shocked and has mixed feelings. He hates Yee, yet wants to protect her.

Tin has a girlfriend, Erika, who is a spy from a fellow money launderer. Tin, though heartbroken, loves her very much.

Ming soon gets promoted to games designer and through Pang's urging, falls out with Yee.

Ming breaks up with his girlfriend, who is also his cousin. An incident with a molester causes Yee and Ming to start dating despite objections from Yee's friends as well as Ming's mother.

Things start to go well for them and Tin and his grandparents start to accept Yee.

Ming realises that Tin already knows his identity and panics. He soon suspects that Pang's grudge against Tin may be personal and becomes confused. Finally, he accepts Tin's invitation to join the cat-and-mouse game.

An illegal business strife causes Yee and her grandparents to be kidnapped. Both Tin and Ming are worried about their safety and decides to settle it in the illegal way, much to the Pang's displeasure.

Yee and her grandparents are saved but her grandmother soon dies, while her grandfather is soon diagnosed with dementia. Yee is heartbroken, while Tin is guilt stricken. Yee puts the blame on Tin and urges him not to commit more crimes, but Tin is determined to revenge his grandmother's death.

Pang fires Ming but the latter remains determined to get evidence of Tin's crimes.

Yee finds out Ming's real identity and is angry, yet he is the one who initiates the breakup.

Tin decides to sacrifice his own freedom to catch those involved in his grandparents' kidnapping. He tries to collerate with the police but Pang remains skeptical. Only Ming believes in letting Tin take the risk.

Yee is once again kidnapped when she tries to interfere. Tin goes alone to save her and is later accompanied by Ming. Yee is shot while trying to save Tin and becomes comatose, while Tin goes blind.

Tin regains his eyesight soon and Yee wakes up. The police manage to get evidence of a counterfeit gang and Tin surrenders himself to the police.

Yee begs Tin not to testify against Tin in court but to no avail. Tin gets a fifteen year sentence.

Yee goes to Australia to study law while Ming ends up being a commercial crime inspector. Erika waits for Tin and helps him run his cyber cafe. Tin does his PhD.

Yee returns to Hong Kong after four years and ends up as a prosecutor' assistant. Yee and Ming get back together while Tin and Erika get married behind bars.

My Opinion
Ok, the first thing I want to comment is that I love this serial. I am a sucker for serials where the cops are so utterly useless. Haha... From the moment I saw Wong Hei's character, Tin, driving the cops nuts, I knew I'll enjoy it. I absolutely loved Wong Hei's character, so cunning and oh, so clever. The crooks were so clever and the cops were so stupid, and never really improved their IQ even till the end. A real refreshing plot from TVB, after showing so many cop serials.

Wong Hei as Yiu Shing Tin
Deprived of a happy childhood, Tin grew up as an introvert. He is a computer designer by day, and hacker by night. Apart from computers, it seems that philosophy is his only obsession. He always tries to teach Ming abstract concepts, which Ming always fails to see. I guess he's either plain stubborn or merely stupid, because I myself actually found Tin's philosophical views rather logical. Like for example, he loves to stress that in this world, there is no black and white - only grey. Well, it is true, isn't it? No one can be totally good and no one can be totally bad. Another thing he loves to say is "Only stupid people will become a cop. Smart people become thieves." Haha. I like that one...

Despite being the bad guy and all, he genuinely cares for his loved ones. That I appreciate. I love the fact that he treats his grandparents so well, though I really detest the fact that the two old folks seemed to be like two young kids. Doesn't really make sense to me.

I would say Wong Hei was great here, so different from some of his rather comical roles in the past. He got the hardest role here because Tin is such a complex character. He tried to put on that mysterious and cunning look on his face throughout the entire series, which I find kind of appealing.

Wong Hei was also great in his grandmother's death scene. Devastation and guilty conscience was written all over his face. I particularly enjoyed that scene, not because I'm a sadist, but because I feel the actors, with the exception of Jack Woo, gave an adequate performance.

But honestly, I think I love Wong Hei better in this series than in any other series.

Great job!

Myolie Wu as Kong Kin Yee
Yee grew up with a single, lesbian mum and her lover. I think that's what they were right? Anyway, she knew right from the beginning who she was, who her father was. No secrets hidden by her mum. She was Yiu Kin Yee, and her brother was Yiu Shing Tin. And she knew she had a duty to perform. Her mother had broken up a happy family, and she was there to put it all right again. So with her funny hairstyle and all, she went to work in her brother's cyber cafe where she met Tong Kar Ming, an undercover. So from there she tried to start a romance with him, as well as try to earn her brother's forgiveness. Well, in the end, she succeeded with both.

Honestly, the more I watch Myolie, the more I come to appreciate her acting. She isn't drop-dead gorgeous, but she does have adequate acting abilities unlike some of the other new young artistes. Myolie had taken the backseat in the past, while people like Michelle Ye took the lead in Eternal Happiness. But Myolie has proven herself to be able to handle a lead role even better than Michelle.

Jack Woo as Tong Ka Ming
Tong Ka Ming is your average Joe. He grew up in a regular family - a mother, father, aunt and cousin. So like a normal boy-next-door, he dated his cousin, who happened to be his neighbour too. He applied and got into his dream job, to be a cop. But because of his kind passionate little heart, he hacked into the police computer system and altered his friend's marks. It was the same friend who conveniently disappeared from the picture even when Ming was facing expulsion. Where was he to defend Ming and own up saying yes, it was me he was trying to save, so get rid of me, not him...

So anyway, Ming got himself expelled, nearly. Luckily for him, he met Inspector Chong Chin Pang. Pang invited him to be an undercover to find evidence to nail Tin. Through this experience, Ming learnt to deal with the conflicts between law and ethics, finally making friends with both Tin and Pang, and falling in love with Kin Yee.

To be honest, Jack Woo is the worst actor I've ever seen in TVB history. Apart from the fact that he looks young, fresh and good, he shouldn't even be onscreen, much less the lead actor. He has no facial expression whatsoever. No matter whether he was suppose to act happy, sad, shocked, he simply never showed it at all. This is not even lousy acting. It isn't even acting at all. It's just regurgitating the script. He should go for acting classes first. Why in the world did TVB cast him as the main lead? Why not Raymond Lam? Even Ron or Bosco may have been a better choice.

I-Don't-Get-It
As the heading implies, I just don't get it. What did Ming do actually to receive so much praise at the end of the series? Pang claimed that Ming was a good cop, much better than what he would ever be. Well, if Pang can be considered a darn good cop, then I guess Ming is a great one… but actually, neither one did much. If you actually notice, none of the cops actually achieved much at the end. I mean, Pang had been going on for years but never got to catch Tin. In fact, I've never even seen them catch a crook based on their own ability and without the help of Tin. Ming never did achieve anything too. He didn't find evidence against Tin, it was Tin who surrendered himself to the police. He acted like a fool from the beginning to end. The only thing Ming did was to make a good judgment by trusting Tin at the end. So why was he praised to sky high?

Rating


I would have given the series a 4.5 if not for Jack's lousy acting. Apart from that, I was impressed with both Wong Hei and Myolie's performance, as well as the refreshing plot.

Read More

Take My Word For It [TVB]

Written by Adelyn Lim

"Almost everyone inside made it boring. Bobby, without his usual laughter, was boring. The ever-busy Kenix, who was so utterly useless in every PNC mission, was boring. Annie's character of Yip Hor Yan was boring, and the appearance of Winnie Yeung made the entire serial as horrifying as possible."

SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS!

Production

2002



Genre

Modern



Episodes

30



Cast

Bobby Au-Yeung - Pang Kwok Dong

Kenix Kwok - Kan Kit

Julian Cheung - Yeung Gwong

Annie Man - Yip Ho Yan

Moses Chan - Mok Ka Chung

Winnie Yeung - Poon Man Jing

Ellesmere Choy - Yeung Hau Mo (Jacky)

Wai Ka Hung - Chai Kar Chuen





Plot

This serial revolves round the lives of police negotiators.



Summary

Pang Kwok Dong (Bobby) and Kan Kit (Kenix) were both in the Police Negotiating Cadre (PNC), which consisted of only the most outstanding police officers. Dong was also the senior inspector of the West Kowloon Major Crimes Division, while Kit was the inspector of the Anti-Vice team. While saving a slightly retarded man, Kar Chuen from jumping off a building, one day, police constable, Yeung Gwong (Julian), became involved with negotiating duty. Kit, impressed with his performance, encouraged him to join the PNC. Gwong agreed reluctantly to please her. During PNC training, he met a fellow trainee, Yip Hor Yan (Annie). Yan being the total opposite of the happy-go-lucky Gwong, consistently became worried and unsure about the exams. Dong got a bad impression of Gwong did not think highly of him at first. The latter later vowed to pass the exams when the former urged him to quit the training. Yan and Gwong passed the exams with flying colours and even won the "Dream Team" award. Despite that, Kwok Dong still remained apprehensive about Gwong as a PNC member. Kit found out that her husband, Kar Chung (Moses), was having a long term extramarital affair with Dong's wife, Man Jing (Winnie), and decided on a divorce. Dong's misunderstanding with Gwong deepened when rumours began spreading in the police station soon after the latter witnessed Jing eloping with Chung. Yan fell for Gwong but was rejected by him as he could not forget his past relationship with his ex girlfriend, Ada. Gwong and Yan soon became good friends with Kar Chuen (Kar Hung) after a few of the latter's failed suicide attempts. Soon after, Chuen died by accident and Yan became traumatized it. Gwong's brother, a psychiatrist, Jacky (Ellesmere), treated her and they became friends. Jacky had broken up with his girlfriend, Joyce, a while before, and he decided to woo Yan. Dong's impression of Gwong changed for the better after experiencing the latter's excellent performance during the PNC missions. Dong then decided to take Gwong as his disciple. Meanwhile, Kit realized that she was pregnant with Chung's child and vowed to bring up the child single-handedly after much dilemma. Dong became the child's god-father. He was promoted to the position of Superintendent only to meet with an accident - His younger brother was a gay and Dong could not accept it. In a struggle at a roof-top, he fell and broke his leg. Dong's leg could not recover fully and he would only be able to walk independently after two years of physiotherapy. His condition worsened after his visit to a miracle doctor and was faced with the possibility of amputation. Dong's attempt to kill himself fails when he was saved by Kit, Gwong and Yan. Dong's relationship with Kit deepened after the operation. Gwong realized that Jacky had been two-timing Yan and quarreled with him. Yan relationship with Jacky's family improved significantly. Gwong fell for Yan while comforting her when she found out about Jacky's relationship with Joyce. They started dating. Joyce broke up with Jacky again and the latter immediately asked Yan for a reconciliation. She rejected him and Jacky soon realized that the third party in the relationship was actually Gwong. The brothers quarreled. Both ended up in hospital after a car accident. Their family members blamed Gwong for it. Gwong then decided to break off with Yan. Kit gave birth to a baby boy. Chung returned after breaking off with Jing. He hoped for reconciliation. The baby was found to be having liver problems and only Chung was a suitable donor for the liver transplant. He saved the baby and returned to Canada after being rejected by Kit. Not knowing Kit's decision, the wheelchair-bounded Dong left for Singapore and Malaysia for PNC training. The Yeung family's supermarket underwent rapid extended promotions and services causing the displeasure of the workers. One worker, a mute, was injured in an accident. The company refused to pay compensation and the injured worker's brother got violent. He held all the people at the company hostage and the PNC was called in. The hostages developed the Stockholm syndrome within hours of the hostage and the only person who had ever dealt with this type of situation was Kwok Dong who was still in South East Asia.



The Ending

SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS!



Gwong informed Dong via email, and the latter took the first flight back to Hong Kong. He managed to turn the situation around while Gwong's job was to convince the man that his brother would get the full compensation. Just as everything was going smoothly, Gwong's elder brother became injured while saving his sister. The siblings patch up. Dong and Kit decided to take care of the baby together. Gwong apologized to Yan. They got married.



My Comments

What caught my attention at the beginning was the PNC part. I thought the PNC job was pretty cool. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I liked the work and I liked the uniform. I liked the people acting inside. I'm a Bobby fan. I'm a Kenix fan. I'm a Julian fan. I'm an Annie fan. Then before I got past the second episode, I was half asleep on the couch. You know why? Because it was boring. B-O-R-I-N-G. Almost everyone inside made it boring. Bobby, without his usual laughter, was boring. The ever-busy Kenix, who was so utterly useless in every PNC mission, was boring. Annie's character of Yip Hor Yan was boring, and the appearance of Winnie Yeung made the entire serial as horrifying as possible.



Bobby as Pang Kwok Dong

As I've said before, I'm a Bobby fan. I love Bobby. I loved him since Files of Justice and I love him now (not romantically, please). But I absolutely hated him in here. Pang Kwok Dong was a horrible person. A self-centered male chauvinist pig at the beginning and a self-pitying loser at the end. But that wasn't the reason why I hated Bobby here. Bobby is a very versatile actor. I would say that he acted the role of Pang Kwok Dong to perfection. I could see the MCP in his eyes and I could actually feel the fury when he found out that his wife was having an affair with his best friend. However, I still think Bobby is more suited for comedies. When I see him on TV, I have to see his cheeky grin and hear his infectious laughter, if not, it just seems dull. I think that was what happened here.



Kenix as Kan Kit

I guess Kenix was alright in this serial. I think her acting here was just mediocre. Not too good, but not that bad either.



Annie as Yip Hor Yan

You know, I could just sit there and sympathize with Yan. She was the most innocent one in the serial. I think her only mistake was to fall in love with two jerks, namely Gwong and Jacky. Just her luck to be ditched by Jacky and rejected by Gwong twice!



Winnie as Poon Man Jing

I feel so repulsed by her. In any serial I see her, I get sick. I think I'm just allergic to her big goldfish eyes and innocent expression on her face. I think she's a horrible actress. I criticized Winnie in my Square Pegs review and I will criticize her now. I don't care how many people will hate me for saying this but I think she's TERRIBLE. This woman just cannot act. She should attend more acting classes and get a bag to cover her face.



Julian as Yeung Gwong

I think Julian was the only entertaining one. Gwong was just so lively and hilarious. I think the serial would have been a flop without him.



Another factor that made the serial a disaster was the love factor. There was absolutely NO chemistry between the characters. AT ALL!



Bobby - Kenix

After watching Crimes of Passion, I thought the Bobby-Kenix pairing was okay. No "fireworks" or anything but it was a safe-bet. But actually I got pretty grossed out after thinking it through. I mean, I was already horrified when Chung and Jing had their little sinful affair, but later Dong and Kit too??? I know they're not committing adultery or anything of that sort since they were already divorced. But it seems that they four were like switching partners or something. But that was beside the point because I realized something else. There was not a single "I love you" being exchanged there. I think for Dong and Kit, it was more of an "I need you" rather than an "I love you" situation. I mean, look at them. One's a divorced pregnant lady while the other's a wheel-chair bounded, self-pitying loser. They NEEDED each other. And that was all. I absolutely cannot see their relationship beyond that. I remember this scene where Kit said to Chung, "I see Dong as the man who can walk with me through my future journey in life." I laughed when I heard that because I think Dong would be more suited to walk with her as her god brother or something rather than her husband.



Kenix - Moses

Instead, I could sense a little something between Kit and Chung. They look more like a couple. In fact, I feel that they should have remained together. It was such a pity that they had to split up. I thought that Chung was an excellent husband. He was caring and sensitive. He knew how to handle his father-in-law; he knew how to coax his wife. He was a good cop. I thought he was a wonderful husband. Of course that was because I missed out the part about him having an affair with his best friend's wife/wife's best friend (pick one). The only problem about Chung was that he was a weak-willed man. You should see the times he got manipulated by Jing. I could tell he loved his wife but was just a little stupid to have an affair with Jing. Don't know what he sees in her anyway. I mean, he could have little flings with women outside but why her?



Anyway, I thought Kenix looked good with Moses. I felt that she had a little "glow" whenever they had scenes together at the beginning of the serial. Maybe TVB should pair them up more often.



Julian - Annie

Julian and Annie were the cute couple of the serial, though sometimes I just want to kick him. Look at how many times he rejected her. Broke her poor little heart. I just sympathized with her all the way. But sometimes I feel that she was like a ball being kicked around between Gwong and Jacky. It was just so sad. But I cheer up sometimes when I see scenes with Julian and Annie. I think the duo was pretty good and very fun to see. They had chemistry BUT not romantic ones. I mean, acting as friends, they were good. I thoroughly enjoyed them bickering all the way. But once they started dating, or having awkward moments of He-Loves-Me-He-Loves-Me-Nots, even the only entertaining parts of the serial just faded away. Their chemistry just died. It was terrible. The pairing up of the main characters Dong with Kit, Gwong with Yan was a total mistake. No sparks at all!



My Favourite Character

Yeung Gwong. No doubt about it, Gwong was the only character that kept the serial from being a tragedy right from the beginning. I absolutely loved his happy-go-lucky character. An absolutely pleasant character in the serial.



My Most Hated Character

Poon Man Jing. I hated her right from the beginning. Even though both Jing and Chung were both unfaithful to their spouses, I hated Jing more. That was because she was the mastermind and broke Chung and Kit up. What's more? She had the cheek to blame Dong for her adultery! I mean, so what if he didn't have time for her? So what if he was an insensitive husband? That doesn't mean she could go around fooling with Chung. It doesn't give her the right to do so. If Dong was a lousy husband, what does that make her? I'd say she was a lousy wife.



The Best Performance

I would say Bobby did a great job. Much as I hate Pang Kwok Dong, and Bobby, himself, for acting as Dong, I would applause his acting. As I've said right from the beginning, Bobby is a very versatile actor. He was great. I could see the fury in his eyes and the disappointment and despair on his face all at the appropriate moments. Great job, Bobby!



The Worse Performance

Need I say more? Winnie. That woman can't act.



The Amazing Thing

The amazing thing about the PNC work is that every time you run into personal problems, don't worry. Because the next person that comes along trying to jump off the building or taking someone else hostage, definitely has the same problem as you. Hey! You're not alone! I thought it was totally ridiculous. Give one example. Kit got divorced and during the PNC mission, the women she tried to save from committing suicide also had an unfaithful husband. The only thing that ran through my mind was "STOP IT! STOP IT!" Can't they make the cases just a teeny-weeny bit more realistic?



The Ending

The serial ended so abruptly. Everything was so incomplete. There were problems between couples and siblings and all of a sudden, in the last five minutes, they all patched up. It was unbelievable. And there was another thing that everyone forgot about. That was the problem of the Yeung Family supermarket. I think in the last few episodes, there was some trouble with some guy trying to take over the company by tricking them into signing some ridiculous contract which finally let to the final showdown with the workers. So everything ended. But what about the contract? It still exists right? Wouldn't the family business still be in trouble?



Another thing that put me off was to have to end the show with a wedding. To be more specific, Gwong and Yan's wedding. Whatever for? I thought it was utterly useless and only added to the boredom.



Rating





Should I rent it?

No. Unless

1) You love Julian Cheung Chilam

2) You hate Bobby Aw-Yeung Chun Wah

3) You have insomnia and ran out of sleeping pills

4) You just want to abuse yourself by forcing yourself to stare blankly at the TV screen till you go blind

---

Read More

Square Pegs [TVB]

Written by Adelyn Lim

"I'm an ardent Jessica fan. Really. Truly. Honestly. No doubt she's a great actress. But her role as Choi Fung simply cannot bring out her true potential."

SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS!

Chinese Title

Wong Fu Shing Lung



Genre

Early republican days



Released In

2003



Who's Who?

Ah Wong/ Lei Kai Chung - Roger Kwok

Ling Choi Fung - Jessica Hester Hsuan

Ling Choi Dip - Leila Tong

Bao Kai Chung - Raymond Cho

Yeung Pui Kwan - Winnie Yeung

Old Master Bao Hing Fung - Yuen Wah

Bao Tai Fu - Lee Shing Chung

Ah Wong's Father - Hui Chiu Hung

Ah Wong's Mother - Mi Chu Lin - Lo Yuen Yen

Choi Fung's father - Bowie Lam's father in Untraceable Evidence

Lau Seung Seung - Rebecca Chan

Bao Tai Fu's sister - Natalie Wong

Mi Chu Lin's biscuit helper - John Tan





Plot

A case of identity-swap and two cases of swapped marriages.





A Detailed Summary

Its rather complicated so don't blame me if you can't catch what I'm trying to tell you...here goes...





The time line of this story is around the 1920s. okay, let's start with the background first. There are basically two families involved at first. Firstly in Wu Lung village, there is a very rich and powerful family. You know.. in every show within the 1920s time frame. .there will always be one rich family in the show.. look at Plain Love 2 or country spirit and you'll know what i mean. Hmmm.. i wonder why...Anyway, Old Master Bao (Yuen Wah) of the Bao family's first wife kicked a woman out of the house some twenty years back. Anyway, this woman, or should I say this pregnant woman left and went to the next village to live and gave birth to a son named Lei Kai Chung. Well, around those few years, there was also this middle income family who had a Chinese biscuit shop. Anyway, this family had a son named Ah Wong whom they lost one fine day.



Anyway, when the show started, both families had already found their respective sons (or so they thought...) after 20 years or so. It happened that the old master Bao needed a son to take over his business or something and so had people to investigate and bring his son, whom was borne by that very woman he kicked out some 20 years ago, back. His son, was thus called Bao Kai Cheung. Bao Kai Chung learned to run the family business with the help of Bao Tai Fu, his "cousin". It also happened that Ah Wong (Roger) happened to come back "home" one fine rainy night around the same time. Apparently he was badly injured and was lying at their doorstep. Ah Wong's mother, Mi Chu Lin (Lo Yuen Yen) having the motherly instincts that all mothers' have, immediately swore that that was her long lost son.



Of course here comes the main part of the story. Being badly injured, Ah Wong lost his memory and became retarded and so you can guess what it was like... so naive.. kind of like a little kid and often bullied by people, young and old. Which is why he stuck on to Choi Fung (Jessica) when she treated him well. Its true Choi Fung saved Ah Wong from some kids but she certainly didn't appreciate him tagging along behind her all the time.



Well, Choi Fung had a father, step-mother and a half younger sister. Her sister (Leila Tong) was nice...to her and to everyone else. But her step-mother? Stereotypical step mother... treating her own daughter like a jewel and her step daughter like grass(if you know what i mean). AND what's worse than having gambling as a bad habit? Habitual gambler that steals her own husband's antiques to pawn. She was indeed the most hated character at the beginning. I mean, how lousy can a mother get if she has to pawn her own daughter for gambling sake?? Yeah, she did. When her daughter, Choi Dip was young, she actually arranged with Ah Wong's mother to betroth her to ah Wong in order to pay off her gambling debt.



Anyway, Ah Wong's mother met her on the road one day and demanded that she fulfill her obligations.. On the other hand, Choi Dip had this major crush on the rich boy Kai Cheung who had an equally major crush on Choi Fung. (TVB really has nothing better that huh...sister likes guy likes sister like guy...duh duh duh duh)





So as they say love is blind and of course those in LOVE would be hallucinating and stuff...and Choi Dip thought that she was the one that our richie rich liked and all the misunderstanding came...together with a marriage proposal. In fact there was two of them. The other was from Ah Wong's family because they thought that Choi Fung was Choi Dip and anyway, Ah Wong liked Choi Fung...so....



It was only the day before both bridal sedans came that they all came to find out that Choi Fung was the lucky one. So the wicked step mother and the poor helpless little young daughter thought up of a wicked plan to swap the brides. So Ah Fung would end up with Ah Wong and ah dip, with Kai Cheung.



Choi Dip, feeling guilty, decided to slip a note informing her sister about the swap into a bun, which Choi Fung was suppose to eat in the sedan, but for some reason or other, she didn't eat it and they both ended up marrying the wrong guy.



Choi Fung locked herself up in the room the whole night while Choi Dip and Kai Cheung did what they were supposed to do, solely because he was to drunk to know the difference.



And so because of all twist of fate, both families had to live with it. Choi Fung wasn't that easy to live with. Her main goal was to make her in-laws' lives miserable and get them to sign the divorce papers. There were plenty of conflicts between Choi Fung and her parents-in-law; and between Choi Dip and Kai Chung, mainly because Kai Chung still like Choi Fung.



Just as all this conflicts were still present, there came a woman. Yeung Pui Kwan (Winnie Yeung). She happened to be looking for her fiancé, Lei Kai Chung and by chance, came to know Choi Fung and later worked at Choi Fung's parents' tea house which was financed by BAO Kai Chung, the 2nd son-in-law.



Pui Kwan was shocked to find that Ah Wong resembled her fiancé, so she decided to get close to him to test him. Knowing that Ah Wong likes to attend school and study, she offered to be Ah Wong's private tutor and secretly performed tests to convince herself that this was the man of her dreams. It was a matter of time before Choi Fung got suspicious and finally found out the truth that Ah Wong was actually Pui Kwan's fiancé. Choi Fung confessed to Pui Kwan that Ah Wong and her are only husband and wife by name and she will help Ah Wong regain his memory so that he will divorce her then.



Anyway, things got really suspicious because Lei Kai Chung (Roger) and Bao Kai Chung were actually found by their respective families around the same time. They both share the same name and as Pui Kwan found out, the woman whom was kicked out of the

Bao family was named Lei Shao Qun, Which was also the same name as LEI kai Chung (Roger)'s mother.



Well it was because of this, that Pui Kwan and Choi Fung became "female detectives" and decided to find the truth of Ah Wong's parentage. Ah Wong's father revealed that the real Ah Wong actually died of illness about 20 years back but could not bear to tell his wife so he told her their son was lost. The reason he accepted the fake Ah Wong as his son was because he did not want his wife to go crazy again. Meanwhile, Ah Wong became friends with old master Bao and soon found out that they both have a similar peculiar craving for a kind of green bean soup with some added ingredient. So they would both hide out in the forest everyday to experiment it. (Obviously they are father and son, lar!)



As the story progresses, things get better. Relationships between everybody are not that strained anymore. Kai Chung slowly accepted Choi Dip. Choi Fung began to like Ah Wong, first as a friend and then slowly began to fall for him. He was like an ideal husband. He would never forget her birthdays and would come up with wonderful surprises just to see her smile.



Ah Wong, although retarded, turned out to have potential in baking Chinese Biscuits because he was creative.



So anyway, it turned out that the Bao Tai Fu was the ultimate baddie of the show. He was the one that found Lei Kai Chung first. Killed his mother, then tried to kill him and later found a poor orphan to replace him. So in the whole show, he's the only bad guy. Everyone else is good. Which means all the confusion was caused solely by him. Because he wanted the inheritance. What else?



The fake Kai Chung found out about it and was forced to keep quiet and it was not so much of money but more of the love he felt for his newly found father and wife.



It was Choi Fung's birthday and Ah Wong invented a new Chinese biscuit called "lou po peng" (wife biscuits) for her. But later he and old master Bao got kidnapped. Bao Kai Chung wanted to pay the ransom but Ah Wong and Old Master Bao escaped. So anyway, Pui Kwan and Choi Fung tried to tell old master Bao the truth but the latter didn't believe them. Fu knew about it and tried to silence Ah Wong but the plan was thwarted by Kai Chung who had a conscience and managed to tell Choi Fung in time.



So Ah Wong was saved but nearly drowned in the water and he regained his memory. So he went on to declare his love for his wife only to remember that he was still suppose to love his fiancée too.



Okay.. now to Bao Tai Fu. Well, Fu was on the verge on shooting old master Bao's brains out when he was shot, I think I don't really remember. Sorry. But anyway, he got his just ending.



So who did Ah Wong choose in the end? And what happened to the fake Bao Kai Chung and his wife?



THE ENDING

SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS!



Bao Kai Chung and his wife were accepted by old Master Bao as his son and daughter-in-law. So which means he has two sons now.





Did Ah Wong choose Choi Fung in the end? Well.. its not really made known though.. All three of them decided to back out and they all left town. Then it was a few years later that all three of them met each other.



Character Analysis

Ah Wong/Lei Kai Chung

Ah Wong or Lei Kai Chung was a rather smart guy at first when he wasn't retarded yet. I think he used to attend school or something. Had a rather compatible girlfriend and a caring mother but his mother was killed and he was injured by a masked man. He turned up at Wu Lung Village, right at the doorstep of Mi Chu Lin who immediately took him in as her long lost son Ah Wong. Kai Chung woke up with amnesia and became retarded. Ah Wong was rather cute. He was very sweet to Choi Fung, his "lou po jai". Look at all the ways he tried to make her happy. I would say he was good at coaxing girls even though he's not really bright in other areas. Maybe except for making biscuits. In here, he was suppose to be the inventor of "lou Po Peng" (wife biscuits). I bet now you can guess how it got its name.. Yes. Ah Wong made it for Choi Fung. In fact, Ah Wong is so sweet, he could just melt your heart. He was also rather naive to the point that its rather comical. I personally liked the way he listened to Choi Fung, like the way she tricked him into thinking that "Dong Fung" (consummation of marriage) is like a game where two people stand on stilts. I mean, its totally hilarious. Especially when he told people out loud that his hobby was to "Dong Fung" with his wife...Also, I liked the way he protected the "lou po peng" when he and old Master Bao got kidnapped.



Roger looked like he kind of enjoyed playing this role. Bet he had loads of fun. I think Roger did quite a good job acting retarded. He's much better than Swet Lei who acted as Ah Soon's mother. That woman can't act. But Roger can. I was never a Roger fan but after watching Square Pegs, I would say he has the potential.



Choi Fung

Choi Fung grew up with a father, step-mother Lau Seung Seung and half sister Choi Dip. Although her step-mother didn't treat her all that well, she still had the love of her sister and father nevertheless. Her fate came to a drastic change when she was tricked Seung Seung and Choi Dip into marrying Ah Wong. She could not believe that her sister actually betrayed her. Later she tried her best to get Ah Wong's family to divorce her, but later grew to like them.

Choi Fung's character gave me the impression that she was a rather serious character. She was almost a motherly figure to everyone. She had to think of ways to stop her step mother from gambling, and gave both Choi Dip and Kai Chung advice on a happy marriage, and not to mention she had to take care of Ah Wong. Although she fell for Ah Wong, she still insisted on backing out of the love triangle. I sat there watching her and wondering if such a person really existed in actual life.



Here's one thing I don't get though… Choi Fung has always the understanding, giving and serious one in the entire show, yet she suddenly became so childish when she was "fighting" with her mother-in-law in order to get them to write her a divorce letter. The way both women tried to provoke each other was absolutely annoying. Its like two kids playing 'lets-see-who-can-tahan(Malay for tolerate)-the-longest' or something.



Jessica got nominated for "Best Actress" for her role as Choi Fung right? Was she that good in this series? Ask for my personal opinion? I guess not. I'm an ardent Jessica fan. Really. Truly. Honestly. No doubt she's a great actress. But her role as Choi Fung simply cannot bring out her true potential. Choi Fung is significant in the play because she's the main character but Jessica doesn't. One simply CANNOT sit there and go "WOW! Great actress!" In every scene, Roger grabs all attention. One can only go "Orrrrhhhhh!!! Look at that couple..so funny…"



Pui Kwan

I didn't want to do her character profile. I absolutely hate her character and I just don't know why. But I decided that I'd do it anyway. Yeung Pui Kwan was the fiancée of the real Lei Kai Chung. But they were separated because Fu sent a masked man to murder him and his mother. His Lei Kai Chung's mother died but he survived though he suffered major injuries on the head. Pui Kwan never gave up hope as she went from one village to another in search of him, only to find that Kai Chung had became Ah Wong, a retarded guy who lost his memory. She later became good friends with Ah Wong's wife Choi Fung and together they decided to find truth of Ah Wong/Kai Chung's parentage.



She's not the ultimate baddie in here. She's just the third party...well she's not really the third party even. Cannot deny the fact that she was the fiancée of Ah Wong/Lei Kai Chung. But what does she expect really? She goes to find him and finally finds him. Sees him retarded and married. Some might say that she is too deeply in love with Ah Wong, which is why she had to try means and ways to get close to him in order to help him gain his memory. But had she thought about Choi Fung? Choi Fung was her friend… had she ever thought about what Choi Fung was going to do if one day Ah Wong and her actually got together??? No. She seemed relieved when Choi Fung told her that she and Ah Wong are only man and wife by name. Yet doesn't she realize that Ah Wong seemed to like only Choi Fung? True, he may have lost his memory but that does not mean that he will choose her after he regains it back. In this love triangle, Choi Fung seemed to have the sense to back out later on even when she knew she loved Ah Wong., What about Pui Kwan?? I think she's just hypocritical.



Oh, and a very important point. I honestly think she's a little mentally unstable or something. I really don't know. After being frustrated with Ah Wong for forgetting her, and also because she was jealous of Choi Fung, she seemed to be a little crazy… like pricking Ah Wong in the neck and chopping an origami grasshopper into little pieces. Choi Fung was shocked for a moment but later said she understood her predicament. But I don't. One moment she could be angrily chopping the grasshopper with a kitchen knife and when someone comes in, she could be perfectly fine the next moment. Scary. Yet they never focused on that point anymore. Why? I really didn't think she was perfectly fine or just merely jealous. I really did think she was a little sick in the head.



Bao Kai Chung

Bao Kai Chung grew up as a poor orphan only to be told one day that he was the son of a rich man. Poor Kai Chung was made use of throughout the series. He was tricked by Fu to enter the Bao Family only to find out later that he was not the real descendent. Then he was tricked by Choi Dip into marrying her. Poor Kai Chung only knew about the swap of brides after consummating the marriage. At the beginning, you may have the impression that he is a bad guy, but later you will realize that he's not evil at all. He's just a poor boy who lacked parental love and so even when he realized that he was merely Fu's tool to success, he continued to love his family. especially his wife, Choi Dip and Old Master Bao Hing Fung. I think he didn't like Ah Wong at first, because he was jealous of him for marrying Choi Fung



Raymond Cho was a good choice for the role. He has always had these kind of characters. Quiet, timid and always the good guy…Hmm…he does not have the makings of a bad guy.





The Best Artiste

Obviously Roger. He looks natural acting as Ah Wong. One can really see the cuteness in him. That's an important factor, you know… if a lousy actor (I won't mention names) acts this one out…it will probably turn out rather stupid..



Best Couple

Ah Wong - Choi Fung

No doubt Ah Wong and Choi Fung dominates the whole serial. Roger and Jessica have excellent chemistry. I kind of like the way they call each other "lou po jai"(little wife) and "lou gong jai"(little husband). I think they are rather sweet together. I hated them in the beginning because Ah Wong was a little annoying, trying to follow Choi Fung everywhere she goes and Choi Fung was a little cold and heartless towards Ah Wong but nevertheless, their chemistry was great. When they are together, apart from everybody else, they are rather nice towards each other.



Ah Wong - Pui Kwan

Not much was emphasized between them. Mostly, the romance between them were through Pui Kwan's memory. Even then, it was merely bits and pieces of it. I don't really see much chemistry between them, even after Ah Wong regained his memory. However, their love must have been deep, for Pui Kwan to move from village to village in search of Ah Wong. Also looking at how desperate she was around Ah Wong, I guess she really did love him.



Kai Chung - Choi Dip

Nothing really great from either party. Their love affair was overshadowed by Ah Wong and Choi Fung. Roger and Jessica have great chemistry together, so much so that it diminishes any feelings I felt for Raymond and Leila.



John Tang - Natalie Wong

I can't remember their names in the serial, therefore I have to use their real names. They are minor characters here in SP. John is a helper at Mi Chu Lin's biscuit's shop. He also lives with Ah Wong's family. Natalie is Bao Hing Fung's niece and Fu's sister. Their character is so minor, they do not even contribute to the main plot. Their love story is just a subplot by itself. They were a bickering couple, at first, then they became friends and fell in love. Then, Bao Hing Fung refused to let them be together because John was poor. I can't really remember what happened. But anyway, they got together in the end. I don't have much memory of them but I think their chemistry wasn't that great altogether. I feel John has that kiddie air in him that makes him an unsuitable partner for Natalie. I think Natalie looks too old for him.





The Hilarious Factor

Well, there was one scene where Choi Fung's father came home after a business trip only to find both his daughter's married… haha.. that was funny.



Father: Where's Choi Dip?

Mother: Oh… she married Bao Kai Chung yesterday…

Father: Eh?.........

…

…

…

Father: CHOOIIII FUNNGG… GET ME A CUPPA TEA!!!

Mother: Eh…. She got married yesterday tooooo…

Father: Haaaarrrrrhhh???







The I-Don't Get-It Factor

I don't get how everyone kept pushing Kai Chung to accept Choi Dip. I mean, come on, give this guy a break. You all tricked him into marrying the wrong girl and you expect him to like her the next day of the wedding? Who can blame the poor guy? I hate it when people go " She's a nice girl.. she's done so much for you…. Why can't you just accept her, you heartless creature".. So what if she's nice? So what if she's good to you? You don't like her means you don't like her… if visualizing her in bed makes you regurgitate your breakfast… its not your fault lar… This is exactly the same as "Doomed to Oblivion" where Ban Qiu ( Wong Hei) had the same reaction towards (Nnadia Chan) too.





The Hate Factor

I hate Pui Kwan. That's all that I can say….





AND I HATE THE ENDING OF THE SHOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



What a stupid way to end the show!



The love triangle between Choi Fung -Ah Wong - Pui Kwan could not be solved so all three of them decided to back out and leave town. A couple of years later…



I think it was like… Choi Fung went to work at a Japanese tea shop or something and wore a Japanese Kimono Ah Wong …I can't remember what…but he was in an English suit ...Pui Kwan went to be a teacher, I think… but wore those English dresses.



ARRRGGGHHHH… I simply couldn't bear to see them…. They looked simply horrible… I mean… look at Choi Fung (Jessica).. she simply looked hilarious and absurd in that Japanese thingy…so stupid…did she become a geisha or something? I really do not know.



Then the three of them coincidentally met at a field… and I simply can't remember what happened next because I had to cover my eyes in order to stop wincing. I think they did a dance or something. Can't remember.



Should I rent it?

Sure.. if you are a Roger and/or Jessica fan…and if you do not mind annoying and lousy endings.. Go ahead.



Rating

---

Read More

King Of Yesterday And Tomorrow [TVB]

Written by Adelyn Lim

"Many would find that the idea of time travel is not all that refreshing anymore especially after the serial A Step into The Past ... many would still be entertained by this serial because ... there are many new and amazing discoveries that were invented after their (Yung Cheng & Lui Sei Leong) generation. The amusement was of course targeted at their limited knowledge and ignorance."

SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS!

Production

2003



Episodes

20



Genre

Ancient/Modern



Cast

Kong Wah - Emperor Yung Cheng/ Lee Tai Ha

Maggie Cheung - Lui Sei Leong

Melissa Ng - Rachel Sum

Gilbert Lam - Frankie Sung

Paul Chun Pui - Sum Siu Hong

Anthony Tang - Hugo Sum

Cheung Chi Kwong - Brian Sum

Halina Tam - Tina Sum



Plot

A Qing Dynasty Emperor and his female assassinator find themselves transported 200 years ahead of time into a new era. Both decide to bury the hatchet and learn to adapt to the new age. They soon find themselves caught in the middle of a family struggle. Love blossoms between them as time passes as the bickering couple find themselves attracted to each other.



Summary

The Heaven and Earth society was a rebel clan in the Qing Dynasty. Their main aim was to assassinate the Manchurian Emperor and allow the Ming Emperor to usurp the throne. Although Qing Emperor Yung Cheng was a wise and intelligent emperor, there was constant instability within the palace as the royal brothers consistently rebelled against him.



One day, when Yung Cheng was out of the palace, he was ambushed and attacked by the Heaven and Earth Society. Lui Sei Leong, a female assassinator was caught by Yung Cheng's men. The boat which they were on was caught by a tornado in the sea and all on board was sucked into the sea.



Yung Cheng and Lui Sei Leong entered another dimension and entered a new era 200 years into the future into the modern world. They both landed up in a collided tour bus in Mainland China and were both treated as victims of the bus crash.



A Chinese librarian, Lee Tai Ha died in the bus crash and so Yung Cheng, who remotely resembled Tai Ha assumed his identity and was brought over to Hong Kong by his uncle.



Lui Sei Leong, on the other hand, joined a martial arts performance group and was kicked out of it later when she tried to assassinate Yung Cheng/Tai Ha during a performance. She tried to survive in the streets with the help of a man called Frankie Sum.



Tai Ha joined a property and interior design company owned by Sum Siu Hong. Siu Hong had three wives, one daughter and four sons, one of which died in an accident many years before. Tai Ha was often insulted and bullied by Siu Hong's eldest son and daughter-in-law, Brian and Tina respectively, and vowed not to be bullied again.



Sei Leong saved Siu Hong from being taken hostage by a mentally unstable company driver and the latter soon hired her as his personal bodyguard. The media soon mistakes Sei Leong for being the fourth wife, much to the displeasure of the eldest wife. Siu Hong's third son Frankie decided to woo Sei Leong and she accepted his love.



Tai Ha soon found that Frankie was Siu Hong's only capable son and helped him climbed up the company ladder much to the displeasure of the two elder sons. They then tried to frame Frankie's department by bribing an office worker, Lei Pei Wah. Tai Ha's cousin-in-law, Ko Kin was drugged by Lei Pei Wah and he spent the night with a mainland prostitute. He was then kicked out by his pregnant wife. He then managed to win his wife back with the help of Tai Ha.



Tai Ha also managed to clear the many years of misunderstanding that Siu Hong had with his daughter Rachel. Frankie soon became jealous and suspicious of Tai Ha and fell out with him, only to find himself losing the "battle".



Frankie blackmailed Hugo, his second brother, after obtaining a videotape containing implicit sexual acts between the latter and his homosexual partner, Kenneth Ma. Hugo and Kenneth reluctantly sabotaged Rachel and Tai Ha soon found that Frankie was the mastermind.



Siu Hong found a copy of the videotape after an accident and ordered Frankie out of the company. Sei Leong too broke up with him. Seto who was in love with Rachel was convinced by Frankie to plot revenge on Rachel. His plan was ruined by Tai Ha. Siu Hong disowned him.



With the help of young Mr Dong, Frankie managed to acquire majority of the company shares and declared himself the CEO of the company. His happiness became short-lived when Tai Ha managed to convince the old Mr Dong to return Siu Hong the position.



Sei Leong decided to back out from the love triangle between her, Tai Ha and Rachel. She spent the night with him.



Frankie soon found out that Tai Ha was Yung Cheng and gathered information about him. He tricked Sei Leong into telling the truth too. Siu Hong offered the position of CEO of the company to him in return of the promise to keep this a secret.





The Ending

SPOILERS ALERT! SPOILERS ALERT!



Tai Ha destroyed all the evidence just before the two signed the agreement only to be outwitted by Frankie. Sei Leong pretended to be mentally unstable and ended up in a mental hospital. Frankie tried to kill Tai Ha but ended up in a coma instead. Tai Ha and Sei Leong left Hong Kong while Frankie woke up being mentally unstable.



My Comments

Many would find that the idea of time travel is not all that refreshing anymore especially after the serial A Step into The Past by Louis Koo and Jessica Hester Hsuan. But of course many would still be entertained by this serial because of jokes created by the characters of Yung Cheng and Lui Sei Leong as they discover through their journey that there are many new and amazing discoveries that were invented after their generation. The amusement was of course targeted at their limited knowledge and ignorance.



The Parallel Story

As they say, history repeats itself. This is what Yung Cheng/Tai Ha realized only after he traveled 200 years into the future. In the past, he was the emperor who had to face the constant rivalry among his brothers. But after he arrived in the modern world, he found that Siu Hong was in a similar situation. Siu Hong was like the ancient emperor while there was constant rivalry between his sons as all of them wanted to be the CEO of the company.



Any Controversial Issues in this serial?

The first thing that anyone will notice after watching this serial is polygamy and the second thing that one will notice is homosexuality. These two issues are not accepted openly in today's society especially in the Asian region. What was TVB trying to do? Trying to promote polygamy and homosexuality??? How come Siu Hong was able to have three wives? Maybe one was legal and the other two were not. I don't know but I definitely do not support polygamy.



Homosexuality again! They probably thought that Eternal Happiness wasn't enough to promote their homosexual campaign or something, now TVB has gotten more in-depth in their support for homosexuals. Must they show the videotape of gay sexual activities to the viewers? I thought it was gross. And isn't ONE homosexual partner enough to satisfy everyone?? Why must Rachel's best friend, Seto be a lesbian too??? Must two good friends always be homo or something?? I think it truly spoils the special bond that friends have with each other. I mean a pure, straight bond.



It's amazing how gays are so readily accepted in this serial. I mean, Siu Hong was an old man, from an older generation. Do you think an old man like that can so easily accept his son as a gay? I'm not trying to stereotype anybody or anything but honestly… are you sure anyone would invite their son's gay partner home for dinner and feel like they're meeting a daughter-in-law??? I don't think so. If I saw a videotape of my son caught in the bed with another man, I think I would die of heart failure right on the spot.





The "Incredible" Factor

You know what's incredible about this serial? It's the speed at which Tai Ha and Sei Leong managed to adapt to the modern world. It's not just a little unrealistic. It's totally unbelievable. No doubt Tai Ha was born an emperor and emperors were probably born with a better brain or something, but his adaptability skills are simply incredible. Let's take it from the start. Emperor Yung Cheng was living in an era 200 years before our time. That means no television, no mobile phones, no telephones and no democracy, whatsoever. How in the world can he learn to use so many things at once? He's an emperor. Not a god. Emperors are human too. Yung Cheng may possess limitless wisdom, which allows him to rise from a position of office boy to a manager, but to be able to handle office work before he even started working?? He spends the night reading a book or newspaper and he knows everything under the sun. Also, he could live like a normal person, which was alright if he wasn't the emperor. I mean, emperors were the sons of heaven, and he had lots of maids and eunuchs to serve him. How come he could survive as a poor Tai Ha??? Also, it's amazing how he can anticipate everything that Tina or Brian or Hugo or Frankie are going to do before hand. It's crazy!



Another thing that really agitated me was that since he's adaptability speed is so great, how come he just can't accept monogamy??? He can handle anything but his own love life? I just can't believe it.



The "Pity" Factor

Frankie was Siu Hong's third son, born by the second wife. At first, he was a very timid, honest and upright character. With the help of Tai Ha, he managed to gain the confidence and win the praise of his father. Unfortunately, Frankie became blinded by jealousy when others began to argue that Tai Ha was the truly capable one. He then became the ultimate baddie of the serial. It is such a pity because although Siu Hong had three sons, Frankie was the only capable one. The two elder ones were indeed useless. The eldest, Brian, was incapable and the second, Hugo, was arrogant. Why must TVB make him a baddie?? I think he was very sweet towards Sei Leong and I was hoping that I could see them together despite everything else. Why must Frankie end up mentally unstable?? Actually, I think TVB had no choice but to end it this way because Frankie cannot be trusted anymore. He, as a baddie, always played around with people's emotions and gaining their trust. This kind of evilness is different from weak characters like Brian or Tina. That's why we don't despise them as much as we hate Frankie. People like him cannot be trusted therefore TVB has no choice but to get him out of the way. Such a pity, though.



The "Hilarious" Factor

There were two or three scenes which I thought was hilarious.



One was the scene where Sei Leong turned up for work as Siu Hong's bodyguard for the first time. She wore a traditional Chinese top and tied two red ribbons on either side of her head. Plus, she had her socks tucked outside of her pants. She looked ridiculous, I should say. The worse thing was when she escorted Siu Hong to the car, she refused to get into the car and told him she would run after the car and she would jump in later on.



Another scene was when Sei Leong got into the lift with Siu Hong. She was claustrophobic and Tai Ha had told her to sing some Chinese opera song in her head and warned her not to sing it out loud. But she forgot and sand it out loud scaring the hell out of Siu Hong.



One last scene that I thought was memorably hilarious was how Tai Ha tried to woo Rachel. He had read many romance books and videotapes on how to woo a girl and had everything planned out nicely but she ruined everything by insisting on having steamboat for dinner and the boss of the steamboat store gave him a cheap version of everything, like chrysanthemum flowers when he asked for flowers and out-of-shaped meatballs when he asked for heart-shaped ones. Later, he decided to throw paper airplanes down while reciting a love poem, only to be called a litter-bug by a small boy.



The Best Performance

Maggie Cheung, Kong Wah and Chun Pui are the only ones worth mentioning. These three are the only ones that can actually bring the characters to life. The others are not worth mentioning. However, would anyone disagree if I said nobody's performance is beyond expectation? I would have included Kong Wah in this category if only he would stop trying to exaggerate his emperor's way of walking and talking. It's funny at first but gets rather irritating after a while.



What about Maggie Cheung???

Maggie is an "A" list actress and she did win the best actress award at the 36th TVB anniversary for her character as Lui Sei Leong. Well, I thought her acting here was pretty much okay. Not lousy, but not that good either. I think she was trying her best to act unnatural naturally, if you know what I mean. The character of Sei Leong is supposed to be unnatural because of her difficulty in adapting to the modern world. But sometimes I feel that Maggie is trying too hard to exaggerate her actions. She tries to act a little rough because Sei Leong was supposed to be a pugilistic character. Yet, I think Maggie by character is not that uncouth so it seems rather unnatural to me.



The Worst Performance

Like the "Best Performance" category, I would say no one really fits this slot. I think all the actors and actresses' performance here are pretty much mediocre. Not good and not bad either.



My Perfect Couple

Romance seems to be missing from this serial. I don't really see much chemistry between the characters.



Kong Wah - Maggie Cheung

Kong Wah and Maggie are suppose to be the lead cast in this serial but what I see is friendship between them. Certainly, there is chemistry because of the fact that both Sei Leong and Tai Ha are from the same era and share the same secrets. But other than this bond between them, I don't see the sparks. Their chemistry is different from what Michael and Jessica have or the sparks Bobby and Kenix share between each other in other serials.



Kong Wah - Melissa Ng

This couple is even worse. No chemistry or sparks whatsoever throughout the serial. I don't even know when they started to fall for each other. Worse still, I don't even think Tai Ha ever liked Rachel. I thought he only decided to woo her solely because Siu Hong asked him to and partly because he wanted to climb higher up the corporate ladder. I thought this was the sad part because I think Rachel was very pitiful because I think she really liked Tai Ha. Also, the company really needed Tai Ha there because none of Siu Hong's children fit the post of CEO.



Gilbert Lam - Maggie Cheung

I thought it was a waste that Frankie and Maggie couldn't develop their relationship because I thought they looked rather sweet together. Frankie was more of the gentle, polite and high class kind of character and Sei Leong was simply the opposite. She was a rough and uncouth person without much education and I guess opposites attract. Although Tai Ha was Yung Cheng Emperor, I thought he was still kind of rough. I don't know. I guess he doesn't have the grace and elegance that Frankie possesses. As they say, there is only a thin line between love and hate. I guess, if Sei Leong had continued developing her relationship with Frankie, he might not have ended up so bad. Who knows?



Rating





Why ?

I gave because I thought it was a pretty entertaining production altogether but I thought that they could do better in the choice of cast. Chun Pui was fine, Maggie was alright, Gilbert was okay and Kong Wah was acceptable, but the rest of the cast were overshadowed. I think TVB chose Kong Wah for the role of Yung Cheng because he has had lots of experience acting as emperors but as I emphasize again, his exaggerated walking and talking really killed everything. He looked so ungraceful walking with his arms stretched out and moving back and forth.



Should I rent it?

Yes, you should, if you want a laugh or two. You will enjoy it if you're a Maggie or Kong Wah fan too. Or if you are a time researcher or anything of that sort, you may want to watch it and try to evaluate how a tornado can bring you through time.

---

Read More

Yamakasi - Les Samouraï Des Temps Modernes [Fr]

Written by Adelyn Lim

"This was a great movie. It has a very simple plot that involved a whole lot of people. It's packed with lots of action. And when I say "action", I mean real action."

SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS!

English Title

Yamakasi - The Samurais of the Modern Times



Language

French



Country

France



Release Date

4th April 2001



Genre

Action/Adventure



Rated

PG



Running Time

Approximately 90 minutes



Director

Ariel Zeitoun



Cast

Châu Belle Dinh - Baseball / Oliver Chen

Williams Belle - L'Araignée (Spider) / Bruno Duris

Malik Diouf - La Belette (Weasel) / Malik N'Diaye

Yann Hnautra - Zicmu / Ousmane Dadjacan

Gutlain N'Guba-Boyeke - Rocket / Abdou N'Goto

Charles Perrière - Sitting Bull/Ousmane Bana

Laurent Piemontesi - Tango/ Jean-Michel Lucas

Maher Kamoun - Vincent

Bruno Flender - Michelin

Amel Djemel - Aila

Afida Tahri - Fatima

Nassim Faid - Djamel



The Plot

This is the story of seven modern samurais who play the role of the modern Robin Hood, in order to save a little boy from dying from heart failure.



The Summary

Seven normal young men, who called themselves the Yamakasi, always got on the police's nerves by climbing up the walls of high-rise buildings early in the morning, disturbing the sleep of the neighborhood. Much as they were the seven "pain-in-the-ass" to the local police, they were also the seven heroes in the eyes of the kids. The kids loved to imitate the Yamakasi the action and one day, an accident occurred involving a young boy called Djamel. To prevent death-threatening complications, the doctors suggested an immediate heart transplant. A suitable donor was found outside France. However, Djamel's family members could not afford the $60,000 transportation fees. Feeling guilty and determined to help Djamel, the Yamakasi decided to raise funds for him. They then decided to play the role of Robin Hood and rob the rich doctors. On the other hand, Detective Vincent took the route of persuading the minister's advisor for help only to be rejected by him. With the police hot on their heels, the Yamakasi face the dilemma of abandoning their mission to save little Djamel or carrying on the samurai spirit to fight till the end. Engaging the help of Michelin, they managed to deliver the cash on time to the hospital but got themselves detained. However, despite their hard efforts, the doctor refused to go ahead with the operation.



The Ending

The Yamakasi gave a cock and bull statement to the police and was backed up by Detective Vincent. They were released and immediately headed for the hospital. With the help of the Yamakasi and Detective Vincent, Djamel managed to get the heart operation done.



The Yamakasi

1)Oliver Chen aka Baseball

-likes to play baseball



2)Bruno Duris aka L'Araigné (Spider)

-likes to slide down ropes instead of using the stairs



3)Malik N'Diaye aka La Belette (Weasel)

-does gymnastics pretty well



4)Ousmane Dadjacan aka Zicmu

-some calls him Mister Music

-Likes loud music



5)Abdou N'Goto aka Rocket

-runs very fast



6)Ousmane Bana aka Sitting Bull

-a quiet calm man



7)Jean-Michel Lucas aka Tango

-likes to dance



The Action

This was a great movie. It has a very simple plot that involved a whole lot of people. It's packed with lots of action. And when I say "action", I mean real action. These guys don't use guns or any form of weapon and they don't do much fighting in the movie. Throughout the whole movie, what the viewers see is actually the agility of the seven young men. Although they spend most of the movie running away from the police, the process was actually rather entertaining. I love the way they actually climb up and down high-rise buildings and jump from roof-top to roof-top. It was so realistic. Much better than those action-packed ancient Chinese movies where the pugilistic people practically "fly" from one building to another, which was probably one kilometer apart. With the Yamakasi, there wasn't such nonsense at all. Everything was absolutely realistic and excellent. Perfect!



The Plot

Apart from all the action, I found that the plot was also pretty okay too though most people would not have enjoyed the movie as much without the action. The movie was a mixture of samurais and Robin Hood. Actually, to be more précised, it was more of seven samurais pretending to be Robin Hood - to rob the rich to give to the poor. But I thought they did it better than Robin Hood. Robin used bows and arrows but they had nothing. They had to rely solely on their black knitted masks, haversack and their agility to escape from the heavily armed police.



The French Police Have Nothing Better to Do

It's true! The police seem to be doing nothing but trying to target seven big kids that are doing nothing but climbing up and down buildings at 6am in the morning. I mean, don't they have anything better to do? Don't they have murders to investigate? Why waste time and resources on a bunch of kids?



The Police Were Totally Useless

Aren't policemen supposed to be well-trained? They seemed pretty goofed up to me. In the movie, they seemed like total losers, running after a bunch of kids. What's more? It took them so many hours and probably the whole police force with weapons, to manage to detain seven crooks. Hmm…. what does it say about our dear law enforcers?



The Best Performance

I can't exactly point out who had the best performance because I don't think I can even point them out individually. The trait of the Yamakasi was that they always appeared together, all seven of them. And so I always look at them as a group and not as an individual. And if you really want to know, all right, the seven of them were okay. They were a bunch of cool and weird people.



The Cool and the Weird

I thought the Yamakasi was cool, yet I thought they were weird too. Yeah, it's cool rebelling against the police and not get caught, I guess. It's great being the hero in the eyes of the kids in the neighborhood. Makes them look like a superhero - superman or Spiderman, or something. On the other hand, I felt that it was weird. Normal kids don't go around climbing up walls or jumping from roof to roof. I mean, I would be freaked out if I looked out of my window one morning to find this guy staring back at me.



The Great Looking One

After watching this movie, I know one thing for sure. Châu Belle Dinh was so handsome!!! Oh goodness, he looked like Chiu Man Chiok. Perhaps even better looking than him. I liked that scene where he was climbing halfway up a building and he stopped to peep into one of the windows. He saw this little girl there and winked at her. I think if he were to do that to me, I'd faint. Not because the thought of seeing a face outside my window scares me but because he's drop-dead gorgeous! I swear I'd faint! Is he a Chinese? His name in the movie was Oliver Chen, so I guess he's Chinese right? Perhaps he's half Chinese?



A Multi-Racial Yamakasi

I realized that the seven of them have different skin colours. There are blacks, whites, Asians as well as people from the Middle East. They were diversified here, which was a good thing.



The Real Yamakasi

The reason why all the stunts looked so realistic is because they are…well….real! No computer effects and no camera tricks or any of that crap. In real life, the seven of them have known each other for 10 years and the background of the Yamakasi is rather similar to their own.



Rating

Read More

Yamakasi - Les Samouraï Des Temps Modernes [Fr][Mov]

Written by Adelyn Lim

"This was a great movie. It has a very simple plot that involved a whole lot of people. It's packed with lots of action. And when I say "action", I mean real action."

SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS!

English Title
Yamakasi - The Samurais of the Modern Times

Language
French

Country
France

Release Date
4th April 2001

Genre
Action/Adventure

Rated
PG

Running Time
Approximately 90 minutes

Director
Ariel Zeitoun

Cast
Châu Belle Dinh - Baseball / Oliver Chen
Williams Belle - L'Araignée (Spider) / Bruno Duris
Malik Diouf - La Belette (Weasel) / Malik N'Diaye
Yann Hnautra - Zicmu / Ousmane Dadjacan
Gutlain N'Guba-Boyeke - Rocket / Abdou N'Goto
Charles Perrière - Sitting Bull/Ousmane Bana
Laurent Piemontesi - Tango/ Jean-Michel Lucas
Maher Kamoun - Vincent
Bruno Flender - Michelin
Amel Djemel - Aila
Afida Tahri - Fatima
Nassim Faid - Djamel

The Plot
This is the story of seven modern samurais who play the role of the modern Robin Hood, in order to save a little boy from dying from heart failure.

The Summary
Seven normal young men, who called themselves the Yamakasi, always got on the police's nerves by climbing up the walls of high-rise buildings early in the morning, disturbing the sleep of the neighborhood. Much as they were the seven "pain-in-the-ass" to the local police, they were also the seven heroes in the eyes of the kids. The kids loved to imitate the Yamakasi the action and one day, an accident occurred involving a young boy called Djamel. To prevent death-threatening complications, the doctors suggested an immediate heart transplant. A suitable donor was found outside France. However, Djamel's family members could not afford the $60,000 transportation fees. Feeling guilty and determined to help Djamel, the Yamakasi decided to raise funds for him. They then decided to play the role of Robin Hood and rob the rich doctors. On the other hand, Detective Vincent took the route of persuading the minister's advisor for help only to be rejected by him. With the police hot on their heels, the Yamakasi face the dilemma of abandoning their mission to save little Djamel or carrying on the samurai spirit to fight till the end. Engaging the help of Michelin, they managed to deliver the cash on time to the hospital but got themselves detained. However, despite their hard efforts, the doctor refused to go ahead with the operation.

The Ending
The Yamakasi gave a cock and bull statement to the police and was backed up by Detective Vincent. They were released and immediately headed for the hospital. With the help of the Yamakasi and Detective Vincent, Djamel managed to get the heart operation done.

The Yamakasi
1)Oliver Chen aka Baseball
-likes to play baseball

2)Bruno Duris aka L'Araigné (Spider)
-likes to slide down ropes instead of using the stairs

3)Malik N'Diaye aka La Belette (Weasel)
-does gymnastics pretty well

4)Ousmane Dadjacan aka Zicmu
-some calls him Mister Music
-Likes loud music

5)Abdou N'Goto aka Rocket
-runs very fast

6)Ousmane Bana aka Sitting Bull
-a quiet calm man

7)Jean-Michel Lucas aka Tango
-likes to dance

The Action
This was a great movie. It has a very simple plot that involved a whole lot of people. It's packed with lots of action. And when I say "action", I mean real action. These guys don't use guns or any form of weapon and they don't do much fighting in the movie. Throughout the whole movie, what the viewers see is actually the agility of the seven young men. Although they spend most of the movie running away from the police, the process was actually rather entertaining. I love the way they actually climb up and down high-rise buildings and jump from roof-top to roof-top. It was so realistic. Much better than those action-packed ancient Chinese movies where the pugilistic people practically "fly" from one building to another, which was probably one kilometer apart. With the Yamakasi, there wasn't such nonsense at all. Everything was absolutely realistic and excellent. Perfect!

The Plot
Apart from all the action, I found that the plot was also pretty okay too though most people would not have enjoyed the movie as much without the action. The movie was a mixture of samurais and Robin Hood. Actually, to be more précised, it was more of seven samurais pretending to be Robin Hood - to rob the rich to give to the poor. But I thought they did it better than Robin Hood. Robin used bows and arrows but they had nothing. They had to rely solely on their black knitted masks, haversack and their agility to escape from the heavily armed police.

The French Police Have Nothing Better to Do
It's true! The police seem to be doing nothing but trying to target seven big kids that are doing nothing but climbing up and down buildings at 6am in the morning. I mean, don't they have anything better to do? Don't they have murders to investigate? Why waste time and resources on a bunch of kids?

The Police Were Totally Useless
Aren't policemen supposed to be well-trained? They seemed pretty goofed up to me. In the movie, they seemed like total losers, running after a bunch of kids. What's more? It took them so many hours and probably the whole police force with weapons, to manage to detain seven crooks. Hmm…. what does it say about our dear law enforcers?

The Best Performance
I can't exactly point out who had the best performance because I don't think I can even point them out individually. The trait of the Yamakasi was that they always appeared together, all seven of them. And so I always look at them as a group and not as an individual. And if you really want to know, all right, the seven of them were okay. They were a bunch of cool and weird people.

The Cool and the Weird
I thought the Yamakasi was cool, yet I thought they were weird too. Yeah, it's cool rebelling against the police and not get caught, I guess. It's great being the hero in the eyes of the kids in the neighborhood. Makes them look like a superhero - superman or Spiderman, or something. On the other hand, I felt that it was weird. Normal kids don't go around climbing up walls or jumping from roof to roof. I mean, I would be freaked out if I looked out of my window one morning to find this guy staring back at me.

The Great Looking One
After watching this movie, I know one thing for sure. Châu Belle Dinh was so handsome!!! Oh goodness, he looked like Chiu Man Chiok. Perhaps even better looking than him. I liked that scene where he was climbing halfway up a building and he stopped to peep into one of the windows. He saw this little girl there and winked at her. I think if he were to do that to me, I'd faint. Not because the thought of seeing a face outside my window scares me but because he's drop-dead gorgeous! I swear I'd faint! Is he a Chinese? His name in the movie was Oliver Chen, so I guess he's Chinese right? Perhaps he's half Chinese?

A Multi-Racial Yamakasi
I realized that the seven of them have different skin colours. There are blacks, whites, Asians as well as people from the Middle East. They were diversified here, which was a good thing.

The Real Yamakasi
The reason why all the stunts looked so realistic is because they are…well….real! No computer effects and no camera tricks or any of that crap. In real life, the seven of them have known each other for 10 years and the background of the Yamakasi is rather similar to their own.

Rating
4 out of 5

RATE THIS REVIEW
What do you think of this review? In addition to posting your comments, why not rate this review as well? You will find the 5 stars rating below. Just hover over the number of stars (1 star being minimum and 5 stars being maximum) and click. Thank you for your active participation.

Read More