Title Deciphered
Indeed, it is truly Last One STANDING. Watch the ending to know why I emphasise on STANDING or just read my spoilers filled comments.
No. of Episodes
22
I was reading Wikipedia and it says in HK it was 21 episodes, overseas was 22. Did HK combine the last 2 episodes into 1 episode or did TVB deliberately do that just to torture the overseas fans since this series is definitely 12 episodes too long?
Released In
2008
Cast-Character
Roger Kwok - Tong Lap-Yin
Kevin Cheng - Cheung Sing-Hei
Yoyo Mung - Lee Pui-Ka (Carmen)
Elaine Yiu - Tong Hoi-Man (Mandy)
Macy Chan - Mo Oi-Lam (Kelly)
Law Lok Lam - Tsang Tsu-Leung
Kiki Sheung - Lau Git-Yee
Yvonne Ho - Cheung Jung-See
Ellesmere Choi - Yeung Kin-Yip
Lai Suen -Tong Lee So-Ngoh
Chun Wong - Tong Hok-Yan
Rosanne Lui - Tong Cheung Lai-Fun
Eileen Yeow - Lei Pui-Shan (Sandy)
Evergreen Mak - Poon Chi-Kan
Fiona Yuen - Fiona
Eddie Li - Alex
Sherming Yiu - So Lai-Fa
Summary
Thanks to Wikipedia
Former Hong Kong Correctional Services personnel Cheung Sing-Hei (Kevin Cheng) was sent to prison for murdering his stepfather, and the witness of the case was his cousin and best friend Tong Lap-Yin (Roger Kwok), who is adopted. Ten years later, Hei was released from prison, 3 years earlier than his sentence states because of his good conduct in jail. At that time, Yin already has a well-established career and a happy family, and Hei left with nothing at all. However, Hei was actually innocent, and he was angry at Yin for being the witness.
Hei later meets up with reporter Carmen (Yoyo Mung), who was his volunteer guidance counselor when he was in jail but left later because of schooling. He discovers that Carmen is actually Yin's fiance, and becomes more angry at Yin as he also likes her. Later, evident clues points out that Yin was actually the one who murdered Hei's stepfather, and he becomes more determined to solve the mystery, as he wanted his name cleared and his corrections job back. He decides to act content with his current life and accepts the job at Yin's insurance company, hoping to obtain evidence that could be used in court.
Not long after, Yin scammed the insurance company for a large multi-million dollar deal. Other members of his family also got setup so Yin could collect the inheritance fortune the father had left behind when he died. After years of trust towards Yin, people started to see that he is an ambitious and emotionless man that will do anything to reach his goal. This made others start to believe in Hei and they try to help him but in the end it still came down to a battle between Hei and Yin.
Comments
This is one series that reminds me of a BBC produced drama mini series, The Forstye Saga. In The Forsyte Saga where the actings were mostly great, there is a reason to hate every single character or the actors themselves. It is a series that I find it hard to like anyone in it. Last One Standing is HK's version of The Forsyte Saga. For various reasons, I hate every single character in this series. It's like either the character is not redeemable or the actor is just plain awful. Now, the premise isn't bad. In fact it would make a good 2 hour movie or a 10 episodes series but at 22 episodes, I felt like I was being dragged along an unwilling ride, just so to know what is the ending for one particular character. I wish I could just fast forward and watch the last 2 episodes and even that is a bit too long.
Trouble is from the start we all know Roger Kwok's Yin is something wrong. And Kevin Cheng's Hei is justifiably angry and wants to know the truth. So the characters are set out from episode 1. As the series went along we see Yin's true colours but I was already expecting that. There are some really violent scenes that sets this series apart from other series we see of this nature which also highlights Yin's true nature but that also highlights the trouble with Hei's character. The acting also were trouble. Big trouble for this series. But before I venture to comment more on the plot, the character and the acting, I have one major question that I find myself unable to answer at the time of writing this review;
Like in my Episodic Thoughts in Moonlight Resonance, I thought the level of forgiveness in that series is ridiculous. I shall correct myself. The level of forgiveness in Last One Standing has reached a critically ridiculous state. Why I said so is because as I watched the last episode, I find myself shocked by
1. Yin got at most only 5 years of imprisonment for his huge catalogue of crime which includes murder (at least twice), framing someone (at least twice), attempted murder (at least 3 times), false imprinsonment, kidnapping, hurting, assault, cheating, breach of trust, conspiracy to commit several crimes, stalking, fraud (will and also company funds) and hurting someone with various objects from rocks to knives to sticks to whatever he could grab. And ALL THESE max 5 years. Where is the justice?
2. the worst of all, everybody and I mean absolutely everybody either forgives him or for the sake of someone else forgives him, including
- the adoptive mother whom he threw onto the floor (and considering he also kinda caused the woman's I think mother in law or mother's death), cheated her of money, refused to send her for treatment
- the adoptive sister whom he strangles to the point she almost died, twice at least and beaten several times and humiliated plenty of times
- ex fiancee whom he kidnapped, assaulted, attempted to rape, beat, imprisoned, stalked
- the adopted auntie whom he stabbed but she deserved that, personal opinion here
- childhood friend no. 1 whom he attempted to blame for some fraud, attempted to murder
- cousin whom he framed for a murder cousin did not commit, tried to throw him off the building, tried to kill him several times, beaten him to a pulp and considering he also stabbed this cousin's own mother and framed his brother in law for the same crime that cousin went to jail for.
That is pretty much everybody of any concern. The adopted mother being the worst culprit. Of course Yin I think did not harm the adoptive father (frankly I missed that part but I do think his love for his adopted father was somewhat genuine). This is a huge catalogue of wrongs but and I said it with a huge question mark of BUT in the last episode the mother was genuinely worried for his wellbeing ("He is your brother..."), his sister looked kinda concerned ("He will be alright mother, he will pull through..."), the cousin visited him ("You will be out soon, take good care of yourself" and even the ex fiancee looked genuinely still in love with him ("I am glad to hear you will be out soon") and the best friend who was almost killed seemed rather concerned about him ("Brother Yin, I promise I will visit you in prison!").
So my question that I can't answer is what does Yin have to do to have a realistic ending? Maybe the realistic ending is this? Is this why in real life parents could forgive their children who murdered or caused the death of their grandchildren? Is this why one parent could forgive the child for killing the other parent? Isn't this the most unreasonable realistic ending then, that despite everything, despite every harm, every heartache, every pain inflicted on everyone who once believed he was good and was genuinely fooled by his "kindness" and his act of the good guy, they could still trust in him still? Because the impression I got in the end was they believed he was a good guy turned bad and so is capable of being good again. But the series plainly shows Yin as a child was a bully and as he grew up he had this delusion (not even illusion) that a happy family is one that caters to his every whim. He seems genuinely upset when his sister and mother moved out, he justified his treatment to his family to Carmen by screaming "But don't you even care how much I LOVE YOU? How much I SACRIFICE FOR YOU?" and Carmen was right to shout back "It doesn't matter! How could you treat your family that way? I am scared of you and what you might do to me if you could do that to the family you said you love!!". Yin genuinely thinks everything he did was not wrong. He is incapable of moral right or moral wrong, to him he is right. Period. This is a very scary sort of guy. Is he evil? In context I don't think so. Evil connotes an ability to do harm without any barriers, without any care in the world, without any sense of guilt or conscience eating away. Yin isn't that sort of evil. He seems genuinely concerned about his adoptive father. He seems father concerned about his adoptive mother, despite anything. As long as his sister listens to him, he will cater to her needs, but within his rules. It means people must play by his rules and no other. He seems genuinely in love with Carmen, willing to pay a large amount of money to her sister. He volunteers for things, to do good stuff even if he stared angrily at their backs, curses them when no one could hear him or drag himself into doing it but the point is in the end he did do what he had to do to keep up with the image of the ultimate good guy. So he is not evil, but he is pretentious and so convinced with his own lie and in his own delusions that in the end he is to me insane.
But look at another angle just for a moment. He claims he loves his family and yet he did not hesitate to kill them. He accused Hei for not being man enough to kill his despicable stepfather and so Yin was doing Hei a favour which may be true but again the act of murder may be a favour done but the reason was purely selfish as he wanted to cover a fraud and also because he was really pissed of. He said he loves his girlfriend but when she tried to leave he did not hesitate to beat her legs, put a device around her neck that will send electricity thus eletrocuting her if she shouted for help, etc. That is not love. That is possessive love. He may think he is in love with her and maybe he is right but in the end he is someone who is in love with the idea of love, his idea of a family, his idea of a career. Meaning he is truly and utterly selfish, successfully convincing himself he is a good guy and in the last episode utterly convincing himself that Hei and Carmen are together and so vowed revenge. The final shot was a sinister Yin, smiling sinisterly, plotting on how he will fool them all again to exact revenge. And guess what? If there is a sequal, I am very sure they will all be fooled again because let's face it, some people being such idiots are willing to be fooled despite the obvious signs saying DO NOT TRUST THIS MAN EVER!
And that is the basis of this series; how a man can fool those around him and how another man used the same methods to fool him. In the end it boiled down to punches by the way.
But throughout I thought at first Hei looks genuinely angry, is justifiably angry. He was convinced Yin did the crime but why? We will find out just a few episodes in. The rest is how Hei infiltrated into Yin's trust and tried to get the information he needed to convict Yin, one way or another. Funny thing, I don't think Yin ever trusted him.
So to me Hei is a very foolish man. At one point I was thinking "Aiyah give up lar" because it was such a laboured effort to see him get angry, then pretend to smile etc. How he executed his plans was rather despicable. He seduced Yin's accountant then dumped her then got back with her only to dump her again. He fooled his stepfather's mistress and her son even if he was genuinely sorry he in a way caused his stepfather's death. He blackmailed his brother in law to help him and let his own sister live with the guilt thinking her own husband murdered her stepfather and caused her beloved brother to suffer 10 years in jail and funny thing, in the end his brother in law became his best friend. He in a way was as manipulative as Yin, except Yin was more successful at that. And the reason driving Hei's determination?
I thought perhaps Hei wanted the truth, he wanted to redeem his own reputation. But the reason is simpler than that; when he found out Carmen agreed to marry Yin, he was so desperate he himself got fooled by another potential witness to Yin's fraudulent business. He was so desperate he hurt the fragile heart of someone else. In the end he did everything for Carmen. At the end Carmen refused to be with him, because I believe she was so hurt by Yin's betrayal and in some ways she was still in love with Yin, hence the reason why she visited him in prison. 3 years later he was still pining and waiting for Carmen but Carmen I believe stopped considering him. Everything he did, he did it for Carmen. I find that part ridiculous and kinda killed the credibility of this series. As the series went on, it seems to be Hei who suffered 10 years of injustice was less angry than Yin who had everything justifiably taken away from him. Hei who looked brutal when he first came out of prison should have enough emotional fire power to be angrier than Yin and match him in punching, kicking, etc but Yin seems more brutal. Yin in fact could punch the daylights out of Hei and that is because Yin is genuinely a very brutal and cruel person whilst Hei is nice but 10 years of prison and Hei did not sharpen his own brutality. Of course it might mean that's what sets Hei apart from Yin; that Hei is human and humane whilst Yin is all actor and cruel. But it would make for some better storytelling if Hei is as angry as Yin like he was in the beginning instead of fizzling out in the end and became this duh harmless sort of guy.
With that being said I understand why everybody else seems to be under the control of Yin. His sister, Man had to endure many things for the sake of her mother, thus growing more mature as the series went along and perhaps the person I pity the most. His mother is one I could not pity because he very plainly is that terrible and cruel, right before her eyes and yet she forgave him again and again. Carmen proved to be someone of some integrity and spunkiness, something Hei could't be when she fought back, kicked the hell out of Yin, punched him and was forthright in leaving him. But the ending where she visited him in prison was really one of the reason why this series anihilated itself in the good storytelling department. I never liked Hei's mother but the last scene where she begged for her son's forgiveness was touching and in a way redeemed her. She was truly and indeed fooled by Yin and her own despicable husband. The accountant was rightly angry with Hei for using her but to stand by the side of a man who just kidnapped your best friend and treated her so badly was rather ridiculous. It was justified by the reason that love makes you do crazy things and perhaps it is to show the pararell between her and Yin, how alike when both are hurt I suppose but I find that 1 episode of this aspect not enough at all to justify it as a good twist or a good storytelling. Kan the dumb big guy was in the end surprisingly the one who stood up to Yin by helping Hei despite threats to his life and so it was with Yip, the brother in law, however reluctant he was in the beginning. Hei's sister, See may have been cowardly not to back up her brother's story of how her stepfather was sexually molesting her but I did find her concern and love for her only big brother genuine and at times rather touching if not for one aspect which I will elaborate below.
But like I said there is a reason to hate everybody.
Yin is hated for obvious reasons but sometimes when he was so delusional, playing with his favourite toy house and his idea of a happy family, I kinda pity him. However I love Roger Kwok's performance. I believe this is his first true villanous role? I could never look at Roger's sweet smile the same ever again. He may be smiling, but the eyes ain't sparkling and it felt so fake. Suddenly the same smile, same face that I felt so genuinely likeable as Ah Wong is now so sinister and cruel and even devoid of warmth as Ah Yin. Truth is I was bored with his Ah Wong sort of roles. I wanted him challenged and in here his performance was stunning and I love the way he went all out. He didn't hold anything back. He didn't quite bother with public's perception of himself because if not he couldn't have give one of his best performance ever. And he was so violent in some scenes. Genuinely truly frightening moments involved a deranged Roger, dragging Kevin on a rooftop to throw him off the building, pushing someone off the building, beating Yoyo on the leg, dropping Lui San from where he was carrying her onto the floor (in fact everyone looked surprised and frightened and Lui San looked like in pain! I hope she was properly padded because that looked like it could really hurt and it was a scary moment of total vindictiveness on the part of Roger's Yin, and perhaps the best scene), squeezing the breath out of Elaine Yiu and more acts of insanity. There were some truly terrifying moments, all involving Roger that had me shouting like the last episode how Roger fell over the building and hanging onto life (very dramatic, very well done stunt and for a moment I thought I hope that's the stuntman because Roger is too good an actor to be put through such scary stunts), Roger pulled all that with great style as in acting style. There is nothing nice or genuine about Yin and Roger was so utterly convincing that I find his Yin genuinely scary. Roger is probably the only reason why this series didn't suck as much as it should and why one could endure 22 episodes of a story so flimsy that can be finished in 10. Which is why I was very very shocked to read in Wikipedia he wasn't even nominated. Why Kevin was nominated was beyond me!
And now Kevin Cheng. I consider him the handsomest man in TVB, probably in HK. I never quite think of him as a bad actor since I find him ok, nothing more and nothing less. But after this series, I really pity him, because he had to stand next to Roger who gave a masterclass performance and Kevin looked like a little boy trying to act. I wouldn't say Kevin is a miscast since when he is not smiling he does look mournful, almost pissed looking all the time. In fact the first few episodes he did look very angry and the unshaven look suited his character well. And I wouldn't say Roger got the better role because Hei is an interesting role too; he is not your typically nice guy. He was despicable, he was angry, he did many things that people thought that he is the bad guy whilst Roger's Yin, being more calculative successfully fooled the world. And when Hei wanted to fool Roger to investigate him, I truly because that was the real Hei before he went into prison; a nice positive thinking sort of guy. So Hei is an interesting character too, but at Kevin Cheng's hands, he became from a tiger to a cub. From angry to what the hell why isn't he even angrier now sort of guy. He became bland and everytime the series focussed on him and his obssession with Carmen, it was cringe worthy and boring. I don't know which is worse. So as an actor whose ability to play this role is limited to his general ability to play any roles especially such a heavy duty multi layered role that he successfully squashed into a predictable boring single layered sort of character, I would admit now that he is truly a miscast. I dislike Hei for his methods but I genuinely despise Kevin Cheng for bulldozing this character. His worst moment was when Yoyo was clinging onto the side of the cliff, crying for help and his eyes was... his eyes as he screamed "CARMEN!!" who is the woman he loves and desires... his eyes were... how shall I put it? Empty? Devoid of concern? Pure bad acting? His truly good moments were in the same scene, clinging onto the cliff, trying to save Yoyo as he lowered himself down, that moment he showed genuine fear. Same goes for rooftop scenes. You can't hide fear of heights or fear of dangerous stunts. His annoying moments were when he was accusing Roger of wrongdoings or trying to make a point angrily, his neck would stick in and out quickly as he delivered his lines, like a turtle's head coming out of its shell really fast several times. I was thinking Kevin, what are you doing? The first few episodes as he screamed "YOU FRAMED ME!!!!!" so many times at the top of his voice was hurting my ears. I was thinking how can he go from that to being a spy in Roger's company? Ahhhh that is because Roger's Yin thinks he is the smartest when he thought he tamed the unruly Hei and so even Yin was fooled by Yin himself! As the series went on, I got more and more annoyed with Kevin Cheng's performance right up until I read in Wikipedia how he was nominated instead of Roger (maybe Wikipedia did not update the nomination listed there?) that I became absolutely irritated with Kevin Cheng. It is this series that convinces me Kevin Cheng who is not a bad actor generally is truly a very inadequate actor. As I saw in an interview for the awards promo where he was saying "I told myself Kevin, you must work harder and prove yourself!" that I wholeheartedly agree with his self realisation that perhaps he is not a very good actor at all. Humility is the first step to improvement so I hope he has improved since then or maybe just avoid such an emotionally taxing role. So who can play this role? I thought Wong Hei as his best would have rivalled Roger in the acting department. Wong Hei has a tendency of being in the slump, being rather fake and all and that affects his performance. But when he was good, he was really good. So he is not a looker. Truth is after 22 episodes of Kevin Cheng's awful performance who went from ok to truly and woefully inadequate, I'd rather a less handsome guy who can deliver the goods than a more handsome guy who can't.
And now we come to Yoyo Mung. I like her character, the strong willed and with a stronger sense of justice that is Carmen. I love how she kicked and punched Yin. How she could or at least tried to protect herself which shows how strong she is even if she is a woman. She tried to escape and she investigates when she thought Yin wasn't being honest. Character wise, Carmen is a very good character and very likeable. What I don't like was Yoyo Mung herself. She is better here than she was in previous series where she didn't seem to pay any attention at all but even in here she was woefully inadequate. Her character is well written but the actress didn't play her well or to her full potential. I hated the way she was running away from Roger and I mean running for her life and she was running so slow I could walk faster than she ran. Her genuinely good acting moment was when she was hanging onto the side of the cliff. Her worst acting was when in one of the best scene ever Roger tore up the cheque she gave him with total and utter disgust and he threw the cheque right at her face (Woah!!!! Very realistic moment!!!) and her face registered total blankness. Shouldn't she look surprised? Shocked? Disgusted? It was as if she was anticipating that. Unlike the scene where Roger threw Lui San to the floor which I am sure they were anticipating that too but there was some real concern because that was a dangerous stunt. That throwing of cheque onto her face scene was so badly acted by her that in the end the impact was lost. And Roger should have really hit her leg hard because her pain was unconvincing. When I saw Yoyo's face turning up in the first scene her character appeared, I was severely disappointed with the casting because I don't know what happened to Yoyo, but she seems rather bad these days. It's like she is not giving her all, like she is holding back and the viewers with eyes to see surely could see a better actress could have done the role of Carmen more justice.
Elaine Yiu's character Man is one very strong willed girl who suffered a lot for her mother. The women in this series are all rather strong and are survivors. Normally I would say I like her performance. Most reviews have been very favourable to her, saying she was very good. When Roger was choking her, I thought she looked genuinely scared. In the entire series I thought she was rather good too up until one singular scene that made me realise either she didn't show the initiative or maybe she just didn't realise it; whilst her mother, that is Lui San was about to throw herself off the building, she came running in and registered the appropriate emotion that is shock. So far so good. She ran to Lui San, grab her mom, and cried, begging her mom to think of her and not to kill herself. So far so good. But look, something is amiss. I remember I said this in some review I can't remember which where I said in TVB world, the characters just can't leave their jackets and their bags, they must wear and carry them at all times, no matter what. When your mom is trying to kill herself and you're shocked to see that, surely whatever you're holding onto, you will immediately and automatically drop them and run to grab your mom? Elaine unfortunately was still carrying her rather large bag on her shoulder, from running to grabbing to sitting on the floor crying with her mom, that bag like as if sewn onto her shoulder. That is so unrealistic and I just couldn't concentrate on the crying and all when that big bag was there, on her shoulders. I remember Elaine. She was in Safe Guards right? She was that awful actress in there. I think she was then in A Journey Called Life right where she showed great improvement actually. I can't say who can play this role better because I have this feeling no actress in TVB would ever drop their bags onto the floor in that scene. Somehow the bag is as important as the mother.
Macy Chan's Kelly is such a contradiction. I don't like this character since I didn't see its purpose and when I saw the purpose of Kelly, I couldn't shake off the fact that Macy Chan is such an uneventful actress. I find myself paying more attention at the fact that she is so tiny next to Kevin than at her performance. Because if I did, I am sure I would have been even more critical than I am now. Her worst scene was almost last scene where she ran out of the hospital when she overheard Hei saying he was disappointed that Kelly betrayed him and he ran after her, saying sorry, and she slapped him (right action actually, I would have punched him) and next scene just mere seconds later she was chatting with him like some good friend, saying in a very light hearted way that she is leaving HK, she is starting a new life, etc. I was thinking didn't she just slapped him seconds ago? Isn't she angry or still angry? I thought that scene would have made more impact if she had delivered her lines in a bitter way, as if saying "I AM leavin HK (as in I am running away from you despicable bastard!), I AM starting a new life (as in so that I can show you I can live without you eventhough you hurt me deeply)" in a I WILL SHOW YOU sort of way but instead it was like a casual chat. So why slap him then? What's the impact? There is no continuity. I thought it would be better for her to leave bitterly and have Hei feeling slightly guilty than this "Hey I am leaving HK, hey you know I am starting a new life, hey I realise I can't be like this and well you know be like Boss, I don't wanna be like him you know" sort of way. Awful performance and a snoozefest as well because she is boring.
Lai Suen's grandma probably is the catalyst in the spiralling out of control Yin. I mean if maybe she had shown him more love and kindness Yin would have turned out all right? Anyway a great performance from this veteran. No comment needed.
Evergreen Mak plays the dumb guy to the hilt. I am rather bored with that. TVB, he is a good actor. GIVE HIM A BETTER MORE DIGNIFIED ROLE PLEASE!!!! He and Wayne Lai are very good actors, Wayne being the greater on of course but Evergreen Mak deserves some love from TVB. I find his character very annoying.
Kiki Sheung was very convincing in a role that I really hated. What a stupid mother. But the scene where she was stabbed was so frightening. A great performance.
Yvonne Ho as Ah See is fun to watch but for a very different reason. Her performance was awful. I wasn't even convinced she was trying to act. She was just there, pretending. Why it was fun to watch and I look forward to her scenes with Kevin is because everytime her Ah See hugs the brother that is Kevin's Hei, notice how genuinely and heartfelt she hugged him, even more intimately than when she hugged her on screen husband! Notice the way her cheeks brushed on his shoulder, how her hands hanged onto his shoulers and if I may dare say, brush his chest a bit, how she took every opportunity to hug him by hugging him so close, no ruler can ever measure the distance between their bodies? I am convinced Yvonne Ho was attracted to Kevin Cheng. I mean if I got the chance I too will hug him that way but since Ah See is his sister, that is rather not right. I also notice she sits closer to him than her own on screen husbandor mother. She just doesn't only hug, she lingers and clings onto him. Love those scenes, but for wrong reasons of course! Poor Kevin, he looked suffocated!
Ellesmere Choi was effective in his character that I didn't like at first. In the end I quite like his Yip whose role was getting lesser and lesser. In the end when Ah See should hug her husband for not being the killer and being so brave to assist her brother and I mean hug really tightly, I don't recall there was such a reaction. Poor Ellesmere, wife doesn't even want to hug him!
Verdict
Sporting some very genuinely violent, bloody scenes with blood splattered onto the camera itself and some terrifying stunts always involving high rise building, there are some really good moments in this series. Fans of Roger Kwok or fans of good acting would appreciate Roger's effortless and very convincing performance although some may be disappointed with the generally bad performances, especially from the other lead Kevin Cheng. In fact as this series went along, it clearly became Roger's show and Kevin was the sideline actor that in the end he is just one of those guys standing there. The story may seem compelling at first but stretching a 10 episodes sort of story to 22 will of course mean the story will suffer from repetition (like how many times must I see the stepfather die and all those flashback scenes) and a huge element of predictability. In most parts without Roger in it, the series became bland and boring. Some parts even with Roger in it, it was in the danger of becoming bland and boring. The problem is the story is predictable and too longwinded. But the ending was the worst. However the poster(s) and the intro with instrumental music (no one singing and thank god for that) was excellent. This series tries to be different, tries to be stylistic, adopted several filming techniques that I don't suppose I often seen in TVB series before, it felt cinematic sometimes, the stunts incredibly real and the violence justified thus heightening the sense of urgency but the length of this series, at some point TVB's usual boring way of presenting a series takes over and some awful performances really pulled down this series and what could have been a very good mini series or telemovie and if with good casting became a longwinded TV series that I cheered when it ended. Roger is the only real reason to watch this series so I recommend it to fans of Roger Kwok and those who appreciates the art of acting. Just let Master Roger show you the way.
Interesting Emphasis
Why I said STANDING in capital letters? Because Yin became paralysed waist down but the ending seems to indicate he may be able to learn to walk again as with hatred he struggled but was able to sit upright.
Indeed, it is truly Last One STANDING. Watch the ending to know why I emphasise on STANDING or just read my spoilers filled comments.
No. of Episodes
22
I was reading Wikipedia and it says in HK it was 21 episodes, overseas was 22. Did HK combine the last 2 episodes into 1 episode or did TVB deliberately do that just to torture the overseas fans since this series is definitely 12 episodes too long?
Released In
2008
Cast-Character
Roger Kwok - Tong Lap-Yin
Kevin Cheng - Cheung Sing-Hei
Yoyo Mung - Lee Pui-Ka (Carmen)
Elaine Yiu - Tong Hoi-Man (Mandy)
Macy Chan - Mo Oi-Lam (Kelly)
Law Lok Lam - Tsang Tsu-Leung
Kiki Sheung - Lau Git-Yee
Yvonne Ho - Cheung Jung-See
Ellesmere Choi - Yeung Kin-Yip
Lai Suen -Tong Lee So-Ngoh
Chun Wong - Tong Hok-Yan
Rosanne Lui - Tong Cheung Lai-Fun
Eileen Yeow - Lei Pui-Shan (Sandy)
Evergreen Mak - Poon Chi-Kan
Fiona Yuen - Fiona
Eddie Li - Alex
Sherming Yiu - So Lai-Fa
Summary
Thanks to Wikipedia
Former Hong Kong Correctional Services personnel Cheung Sing-Hei (Kevin Cheng) was sent to prison for murdering his stepfather, and the witness of the case was his cousin and best friend Tong Lap-Yin (Roger Kwok), who is adopted. Ten years later, Hei was released from prison, 3 years earlier than his sentence states because of his good conduct in jail. At that time, Yin already has a well-established career and a happy family, and Hei left with nothing at all. However, Hei was actually innocent, and he was angry at Yin for being the witness.
Hei later meets up with reporter Carmen (Yoyo Mung), who was his volunteer guidance counselor when he was in jail but left later because of schooling. He discovers that Carmen is actually Yin's fiance, and becomes more angry at Yin as he also likes her. Later, evident clues points out that Yin was actually the one who murdered Hei's stepfather, and he becomes more determined to solve the mystery, as he wanted his name cleared and his corrections job back. He decides to act content with his current life and accepts the job at Yin's insurance company, hoping to obtain evidence that could be used in court.
Not long after, Yin scammed the insurance company for a large multi-million dollar deal. Other members of his family also got setup so Yin could collect the inheritance fortune the father had left behind when he died. After years of trust towards Yin, people started to see that he is an ambitious and emotionless man that will do anything to reach his goal. This made others start to believe in Hei and they try to help him but in the end it still came down to a battle between Hei and Yin.
Comments
This is one series that reminds me of a BBC produced drama mini series, The Forstye Saga. In The Forsyte Saga where the actings were mostly great, there is a reason to hate every single character or the actors themselves. It is a series that I find it hard to like anyone in it. Last One Standing is HK's version of The Forsyte Saga. For various reasons, I hate every single character in this series. It's like either the character is not redeemable or the actor is just plain awful. Now, the premise isn't bad. In fact it would make a good 2 hour movie or a 10 episodes series but at 22 episodes, I felt like I was being dragged along an unwilling ride, just so to know what is the ending for one particular character. I wish I could just fast forward and watch the last 2 episodes and even that is a bit too long.
Trouble is from the start we all know Roger Kwok's Yin is something wrong. And Kevin Cheng's Hei is justifiably angry and wants to know the truth. So the characters are set out from episode 1. As the series went along we see Yin's true colours but I was already expecting that. There are some really violent scenes that sets this series apart from other series we see of this nature which also highlights Yin's true nature but that also highlights the trouble with Hei's character. The acting also were trouble. Big trouble for this series. But before I venture to comment more on the plot, the character and the acting, I have one major question that I find myself unable to answer at the time of writing this review;
What must a villain do to have everyone or someone or anyone abandon him for good? What must a villain do to have equal amount of justice meted out on them, not by prison sentence but for the pain inflicted as in emotional pain? WHAT MUST A VILLAIN DO TO HAVE EVERYONE REALISE SOMETIMES LEAVING HIM IS MORE REASONABLE THAN STAYING WITH HIM?
Like in my Episodic Thoughts in Moonlight Resonance, I thought the level of forgiveness in that series is ridiculous. I shall correct myself. The level of forgiveness in Last One Standing has reached a critically ridiculous state. Why I said so is because as I watched the last episode, I find myself shocked by
1. Yin got at most only 5 years of imprisonment for his huge catalogue of crime which includes murder (at least twice), framing someone (at least twice), attempted murder (at least 3 times), false imprinsonment, kidnapping, hurting, assault, cheating, breach of trust, conspiracy to commit several crimes, stalking, fraud (will and also company funds) and hurting someone with various objects from rocks to knives to sticks to whatever he could grab. And ALL THESE max 5 years. Where is the justice?
2. the worst of all, everybody and I mean absolutely everybody either forgives him or for the sake of someone else forgives him, including
- the adoptive mother whom he threw onto the floor (and considering he also kinda caused the woman's I think mother in law or mother's death), cheated her of money, refused to send her for treatment
- the adoptive sister whom he strangles to the point she almost died, twice at least and beaten several times and humiliated plenty of times
- ex fiancee whom he kidnapped, assaulted, attempted to rape, beat, imprisoned, stalked
- the adopted auntie whom he stabbed but she deserved that, personal opinion here
- childhood friend no. 1 whom he attempted to blame for some fraud, attempted to murder
- cousin whom he framed for a murder cousin did not commit, tried to throw him off the building, tried to kill him several times, beaten him to a pulp and considering he also stabbed this cousin's own mother and framed his brother in law for the same crime that cousin went to jail for.
That is pretty much everybody of any concern. The adopted mother being the worst culprit. Of course Yin I think did not harm the adoptive father (frankly I missed that part but I do think his love for his adopted father was somewhat genuine). This is a huge catalogue of wrongs but and I said it with a huge question mark of BUT in the last episode the mother was genuinely worried for his wellbeing ("He is your brother..."), his sister looked kinda concerned ("He will be alright mother, he will pull through..."), the cousin visited him ("You will be out soon, take good care of yourself" and even the ex fiancee looked genuinely still in love with him ("I am glad to hear you will be out soon") and the best friend who was almost killed seemed rather concerned about him ("Brother Yin, I promise I will visit you in prison!").
So my question that I can't answer is what does Yin have to do to have a realistic ending? Maybe the realistic ending is this? Is this why in real life parents could forgive their children who murdered or caused the death of their grandchildren? Is this why one parent could forgive the child for killing the other parent? Isn't this the most unreasonable realistic ending then, that despite everything, despite every harm, every heartache, every pain inflicted on everyone who once believed he was good and was genuinely fooled by his "kindness" and his act of the good guy, they could still trust in him still? Because the impression I got in the end was they believed he was a good guy turned bad and so is capable of being good again. But the series plainly shows Yin as a child was a bully and as he grew up he had this delusion (not even illusion) that a happy family is one that caters to his every whim. He seems genuinely upset when his sister and mother moved out, he justified his treatment to his family to Carmen by screaming "But don't you even care how much I LOVE YOU? How much I SACRIFICE FOR YOU?" and Carmen was right to shout back "It doesn't matter! How could you treat your family that way? I am scared of you and what you might do to me if you could do that to the family you said you love!!". Yin genuinely thinks everything he did was not wrong. He is incapable of moral right or moral wrong, to him he is right. Period. This is a very scary sort of guy. Is he evil? In context I don't think so. Evil connotes an ability to do harm without any barriers, without any care in the world, without any sense of guilt or conscience eating away. Yin isn't that sort of evil. He seems genuinely concerned about his adoptive father. He seems father concerned about his adoptive mother, despite anything. As long as his sister listens to him, he will cater to her needs, but within his rules. It means people must play by his rules and no other. He seems genuinely in love with Carmen, willing to pay a large amount of money to her sister. He volunteers for things, to do good stuff even if he stared angrily at their backs, curses them when no one could hear him or drag himself into doing it but the point is in the end he did do what he had to do to keep up with the image of the ultimate good guy. So he is not evil, but he is pretentious and so convinced with his own lie and in his own delusions that in the end he is to me insane.
But look at another angle just for a moment. He claims he loves his family and yet he did not hesitate to kill them. He accused Hei for not being man enough to kill his despicable stepfather and so Yin was doing Hei a favour which may be true but again the act of murder may be a favour done but the reason was purely selfish as he wanted to cover a fraud and also because he was really pissed of. He said he loves his girlfriend but when she tried to leave he did not hesitate to beat her legs, put a device around her neck that will send electricity thus eletrocuting her if she shouted for help, etc. That is not love. That is possessive love. He may think he is in love with her and maybe he is right but in the end he is someone who is in love with the idea of love, his idea of a family, his idea of a career. Meaning he is truly and utterly selfish, successfully convincing himself he is a good guy and in the last episode utterly convincing himself that Hei and Carmen are together and so vowed revenge. The final shot was a sinister Yin, smiling sinisterly, plotting on how he will fool them all again to exact revenge. And guess what? If there is a sequal, I am very sure they will all be fooled again because let's face it, some people being such idiots are willing to be fooled despite the obvious signs saying DO NOT TRUST THIS MAN EVER!
And that is the basis of this series; how a man can fool those around him and how another man used the same methods to fool him. In the end it boiled down to punches by the way.
But throughout I thought at first Hei looks genuinely angry, is justifiably angry. He was convinced Yin did the crime but why? We will find out just a few episodes in. The rest is how Hei infiltrated into Yin's trust and tried to get the information he needed to convict Yin, one way or another. Funny thing, I don't think Yin ever trusted him.
So to me Hei is a very foolish man. At one point I was thinking "Aiyah give up lar" because it was such a laboured effort to see him get angry, then pretend to smile etc. How he executed his plans was rather despicable. He seduced Yin's accountant then dumped her then got back with her only to dump her again. He fooled his stepfather's mistress and her son even if he was genuinely sorry he in a way caused his stepfather's death. He blackmailed his brother in law to help him and let his own sister live with the guilt thinking her own husband murdered her stepfather and caused her beloved brother to suffer 10 years in jail and funny thing, in the end his brother in law became his best friend. He in a way was as manipulative as Yin, except Yin was more successful at that. And the reason driving Hei's determination?
I thought perhaps Hei wanted the truth, he wanted to redeem his own reputation. But the reason is simpler than that; when he found out Carmen agreed to marry Yin, he was so desperate he himself got fooled by another potential witness to Yin's fraudulent business. He was so desperate he hurt the fragile heart of someone else. In the end he did everything for Carmen. At the end Carmen refused to be with him, because I believe she was so hurt by Yin's betrayal and in some ways she was still in love with Yin, hence the reason why she visited him in prison. 3 years later he was still pining and waiting for Carmen but Carmen I believe stopped considering him. Everything he did, he did it for Carmen. I find that part ridiculous and kinda killed the credibility of this series. As the series went on, it seems to be Hei who suffered 10 years of injustice was less angry than Yin who had everything justifiably taken away from him. Hei who looked brutal when he first came out of prison should have enough emotional fire power to be angrier than Yin and match him in punching, kicking, etc but Yin seems more brutal. Yin in fact could punch the daylights out of Hei and that is because Yin is genuinely a very brutal and cruel person whilst Hei is nice but 10 years of prison and Hei did not sharpen his own brutality. Of course it might mean that's what sets Hei apart from Yin; that Hei is human and humane whilst Yin is all actor and cruel. But it would make for some better storytelling if Hei is as angry as Yin like he was in the beginning instead of fizzling out in the end and became this duh harmless sort of guy.
With that being said I understand why everybody else seems to be under the control of Yin. His sister, Man had to endure many things for the sake of her mother, thus growing more mature as the series went along and perhaps the person I pity the most. His mother is one I could not pity because he very plainly is that terrible and cruel, right before her eyes and yet she forgave him again and again. Carmen proved to be someone of some integrity and spunkiness, something Hei could't be when she fought back, kicked the hell out of Yin, punched him and was forthright in leaving him. But the ending where she visited him in prison was really one of the reason why this series anihilated itself in the good storytelling department. I never liked Hei's mother but the last scene where she begged for her son's forgiveness was touching and in a way redeemed her. She was truly and indeed fooled by Yin and her own despicable husband. The accountant was rightly angry with Hei for using her but to stand by the side of a man who just kidnapped your best friend and treated her so badly was rather ridiculous. It was justified by the reason that love makes you do crazy things and perhaps it is to show the pararell between her and Yin, how alike when both are hurt I suppose but I find that 1 episode of this aspect not enough at all to justify it as a good twist or a good storytelling. Kan the dumb big guy was in the end surprisingly the one who stood up to Yin by helping Hei despite threats to his life and so it was with Yip, the brother in law, however reluctant he was in the beginning. Hei's sister, See may have been cowardly not to back up her brother's story of how her stepfather was sexually molesting her but I did find her concern and love for her only big brother genuine and at times rather touching if not for one aspect which I will elaborate below.
But like I said there is a reason to hate everybody.
Yin is hated for obvious reasons but sometimes when he was so delusional, playing with his favourite toy house and his idea of a happy family, I kinda pity him. However I love Roger Kwok's performance. I believe this is his first true villanous role? I could never look at Roger's sweet smile the same ever again. He may be smiling, but the eyes ain't sparkling and it felt so fake. Suddenly the same smile, same face that I felt so genuinely likeable as Ah Wong is now so sinister and cruel and even devoid of warmth as Ah Yin. Truth is I was bored with his Ah Wong sort of roles. I wanted him challenged and in here his performance was stunning and I love the way he went all out. He didn't hold anything back. He didn't quite bother with public's perception of himself because if not he couldn't have give one of his best performance ever. And he was so violent in some scenes. Genuinely truly frightening moments involved a deranged Roger, dragging Kevin on a rooftop to throw him off the building, pushing someone off the building, beating Yoyo on the leg, dropping Lui San from where he was carrying her onto the floor (in fact everyone looked surprised and frightened and Lui San looked like in pain! I hope she was properly padded because that looked like it could really hurt and it was a scary moment of total vindictiveness on the part of Roger's Yin, and perhaps the best scene), squeezing the breath out of Elaine Yiu and more acts of insanity. There were some truly terrifying moments, all involving Roger that had me shouting like the last episode how Roger fell over the building and hanging onto life (very dramatic, very well done stunt and for a moment I thought I hope that's the stuntman because Roger is too good an actor to be put through such scary stunts), Roger pulled all that with great style as in acting style. There is nothing nice or genuine about Yin and Roger was so utterly convincing that I find his Yin genuinely scary. Roger is probably the only reason why this series didn't suck as much as it should and why one could endure 22 episodes of a story so flimsy that can be finished in 10. Which is why I was very very shocked to read in Wikipedia he wasn't even nominated. Why Kevin was nominated was beyond me!
And now Kevin Cheng. I consider him the handsomest man in TVB, probably in HK. I never quite think of him as a bad actor since I find him ok, nothing more and nothing less. But after this series, I really pity him, because he had to stand next to Roger who gave a masterclass performance and Kevin looked like a little boy trying to act. I wouldn't say Kevin is a miscast since when he is not smiling he does look mournful, almost pissed looking all the time. In fact the first few episodes he did look very angry and the unshaven look suited his character well. And I wouldn't say Roger got the better role because Hei is an interesting role too; he is not your typically nice guy. He was despicable, he was angry, he did many things that people thought that he is the bad guy whilst Roger's Yin, being more calculative successfully fooled the world. And when Hei wanted to fool Roger to investigate him, I truly because that was the real Hei before he went into prison; a nice positive thinking sort of guy. So Hei is an interesting character too, but at Kevin Cheng's hands, he became from a tiger to a cub. From angry to what the hell why isn't he even angrier now sort of guy. He became bland and everytime the series focussed on him and his obssession with Carmen, it was cringe worthy and boring. I don't know which is worse. So as an actor whose ability to play this role is limited to his general ability to play any roles especially such a heavy duty multi layered role that he successfully squashed into a predictable boring single layered sort of character, I would admit now that he is truly a miscast. I dislike Hei for his methods but I genuinely despise Kevin Cheng for bulldozing this character. His worst moment was when Yoyo was clinging onto the side of the cliff, crying for help and his eyes was... his eyes as he screamed "CARMEN!!" who is the woman he loves and desires... his eyes were... how shall I put it? Empty? Devoid of concern? Pure bad acting? His truly good moments were in the same scene, clinging onto the cliff, trying to save Yoyo as he lowered himself down, that moment he showed genuine fear. Same goes for rooftop scenes. You can't hide fear of heights or fear of dangerous stunts. His annoying moments were when he was accusing Roger of wrongdoings or trying to make a point angrily, his neck would stick in and out quickly as he delivered his lines, like a turtle's head coming out of its shell really fast several times. I was thinking Kevin, what are you doing? The first few episodes as he screamed "YOU FRAMED ME!!!!!" so many times at the top of his voice was hurting my ears. I was thinking how can he go from that to being a spy in Roger's company? Ahhhh that is because Roger's Yin thinks he is the smartest when he thought he tamed the unruly Hei and so even Yin was fooled by Yin himself! As the series went on, I got more and more annoyed with Kevin Cheng's performance right up until I read in Wikipedia how he was nominated instead of Roger (maybe Wikipedia did not update the nomination listed there?) that I became absolutely irritated with Kevin Cheng. It is this series that convinces me Kevin Cheng who is not a bad actor generally is truly a very inadequate actor. As I saw in an interview for the awards promo where he was saying "I told myself Kevin, you must work harder and prove yourself!" that I wholeheartedly agree with his self realisation that perhaps he is not a very good actor at all. Humility is the first step to improvement so I hope he has improved since then or maybe just avoid such an emotionally taxing role. So who can play this role? I thought Wong Hei as his best would have rivalled Roger in the acting department. Wong Hei has a tendency of being in the slump, being rather fake and all and that affects his performance. But when he was good, he was really good. So he is not a looker. Truth is after 22 episodes of Kevin Cheng's awful performance who went from ok to truly and woefully inadequate, I'd rather a less handsome guy who can deliver the goods than a more handsome guy who can't.
And now we come to Yoyo Mung. I like her character, the strong willed and with a stronger sense of justice that is Carmen. I love how she kicked and punched Yin. How she could or at least tried to protect herself which shows how strong she is even if she is a woman. She tried to escape and she investigates when she thought Yin wasn't being honest. Character wise, Carmen is a very good character and very likeable. What I don't like was Yoyo Mung herself. She is better here than she was in previous series where she didn't seem to pay any attention at all but even in here she was woefully inadequate. Her character is well written but the actress didn't play her well or to her full potential. I hated the way she was running away from Roger and I mean running for her life and she was running so slow I could walk faster than she ran. Her genuinely good acting moment was when she was hanging onto the side of the cliff. Her worst acting was when in one of the best scene ever Roger tore up the cheque she gave him with total and utter disgust and he threw the cheque right at her face (Woah!!!! Very realistic moment!!!) and her face registered total blankness. Shouldn't she look surprised? Shocked? Disgusted? It was as if she was anticipating that. Unlike the scene where Roger threw Lui San to the floor which I am sure they were anticipating that too but there was some real concern because that was a dangerous stunt. That throwing of cheque onto her face scene was so badly acted by her that in the end the impact was lost. And Roger should have really hit her leg hard because her pain was unconvincing. When I saw Yoyo's face turning up in the first scene her character appeared, I was severely disappointed with the casting because I don't know what happened to Yoyo, but she seems rather bad these days. It's like she is not giving her all, like she is holding back and the viewers with eyes to see surely could see a better actress could have done the role of Carmen more justice.
Elaine Yiu's character Man is one very strong willed girl who suffered a lot for her mother. The women in this series are all rather strong and are survivors. Normally I would say I like her performance. Most reviews have been very favourable to her, saying she was very good. When Roger was choking her, I thought she looked genuinely scared. In the entire series I thought she was rather good too up until one singular scene that made me realise either she didn't show the initiative or maybe she just didn't realise it; whilst her mother, that is Lui San was about to throw herself off the building, she came running in and registered the appropriate emotion that is shock. So far so good. She ran to Lui San, grab her mom, and cried, begging her mom to think of her and not to kill herself. So far so good. But look, something is amiss. I remember I said this in some review I can't remember which where I said in TVB world, the characters just can't leave their jackets and their bags, they must wear and carry them at all times, no matter what. When your mom is trying to kill herself and you're shocked to see that, surely whatever you're holding onto, you will immediately and automatically drop them and run to grab your mom? Elaine unfortunately was still carrying her rather large bag on her shoulder, from running to grabbing to sitting on the floor crying with her mom, that bag like as if sewn onto her shoulder. That is so unrealistic and I just couldn't concentrate on the crying and all when that big bag was there, on her shoulders. I remember Elaine. She was in Safe Guards right? She was that awful actress in there. I think she was then in A Journey Called Life right where she showed great improvement actually. I can't say who can play this role better because I have this feeling no actress in TVB would ever drop their bags onto the floor in that scene. Somehow the bag is as important as the mother.
Macy Chan's Kelly is such a contradiction. I don't like this character since I didn't see its purpose and when I saw the purpose of Kelly, I couldn't shake off the fact that Macy Chan is such an uneventful actress. I find myself paying more attention at the fact that she is so tiny next to Kevin than at her performance. Because if I did, I am sure I would have been even more critical than I am now. Her worst scene was almost last scene where she ran out of the hospital when she overheard Hei saying he was disappointed that Kelly betrayed him and he ran after her, saying sorry, and she slapped him (right action actually, I would have punched him) and next scene just mere seconds later she was chatting with him like some good friend, saying in a very light hearted way that she is leaving HK, she is starting a new life, etc. I was thinking didn't she just slapped him seconds ago? Isn't she angry or still angry? I thought that scene would have made more impact if she had delivered her lines in a bitter way, as if saying "I AM leavin HK (as in I am running away from you despicable bastard!), I AM starting a new life (as in so that I can show you I can live without you eventhough you hurt me deeply)" in a I WILL SHOW YOU sort of way but instead it was like a casual chat. So why slap him then? What's the impact? There is no continuity. I thought it would be better for her to leave bitterly and have Hei feeling slightly guilty than this "Hey I am leaving HK, hey you know I am starting a new life, hey I realise I can't be like this and well you know be like Boss, I don't wanna be like him you know" sort of way. Awful performance and a snoozefest as well because she is boring.
Lai Suen's grandma probably is the catalyst in the spiralling out of control Yin. I mean if maybe she had shown him more love and kindness Yin would have turned out all right? Anyway a great performance from this veteran. No comment needed.
Evergreen Mak plays the dumb guy to the hilt. I am rather bored with that. TVB, he is a good actor. GIVE HIM A BETTER MORE DIGNIFIED ROLE PLEASE!!!! He and Wayne Lai are very good actors, Wayne being the greater on of course but Evergreen Mak deserves some love from TVB. I find his character very annoying.
Kiki Sheung was very convincing in a role that I really hated. What a stupid mother. But the scene where she was stabbed was so frightening. A great performance.
Yvonne Ho as Ah See is fun to watch but for a very different reason. Her performance was awful. I wasn't even convinced she was trying to act. She was just there, pretending. Why it was fun to watch and I look forward to her scenes with Kevin is because everytime her Ah See hugs the brother that is Kevin's Hei, notice how genuinely and heartfelt she hugged him, even more intimately than when she hugged her on screen husband! Notice the way her cheeks brushed on his shoulder, how her hands hanged onto his shoulers and if I may dare say, brush his chest a bit, how she took every opportunity to hug him by hugging him so close, no ruler can ever measure the distance between their bodies? I am convinced Yvonne Ho was attracted to Kevin Cheng. I mean if I got the chance I too will hug him that way but since Ah See is his sister, that is rather not right. I also notice she sits closer to him than her own on screen husbandor mother. She just doesn't only hug, she lingers and clings onto him. Love those scenes, but for wrong reasons of course! Poor Kevin, he looked suffocated!
Ellesmere Choi was effective in his character that I didn't like at first. In the end I quite like his Yip whose role was getting lesser and lesser. In the end when Ah See should hug her husband for not being the killer and being so brave to assist her brother and I mean hug really tightly, I don't recall there was such a reaction. Poor Ellesmere, wife doesn't even want to hug him!
Verdict
Sporting some very genuinely violent, bloody scenes with blood splattered onto the camera itself and some terrifying stunts always involving high rise building, there are some really good moments in this series. Fans of Roger Kwok or fans of good acting would appreciate Roger's effortless and very convincing performance although some may be disappointed with the generally bad performances, especially from the other lead Kevin Cheng. In fact as this series went along, it clearly became Roger's show and Kevin was the sideline actor that in the end he is just one of those guys standing there. The story may seem compelling at first but stretching a 10 episodes sort of story to 22 will of course mean the story will suffer from repetition (like how many times must I see the stepfather die and all those flashback scenes) and a huge element of predictability. In most parts without Roger in it, the series became bland and boring. Some parts even with Roger in it, it was in the danger of becoming bland and boring. The problem is the story is predictable and too longwinded. But the ending was the worst. However the poster(s) and the intro with instrumental music (no one singing and thank god for that) was excellent. This series tries to be different, tries to be stylistic, adopted several filming techniques that I don't suppose I often seen in TVB series before, it felt cinematic sometimes, the stunts incredibly real and the violence justified thus heightening the sense of urgency but the length of this series, at some point TVB's usual boring way of presenting a series takes over and some awful performances really pulled down this series and what could have been a very good mini series or telemovie and if with good casting became a longwinded TV series that I cheered when it ended. Roger is the only real reason to watch this series so I recommend it to fans of Roger Kwok and those who appreciates the art of acting. Just let Master Roger show you the way.
Interesting Emphasis
Why I said STANDING in capital letters? Because Yin became paralysed waist down but the ending seems to indicate he may be able to learn to walk again as with hatred he struggled but was able to sit upright.
