dramasoliloquy (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
dramasoliloquy) wrote2011-08-14 06:54 pm
dramasoliloquy) wrote2011-08-14 06:54 pm
Entry tags:
Taiwanese Drama Review: Zhong Wu Yen
Good actors, an intriguing premise (a kind girl with a birthmark loves an immature, but beautiful guy). What could go wrong? Plenty as it turns out. Zhong Wu Yen could have been great. But the power couple of Ming Dao and Cheryl Yang lack chemistry together, not to mention the seriously lackluster second half with plenty of filler material.
Drama Title: Zhong Wu Yen
Genre(s): Romance, Drama, Comedy, Small historical part at beginning,
Original language: Chinese? Year: 2010
Episodes: 19 episodes Pacing: Lots of filler, Too long, should have been condensed
Director: ??? Screenwriter: ???
(Ming Dao as Qi Xuan, Cheryl Yang as Zhong Wu Fen)
Cast of Characters: Ming Dao as Qi Xuan, Cheryl Yang as Zhong Wu Yen, Chris Wu as Howard, Wang Si Pang as Xia Ying Chun
(Secondary leads, Chris Wu as Howard and Wang Si Pang as Xia Ying Chun)
Major Theme: Beauty is only skin deep.
In Brief: Zhong Wu Yen is a smart and kind woman who lives in a small village. She has pinkish birthmark that covers almost half her face and has been in love with the selfish, empty headed Qi Xuan who is quite the looker. He scorns her lack of beauty and prefers the beautiful Xia Ying Chun, who is hiding a mysterious past.
Thanks to Qi Xuan's father, Wu Yen and Xuan become engaged. The second male lead is a irritable blind man Wu Yen befriends, who also is not who he appears to be.
(Yet another Taiwanese drama female trapped in a bathroom.)
Favorite Scenes: I liked the scene where Zhong Yu Wen was in trapped in the bathroom. It reminded me of similar scenes from ToGetHer and Smiling Pasta. What is it with Taiwanese dramas and locking people in bathrooms? But again, the scene worked for me, Cheryl Yang was great here and really made me care about her character in this scene.
Pet Cliches (Pros): Older Guy, Younger Girl, Small Town Girl, City Guy, Cool Second Lead
Pet Peeves (Cons): Annoying Relatives, Noble Idiocy, Childhood Love
Reminds Me Of: A Bright Girl's Success Story (Korean drama). The part in the last 5 or so episodes could've been lifted plotwise verbatim from it.
Skim Through: Episodes 13 on all skim worthy.
(The terrific Ming Dao and wonderful Cheryl Yang. But not so terrific as a couple.)
Smiles: I liked Ming Dao's acting in this drama. And the character is quite different then the usual stoic hero type, as he plays an immature and not that bright, beautiful yet self-centered young man. But second male lead Howard steals the show later on as the only character possessing some brain power.
(The real brains of the drama, Howard.)
And I like the concept of the show, beauty is only skin deep, so the beautiful guy is shallow and vain and the ugly girl is kind hearted and intelligent, although the concept itself at times lacks much depth and Wu Yen acts rather unintelligent a number of times in the latter episodes.
Frowns: Where's the romance? The first episodes revolved around Zhong Wu Yen's unrequited love for someone she hardly knew, Qi Xuan. The next story arc had her disliking him, then we came to a gradual liking of each other and finally there's one episode where they actually seem in love and have sweet scenes together. That ends abruptly with the angst machine getting started, which pretty much separates the two until the end of the drama.
(You can see the chemistry between Qi Xuan and Xia Ying Chun just from the picture.)
Both main leads seem like they would be better off with their secondary leads. There's more chemistry between Qi Xuan, and Xia Ying Chun. And Zhong Wu Yen, and Howard seems like they would make a better couple as well. I think it's bad casting really
.
(The couple who should've remained friends, Qi Xuan and Zhong Wu Yen.)
Also, in the last half of the drama, people starting acting stupidly (looking at you Zhong Wu Yen), and against their characters (still looking at you Zhong Wu Yen).
Parent's Rating: PG-13 I think. Don't remember anything that offensive.
Where to watch this?: Online at viki.com.
MY BIAS: Unsure. I am something of a Ming Dao fan.
Final rating: Mediocre
Instead of this, try: If you're looking for a drama that's based on a modern retelling of an old folk tale, Korea's Delightful Girl Chun-Hyung did a great job.
Photos from Asianfanatics
Drama Title: Zhong Wu Yen
Genre(s): Romance, Drama, Comedy, Small historical part at beginning,
Original language: Chinese? Year: 2010
Episodes: 19 episodes Pacing: Lots of filler, Too long, should have been condensed
Director: ??? Screenwriter: ???
(Ming Dao as Qi Xuan, Cheryl Yang as Zhong Wu Fen)
Cast of Characters: Ming Dao as Qi Xuan, Cheryl Yang as Zhong Wu Yen, Chris Wu as Howard, Wang Si Pang as Xia Ying Chun
(Secondary leads, Chris Wu as Howard and Wang Si Pang as Xia Ying Chun)
Major Theme: Beauty is only skin deep.
In Brief: Zhong Wu Yen is a smart and kind woman who lives in a small village. She has pinkish birthmark that covers almost half her face and has been in love with the selfish, empty headed Qi Xuan who is quite the looker. He scorns her lack of beauty and prefers the beautiful Xia Ying Chun, who is hiding a mysterious past.
Thanks to Qi Xuan's father, Wu Yen and Xuan become engaged. The second male lead is a irritable blind man Wu Yen befriends, who also is not who he appears to be.
(Yet another Taiwanese drama female trapped in a bathroom.)
Favorite Scenes: I liked the scene where Zhong Yu Wen was in trapped in the bathroom. It reminded me of similar scenes from ToGetHer and Smiling Pasta. What is it with Taiwanese dramas and locking people in bathrooms? But again, the scene worked for me, Cheryl Yang was great here and really made me care about her character in this scene.
Pet Cliches (Pros): Older Guy, Younger Girl, Small Town Girl, City Guy, Cool Second Lead
Pet Peeves (Cons): Annoying Relatives, Noble Idiocy, Childhood Love
Reminds Me Of: A Bright Girl's Success Story (Korean drama). The part in the last 5 or so episodes could've been lifted plotwise verbatim from it.
Skim Through: Episodes 13 on all skim worthy.
(The terrific Ming Dao and wonderful Cheryl Yang. But not so terrific as a couple.)
Smiles: I liked Ming Dao's acting in this drama. And the character is quite different then the usual stoic hero type, as he plays an immature and not that bright, beautiful yet self-centered young man. But second male lead Howard steals the show later on as the only character possessing some brain power.
(The real brains of the drama, Howard.)
And I like the concept of the show, beauty is only skin deep, so the beautiful guy is shallow and vain and the ugly girl is kind hearted and intelligent, although the concept itself at times lacks much depth and Wu Yen acts rather unintelligent a number of times in the latter episodes.
Frowns: Where's the romance? The first episodes revolved around Zhong Wu Yen's unrequited love for someone she hardly knew, Qi Xuan. The next story arc had her disliking him, then we came to a gradual liking of each other and finally there's one episode where they actually seem in love and have sweet scenes together. That ends abruptly with the angst machine getting started, which pretty much separates the two until the end of the drama.
(You can see the chemistry between Qi Xuan and Xia Ying Chun just from the picture.)
Both main leads seem like they would be better off with their secondary leads. There's more chemistry between Qi Xuan, and Xia Ying Chun. And Zhong Wu Yen, and Howard seems like they would make a better couple as well. I think it's bad casting really
.
(The couple who should've remained friends, Qi Xuan and Zhong Wu Yen.)
Also, in the last half of the drama, people starting acting stupidly (looking at you Zhong Wu Yen), and against their characters (still looking at you Zhong Wu Yen).
Parent's Rating: PG-13 I think. Don't remember anything that offensive.
Where to watch this?: Online at viki.com.
MY BIAS: Unsure. I am something of a Ming Dao fan.
Final rating: Mediocre
Instead of this, try: If you're looking for a drama that's based on a modern retelling of an old folk tale, Korea's Delightful Girl Chun-Hyung did a great job.
Photos from Asianfanatics