PikaChu
This review may contain spoilers
I'm trying so hard to be objective in the review ratings on this, being a fan of both XZ and WYB. Questioning whether I'm scoring it too high and readjusting. First off, The Untamed is based off of MDZS, which was a webnovel by MXTX. I started off watching the animated version of MDZS , and shortly after (while waiting for more episodes), read the original MDZS webnovel, so went into The Untamed knowing the story on which it is based.
Story - This drama was really well-adapted. I was surprised. Yes the BL elements were removed but it does not take away from portraying the loyalty and bond of the main leads (and really some of it is open to interpretation). There is some jumping between timelines to explain the story but I also think they handled it well without making it too confusing. Of course there are changes from the original webnovel but it stayed surprisingly true to the original work as far as character relationships and themes. I do rather wish the ending was not as open-ended in the drama since the original work was pretty clear on where things went--but its fine. Also, while the main leads and most supporting characters are male, I DO appreciate the presence of strong female characters even if they are minor. Yu Ziyuan might not have been the kindest to WWX (she has reasons although still unjustified), but this woman is strong, can fight, and does not hesitate to give her own special weapon to her son and send him away with WWX while she faces a planned massacre bearing down on their home while her husband is away (and when he finally comes back after she has been fending them off on her own all day he STILL is taken down before her--i might have facepalmed a bit here). Jiang Yanli and Wenqing may not be the greatest in combat but they will standup for their younger brothers in the face of authority and won't shy away from danger to protect them if they feel it is necessary. In XianXia stories where female characters can sometimes be portrayed as weak, needing some kind of protector, or just...not smart, it is refreshing to have strong females (flawed but definitely still having clear strengths).
Cast - As much as I'd love to give a 10 here because I'm a fan of both the leads, I think a 9 is more fair from an objective standpoint as there were still parts that could be more polished in general from both leads and supporting cast. The cast was fantastic but objectively, did not have the subtlety and polish of some more experienced actors although there were definitely many moments of brilliance. But then I also want to take into account that these ARE newer actors and they DID to an amazing job on this production. XZ and WYB were fantastic for their roles. Especially considering they do not have that much acting experience under their belt at this point in time, their performance was actually very impressive. And you can actually SEE the improvement in the drama itself as they got a better understanding of their roles and finetuned and polished their portrayals. As an example, some of the earlier episodes had scenes where WYB had "dead fish eyes" and some viewers commented he looked sleepy (he kinda did lol). Actually he said himself he didn't have a full understanding of LWJ right away but sharpened his gaze later which made a huge difference. Its actually really hard to act LWJ since he doesn't talk much and doesn't have alot of lines, so the portrayal has to come from minute facial expressions, eyes, posture. WYB did an amazing job. Xiao Zhan was also excellent portraying both the playful mischievous side of WWX as well as the intimidating "Don't F with me" side. His character has to play out a huge range of emotions, from playfulness to grief to rage. With XianXia since things are often not filmed in order as much as a modern drama, sometimes he would have to film a playful scene followed by a raging scene and would need to get himself into the appropriate state for that character. I don't imagine this to be easy but he did so well. The supporting cast in general did well too, especially considering many were very young and very new--some scenes where they needed to emote came across a bit exaggerated but overall the entire cast did an excellent job.
Music - I have the OST regularly playing. Enough said.
Overall this drama is a very well put together package and I wonder if the cast/crew surprised themselves a bit. The actors were not big names at the time but all of them (main and supporting cast) put on a performance that they should be proud of given their yrs of experience at that time. The music and OST is just lovely and really boosts certain scenes. The CGI....*cough* lets skip this and chalk it up to smaller budget. Worth watching, worth rewatching.
Story - This drama was really well-adapted. I was surprised. Yes the BL elements were removed but it does not take away from portraying the loyalty and bond of the main leads (and really some of it is open to interpretation). There is some jumping between timelines to explain the story but I also think they handled it well without making it too confusing. Of course there are changes from the original webnovel but it stayed surprisingly true to the original work as far as character relationships and themes. I do rather wish the ending was not as open-ended in the drama since the original work was pretty clear on where things went--but its fine. Also, while the main leads and most supporting characters are male, I DO appreciate the presence of strong female characters even if they are minor. Yu Ziyuan might not have been the kindest to WWX (she has reasons although still unjustified), but this woman is strong, can fight, and does not hesitate to give her own special weapon to her son and send him away with WWX while she faces a planned massacre bearing down on their home while her husband is away (and when he finally comes back after she has been fending them off on her own all day he STILL is taken down before her--i might have facepalmed a bit here). Jiang Yanli and Wenqing may not be the greatest in combat but they will standup for their younger brothers in the face of authority and won't shy away from danger to protect them if they feel it is necessary. In XianXia stories where female characters can sometimes be portrayed as weak, needing some kind of protector, or just...not smart, it is refreshing to have strong females (flawed but definitely still having clear strengths).
Cast - As much as I'd love to give a 10 here because I'm a fan of both the leads, I think a 9 is more fair from an objective standpoint as there were still parts that could be more polished in general from both leads and supporting cast. The cast was fantastic but objectively, did not have the subtlety and polish of some more experienced actors although there were definitely many moments of brilliance. But then I also want to take into account that these ARE newer actors and they DID to an amazing job on this production. XZ and WYB were fantastic for their roles. Especially considering they do not have that much acting experience under their belt at this point in time, their performance was actually very impressive. And you can actually SEE the improvement in the drama itself as they got a better understanding of their roles and finetuned and polished their portrayals. As an example, some of the earlier episodes had scenes where WYB had "dead fish eyes" and some viewers commented he looked sleepy (he kinda did lol). Actually he said himself he didn't have a full understanding of LWJ right away but sharpened his gaze later which made a huge difference. Its actually really hard to act LWJ since he doesn't talk much and doesn't have alot of lines, so the portrayal has to come from minute facial expressions, eyes, posture. WYB did an amazing job. Xiao Zhan was also excellent portraying both the playful mischievous side of WWX as well as the intimidating "Don't F with me" side. His character has to play out a huge range of emotions, from playfulness to grief to rage. With XianXia since things are often not filmed in order as much as a modern drama, sometimes he would have to film a playful scene followed by a raging scene and would need to get himself into the appropriate state for that character. I don't imagine this to be easy but he did so well. The supporting cast in general did well too, especially considering many were very young and very new--some scenes where they needed to emote came across a bit exaggerated but overall the entire cast did an excellent job.
Music - I have the OST regularly playing. Enough said.
Overall this drama is a very well put together package and I wonder if the cast/crew surprised themselves a bit. The actors were not big names at the time but all of them (main and supporting cast) put on a performance that they should be proud of given their yrs of experience at that time. The music and OST is just lovely and really boosts certain scenes. The CGI....*cough* lets skip this and chalk it up to smaller budget. Worth watching, worth rewatching.
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