I understand the hype around this series. Its complex, well-written, and twisty storyline draws the viewer into the cultivation world. For those who are not familiar with the genres of wuxia and xianxia, watching it will be a unique cinematic experience. I am sure that there are plenty of competent reviewers who have underscored the many things that The Untamed deserves praise for, though, so I will not expand on them. Instead, I would like to address its biggest weakness – the acting.

Let's start with the lead actor, Xiao Zhan.
His character, the witty rulebreaker Wei Wuxian, drives the plot forward from start to finish with his tragic story. He is the core of this series – a young man who inspires with his bravery, resilience, and kindness. He is the one who intrigues the viewer and draws them in. He is the one who should make them laugh, cry, and care the most. If he fails to do so, this series will lose its charm.
Xiao Zhan did not manage to become Wei Wuxian. His unconvincing acting failed to convey the charisma, the quiet power, and the complexity of this remarkable character. His Wei Wuxian is shallow and difficult to sympathize with. His tears look fake and so do his smiles. I believe that if the production team had chosen an actor who could handle the role, this series would have been a ten out of ten only because of Wei Wuxian. They did not.

My next problem is with actress Meng Zi Yi, who played Wen Qing, the skilled doctor of the Wen Clan.
Wen Qing is the only notable female character in this series, which suffers from a scarcity of interesting female characters – Jiang Yan Li, the other female character that the viewer will be seeing a lot, embodies a collection of stereotypes about women. This is why Wen Qing, who, contrary to Yan Li, is strong, independent, and not obsessed with cooking soup for her future husband, had potential to be memorable. However, Meng Zi Yi's lackluster acting constantly made her character blend into the background. She is a pretty actress, which might have been a factor in the production team's decision to cast her, but I think that her role demanded acting skills and facial expressions other than a deadpan more than beauty.

The third actor who demonstrated unconvincing acting is Wang Zhuo Cheng.
His character is Jiang Cheng, whose complicated relationship with Wei Wuxian is one of the central themes in the story. Jiang Cheng is notoriously bad-tempered, and his personality constantly clashes with the more easy-going Wei Wuxian's. Their interactions, which are meant to illustrate sibling love and rivalry, should have been moving, but instead bordered on the comical because in no given moment did Wang Zhuo Cheng managed to convince me that his character is actually angry or upset.

These actors' mediocre performances made me indifferent to three important characters, whom the viewer has to care for if they are to be invested in the story – and do not even get me started on the villains, both the major and the minor ones. I could not take any of them seriously despite their sinister deeds because their acting ranged from mediocre to bad.

Overall, the actors in this series, with the notable exception of Wang Yi Bo and Ji Li, delivered unconvincing performances. I could not force myself to care about their characters and eventually stopped being invested in the story. The production team should have been more selective during the casting. Such a long series that relies on its characters to drive it needs an exceptional cast.