Becky
North Pole
This review may contain spoilers
The Long Ballad -- saved by its beautiful cast
The Long Ballad is a very entertaining drama. If you have never seen a Chinese historical, I would highly recommend you to watch this. But for those who have seen several historicals, The Long Ballad is an optional watch....
TLB has 4 leads-- Dilraba Dilmurat, Wu Lei, Zhao Lusi and Liu Yuning. They are young and beautiful actors. Especially for Dilraba, Wu Lei and Zhao Lusi, who have put in very remarkable performances in this drama (I have seen them in their previous dramas and there are notable improvements for all 3). I'm happy for Dilraba who finally has a strong FL character who does not have a tragic ending. Wu Lei had felt like the wrong choice for Ashile Sun, military general in the grasslands would not look like him, but his acting convinced me! Zhao Lusi's Leyan has very good character developments that kept me worried for her for a long while... which is good, otherwise I might have dropped the drama in the 20+ eps.
The director did a great job and kept the plot going at a good, fast pace almost for the whole drama. The good thing about The Long Ballad is, it has no drag, every episode is essential. Even when it cuts to Leyan's arc, the slower plot developments there still keep our attention as we worry for her.
My greatest, and only issue is on the script. The script feels like it is written for elementary school children. The simplicity of the plot really comes apart in the last arc, that last 7 eps where I have to watch at 1.5x speed else I be falling asleep. I like Dilraba a lot, and kept reminding myself, it is only 7 eps left, finish this for Dilraba.....
I must say the plot, the main plot, is really good. It has a lot of potential.... unfortunately screenwriter has simplified it to juvenile levels.
-- Change Ge was stabbed/shot at in her chest, near the heart area, several times in the drama. Even falling down from a great height into a river. Yet she survived. FL halo is over-used here. And because of this, no matter what danger that Chang Ge is in later, we do not feel anxious for her becos scriptwriter has made it very clear that she cannot die...
-- Chang Ge was able to command Gong Sun He's army in the battle against Ashile (she has only been taught in warfare by Masters, never been in a battle)... and that scheme that they used, flooding the enemy troops with water. That should take several days, weeks to arrange. How to setup that in one night....
-- Middle part is generally okay, or maybe I tried not to be 'too picky' and shut down my brain as I continue watching. But in the rescue of the Tang general from Ashile camp. It is unthinkable that such a clever Chang Ge would act so foolishly... and when the escape plan failed and Ashile soldiers were catching up with them (literally just a few metres away, on horses), the three had a lot of time to chat and even got Shi Ba (the general's most junior disciple) to acknowledge Chang Ge as her new master..... I was like, um folks, the soldiers are coming on fast horses, so can you get going??!
-- I really do not like the last arc.... the part when Chang Ge and Ke Dun were plotting and scheming against each other. Those tribal heads are much older than them, yet they can be sooo easily manipulated??!! Yes, the excuse is Ke Dun had held them hostage with their family members. But dear scriptwriter, they are GRASSLANDS TRIBAL HEADS, big macho men with their own brains and capable of independent thinking. It is not convincing that all of them become cowards because loved ones were held captive. They are MACHO men.... at least a few would want to stand up against Ke Dun even if at the risk of their families.
-- And that fire at the end. For such a big fire to start so quickly, Ke Dun would have poured fuel on the floor much earlier. The hall was enclosed (windows closed), so when Chang Ge entered, she should have smelled the fuel.... um, maybe Chang Ge had a nose block that day? cough cough.....
And the kiss scenes in the drama..... why even bother putting in romance if you want to be PG about the kisses?
China has produced much better historical dramas, with better attention on details and the plots. The Long Ballad is only a fun and entertaining watch, with a very beautiful and talented cast. Please ignore the script, and you can enjoy the drama fully.
TLB has 4 leads-- Dilraba Dilmurat, Wu Lei, Zhao Lusi and Liu Yuning. They are young and beautiful actors. Especially for Dilraba, Wu Lei and Zhao Lusi, who have put in very remarkable performances in this drama (I have seen them in their previous dramas and there are notable improvements for all 3). I'm happy for Dilraba who finally has a strong FL character who does not have a tragic ending. Wu Lei had felt like the wrong choice for Ashile Sun, military general in the grasslands would not look like him, but his acting convinced me! Zhao Lusi's Leyan has very good character developments that kept me worried for her for a long while... which is good, otherwise I might have dropped the drama in the 20+ eps.
The director did a great job and kept the plot going at a good, fast pace almost for the whole drama. The good thing about The Long Ballad is, it has no drag, every episode is essential. Even when it cuts to Leyan's arc, the slower plot developments there still keep our attention as we worry for her.
My greatest, and only issue is on the script. The script feels like it is written for elementary school children. The simplicity of the plot really comes apart in the last arc, that last 7 eps where I have to watch at 1.5x speed else I be falling asleep. I like Dilraba a lot, and kept reminding myself, it is only 7 eps left, finish this for Dilraba.....
I must say the plot, the main plot, is really good. It has a lot of potential.... unfortunately screenwriter has simplified it to juvenile levels.
-- Change Ge was stabbed/shot at in her chest, near the heart area, several times in the drama. Even falling down from a great height into a river. Yet she survived. FL halo is over-used here. And because of this, no matter what danger that Chang Ge is in later, we do not feel anxious for her becos scriptwriter has made it very clear that she cannot die...
-- Chang Ge was able to command Gong Sun He's army in the battle against Ashile (she has only been taught in warfare by Masters, never been in a battle)... and that scheme that they used, flooding the enemy troops with water. That should take several days, weeks to arrange. How to setup that in one night....
-- Middle part is generally okay, or maybe I tried not to be 'too picky' and shut down my brain as I continue watching. But in the rescue of the Tang general from Ashile camp. It is unthinkable that such a clever Chang Ge would act so foolishly... and when the escape plan failed and Ashile soldiers were catching up with them (literally just a few metres away, on horses), the three had a lot of time to chat and even got Shi Ba (the general's most junior disciple) to acknowledge Chang Ge as her new master..... I was like, um folks, the soldiers are coming on fast horses, so can you get going??!
-- I really do not like the last arc.... the part when Chang Ge and Ke Dun were plotting and scheming against each other. Those tribal heads are much older than them, yet they can be sooo easily manipulated??!! Yes, the excuse is Ke Dun had held them hostage with their family members. But dear scriptwriter, they are GRASSLANDS TRIBAL HEADS, big macho men with their own brains and capable of independent thinking. It is not convincing that all of them become cowards because loved ones were held captive. They are MACHO men.... at least a few would want to stand up against Ke Dun even if at the risk of their families.
-- And that fire at the end. For such a big fire to start so quickly, Ke Dun would have poured fuel on the floor much earlier. The hall was enclosed (windows closed), so when Chang Ge entered, she should have smelled the fuel.... um, maybe Chang Ge had a nose block that day? cough cough.....
And the kiss scenes in the drama..... why even bother putting in romance if you want to be PG about the kisses?
China has produced much better historical dramas, with better attention on details and the plots. The Long Ballad is only a fun and entertaining watch, with a very beautiful and talented cast. Please ignore the script, and you can enjoy the drama fully.
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