This review may contain spoilers
I Married a Mobster
I wasn't sure what to expect when I started this one, the premise is totally unrealistic... but I'm so happy I did and would love to see a sequel. What a fun series. I'm THRILLED to see a new storyline in the BL universe. Cop falling for Mobster and all of the intrigue, mystery, danger etc that goes along with it. They actually created a good detective story first and then allowed the two main characters to fall in love. It did get a bit convoluted and confusing, especially since we only hear the mystery details after the fact from third parties, but even if you come for the mystery, you will stay for the love story.
The growth of this relationship (while ridiculous in its premise), made absolute sense to me. You could see each of the main characters come to learn more and more about each other that would allow them to trust each other and even fall in love with each other. That gradual evolution is what made this story work best for me.
There is so much humor that works really well. Several characters are preposterously over the top, but the actors play them with such sweet, gentle, natural manners that they work perfectly. Jake Hsu was awkward and ungainly in all the right ways. But I also believed he was smart, loyal, honest and a really good cop. My favorite "touch" was his unkempt hair. They have one lock of hair ALWAYS out of place, sticking out in the most ridiculous manner. It became his signature and I came to miss it when he washed his hair and it disappeared. Kenny Chen may be my favorite naive "little boy" (alongside Plan as Can in Love by Chance). He is so vulnerable and trusting and goofy. I can't wait until he stars in his own BL series. This kid deserves to be a star. Unfortunately, Chris Wu is pretty horrible. He is wooden, blank-faced, lacking the internal emotions needed for this complex character. This is a recurring problem in BL series. They go for the good looking bad boy, but rarely can they find an actor who can play the subtleties of those roles. Chris did have some good moments, toward the latter half of the series, when he got to open up and express his affection for Meng Fei.
Those moments, when the two relaxed and allowed themselves to be boyfriends, were some of my favorites in the series. Despite the very quick transition in their relationship, you could sense an ease between the two actors. They truly portrayed the trust and relief you can only get in the arms of your beloved. The kissing and intimacy scared me at first. I didn't think they were going to pull it off. The first kiss was so tight-mouthed that I feared it would never look natural. But by the end of the series, these two were making out like they meant it. It got steamy for a second!
I appreciated the secondary BL romance, though it was even more ridiculous than the first. But again, Kenny Chen made his character so believable I wanted to fly to Taiwan and marry him myself. And I truly enjoyed the hetero romance as well. I thought it was well established and with little back-story I was able to understand both sides of this couple and was happy they came together in the end. Kudos to Diane Lin who does an excellent job as well. The filial love between these two "siblings" was another strong aspect of the series.
At times I thought the music was inspiring and spot on, but at other times it felt like it was lifted from a library of stock music that I've heard in so many other series.
Solid direction, cinematography, editing throughout. Truly high production values that helped propel this to the top of my list.
I will watch this one again FOR SURE.
The growth of this relationship (while ridiculous in its premise), made absolute sense to me. You could see each of the main characters come to learn more and more about each other that would allow them to trust each other and even fall in love with each other. That gradual evolution is what made this story work best for me.
There is so much humor that works really well. Several characters are preposterously over the top, but the actors play them with such sweet, gentle, natural manners that they work perfectly. Jake Hsu was awkward and ungainly in all the right ways. But I also believed he was smart, loyal, honest and a really good cop. My favorite "touch" was his unkempt hair. They have one lock of hair ALWAYS out of place, sticking out in the most ridiculous manner. It became his signature and I came to miss it when he washed his hair and it disappeared. Kenny Chen may be my favorite naive "little boy" (alongside Plan as Can in Love by Chance). He is so vulnerable and trusting and goofy. I can't wait until he stars in his own BL series. This kid deserves to be a star. Unfortunately, Chris Wu is pretty horrible. He is wooden, blank-faced, lacking the internal emotions needed for this complex character. This is a recurring problem in BL series. They go for the good looking bad boy, but rarely can they find an actor who can play the subtleties of those roles. Chris did have some good moments, toward the latter half of the series, when he got to open up and express his affection for Meng Fei.
Those moments, when the two relaxed and allowed themselves to be boyfriends, were some of my favorites in the series. Despite the very quick transition in their relationship, you could sense an ease between the two actors. They truly portrayed the trust and relief you can only get in the arms of your beloved. The kissing and intimacy scared me at first. I didn't think they were going to pull it off. The first kiss was so tight-mouthed that I feared it would never look natural. But by the end of the series, these two were making out like they meant it. It got steamy for a second!
I appreciated the secondary BL romance, though it was even more ridiculous than the first. But again, Kenny Chen made his character so believable I wanted to fly to Taiwan and marry him myself. And I truly enjoyed the hetero romance as well. I thought it was well established and with little back-story I was able to understand both sides of this couple and was happy they came together in the end. Kudos to Diane Lin who does an excellent job as well. The filial love between these two "siblings" was another strong aspect of the series.
At times I thought the music was inspiring and spot on, but at other times it felt like it was lifted from a library of stock music that I've heard in so many other series.
Solid direction, cinematography, editing throughout. Truly high production values that helped propel this to the top of my list.
I will watch this one again FOR SURE.
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