angelVSdevil
Once Upon a Time in Lingjian Mountain
40 people found this review helpful
*Story*
I'm gonna be honest. When I first watched it, the whole time I was like WTF is this? The plot is lame, the jokes are lame, the acting is really exaggerating and... Wait a minute, am I watching the right drama?! I remember a lot of people being very confused about the genre of the drama. The two female leads call each other wifey, the two male leads has... Like THE most romantic moments EVER! Reading the summery again, I would swear that it's not a gay drama. A lot of people call it Queerbaiting but I actually disagree. It kind of suits the style of the drama and the synopsis clearly states that the male lead will end up with the female lead. The whole drama is just one big comedy with some serious plot in it that will slowly uncover as time passes by. The jokes are so bad in a way that's hilarious. The male lead is someone of modern time who rebirth to the world of this drama and I just love how the lead is also dissing the script so much. To put it short, you need to get through a few episodes to get used to the weird concept, but the moment you do, it becomes so good XD. However... the arcs never really ends... well. There are so many times when I'm like "Uhm, writer? Do you still remember that love line?" But yeah... unless they make a season 2, I felt the plot quite unfinished after finishing the show.
*Characters*
I've not read the original novel so I can't really say if they were similar to the novel or not. However, it did feel a bit exaggerated at first. Especially the female lead. Whether it was her personality or look, I felt like she took the wrong role. Not that she was a bad actor, but it simply didn't suit her. However, as time passed by, I actually started to like her a lot. I guess I had to get used to a foreigner (or at least a mixed race) playing an ancient role. I found her really pretty later and began to love her as well. I guess you have to keep in mind that it is meant to be a comedy so some exaggeration is completely normal. You just gotta get used to it. Generally speaking, none of the actors were really bad. Maybe a bit awkward here and there but not to the point of bad. Generally speaking, it was quite alright.
*Music*
I liked it. Have nothing else to say about it
*Rewatch value*
Did I enjoy it? Absolutely. Would I watch it again.... Probably not. One time is enough, but some lame parts/scenes are definitely worth to be put on repeat
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Where lays the line between good and evil?
As someone who's a fan of the novel and hugely loved the audio drama and anime adaptation, you can say that I have HIGH expectations for this drama. Cause with such great adaptations already exists, the bar will be extra high. Especially since live actions do not have a great reputation, so I am gonna be straight to the point. There were parts that are terrible, there were parts that deserve to be praised, but overall, it's a worth it drama to watch.Before I start with my review, I will answer a few questions that I've seen people struggling with before deciding to watch it or not. If you do not have this struggle, you can just skip these and immediately go to my review
*The plot is confusing, is this a romance story or not?*
I can't say this enough, but this drama ain't a romance story! This drama/novel is much more than that. This story is about the life of Wei Wuxian and the world he lives in. Romance might be a part of his life, but it ain't everything. The original novel maybe had about 20% (which is also extremely loved by fans), but that's it. There is romance, but it is not the main point of the story! This story is about the boundary between good and evil. Where exactly is the line between these two categories and is Wei Wuxian who is considered to be the most dangerous and evil person in history really as evil as people claim him to be? We'll follow his story in his previous life, his life after his reincarnation and follow his adventure what has happened between the 16 years he was "Dead".
*Will we see gay romance or not?*
I've seen so many people (especially guys) who avoided to watch the anime or this drama because they are afraid to see gay romance. I also believe there are a lot of people who are hesitating to watch it cause they want to see gay romance and are afraid that Chinese censorship will ruin it. I can tell you that both sides have nothing, literally NOTHING to be worried about. Wei Wuxian was bisexual in the novel and is STILL bisexual in the drama, but will not have a romantic relationship with any guys. However there is fan service here and there (Basically everywhere) for those who loved the novel and you can see them clearly if you pay attention to the details, you'll easily recognize them if you have read that the novel. So yeah, those who do not want to see romance, you'll be fine. I mean there are some twilight longing stares once in a while, but you can just go forward a few seconds or just easily ignore them. And for those who want to see romance, you'll find plenty enough hints, cute moments and fan service in the drama to survive. And with plenty I really mean PLENTY. So no matter if you want to watch it for the gay romance or avoided for the same reason. JUST WATCH IT!
*REVIEW*
*Plot* 8.5
I'm gonna be honest, the first 6 episodes were just terrible. It was bad, like REALLY bad. But that was exactly why I enjoyed it with popcorn and all. I was enjoying dissing it so much. I would have rated it a 6 MAX. However, after episode 6, it actually becomes okay. After episode 10, it actually becomes fun and after episode 13, you won't be able to stop anymore, cause suddenly it becomes SOOOO good and it doesn't stop there. It just went up so fast and it doesn't seem to stop till the end. I hesitated for a long time if I should rate it so high, but the plot just gets better and better. I might have even given a 10 if the first 6 episodes weren't so bad. So if you think you can survive a good laugher about a crappy plot for some episode before you get in the rollercoaster of emotions and addiction. Give it a try. But if you really can't stand the horrible acting, just read a summary somewhere and just start from episode 10 LOL. I was surprised how loyal they manage to be to the novel and the novel is definitely 10 worthy! It really shows how much effort they put in and even if they are lacking here and there, the moment you get used to it, you just can't pull yourself out of the story anymore.
*Acting* 8.5
I'll put aside about how much they were alike to the original novel and judge them purely on their acting. Some actors did a REALLY good job, some actors become better over time and some just stay awkward and terrible till the end.
Amazing actors like Wei Wuxian, Shijie and Wen Chao were just wonderful! They are such great actors and my cry moments were all given to them. They made me completely forget about the outside world and just pulled me into theirs.
Some actors were really awkward at first but gradually becomes better and better over time. Actors like Lan Wangji, Lan Xichen and Jiang Cheng. Lan Wangji REALLY showed a lot of difference between episode 1 and episode 6. It was as if he suddenly understood his character and just immediately went to perfect, despite being so awkward at the beginning. Actors like Lan Xichen, I couldn't stand them at all at first, but when I got used to them, it was actually not that bad (Perhaps due to my impression of them in the novel). And there's also Jiang Cheng. Oh my boy, he is actually a pretty good actor... except when he cries? Yeah, I immediately went back to reality and actually had to hold back my laughter at really emotional scenes due to him. It DID become better and I actually feel kind of proud of the actor as well (Despite knowing nothing about the actor), but like I said it all becomes better the further you are in the plot
AND there are actors who were terrible till the end. Actors like Jin Zixuan, Wen Qing and Xue Yang. I'm so sorry, but I can't focus when you guys act. I'm glad that they aren't big roles, cause it was really distracting to see them act.
So yeah, there were terrible actors and really good ones. If it wasn't due to most of the actors becoming significantly better over time, I think I would have only given a 7 MAX for the great actors out there, but over time it will become better and some terrible actors will also die at some point so LOL.
*Music* 9
Up till now, I've not seen anyone complain about the OST's, cause they are all REALLY REALLY REALLY GOOD. Everyone even has their own character theme song and the lyrics are all related to the plot. Even if you end up not able to finish the drama, I'm sure you will keep at least the ending track with you, cause the songs are THAT good! One little thing that could be a bit distracting is the fact that their movement on the instrument are not in sync with the music LOL.
*Rewatch Value* 9.5
I have barely dramas that I rewatch, but this drama, this story, it makes you think about a lot of things in real life as well. Even if you do not completely rewatch it, there are just certain scenes, certain episodes that you WILL rewatch again. For emotional reasons or to experience things, you have not realized before.
*Overall* 9
I was actually planning to only give it an 8.5, but the plot just becomes better and better and I couldn't help but increase my rating every single week. However, I will not give it a 10. Some of the acting and first 6 episodes are still terrible. You cannot ignore them
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This review may contain spoilers
I guess you can call it a movie for those who can't move on, but honestly, I think you'd like it more if you did not watch The Untamed first. Even if you wouldn't understand a lot of references.*Story* 7
*Sigh* ... I liked the idea though. The growth of Wen Ning after he left Wei Wuxian's side. There are a lot of things that the movie mentioned about how Wen Ning must have been struggling with that I thought "That's actually a pretty fun topic to make a movie about" Unfortunately, the pace was too fast, the order was messed up, the editing was weird and the plot also too predictable. The whole time I was like "Just like the Yi City Arc". They took so many elements of the Yi City Arc that made face palm so hard. They took so many elements to the point that they could have just refilmed the Yi City Arc. I'm sure a lot if not everyone who had watched The Untamed would have watched it. One thing is sure, this movie was not written by MXTX. You could say that they took all elements of the Yi City Arc... except the parts that made the Yi City Arc good. But even with all the flaws, I still enjoyed it. If you could ignore all the OOC parts and forget the Yi City Arc for a moment, it was actually a pretty okay story. The CG was quite cool and the fight were definitely much better than The Untamed. Wei Wuxian's cameo was also a surprise. Although it was pretty OOC as well, in some ways it also made sense. At least, I think that's how Wen Ning sees Wei Wuxian, but does not fit the message of MDZS of everyone are just humans. But I still liked it. Was it OOC? Yes. Will it make you cringe? Most likely. But did it feel good to see Wei Wuxian again? 100%. But even so, I wish they didn't mention Wei Wuxian's name every 5 sentences. If you're gonna make a separate story, you should focus on yourself. Wei Wuxian might be the lead of MDZS/The Untamed, but the world is not surrounded by Wei Wuxian.
*Acting/Cast* 6.5
*Sigh* ... It was okay. Sizhui was adorable as always, the other new actors was not amazing, but also not bad (At least better than some of the bad actors of The Untamed). Although there were a lot of parts that was not really natural, it wasn't to the point of making me cringe. There were also some parts that they did pretty well. My problem is, it was too OOC. I guess I can understand that they wanted to make Wen Ning more charismatic since he's the protagonist of the movie, but that's not the right reason to change his personality. I honestly would have liked the movie much more if Wen Ning was still the shy, stuttering and kind uncle. His jokes, behavior and personality was all changed. Although the inner struggles I mentioned earlier did fit his character, it was very unnatural to see Wen Ning totally different. And by changing his voice actor did not make it any better. And just like how many people online has mentioned, this movie is more to promote the new actors than a sequel of the drama. It was pretty obvious, but to me, as long as the plot was great, I wouldn't have cared. And in this case, it was definitely a great way to gain experience for them. However, it is still better to see it as a separate work, or else I think you would be annoyed as F as MDZS fan.
*Music/production* 8.5
Like The Untamed, the music was really good. There were songs of the Untamed and there were new songs. It all fitted the movie so, no complains. I do think they invested the money on the wrong parts though. *Cough* The cloud recesses CG *Cough*
*Rewatch value* 6
Did I enjoy the movie? Yes. Will I watch it again? Most likely not. Maybe I will go back to watch Wei Wuxian's cut, purely for the nostalgic feeling and my love for Lu Zhixing, but I rather go back and read/watch the Yi City arc again.
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So you can say that I have a lot of expectations when they announced it and not only was it good, it was waaaaay better than I expected. Every aspect of the drama was so real and warm. One second you're laughing about the relatable moments, the other second you're bawling in tears. This is the first webtoon that made me cry and this drama was soooooo touching. I just finished ep 6 and I thought that I must write a review about it! I wanted to wait till the rest was out, but every episode till now is soooooo good! Hope they make english subtitles fast, cause it's a must watch!
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