imanirine
Impressive but far from perfection
First of all, this is a pretty good introduction to the theme of 'Tomb Raiding' genre in dramas.
The production quality was okay and the direction was confusing at times, with weird screen transitions and time skips that pushed the story along further in the drama. There was a lot of information that went over my head because I'm not familiar with the original source material and this is my first time watching anything related to the franchise. I will say that the effort from the actors and CGI was good and that the writing and placement of '2-D characters' was annoying. I'm talking about the minor, filler characters like the background actors and mostly the women. All of the female characters fit into an old stereotype of 'pretty but temporary' - can't get in the way of brotherhood. (Except Granny Huo, she's a riot and I would have loved more of her and A-Ning in the show. Like, seriously, please give me more versatile women in this drama please!)
Even the henchmen and lackeys were expendable too. I would have liked to see more action in the room transition sequences and the archaeology details or reference points for the tombs they were raiding and better organization from a group of professors that have been on multiple expeditions, if the script is correct. It looks like the budget for the drama was big but not sufficient since these rich, young people are suppose to be the current generation and legacy of affluent families that have unlimited amount of riches to fund these life-threatening trips but why does everyone have a phone from the early 2000s? Flip phones, really?!
But I liked the small moments and the big grand ones of tomb reveals and history lessons (folktales?) shared in the story. I wasn't too impressed by this drama, but it does make me want to see more related media about Tomb Raiding in the future.
(Also, the age of the main character is suppose to be older than 30!!??! I don't believe it! When he mentioned that his 12th birthday was in 1989, I stopped and realized - wait what? He's not a fumbling, inexperienced but cocky and clever young college grad student like I thought he was?! It made more sense why everyone babies him in the show, if he was that young. His cousin even joked that 'his cleverness has to make up for his lack of physical prowess'. Insane. And the fat-shaming is only something I've seen done so normally and publicly like I do in Asian dramas. Specifically Chinese. It might be a cultural thing but it's still hard to digest that the character's name is 'Fatty' and nothing else.)
The production quality was okay and the direction was confusing at times, with weird screen transitions and time skips that pushed the story along further in the drama. There was a lot of information that went over my head because I'm not familiar with the original source material and this is my first time watching anything related to the franchise. I will say that the effort from the actors and CGI was good and that the writing and placement of '2-D characters' was annoying. I'm talking about the minor, filler characters like the background actors and mostly the women. All of the female characters fit into an old stereotype of 'pretty but temporary' - can't get in the way of brotherhood. (Except Granny Huo, she's a riot and I would have loved more of her and A-Ning in the show. Like, seriously, please give me more versatile women in this drama please!)
Even the henchmen and lackeys were expendable too. I would have liked to see more action in the room transition sequences and the archaeology details or reference points for the tombs they were raiding and better organization from a group of professors that have been on multiple expeditions, if the script is correct. It looks like the budget for the drama was big but not sufficient since these rich, young people are suppose to be the current generation and legacy of affluent families that have unlimited amount of riches to fund these life-threatening trips but why does everyone have a phone from the early 2000s? Flip phones, really?!
But I liked the small moments and the big grand ones of tomb reveals and history lessons (folktales?) shared in the story. I wasn't too impressed by this drama, but it does make me want to see more related media about Tomb Raiding in the future.
(Also, the age of the main character is suppose to be older than 30!!??! I don't believe it! When he mentioned that his 12th birthday was in 1989, I stopped and realized - wait what? He's not a fumbling, inexperienced but cocky and clever young college grad student like I thought he was?! It made more sense why everyone babies him in the show, if he was that young. His cousin even joked that 'his cleverness has to make up for his lack of physical prowess'. Insane. And the fat-shaming is only something I've seen done so normally and publicly like I do in Asian dramas. Specifically Chinese. It might be a cultural thing but it's still hard to digest that the character's name is 'Fatty' and nothing else.)
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