C-drama Thousand Years for You Falls Flat with Allen Ren as a Dull Male Lead and Li Qin Abrasive as the Annoying Female Lead
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Man, I wanted to love this drama so bad, partly from the still lingering good will towards Allen Ren (Ren Jia Lun) for The Blue Whisper and also because I’m still on a C-drama binge. Thousand Years for You had all the ingredients for my tastes – past love, pretty Republican era costumes, spunky girl lead who goes after what she wants, and a totally capable male lead there to get shit done. Alas it’s like the production took a cool Xianxia era idea and then botched it in the Republican era story framework. Allen plays General Lu Yan, a prince of yore who fought the evil Fairy tribe and fell for its warrior Princess who turned good and tried to stop her own people. She died, he died, or maybe neither died, but three thousand years later she’s back as a local mountain bandit gang leader and he’s back as himself but with magical powers and memories of the past.
Four episodes in and I in good conscience cannot stomach watching more. Lu Yan is so far dull as beans, both Allen playing him straight and the character having no expression or broader personality other than he’s back to save his OTP princess’s soul or maybe her present day incarnation whatever it ends up being. He’s actually the less offensive of the two leads, Li Qin needs to fire her agent because whomever thought her character Bandit Leader Yu Deng Deng is a good idea to play is on crack. She’s supposed to be the gender switched version of the pillage, steal, maybe rape “bandit” caricature but with all the bad stuff just play pretend and joked about all the time, including her forcing men to “be her wife” but it’s one not funny to begin with joke that goes too long and falls too flat. The directing is cheesy (surprising this came from the same director who did The Untamed) and groundwork not laid for developing the romance. We don’t see the past yet so there is only the annoying present day budding relationship to go on and it’s wholly unpalatable to start off I don’t have the stomach to watch until I actually start to like them together. Sadly this is a drop for me.
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There’s something about Ren Jia Lun that could not connect with me. Thought long and hard and yes, it’s the forehead. He has such short forehead and he seems to look angry all the time.
also he’s just short… well i don’t know his actual height but he just looks short to me
He is tiny. Officially just 178cm and then consider all the short ones tend to bump their height up a bit.
I am more bothered by his bad acting though so I dropped it.
Three more eps than me.
I don’t get the hype about him…
He is a mediocre actor and not really handsome even weird looking.
I dont get it either. And he always play the similar type of character
same! ren jialun and li yifeng are the two people in c-ent that i never quite understood why they are so popular and get so many leading roles. they are not particularly good looking… not ugly or anything but just really plain and average. they can easily play a random extra and wouldn’t even stand out.
of course acting chops is most important and can transcend looks (mark chao as ye hua is prime example). but i’ve never seen what’s so special about ren jialun’s acting skills either, despite people always defending him and saying who cares about looks when he’s so great at acting. he’s probably just really good at picking roles that suited him. guess his luck ran out here.
With this drama, at least for me, NOW there’s enough evidence to prove that he has super limited range. You don’t always have to be broody, bud, and if you do, at least TRY to show us there are thoughts and emotions swirling underneath that cold exterior. Sigh. He portrays his characters as so unhuman. In The Blue Whisper, there was actually a biiiiiiiit of humanity in his character’s sort of crazed actions and reactions that belonged to his performance and not the script, but tsk tsk tsk, now I’m just bummed. Hopefully he and Chinese dramaland gives him a more relaxed, carefree, fun character in the future. Hopefully they pair him with a super capable woman lead in the future too. Let’s see what Song Zu Er can do. Although, every time she plays a weak woman, her performance becomes seriously stunted, like in her outing with Wi Lei. Lol.
Sigh. Ultimately, I think the heart of the issue lies with the limitations on Chinese cinema/dramas that keep actors and actresses pigeonholed to stupid, infuriating tropes. When I watch interviews of actors and actresses, there often seems to be a hungering for more in their craft, but alas, the government’s hold on cinema is so suffocating that everyone just does what they can/are given.
It’s always nice when diamonds in the rough surface though!
Allen Ren has a small range of expressions; he mostly does angry as the normal resting face, angry eyes and scowling eyebrows. To make him look better, the production often uses alot of makeup which makes him look effeminate, not mention he is short. He may be a good actor, but have not finished any of his dramas.
I am frustated.I have high hope when they announced the series.But I felt so bored and sleepy watching this series.I was hoping the show will be so good since I need other stories to move on from the wonderful series Love Like The Galaxy.Well need to search other series again.
Yea. It’s not what I was thinking. It’s just toooo corny and him looking so mean and she is annoying to me. I’m really trying to hang in there to see if things will change up some, but will probably wait a couple of weeks before I watch it again.
I watched 2 of his drama only because of Bai Lu. He should get dramas that would allow him to show different acting ranges than sad/mad entire movie.
I’m on episode 2 and 😱😰 trying very hard to get into it! I’m trying very hard to give this drama a 👍👍but it’s not happening. I know Ren Jialun can do better than this. Not a fan of Li Qin. This is is a flop. After who rules the world, who Love like the galaxy and Immortal Samsara…lost for words.
I thought Li Qin did the best she could based on how the script and character were given to her. And she is so pretty… I will continue to watch the show because of Li Qin…
I really want to like LiQi, but her characters are always unreasonably annoying. I end up hating her characters always. The 1st 3ep of this drama is no difference. She literally doesn’t want to marry, but when she sees how handsome he is, all her logic went out the door and she does all these stupidity that makes her unreasonably unbearable. If those attitudes continue I’ll have to pass on this project because Allen’s characters is dull and too similar to his other characters.
I don’t know why some people are so obsessed with the actor’s height. Allen’s Ren height (178cm) has the same height as these famous Korean actors: song Joong ki, Lee Byung hun, and lee jun ki. Yes, I just googled hehe. tom cruise at 170cm in height is one of the greatest action actors. Most people don’t give a damn about his size.
Thanks, Koala for the heads up,I will drop this drama from my watching list. I’ve done watching Blue whisper based on your recommendation, his acting is awesome here,
I’m currently watching the one and only after reading some of the comments and reviews. His acting here is pretty decent as well. now I am preparing myself for the heartbreak towards the end :(.
The script and director can influence how the actors act. in this drama, that is probably the reason.
And hen watch “Forever and Ever”
I feel the same way about Li Qin in the Majestic Wplf. She was a bit annoying there. Gosh I hope she improves soon. Awwww, RJL gave me all the feels on his two dramas with Bai Lu. I tried to watched Blue Wishpers after those two dramas, but I’ve never been impressed with DiLera’s acting so after ep2, I dropped it. I do agree with most comments here. He needs a role that will show some range.
Gosh ..love Li qin. She should be filming Joy of Life 2 right now. Guess I have to pass on this on
He’s not bad in ‘one and only’ because the expression suitedfor the general is expressionless and broady… But I cannot really pin point my fingers in blue whisper… Basically dilmura carry the whole drama..
Since I dunno the female lead in this drama, I hesitant to watch…
I love Li Qin..one of those few actresses that I loved watching.I watched this Drama becoz of her, though I don’t really like Allen Ren.
Oh God!FFS..Just Fucking Appreciate The Hard work and dedication These Amazing Crew Did ..instead of saying its Flat or whatever Nonsense youre tryin to spew on those who hav’nt watched it yet.
LOL… maybe you should not be reading this if you want to watch the drama. I appreciate the review so I can drop this drama without wasting any time.
I tried but I don’t feel any chemistry between the main couple, plus his acting seems to be worse in this drama. I liked him in his old dramas more.
I tried but I don’t feel any chemistry between the main couple, plus his acting seems to be worse in this drama. I liked him in his old dramas more..
Numerous Cdramas with him in it and I’ve Loved most of them the only ones I haven’t loved too much are his more modern ones like Miss Crow and Mr lizard. I’ve seen him in Under The Power, One And Only plus Forever And Ever which are two parts where he and Bai Lu play re incarnated lovers I also love Bai Lu and blue whisper.
I have watched Numerous Cdramas with him in it and I’ve Loved most of them the only ones I haven’t loved too much are his more modern ones like Miss Crow and Mr lizard. I’ve seen him in Under The Power, One And Only plus Forever And Ever which are two parts where he and Bai Lu play re incarnated lovers I also love Bai Lu and blue whisper.
I love both of them li Qan is great. she draw out my emotion when she does sad sceneand she hella pretty to me but i think ahe getting too skinny i love her in princess agent. Jailun is good looking he not average who care about height. Jailun is a good actor. It just depend on director of how they want the emotion to be like. I love both of them.. fan fan..
I must admit that I am only watching because Allen Ren is my favorite actor. But I tend to agree so far. This character he is playing is so dry and seems to keep the same expression on his face. It almost feels like they asked him to dial back all of his talents. Which, for me, makes the story drag on and on. I am trying to keep watching because I am a die-hard Allen Ren fan. That is the only reason for me to tune in.
*Spoiler Alert*
I actually watched this to the end and to my surprise Ren Jialun did not break from his brooding face :0( not even when he should have been smiling. I have come to the conclusion that the director just didn’t direct his actors very well and the chemistry between the two leads just wasn’t there. Since I am a fan of Ren Jialun I will continue to watch him in the future and hope his next one allows him to use his great acting skills that I have seen in all his dramas. Finally if you are looking for any other emotions besides anger and crying this is not the one for you. I will say this check out his music it’s actually very good:0)
I agree male lead was flat and boring. However, I found the female lead to be energetic, amusing, and attractive.