So Fangs of Fortune is here and the reviews and commentary on the premiere episodes are per usual quite on point depending on whether director Guo Jing Ming‘s visual style is your jam or not. The criticism is that it’s very posed, the video filter and makeup is excessive and distracting, flowing hair but empty eyes, gorgeous side profiles but posed movements, in shot it’s got all the looks but little story substance. Both male leads Hou Ming Hao and Tian Jia Rui are getting mostly mid reviews but surprisingly female lead Chen Du Ling is getting some of the best feedback on her performance in her career. It appears she’s playing an interesting character and pulling out a more captivating performance than her usual flower vase. This is of course just initial reviews so let’s see how it goes as the story progresses, I’m still planning to check it out when I’m done with work travel.
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I’ve always thought of chen duling as good actress, glad that she got good reception this time
She was excellent in both TTOEM and her cameo in MJTY which is also the only shows I’ve seen her in. I think she might be underrated because of not getting enough good scripts. I like his directing style so will definitely check this out.
She was totally forgettable in ‘Mysterious Lotus Casebook’ but being a male centered drama might be the reason why I didn’t find her convincing…
In TTEOM, she was really hateful as Binchang…she probably did a good job since I loathed her character with passion.
Concerning ‘Fangs of Fortune’, she’s okay but I’m more impressed with Hou Ming Hao’s character and acting (and I’m not a fan)
However, she does have more chemistry with him than any of her past partners.
Things I don’t like about this drama for the moment:
* loud music that completely takes you out of the scenes (I dislike the Rap genre)
* filters (especially on Tian Jia Rui, he’s barely recognizable and it clearly affects the facial expressions)
* kid is annoying…his screaming is giving me major headaches and is like nails on a chalkboard tbh. Lester was better and badass in MJTY.
As for the rest, I like it.
I dont think there is any of his dramas I really enjoyed…
I still remember when he was in the Director’s panel for the variety show Everyone Stand By… Gosh, he talks so much but I understood so little. He really thinks very highly of himself. I never met another Director who stepped on so many other director’s toes. The show became more about him then the artistes which is a shame.
There’s only one project of his which I felt passed my expectations and it’s a movie based off a game with Japanese characters – The Yin-Yang Master: Dream of Eternity. Starring Mark Chao and the now banned Deng Lun. Have watched it on Netflix.
I think Guo Jingming has a distinct style. He likes anime-ish plots and visuals that look like part of Japanese culture.
Oh yes…that was the movie that got him into trouble, wasn’t it? It got removed from screening in China. I actually downloaded it but forgot to watch it. I downloaded it for the lead actors.
Japan’s influence, I never looks at it at that angle…you are right about the anime-ish visuals. Interesting..
Same, that movie was the only one that passed what felt like a good movie to me since I didn’t really have any expectations for it. I’ve seen tiny time movies too, but ehhh what did I just watch lol. His other ones, I ended up dropping or have no interest in checking them out.
That’s an absolutely brilliant movie. I loved it. It’s a shame he hasn’t reproduced that quality again, so much so that makes me wonder if that was a fluke.
I agree with Koala’s commentary. The core problem is style over substance. There’s very little plot for the over the top theatrics that is being shown in the acting, directing, costumes and cinematography. It’s too much at times.
Surprisingly, the most laid back and toned down character is Chen Du Ling, which is proof that a good actress’ talent comes out with more meatier roles. She’s really doing her role justice and I suspect that after she stars in this drama, she’ll get better scripts going forward. I’ve always disagreed with the assessment that she couldn’t act, I felt if she got the right roles she’d be more respected for her efforts, because she does put in effort.
I only read comments from international fans and they are praising the drama. So I thought the drama popularity is justified. But based on the criticism, it is like My Journey To You all over again. And I thought Neo Huo did a good job from the videos I saw. Well looks like I am wrong
I mean if you are talking about MDL, only positive comments are welcomed there so it might create the illusion that most are only praising the drama.
Both Reddit and MDL are basically places where positivity reigns. Finding criticism is impossible. It doesn’t matter how constructive it is, you will be screamed down by fans. Which is why most people don’t bother these days.
It must be that the intended audience which of course is China just did not feel the effects suited them. His approach really is very different than most xianxia dramas I have seen but if the acting does not add up from certain main characters it can waste efforts. The main neo seemed ok to me but the second lead looks like dead pan face expressions with not enough substance that pulls you in. Though Neo could definitely improve. The main actress really has improved but still the style of the drama really awkwardly alters the faces of the characters in a way the can be distracting and then of course they always cake on the make up that will never go away. I guess he was going for an animated vibe.
@Rero – You hit the nail on the head and said it better than I ever could. It’s distracting and unnatural what he does with the faces at times. Too much emphasis on gothic to the detriment of the flow of the story or the tone of the drama.
His style is pretentious and arrogant. The slow mo, slow speech, excess BGM, no plot logic, and poor character development all make me roll my eyes. People praise him for beautiful shots, but the make up this time is over the top and haggard. I really don’t understand it.
Well why am I not surprised ? His ego is way too strong.
Wow. This review and the comments are very interesting and misleading. While it is true that international fans love this drama, it has been a surprise hit in China. In less than 24hrs, it rose past 8400 on iQIYI heat index. That’s one of the fastest rises in iQIYI history. The Douban TV Viewership numbers are even more astounding. Douban’s Real Time TV Popularity Index has FoF at 1.445M viewers. This is a China-only based index. The nearest show to it has 298K viewers. Clearly, the show has captured the imagination and interest of more than just the international community with most Chinese citizens praising the entire cast, their chemistry, and the solid storyline. You may not like it because it’s not “deep”, but it’s not Shakespeare. It was never meant to be that type of show. It’s Jaws, and it’s entertaining in way that most Cdramas and Kdramas haven’t been this year.
Lol no
All of that is water. Some day international fans will learn that it’s downright embarrassing to brag with water.
That’s good to hear about the Chen Du Ling praise. Following on from MJTY, aside from the visual flare it feels like this director’s projects have atypical interesting and dynamic female characters that you can’t often find in C-dramas.
‘My Journey to You’ had the unforgettable soft spoken ruthless and morally ambiguous second lead in Shangguan Qian and nearly all the female characters including Esther Yu’s character had interesting and dynamic roles.
I saw a cut of Chen Du Ling in TTEOM and she was so pretty and elegant, I might give this a try for her because I can be shallow and enjoy the prettiness if it hits the spot.
On episode 2 Uhgggg the sudden outbursts of rap music???
I liked Chen Duling in TTEOTM and found her prettier than Bailu haha. Her acting was fine in it, as well. People were dripping with bitter sarcasm about how it’s all CGI and that she can’t act lol.
Anyways, the director is good to watch for the pretty. Just waiting for it to end to see how bad it is from people’s conclusions. He has not created any worthwhile projects that I’ve seen. And I do not want to be ticked off with BE.
Pardon me @Coralie but what is BE?
@HL Bad Ending (BE)
Thanks!
Not too impressed with the first episode, so I basically just read the conversation on Reddit & Discord. I also enjoy reading the recaps on Tumblr much more than actually watching it lol. I’ve disliked GJM for quite a long time, but must say I really enjoyed MJTY.
The screaming kid is even more annoying than the screaming goats in Thor love and thunder.
Ive just started it (midway through Ep. 2!) so its a very initial look – but it is more lighthearted than I thought. The FL is a good actress and seems to be bringing some depth to her character. I’m in for the time being at any rate.
I’ve tried the first 4 episodes and decided to quit. I like the acting of both leads, but the 2nd leads were so awful. I found the story boring and unexciting. The dark cinematography was just annoying. I read the comment about it became a hit less than 24 hours. Congratulation.
Need something light, bright, lively and lovely to watch. Nov has a lot of dramas. Cant wait.
The drama is good actually, yes the overly gloomy and too much makeup is bit mhhh, but the story is good and interesting and GJM actually always knows how to style his females, all the actresses that filmed with him praised for looking so pretty, but the actors not so much ,he just ruin them with too makeup and face smoothing, This fact in all his drams
The drama is a mess