Monday, May 30, 2011

Demi God Semi Devil

Rating: ***.5

Genre: Wuxia, Fantasy, Adventure
Episodes: 40
Cast: Liu Yi Fei, Gao Hu, Hu Jun, Jimmy Lin, Liu Tao

"Tian Long Ba Bu is an adaption of a Jin Yong novel of the same name. The epic centers around the Beggar Leader Qiao Feng, the Dali Prince Duan Yu and the Shaolin Monk Xu Zhu. Each of their stories are interweaved throughout the show and finally clash and join at the climax of the story. Qiao Feng's story is his quest to find his real identity and the mystery surrounding an event that occured 30 years prior that left him as an orphan. Duan Yu's story covers his meetings with many of his half sisters that he did not know he had (thanks to his adventurous dad during his young days) and the battle with Duan Yuan Qing as the rightful ruler of Dali. Xu Zhu is a lowly Shaolin Monk who gets caught in the middle of an internal struggle of the Care Free Sect, one of the most powerful and secretative sects around. Their stories take place during the Northern Song Dynasty and across warring kingdoms of Song, Liao, Dali, and Western Xia."

I liked this drama, I really did.  However, I did not enjoy the beginning and end very much.  I have to agree that the beginning and end were a bit rushed.  Then again, I guess it's because in the original novel the story is also rushed.  In all honesty, I didn't really like Qiao Feng's story at all.  I loved Duan Yu and Xu Zhu's stories as they were funny and enjoyable, but Qiao Feng's story was just kind of annoying.  If it weren't for the two other main characters, I wouldn't have even watched it.


I kind of like the fact that they just switch actors when the characters are supposed to be in disguise.  It made it kind of funny and I bet it was a lot easier for the make up artists then to have to create a disguise for the actors.  As far as the acting goes, I didn't pay too much attention to it.  I'm kind of a sucker for Jimmy Lin just because he makes me laugh.  There are certain actors that can make people laugh just by their expressions, and Jimmy is one of them.


Funny Note: Guy gets hit in the face with a twig on Episode 11 around 12:23

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