Purunn
Defiantly finishes stronger than it starts.
My Original review is below but now I have completed the entire series I want to just review how I thought the season went as a whole, including a few things I felt the show didn't do that well.
First of all Xiao Zhan and Johnny Huang just seemed to get better and better in their acting as the series went on, especially as the two characters had their own internal struggles, the actors performed it brilliantly. Thankfully Johnny Huang's character finally grew up before I resorted to throwing something at the tv out of frustration :)
Secondly the story went along at a nice pace (with a few exceptions which I will state in a moment) and didn't bog down like the majority of Chinese dramas I've seen. This meant that you were always interested in every episode and not skipping over bits. Also the Secondary characters got just the right amount of air time without seeming like add on's or taking over completely.
The scenery, wardrobe and music were amazing and I hope all the people who worked behind the scenes get recognised for it. Sadly I know nothing about the army so I have no idea if that was accurate but if it was I hope they do do as well.
Now to a few things about the show that it didn't exactly do badly but I thought could have been done better.
1. The show was 40 episodes long and supposedly followed our leads over the decades of their careers, however the first part (before the first time jump) was over 10 episodes and seemed too long to me. I know they had to introduce all the characters and establish relationships but the fact they took so long on the first part meant they seemed to rush other parts in places. They could have done a lot more with certain years but instead skipped over them as there was no time left.
2. Staying on the first part of the drama for a moment I felt that the establishment of the brother bond between the two male leads was too sudden. Gu Yiye spent the majority of his time either arguing with Gao Liang, ignoring him or simply talking to other people. Gao Liang spent most of his time with a group of friends that didn't include Gu Yiye.............yet all of a sudden the two became close as brothers. There was no life or death situation that made this happen it just came out of nowhere and could have been clearer. Nothing against the actors though they played it brilliantly.
3. The whole 'will they, won't they' idea wasn't needed..........will they be tossed out of the army...........will they be demoted..........will they die..........They are the main characters of the series so the audience knows that won't happen so I don't see the point in wasting time on such things. Much more effective was spending the time on the mental struggles both male leads actually had.
4. I haven't mentioned the FL so far and that's because she became a kind of foil, and go between, for the male leads. She seemed to loose her purpose as the series went on and rarely appeared if she wasn't on screen with one of the male leads or talking about them.
Sorry it was longer than I planned. Below is my original review I wrote after only watching 10 episodes.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Warning........I do have a few extremely vague spoilers in here.
First of all I have only watched 10 episodes of this show so it's a bit early for me to do a 'overall' or 're-watch' value on it. This review is more of my first impressions and I will edit it when I have finished the show.
With Xiao Zhan and Johnny Huang in the cast I was expecting the acting to be fantastic, and it is. You can see the comradeship/friendship growing between the two male leads nicely and one actor does not overpower the other. The older actors, who I personally have never seen before, are very good as well. Although personally I think they rely a little too much on the cliché of 'incompetent leaders to show how fantastic our leads are'.
As I said before Johnny Huang acts great in the show but his character is annoying. I know nothing about the army myself but I can't believe that a big mouth who talks back to superiors, gets in to fights and gets all his classmates into trouble would be able to stay in the army as long as he has. Not only that but the character is liked by those around him, and I can't see that happening either. The character is just too dumb......and he doesn't learn! No matter what is said to him it seems to bounce off his thick skull. I know the character will evolve at some point but 10 episodes in the character has gone past amusing and gotten to annoying.
The music of this show is fantastic and the opening credits are one of the best I've seen.
If you want a show that shows the layers of the military without just focusing on the leads, then this is what Ace Troops seems to be doing so far. It explores the complexities of things rather than just gloss over them. I am interested how it is going to explore 40 years of experience of the characters as it goes forwards. It is defiantly worth a watch, if it worth a re-watch is something I will see as I watch more.
First of all Xiao Zhan and Johnny Huang just seemed to get better and better in their acting as the series went on, especially as the two characters had their own internal struggles, the actors performed it brilliantly. Thankfully Johnny Huang's character finally grew up before I resorted to throwing something at the tv out of frustration :)
Secondly the story went along at a nice pace (with a few exceptions which I will state in a moment) and didn't bog down like the majority of Chinese dramas I've seen. This meant that you were always interested in every episode and not skipping over bits. Also the Secondary characters got just the right amount of air time without seeming like add on's or taking over completely.
The scenery, wardrobe and music were amazing and I hope all the people who worked behind the scenes get recognised for it. Sadly I know nothing about the army so I have no idea if that was accurate but if it was I hope they do do as well.
Now to a few things about the show that it didn't exactly do badly but I thought could have been done better.
1. The show was 40 episodes long and supposedly followed our leads over the decades of their careers, however the first part (before the first time jump) was over 10 episodes and seemed too long to me. I know they had to introduce all the characters and establish relationships but the fact they took so long on the first part meant they seemed to rush other parts in places. They could have done a lot more with certain years but instead skipped over them as there was no time left.
2. Staying on the first part of the drama for a moment I felt that the establishment of the brother bond between the two male leads was too sudden. Gu Yiye spent the majority of his time either arguing with Gao Liang, ignoring him or simply talking to other people. Gao Liang spent most of his time with a group of friends that didn't include Gu Yiye.............yet all of a sudden the two became close as brothers. There was no life or death situation that made this happen it just came out of nowhere and could have been clearer. Nothing against the actors though they played it brilliantly.
3. The whole 'will they, won't they' idea wasn't needed..........will they be tossed out of the army...........will they be demoted..........will they die..........They are the main characters of the series so the audience knows that won't happen so I don't see the point in wasting time on such things. Much more effective was spending the time on the mental struggles both male leads actually had.
4. I haven't mentioned the FL so far and that's because she became a kind of foil, and go between, for the male leads. She seemed to loose her purpose as the series went on and rarely appeared if she wasn't on screen with one of the male leads or talking about them.
Sorry it was longer than I planned. Below is my original review I wrote after only watching 10 episodes.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Warning........I do have a few extremely vague spoilers in here.
First of all I have only watched 10 episodes of this show so it's a bit early for me to do a 'overall' or 're-watch' value on it. This review is more of my first impressions and I will edit it when I have finished the show.
With Xiao Zhan and Johnny Huang in the cast I was expecting the acting to be fantastic, and it is. You can see the comradeship/friendship growing between the two male leads nicely and one actor does not overpower the other. The older actors, who I personally have never seen before, are very good as well. Although personally I think they rely a little too much on the cliché of 'incompetent leaders to show how fantastic our leads are'.
As I said before Johnny Huang acts great in the show but his character is annoying. I know nothing about the army myself but I can't believe that a big mouth who talks back to superiors, gets in to fights and gets all his classmates into trouble would be able to stay in the army as long as he has. Not only that but the character is liked by those around him, and I can't see that happening either. The character is just too dumb......and he doesn't learn! No matter what is said to him it seems to bounce off his thick skull. I know the character will evolve at some point but 10 episodes in the character has gone past amusing and gotten to annoying.
The music of this show is fantastic and the opening credits are one of the best I've seen.
If you want a show that shows the layers of the military without just focusing on the leads, then this is what Ace Troops seems to be doing so far. It explores the complexities of things rather than just gloss over them. I am interested how it is going to explore 40 years of experience of the characters as it goes forwards. It is defiantly worth a watch, if it worth a re-watch is something I will see as I watch more.
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