An enjoyable drama with some room for improvement

For anyone who is unsure about watching a military drama, Ace Troops has comedy, romance and thriller elements which makes it easier to settle into the military setting and story. Don't be afraid to give this a try!

--- What I Liked ---
I enjoyed that this was a more casual approach to a military drama that focuses on the people in the military - their struggles and motivations along with showing military tactics and battles. I think it's very easy for both casual viewers and those who enjoy military dramas to watch this.

The Brief Look into China's History
It gives a glimpse into China's military at that time as they try to develop and adjust to the changes happening within and abroad. It shows the motivation to become stronger to avoid the tragedies that happened in their past as they were invaded by others. It shows how events like the bombing of the Chinese embassy in Yugoslavia was something that united people and strengthened their resolve to become stronger to defend themselves. Not only does the military face opposition from abroad but also within as the general Chinese public has forgotten the war time and show some disdain for the PLA.
SPOILER: One of my favorite scenes is at the cinema where Gu Yiye angrily defends his fallen comrade to civilians who don't realize that the target of their attack died to ensure their ability to sit and watch a movie in peace.

The Acting
The acting is solid and everyone does their best to portray their characters' lives over a span of 40 years. The standout here is Xiao Zhan as Gu Yiye. I'm a fan of Xiao Zhan but this makes me a tougher audience for him because I give more scrutiny to the actors I watch often. I've seen all his roles and I'm familiar with all his characters. Would I see Tang San or Wei Wuxian or Ji Chong in a military uniform? It turns out that none of those gentlemen showed up in Ace Troops. Only Gu Yiye appears. Xiao Zhan's portrayal of Gu Yiye is very different from his other characters and becomes another memorable role that people can identify as his. Gu Yiye begins as a bright-eyed recruit and grows into a hardened senior official with the same determined look in his eyes. You can feel and see the weight of each loss, each obstacle, each inevitability he encounters reflected on his face and in his posture. It's odd to say but I felt like I became a fan of Xiao Zhan all over again. After watching Ace Troops, if I didn't already know who he was and hadn't seen all his works, I would have immediately gone to see what other projects he has been in.

The Music
The opening and ending songs are great. The opening song is sung by Johnny Huang (Gao Liang) and Elaine Zhong (Jiang Nan Zheng) while the ending is sung by Xiao Zhan and Tan Weiwei.

--- What I Didn't Like ---
An important thing to know is that there was originally supposed to be about 48 episodes but it was edited down to 40 episodes so it's hard to keep the original vision of the story intact after all the cuts. The most noticeable problem with the cuts is that characters will be fine in one scene then appear with an injury in the next scene with no explanation about how they were injured. This happens about 2-3 times with Gu Yiye. It was really confusing for me but I guess the editors were hoping we wouldn't notice?

The Writing
I think the writing tries to do too much and ends up making the story disjointed. This never really feels like one show but several different shows combined into one. This could be blamed in part on the footage that was cut but I doubt that it's the main reason. For the first half of the drama it feels like Gao Liang is stuck in a romantic comedy while others are in a military buddy comedy. That romantic comedy finally takes a back seat in the second half as the story becomes more serious and introduces a thriller with the introduction of a brief terrorist plot that quickly dies out only to be hurriedly brought back at the end.

Another problem with the writing is the tendency to tell rather than show. Gao Liang and other characters always say that Gu Yiye is arrogant but as a viewer I didn't see any arrogance from GYY so it's hard for me to understand anyone saying he is arrogant and using that to justify not liking him. We're also told that GL and GYY are best friends but I never felt that they were because we get so many scenes of GL trying to compete with GYY and making fun of him. Many military commanders talk about GL being a born soldier but much of the drama shows the commanders being upset with him because he's undisciplined. So it's hard to understand why they have such a high opinion of someone who seems to cause trouble for them regularly. I felt like the writing tries to steer the audience to feel sympathy for GL by telling us he's invaluable but not showing us why he's invaluable.

The Character Development
This goes back to the poor writing but I think it deserves its own section. The three main leads don't have much character development.

Gao Liang gets almost no development which is surprising since he gets the most inner monologues which reveal his motivations and thoughts as things happen around him. I think he also gets the most detailed background story to make him a sympathetic character. He starts off as undisciplined, impulsive and very competitive with Gu Yiye. None of this really changes later on. Rather than learning and changing after getting in trouble for his actions, the people around him are the ones who change and become more forgiving of him and accepting of his methods.
SPOILER: In the last drill against GYY someone points out that GL is supposed to be defending the island but he doesn't know how to change his strategy so he is only attacking. I think that can be related to how his character doesn't develop and just stubbornly continues as he has been since the first episode. His large personality basically overwhelms those around him where he talks his way out of situations and ends up convincing others to see things his way. It's most obvious when superiors support GL's way of doing things even when contrary to military protocol. Rather than developing GL's character, the writers opt to make everyone around him change to bolster his character.

Jiang Nan Zheng gets slightly more development than GL but unfortunately they undo all of it at the end to render her as a typical lovesick character. There's a lot of potential in her character since she's clearly intelligent and motivated with an interesting family situation. Her family situation never gets the attention it deserves and the writers decide that her character can be undone by love and the fear of being single.

As for Gu Yiye, I think his character never quite gets the attention and development that he deserves but it also feels like his development is the most satisfying. We see a progression where he begins as an idealistic recruit with dreams about how to improve the military but then he has to make life changing decisions due to circumstances beyond his control. That recruit who goes into the military full of confidence gets his confidence shaken by the impact of battle, deaths, PTSD and the corruption within the military.

--- Conclusion ---
Would I re-watch this? Absolutely. Despite the problems with writing and editing, this is still an enjoyable drama. There's always room for improvement for any drama. When re-watching I can let go of the issues I mentioned and focus on the things I enjoyed - like Xiao Zhan's acting, the theme of solidarity shown by the Live and Die Together team, the bonds created through shared suffering and hope for a better future. The supporting cast is enjoyable to watch as well and there are many emotional scenes that show the sacrifice that those in the military and their loved ones make. It's a good effort from the entire cast and crew.

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