MJchapelhill
Same cast, but two completely different dramas
This drama appears to have two very separate production units: the combat team and the everything else team.
The combat team was composed of a very good group of script writers who understand how to script action scenes. The action is realistic and the action choreography enhances and propels the story. The action director (probably a veteran of action movies) knows how to use time, space, and the camera in telling a story using mostly movement. The stunt work was also quite good and the fight coordinator knew what he was doing and how to communicate through action on the small screen.
The everything else team was a mess. The script was all over the place. Character development was inconsistent, and direction, especially of the actors, was not very good. There was a lot of over emoting in place of acting, and the endless crying! Not only do the women weep buckets of tears, but the men, including top brass and hardened military veterans are sobbing at every turn. This became quite annoying and at times verged on the comical. The lighting was poor, and I don’t think it was to give the drama an intentionally retro look because the lighting stayed the same over the 35 year span of the drama. Direction of the actors was also spotty and inconsistent. Xiao Zhan tried too hard to make the lackluster script into something, anything, and Johnny Huang often didn’t try at all. The female lead became annoying about halfway through and you never believed that she and one of the ML were ever in love. There was zero chemistry between them, no matter how hard she tried. Just a mess that all too often was more annoying than entertaining.
Finally, the jingoism got tiresome. I don’t watch military dramas from my own country because I find them annoying for the same reason. Also, all this China peacemaker of the world rings a bit hollow if you have been following recent history closely.
All in all, Ace Troop is a mostly mediocre military drama that is heavy on propaganda and light on convincing storytelling. This was the same issue I had with Ark Peace, another military drama that came out in late 2021. It totally wasted Chen Kun, but opened with two stupendous episodes of all action that were very well done, before a truly horrendous script and the worst production values I have ever seen in a recent Chinese drama were trotted out for the rest of the series. I think I will give Chinese military dramas a pass from here on out, I don’t care who stars in them m
The combat team was composed of a very good group of script writers who understand how to script action scenes. The action is realistic and the action choreography enhances and propels the story. The action director (probably a veteran of action movies) knows how to use time, space, and the camera in telling a story using mostly movement. The stunt work was also quite good and the fight coordinator knew what he was doing and how to communicate through action on the small screen.
The everything else team was a mess. The script was all over the place. Character development was inconsistent, and direction, especially of the actors, was not very good. There was a lot of over emoting in place of acting, and the endless crying! Not only do the women weep buckets of tears, but the men, including top brass and hardened military veterans are sobbing at every turn. This became quite annoying and at times verged on the comical. The lighting was poor, and I don’t think it was to give the drama an intentionally retro look because the lighting stayed the same over the 35 year span of the drama. Direction of the actors was also spotty and inconsistent. Xiao Zhan tried too hard to make the lackluster script into something, anything, and Johnny Huang often didn’t try at all. The female lead became annoying about halfway through and you never believed that she and one of the ML were ever in love. There was zero chemistry between them, no matter how hard she tried. Just a mess that all too often was more annoying than entertaining.
Finally, the jingoism got tiresome. I don’t watch military dramas from my own country because I find them annoying for the same reason. Also, all this China peacemaker of the world rings a bit hollow if you have been following recent history closely.
All in all, Ace Troop is a mostly mediocre military drama that is heavy on propaganda and light on convincing storytelling. This was the same issue I had with Ark Peace, another military drama that came out in late 2021. It totally wasted Chen Kun, but opened with two stupendous episodes of all action that were very well done, before a truly horrendous script and the worst production values I have ever seen in a recent Chinese drama were trotted out for the rest of the series. I think I will give Chinese military dramas a pass from here on out, I don’t care who stars in them m
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