Emmy
United States
PROS:
Music: Susanna Kwan music is still as awesome as ever! Like the other heart of greed francise, just listening to it makes you think this drama is going to be intense one with lots of conflicts and sadness along the way (this isnt the case for this drama however). Also, hana and vincent song......it is one of the best love songs from TVB ever since Jinny Ng love is Not Easy from line walker. when that songs come up in those dramatic love scenes in this drama, its so addicting to listen to more of it! hope this song wins the TVB awards :)
Acting: A drama featuring most of the orginal veteran cast was rare indeed. And almost all of their acting was still superb after all these years (there was one who's acting wasnt as great. ill get to her later). Although their acting was spectacular, it was all wasted due to the characters that they played. More on that later
Relationships of the Characters: Strong chemistry among the actors and the characters they play. Vincent and Eliza relationship altho that typical childhood romance, it still was executed well and wasnt all cliche as it had some twists along the way. Priscilla and Bosco relationship, altho hit with many cliches, it didnt feel force at all and their "brother" relationship was funny and cute. Joseph and Michell/Ha Yu and Louise relationships of married couples, u can really feel the loves they had for each other. Theres sharon and Michael relationship, probably the most dramatic part of the drama, it kinda felt force in a way and their chemistry with each other altho shitty, sharon and micheal acting synchrozination led their character's relationship less "hateful"
CONS:
Story: PROBABLY THE BIGGEST LETDOWN OF THE SERIES!! In heart of greed 1 and 2, the drama in the story was ACTUALLY problematic and intense. That was the whole charm of it. But in this drama, you would never feel that the conflict was dramatic because it had a lot of written comedy that disrupts it entirely and the actors character that they portayed, didnt even match their typical characters that they portray and that lowered the drama suspense.
Character: THIS IS DEFINITELY THE BIGGEST LETDOWN OF THE DRAMA. Remember how i said "the actors character that they portayed, didnt even match their typical acting"? For example, Joseph acting in the previous francise, was that of a true villan. but in this, hes soft and sympathetic and it really didnt work on him as well. The BIGGEST disaapointment, was by far, Michella Yim. In Moonlight Resonance, what made her the best villan of that drama, was her great acting as a cunning and maniputaed person. in this drama, shes not even close to being villanious. Her character was rather annoying and cartoony. Sorry Michelle you had to do this embarrasing role. Finally, Louisee acting was rather crappy. And its probably because the character she portrayed. the typical character she usually portay is the voice of reason and her acting made you feel empathy and agree with the character. But in this, (just like michelle yim) was cartoony and altho sometimes she would be the voice of reason, it wasnt as compelling because like it said, this drama story isnt all that dramatic.
CONCLUSION:
Did this drama had a lot of potential and could reach or beyond exceed their predecessors? Yes. But did it? Not even half way. This drama overall is ok. If you were to compare it to their predecessors, this drama would definity be considered as a dissapointment. I would be okay if this drama wasnt called "heart of greed 3" because it really is not. But its worth of try. Just keep in mind this wont the same atomsphere as the heart of greed 1 and 2 had.
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PROS:
Unique Storyline: A storyline about an ongoing family conflict from generations to generations and the 2 family passing down their gambling techniques to their younger generation so they can use them to "destroy" that family. Sound like an interesting storyline that's just fresh out of the table from tvb in a while right? Right. But the way they handle the plot of the story was just so sh*tty.
Music: Fred's theme song in this drama was pretty good I admit. Not as catchy as some other tvb theme songs but still a fairly enjoyable song!
Acting: For the most part, the acting was terrific! Especially prompts to Patrick Tse! That man still has his acting macho after all those years! I was especially surprised with Louisa performance! Her acting is actually good considering she's still a rookie. That's something you don't see often (*cough* Sisley and Grace) And once again Carlos performance as a villain was spot on :) Dominic's acting in some scenes was a little bumpy but overall a stellar job.
CONS:
Plot: OMGGGGGG just one word: CONFUSING. This is the 1 of the 2 things that made this drama a letdown. The events are like in a tornado, one moment it will be serious and throughout the rest of the episode they'll be eating and chilling out....WTF?!?! And sometimes random characters will be popping out of nowhere and mini side stories that has NOTHING to do with the progression of the story! Now granted, this is a fast-paced drama but its wayyy to fast-paced that it comes out so forced!
Relationships of the Characters: One word: FORCED! This the 2nd thing that the drama was lacking. You have the love story of Charmaine and Kenneth that was so fast paced that it was like "wait...when did this happen?" Don't get me started on Samantha and Dominic, and Raymond and that other girl that I don't know the name of lol. It was incredibly forced and it didn't even feel like they had a loving relationship towards their love interests. Heck, Louisa and Dominic had a more developed relationship and we were supposed to be rooting for him and Samantha's relationship to be developed. Raymond, Kenneth, and Dominic mentor-teacher relationship w/ Natalis felt more like "I talk to you here and there". Monica and Natalis were also fast paced. You didn't even have a chance to witness them paving their relationship back together.
CONCLUSION: This had a lot of potential to be something amazing. But the directors and writers execution of it was poorly done. Wouldnt recommend watching it!
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