The great thing about this drama is the eye candy. Both leading actors are exceptionally handsome. Costuming is out of this world and even supports the narrative. The sets and cinematography are executed well above par. This drama has everything going for it...
Except for the plot and characterisation.
Gong Sun Li is the granddaughter of a military commander and has become a martial artist under his tutelage. She is the love interest of most of the men. Needless to say this is not inconceivable when played by Dilraba Dilmurat. It is also pleasant to have her speaking in a normal voice. Her character is kind and believes in justice and the common good.
Equal in the Easy on the Eyes stakes, Zhang Bin Bin does a turn at being a ruthless, despicable tyrant, who is willing to sacrifice everything to achieve his greater goal: the unification of the States.
This is going to be a love story. So what could possibly go wrong?
Well ... there is Gong Sun Li's childhood sweetheart, Jing Ke, who is also an apprentice to her Grandfather. There is Han Shen who is the senior apprentice to her Grandfather, who also has unrequited love for Li.
After some fighting, an interlude and then some more fighting, Jing Ke is seriously injured and Gong Sun Li has to sell herself to the King for the cure. This is the point when things start to go South.
The premise of the love plot from this point is that you can imprison someone, treat them really badly, including physical and psychological abuse, and somehow they can grow to love you. It is a 'How to perpetrate domestic violence' text book.
Subplots and court intrigues are shallow and are not helped by equally shallow/monochromatic supporting characters. Jing Ke's alcohol binge after losing Li, continues longer than need be to move the plot forward. The same can be said for the assassination plot which seems to take half of the series to plan, even though everyone is in one place.
The scene where Li finds Zheng covered in blood and surrounded by the bodies of the people he has slaughtered harks back to Anakin and Padme after the massacre of the Sand People in Star Wars. In both cases it is utterly unbelievable that a sane person could still care for someone so utterly devoid of remorse.
With regard to the costuming, this drama should certainly have had some awards. Not only are the fabric and adornments beautiful and sumptuously detailed and constructed, they also follow the relationship of the lead characters. At first their clothing clashes then their clothes become complementary, in one scene they are almost wearing the same garments, when they are happy and away from court scrutiny. Then as things begin to unravel the colours go back to clashing again.
The wigs and hair accessories also deserve an honourable mention, as they were so different from other costume dramas. One set of hair ornament particularly stands out as they are reminiscent of the face hugger from Alien. You'll know it when you see them!
There were some interesting techniques used throughout the film, which may have been intended to remind viewers this was a story, that the characters were fictional representations of historical figures or to accentuate the tension of the moment. In particular the loud drum beat whenever someone fell or went on their knees. Then there was the dripping sound. There were many headshots where the camera seemed to focus on the side of the speaker's head rather than centering the face. And sudden zoom-ins when something important had just been said or done. They may have been a trop to vary the vision and audio.
This series had so much potential with its leading actors, costuming, cinematography. It is sad to think it never reached it. Never the less it is worth watching for the costuming alone.
PS Female armour - excessive shoulder pads/pauldrons make it difficult to move your arms, apart from looking stupid. Open neck and chest line is just asking for someone to shoot or slash you there. No helmet...results in no brains.
