W: Two Worlds (Malaysia)

Wrapping up all its 12 episodes, W: Two Worlds offers a refreshing take as its story is altered halfway through, taking a risky move that can make or break the show.

A story that gives itself more autonomy and freedom, parting away from the original source material the deeper it goes into, W: Two Worlds is an entertaining ride from beginning until the end. Mixing romance, action and sci-fi is something not easy to pull off. The story started with a lot of world-building elements essential for the audience to understand. Was it audience-friendly enough? Without a doubt, yes. It wasn't complex.

The first six episodes were good enough, we wanted to know more once the cliffhanger revealed. The setup was amazing, it had a great build-up, revealing one layer to the next, the character developments for some character were well-established though a few fell a but left behind like Hanna. Entertaining value was quite high considering it kept the audience hooked as we'd like to know what's coming next for the characters. The main characters had a high stake of dying. The CGI for a local show, was quite impressive.

The four leads did a great job, they had a great balance between one another. No one had a bigger spotlight, everyone's acting was great and this includes Tony Eusoff, Faizal Hussein and Shahkimin. We could feel that they all understood the art of dancing in acting and everyone passed over the dialogues gracefully. This shows they had a strong bond off cameras. We knew by how they all acted.

A special hats off to Shahkimin who played Rafi in this. Usually a comic relief character is just annoying that doesn't help the story. It's there for the sake of comedy. Full stop. But here, Shahkimin delivered his role well, it's actually quite difficult to create his character the way he did. And the scriptwriters didn't forget him as they put him in as the wingman of the main characters that actually helped to boos the story's values and developments.

Also, kudos to the people who were in charge for Hun and Elizabeth's characters, they both really looked like Koreans! If we were to look only by the still images of the show, we'd believe that they are Koreans.

However, if we had to give an advice, we would give it to Hun Haqeem because this is not the first time we saw him and there was one particular thing that he needed to improve. With all due respect, Hun, you played your roll well as Aliff Hadi. You studied his character. But, everytime when you have to act angry or in rage, your character(s) became one-dimensional. The graph you have built for your character just fell off once you have to act furious. The graph suddenly became non-existent, it became flat that there was little to no logic that the character(s) has to be THAT furious. Being angry doesn't mean that you need to constantly shout or your face needs to look very pissed. Same goes with other emotions encapsulated in a character, it has a graph as well.

Episodes 7 until 10 are episodes where we can say they do not meet our expectations. These episodes are weak compared to the others for a number of reasons. The background actors, especially those who have dialogues, did a very poor job in delivering their lines, to the extent where we just had to pause and laugh (for the wrong reasons) before we press 'Play' again. Pacing issue is another major thing. These 4 episodes felt very tedious, that the problem is they weren't sure which sub-stories or scenes they should give more time and space. Some scenes should be short but remained longer and vice versa. Some stories should have more focus but were overshadowed by other stories that were unnecessary to stretch on.

It also seems that when they started to control the narrative starting Episode 7, keeping away from the Korean version, they had no clue how to make the show interesting. It just felt very bland, nothing was memorable. Nothing felt special and the key tone and identity that the show had for the past 6 episodes were missing. It became like any other drama.

However, it was a huge relief that they managed to make a comeback with the final 2 episodes; 11 & 12. It redeems itself back and proves to the audience that it will have a good pay off. And... it certainly did. We're impressed how they fell off for the past four episodes and decided to just swing back right at the top with the finale. It knows how to make a closure. It understands what it means to have a good ending. The scriptwriters and director are aware on how to leave a profound impact where viewers would feel empty once the show has ended, meaning it has truly succeeded in doing what it's supposed to do.

For Viu's Malaysia Original Series, most of their show have good pay offs, encapsulating an overall good story. However, there was one issue, when it comes to that FINAL MINUTE, that final 60 seconds, their shows don't really know how to give a great scene that ends its story. Examples include Alter-Naratif & Nenek Bongkok Tiga. Their final scenes didn't give you much satisfaction even though their stories are well-rounded. But recently, their final scenes have somewhat improved with From Saga With Love that had an almost-perfect closure and now, W: Two Worlds that gave an impactful final scene a few seconds after the credits roll. It might be predictable for some, but we needed that. And the character needed that as well. It certainly is an important scene that captured the essence of the character's emotion that he/she's been yearning to have which will make viewers happy, ending it on a high note.

Verdict: W: Two Worlds takes bold risks, reinventing itself midway and finishing strong despite some rough patches. While it grapples with pacing and inconsistent episodes that felt rather tedious, its standout performances, alongside commendable CGI and a redemptive final act, ensure a memorable journey. W: Two Worlds is a testament that we have what it takes to create and produce high-quality sci-fi contents, moving away from the typical genres of mere romance and drama we always bow down to. It certainly is one of the most unique and ambitious local shows in 2023.