This movie looks like different scenes were made by different film students and then edited together. I should know, I took film classes in the 80's. It would not have received an A.
So, be prepared for an uneven script, abrupt transitions, uneven writing, odd camera angles/scenes, etc.
I do appreciate that "The Fierce Wife" story was resolved a little more than in the series. Ending the series with an ambivalent handshake was an awful choice, especially as the handshake had symbolically been used before, between the same characters, to indicate friends only.
In this movie they say it has been four years, but I understand that to mean four years after An-chen's (
Sonia Sui) divorce. That would make it only two years after the final scene of the series.
If you watch this movie without having seen the series, some things will not make much sense. Try to watch the series first, it is currently on Netflix in the US, but the movie is on youtube.
SPOILER:
I am happy with the choice. I wouldn't have wanted her to return to the husband, especially after the horrendous hospital bed scene in the series. That being said, it does make sense to wait a while because Tien-wei's (
Chris Wang) character is clearly immature in the series.
They do get in a passionate scene about 49 minutes into the movie, so you get confirmation where it is headed, but An-chen's passive-aggressive behavior of dumping the ring in his pocket while waiting their turn to register their marriage is a clear "no", turning the momentum around to the husband.
I was disappointed in the resolution for Ai-lin (
Janel Tsai), I was hoping she could make it work, but, it is a likely outcome.
I do wonder about what Jui-fan (
Sheng-hao Wen) was thinking when he chose not to propose. Clearly the flashback to his son with Wei-en was the impetus, but was he thinking of getting back together with Wei-en to help raise his son or just that he needed to tell An-chen about his son first or . . .?
In the climax where An-chen is yelling at Tien-wei that she "didn't say no", I felt she had clearly said "no" by the ring dump and pretending to go to the bathroom while she was just a runaway bride. It appears they had no contact from that moment until the climax where An-chen is tricked by her former sister-in-law, Jui-hsuan into thinking Tien-wei is getting married, when in fact, he is just giving a bride away.
The movie is missing my favorite two characters from the series which were An-chen's and Tien-wei's mothers, but I understand how difficult it can be to get actors together again after everyone goes their separate ways.
Overall, I was happy with the resolutions, disappointed in the awkward movie which actually seemed to be missing scenes, but still gave it 6 stars because thanks to those who made this happen. Without this movie I wouldn't have rated the series as high due to the awful ending.
