Master Swordsman Lu Xiao Feng II

Cast
Lu Xiao Feng – Eric Suen Yao Wei
Han Ling – Gigi Lai Zi
Xi Men Chui Xue – Christopher Lee Ming Shun
Ye Xue - Yvonne Lin Xiang Ping
Ye Gu Hong - Zheng Hao Nan
Hua Man Lou - Chen Tai Ming
Sha Man - Lin Mei Zhen
Sun Xiu Qing - Fang Ji Wei
Gong Jiu - Yu Rong Guang

The 20 episodes were divided into 3 stories. I’ll try to give a brief summary. Warning: some spoilers.

First Story - Shei Jia Tian Xia (Who Owns the World)

The story is set into action with Lu Xiao Feng on the run from Xi Men Chui Xue. Lu was drunk and tried to rape Xi Men's wife. He is rescued by the Ye Siblings and seeks refuge in the mysterious Mansion of Spirits (which is a hideout for a lot of other famous/infamous people in the Wu Lin world. Lu finds himself married to and in love with Han Ling. However, nothing is what it seems. It is revealed that this was all a set up by Lu to find and rescue Han Ling from the Mansion. He finds himself being manipulated into helping the leader of the Mansion find the secret Zhen Guang Jian (True Light Sword... I am so tempted to say Sabre) and secret ancient kung-fu manual, which reveals a bigger conspiracy in which he was actually just a pawn.

Comments: The longest story in the series (10 episodes) and I found it unengaging. It had a promising start but the introduction of aliens made it too ridiculous. It seemed that this story had less of the “mystery” element than the other ones. Also, although Eric Suen and Gigi Lai look very compatible, I did not feel anything for their romance. The scriptwriters could have made the audience sympathise Gigi’s character, but I just didn’t really feel sorry for her.

Mo Gui Jian Ke – (The Devil Swordsman)

Lu Xiao Feng has hidden himself in a village to find some peace and stay out of trouble. However, he has no choice but to be involved in the outside world again when Xi Men Chui Xue is framed for murder and Xi Men’s wife, Sun Xiu Qing is murdered.

Comments: This story had some funny parts and had more mystery. I found it better than the last story because it had a more suspenseful and mysterious plot. It’s in this story that we see more of Lu solving the mystery. Also, I really like the couple Xi Men Chui Xue and Sun Xiu Qing.

Feng Wu Jiu Tian – (Nine Day Phoenix Dance)

Lu Xiao Feng boards a ship headed for a mysterious island where he meets and falls in love with Sha Man. Sha Man is the mistress of the owner of the island, Gong Jiu, and has a tragic past. They fall and love and try to escape from the island. But trouble won’t leave them even though they have left because Lu is accused of seizing royal treasure. He finds that the ones who framed him are also the ones he is running from, so the fight with Gong Jiu is inevitable. In the final confrontation with Gong Jiu, Sha Man sacrifices herself to save Lu Xiao Feng.

Comments: This story was adapted from the novel, but of course it was shortened. Maybe this should have been the 10-episode story. In the novel, I found the story of Lu Xiao Feng and Sha Man very sweet, and I liked it in the series as well. The ending was okay, and I’m very glad they kept the part about Lu shaving his mustache in here. Even some of the lines were the same as the novel. I’ve always felt that scene is an important scene for insight on the friendship of Lu and Xi Men. My favorite story in this series.

Acting:
Lu Xiao Feng – Eric Suen
He did a good portrayal of Lu Xiao Feng. I’ll be honest, it was better than I expected because I wasn’t sure exactly what to expect. The comical side, love-sick, clever and serious sides of Gu Long’s character were shown very well by him. I’ve always liked the character Lu Xiao Feng, and Eric Suen’s portrayal is pretty close to what I imagined him to be. I was re-reading some of the novels, and I can actually picture Eric’s Lu Xiao Feng as I read. His delivery of lines was natural and he seemed very much to be the optimistic and carefree Lu Xiao Feng. (Oh yes, and thank God they gave him a good hairstyle).

Xi Men Chui Xue – Christopher Lee
His performance was still as good as the first one, if not better. I was so glad that he was going to be in the sequel. In this series, we see more sides of Xi Men Chui Xue, although he may still appear to be the cold and emotionless swordsman. However, you can see that he does have a caring side from the way he treats his wife. He helps Lu several times throughout the whole series, showing that he can be and is a good friend.

Ye Gu Hong – Zheng Hao Nan
Ye Gu Cheng’s nephew. Ever since his uncle’s defeat, he has been trying to rebuild the reputation of Bai Yun Cheng and the Ye family. Although he seemed to be the co-conspirator with Han Ling, he was actually just manipulated by her. All brawn and no brains. He seemed to be a bit wooden, I don’t know if his character was supposed to be expressionless like that. Basically, I didn’t pay much attention to this character because he was kind of useless. It was obvious that he was doomed from the start.

Hua Man Lou – Chen Tai Ming
I actually prefer the actor from the previous series. But it’s not as if there was a problem with Chen Tai Ming’s Hua Man Lou. He just didn’t seem as gentle and reserved as the Hua Man Lou in the novel, and I guess the script made his character that way. But he didn’t really appear to have much use in here except for being a sidekick of Lu’s.

Gong Jiu – Yu Rong Guang
The creepy, powerful master of the island Lu Xiao Feng finds himself on. He’s also virtually emotionless. A very complicated character in the novel. Too bad he didn’t have more lines from the novel, because he is supposed to be a very intelligent man as well.

Han Ling – Gigi Lai
I know that Gigi is a very good actress, but I felt neutral toward her role in this series. Like I said, the scriptwriters made her a villain and justified it. Maybe they should have made her sad story more touching and emotional. Han Ling has really fallen in love with Lu, but we really don’t see much evidence of that. Too bad she died because Lu was also hopelessly in love with her, but she was too stubborn to give up her ambitions.

If the scriptwriters had used the story with Xue Bing in it, I think she would have been good at portraying the chatty and playful Xue Bing. I really like Xue Bing in the novel. Plus, she looks really good with Eric.

Ye Xue – Yvonne Lin
Ye Gu Hong’s younger sister who loves Lu Xiao Feng and always saves him. She’s very cute and playful, and has done a lot for him. Too bad he only thinks of her as a younger sister because they were quite compatible as well. In the end, she dies for him. It was very touching because Lu was very sad, although he knew that he could not return her love.

Sha Man – Lin Mei Zhen
Gong Jiu’s mistress who falls in love with Lu Xiao Feng. She is colder and more useless in the series and than the novel, but still has the same air of gentleness and innocence. In the novel, she is the woman Lu spends the rest of his life with, but this was changed in the series. I guess they wanted to keep the image of Lu Xiao Feng as a wanderer. I don’t mind this change, but I wouldn’t have minded if they did end up happily ever after, as long as it wasn’t sappy. Although I can’t say Lin is beautiful, she does have an air of elegance and gentleness that I think makes her fit to be Sha Man.

Sun Xiu Qing – Fang Ji Wei
She was good as the traditional housewife... of the famous Xi Men Chui Xue. I think she makes a good couple with Lee and didn’t find anything wrong with her acting.

Music:
One of the pluses for this series was the great music. The themesong by Dreams FM was wonderful and captured the atmosphere of the series really well. The background music used throughout the series was also appropriate and touching.

In General:
One big *SIGH* If only they had made the first story better or eliminated it altogether. The fighting scenes were pretty good if you ignore the alien stuff in the first story. Another complaint I had was how the friends of Lu were supposed to be amazing and interesting characters in the martial arts world on their own, but with the exception of Xi Men Chui Xue, all of them seemed to be around only for the sole purpose of keeping him company! But the second and third stories did keep me entertained and hold my attention. I’m glad the scriptwriters kept their dialogues witty. I wish someone would assemble (most of) the same cast and make another adaptation of Lu Xiao Feng that is closer to the novel, although I know that is unlikely.