Leading cast:
Wong Hei - Kei Tak Tin
Maggie Cheung Ho Yee - Chung Yan Yee
Alex Fong Chung Shun - Wilson Tong Ming
Yoyo Mung - Yan Kong Yat Ngor
Flora Chan Wai Shan - Michelle Ho Po Lam
Stephen Au Kam Tong - Choi Nam Fung
Annie Man Chung Han - Yip Heung Yeung
Kevin Cheng Kar Weng - Mark Kei Hing Tin
Jenny Shing - Kei Yiu (Yiu Yiu)
Although of the same title, this series has absolutely nothing to do with its predecessor. Except for the fact that its also about firefighters, Burning Flame II is a totally different ball game altogether with new characters and a new story line.
Warning! Spoilers!
The Story
Basically, other than the usual emergency rescue/fire fighting sequences, Part 2 can be broken down into three key sub-stories: the Kei Tak-Yan Yee relationship, the Wilson-Yan-Michelle relationship, and the Nam Fung-Heung Yeung relationship.
The Kei Tak-Yan Yee relationship
What can I say? They were my favourite pair throughout. From their initial bickering to mutual understanding to friendship to love, the chemistry between them was simply amazing. I loved it every time they appeared together. And even more so whenever Yiu Yiu was in the picture.
The Wilson-Yan-Michelle relationship
I found this triangle pretty boring to say the least. A series of misunderstandings blown out of control because some people just cant seem to be able to sit down and talk things out. Wilson and Yan deserve each other. Michelle can do a lot better.
The Nam Fung-Heung Yeung relationship
Their antics at trying to hide their relationship at first were truly hilarious. But I thought that Heung Yeungs stubbornness later for not allowing Nam Fung to continue firefighting was simply ridiculous and infuriating. But I guess that sort of covered/represented the dilemma that some have over their loved ones who insist on involving themselves in dangerous work, in this case here, firefighting.
The Players
Wong Hei - this guy is one terrific actor. Youll start off by hating his character: Kei Tak Tin is carefree, irresponsible, a coward and has absolutely no ambition. Not much of a hero, you say. Youre right. He wasnt. But as we slowly get to know him, we begin to understand why it is hes what he is. Kei Tak lost his wife (Jessica Hsuan in a guest role) and is left with a young daughter (Jenny Shing) to take care of. Kei Tak pours all his love and time into his daughter. He is father and mother to his child. And it is because of this that he prefers to play it safe at all times. He cant afford to be a hero. His is a priority is to stay alive for the sake of his daughter. But as the story progresses, he slowly starts to change, partly due to Yan Yee. He starts to fall in love with her and realises that he cant be the good-for-nothing that he is forever. Wong Hei draws us into his character so well that when Kei Tak Tin grows, the audience grows with him too. Youll begin to feel with him. When hes happy, youre happy. When hes sad, youre sad. Kei Tak Tin becomes a very likeable character. And this adds to the shock and tears at the end when he meets his totally unexpected and untimely death.
Maggie Cheung - here is another heck of an actress! Theres this one particular scene I cant get out of my mind - the part where the firemen all walk out of the building and Yan Yee stands there waiting to see Kei Tak walk out with them. Youll feel her anticipation and youll share her despair when Wilson passes her Kei Taks burnt fire helmet. I thought that scene was extremely well depicted - full of sorrow yet you dont see the emotional outburst or screams just then. What you get is a sense of loss. An extremely all-encompassing sense of loss. Like Wong Hei, Maggie will have you feeling with her Yan Yee. When shes happy, youre happy. When shes sad, youre sad. When her past comes back to haunt her, youll root for her and hope she pulls through unscathed.
Alex Fong - Ive never liked Alex Fong. His characters have always been the same brooding, boring, quiet kind. No surprise then that his Wilson here is no different. He is the typical hero - smart, brave, successful, well-respected and good-looking. Wilson imposes high standards on himself at work and expects the same sort of commitment and standards from his subordinates. He takes it upon himself to carry the whole world on his shoulders. Yes, Alex fits Wilson to a T. And you do emphatise with him when it comes to his wife. But call it biasness or call it something else. The fact is, I still dont like Alex Fong and his portrayal of Wilson here, although acceptable, failed to impress me.
Yoyo Mung - this is a nice improvement from her portrayal of Tracy in Healing Hands II. Yoyos Yan is irritatingly childish and clingy and totally reliant on her husband. The only person she could possibly appear endearing to is her husband. You even wonder in the first place what it is he saw in her. An innocence his chauvinistic manhood felt inclined to protect? Typical. But of course, her behaviour soon puts a strain on the marriage. I suppose a man only has so much patience. Yoyo carries off Yan effectively although (and this is probably more a fault of the script) I found her growth towards the end rather unbelievable and hard to swallow. From being totally useless to totally independent and successful in such a short period of time, oh come on, give me a break.
Flora Chan - I believe Flora got quite a lot of flak for her portrayal of the third party here. And this somewhat bodes ill for her as it only shows she failed to get many to emphatise with her character. Fortunately however, I was not one of the many. Floras Michelle is a successful PR consultant. The only thing missing from her life is a man. Then along comes Wilson and she thinks shes found him. But like lifes other cruel jokes, hes already married. She avoids him. His marriage breaks up due to miscommunication and reckless assumptions. His wife leaves him. Michelle only gets together with Wilson after that. And when she finds out that husband and wife still love each other, she backs off again. Seriously, I felt the victim here was Michelle and as much as I hate third parties, I couldnt bring myself to blame her. Yan was unreasonable and childish. Wilson was totally selfish. And Michelle, unfortunately, got caught between this husband and wife pair who deserve nobody else but each other. I thought Flora did well here for I did sympathise with her Michelle. My only gripe is that she is beginning to bore me. Her roles have hardly changed since I first saw her - shes been playing the same personality types for too long now. She needs a change.
Stephen Au - Im beginning to appreciate Stephens talents. His Nam Fung was a delight to watch. And together with Annies Heung Yeung, these two do make quite a compatible pair. Stephens Nam Fung is an unlikely hero. He is loud-mouthed which you sometimes tend to dismiss as a whole lot of hot air. So when he really won the Golden Hammer for being the best passing-out firefighter in his class, it surprised me a little. Stephen didnt make me feel that his Nam Fung was capable of doing it even though he had from the very start said that he was going to win it. I couldnt help but feel that Nam Fung was more full of talk than he was of action. But apart from that little glitch, Stephens Nam Fung comes across as a rather endearing and likeable guy and when hes made to choose between love and career, youll feel his dilemma and emphatise with him.
Annie Man - I was pretty indifferent towards Annies Heung Yeung at first. Then when she got together with Nam Fung, it became quite a delight to watch. Both were equally funny in their roles. But later I thought Heung Yeung got quite irrational and too stubborn for my liking. Her forcing Nam Fung to quit his job and giving him the ultimatum was just downright selfish. Then again, it stems from her need of wanting a sense of security - one which obviously a dead husband would not be able to give her. But it wasnt as though she didnt know what he did for a living when she started going out with him. Annie played the role of Heung Yeung well enough. Her antics made you laugh, her stubbornness made you scream at her. Plus the fact that she and Stephen have pretty good chemistry too.
Kevin Cheng - is he going to be TVBs new hotshot actor? Well, this guys stands quite well in the looks department. In the acting department though, I reckon there is potential there but he still has some way to go. Kevin is rather stiff and wooden in his role as Mark. Yet he still managed to make me dislike his character tremendously. When he first appears, you can already tell that Mark is not your goody-goody-two-shoes guy. He is young, intelligent and ambitious. He wants it all and he wants it now. And he would step on anyone just to get where he wants to be. What you dont see is him falling into the cliché role of your typical TV villain. You dont have to resort to murder or being downright evil to be the bad guy here. I saw Mark more as a personification of those people in your workplace who wouldnt think twice about stabbing you in the back and stepping on you on their way to the top. This was a bad guy you could relate to. This was a bad guy that you yourself would have probably come across a few times in your life. And without all that dramatic villainy stuff typical of TVB big productions, I found Mark the bad guy a more believable fellow to stomach.
Jenny Shing - this little girl can put a good many adult actor to shame. It is rare to come across young child actors with the maturity and talent to carry off such roles. Its even rarer to come across one in Hong Kong. For a child, Jenny played her role as Kei Taks daughter, Yiu Yiu, wonderfully. This little girl simply oozes cuteness and charm and youll fall in love with her from the very start. What more the excellent chemistry she had with Wong Hei, Maggie and Stephen. Jenny was simply a delight to watch. Also, who can forget the scene towards the end when she sits on her bed, stares out the window and breaks down totally as she thinks of her father? Oh my. I doubt there was hardly a dry eye among us.
The Good
The chemistry - theres Wong Hei and Jenny. Theres also Wong Hei and Maggie. And Wong Hei, Maggie and Jenny. What can I say? These three stole the show.
The Ho [rolls eyes] Hum
The Wilson-Yan-Michelle triangle - boring, frustrating, infuriating. I supposed it didnt help too that two of the characters were played by Alex Fong and Yoyo Mung, both of whom Im not particularly fond of.
The Stupid
The absurdity that an e-mail provider would hold mail for an unregistered address and then redirect all mail to that address once it is registered - hello?! Didnt the scriptwriters/producers do their homework?!
The Why
Why did Wilson get to narrate the ending? Why not Yan Yee or anybody else? Wouldn't Yan Yee would have been the better choice seeing that it was Kei Tak who died? I would have wanted to hear the narration from her point-of-view - to hear how his death affected them all, how they all coped in their own way, how they picked up the pieces and moved on. From the very start, you are drawn into their story: Kei Tak, Yan Yee, Yiu Yiu - youll feel as though you know them. When Kei Tak dies, youll feel the loss together with them. So why use Wilson here? Kei Tak and him werent even that close in the first place. Wilsons narration, in my opinion, was just a bit too detached. I felt as though I had been relegated to an outsider looking in.
The Shocker
Like almost everybody else, I was screaming bloody murder when it happened. Kei Taks death was totally unexpected and like Yan Yee, I found it hard to believe that he was actually gone. I was half expecting him to walk out of the building. That by some miracle, he managed to escape unscathed. That the producers had meant for it to be a joke. But nothing of that sort happened. Kei Tak never walked out. It hits you like it hits the rest of the characters that hes dead. Hes gone. And hes never coming back. Ironically, I thought this was the best part of the whole series. Sure, I was angry. I was upset. I thought his death was senseless. But then I thought again and it occurred to me that maybe it wasnt senseless after all. What was portrayed here was real. Firefighters go to work without knowing if theyll see the end of each day. They are the unsung, selfless heroes who risk their lives every day so that others may live. Kei Taks death tells of this reality firefighters face. Plus death is always unexpected. It is always shocking. And it was well depicted here. Youll find it hard to believe. Youll wait with Yan Yee in anticipation. Youll find it hard to swallow the lump in your throat. And when it finally hits you, youll cry loads of buckets with Yiu Yiu and Yan Yee. And youll forever remember the death of Kei Tak, the non-hero who died a hero.
Burning Flame 1 vs Burning Flame II
I think many will differ with me on this one but I preferred Burning Flame II. Burning Flame 1 started off well but I thought that it simply lost track of what it was towards the end. The drama got a bit too sensational with bad-to-the-bone villains and murders and other what-nots integrated into the story line. Burning Flame II on the other hand seemed to stay a little more focused on the theme of firefighters. And I liked the fact that there wasnt a so-called TV villain written into the story line. Mark was the closest you got. And again, that made Burning Flame II a little bit more real and a little bit more believable.
Would I recommend watching this?
Of course. The excellent chemistry between Wong Hei, Maggie and Jenny is enough for you to.
How do I rate it?
4 stars out of 5. Thanks to a strong cast, the wonderful chemistry, a compelling enough story line and the shocker of an ending that will stick in your mind for a very long time to come.
A Hero Born (Legend of the Condor Heroes)Jin Yong English Translation Book 1
A Bond Undone (Legend of the Condor Heroes)Jin Yong English Translation Book 2
Reviewed by: the blur one
December 30, 2004