Lethal Weapons of Love and Passion

Title: Lethal Weapons of Love and Passion
Number of Episodes: 40

Main Characters
Raymond Lam as Fung Hung Lit
Bosco Wong as Hon Pak
Charmaine Sheh as Chun Mong Yiu
Sonija Kwok as Gum Bing Wun-Sonija Kwok
Sharon Chan as Hui Ye Yuut

Supporting Characters
Derek Kwok as Pong Ban
John Chiang as Long Fan Wun
Power Chan as Fan Leung Gik
Evergreen Mak as Lord Yin
Hui Siu Hung as Hui Yeuk Mow
Mimi Lo as Wun Ching

WARNING-- SPOILERS!

Introduction

This was based on a famous story by Huang Yi who also wrote the two other novels that TVB produced, "A Step Into the Past" and "Twin of Brothers". If you are planning to watch this, don’t expect it to be 100% like the book, because I can tell you right now that you’re going to be very disappointed… since when did TVB make anything nowadays that was really similar to the book? I’d advise you to take this as a whole new story, or else you’re not going to enjoy it much.

Plot

The story starts off where Fung Hung Lit (Raymond) was already married to Gun Bing Wun (Sonija). She’s helping Pong Ban (Derek) to recover Fung’s memory and to practice his dark martial arts. Afterwards, Pong Ban starts going after Fung and Fung ends up being saved by Hon Pak (Bosco). The later become good friends.

In all of this, Fung meets Chun Mong Yiu (Charmaine) and their relationship grows everyday. Meanwhile, Hon Pak meets many people that are willing to teach him martial arts so he becomes really good. Hon Pak and Ye Yuut also turn from lovers to siblings. When they find out she was adopted, Ye Yuut has to choose between Lord Yin and Hon Pak.

Pong Ban manages to restore Fung’s memory and they both think of plans to overturn the Ming Dynasty. Hon Pak also turns into Emperor Chu’s most trusted person and since Fung wants to restore the Yuan dynasty, they go from being friends to being enemies. They end up having a war against each other with many innocent lives being lost. In the end, they have a one-on-one fight. The one that loses has to back down and let the other win the war.

Main Characters

Fung Hung Lit [Raymond Lam]- Fung Hung Lit is a descendant of the royal Mongolians. At first, he was a carefree person, leading a normal life with his wife, Bing Wun, until she betrays him and he loses all of his martial arts. This is all a plan of Derek’s to recover his memory. After he does, his ambition is to try to overturn the Ming Dynasty and restore his own. Doing so, he uses his friends along the way and loses their trust one by one while putting his love life on the stake as well. His martial arts is the best out of everyone in the end with the help of Pong Ban and the ‘Tossing Rain’ Sabre.

Hon Pak [Bosco Wong]- He is a very straightforward and naïve person at first. Hon Pak goes through many challenges along the way that help his personality become more mature. At first, Hon Pak is a servant that cares for the horses and stables at Lord Yin’s palace. He was adopted and raised by Hon Tien Dak. He later turns out to be Hui Yeuk Mow’s long-lost son. In the beginning, he was friends with Fung Hung Lit but then they become enemies. He meets a lot of people that help him gain and practice martial arts along the way and it ends up being really good. He also inherits John/David Chiang’s ‘Turning Cloud’ Sword. He has a love triangle with Ye Yuut and Lord Yin.

Chun Mong Yiu [Charmaine Sheh]- She was adopted by Yeen Ching On into the ‘Chi Hong Jing Jai’ as an orphan. She also has a special kind of martial arts that allows her to feel other people’s emotions. After being sent out to look for Bing Wun, she meets Fung Hung Lit and eventually they become lovers. When Fung Hung Lit wants to overturn the Ming dynasty, she’s forced to decide whether or not to stay by his side or to protect the Ming dynasty.

Gun Bing Wun [Sonija Kwok]- She was Yeen Chin On’s disciple. She was sent on a mission to go to Pong Ban and stop a war from breaking out. Instead, she fell in love with him and she would do anything for him. That’s why she pretends to love Fung Hung Lit and marries him as a part of Pong Ban’s plan. One time while Pong Ban was practising his martial arts, (it was the kind where you couldn’t be disturbed and if you were, you’d die.), Bing Wun’s sifu decided to take the chance to kill Pong Ban. Bing Wun turned up in time and surprisingly stabbed her sifu just before her sword touched Pong Ban. Overcome with grief and regret at what she had just done, she committed suicide. Pong Ban finally realizes that he loved her and vows never to have another relationship.

Hui Ye Yuut [Sharon Chan]- She’s a very energetic and cheerful girl that is very strictly looked after by her father, which is why she always likes escaping ord Yin’s palace whenever she can. After going on a search for the ‘Tossing Rain’ sabre with Hon Pak, they become really good friends and later a couple. But her father doesn’t like it and tries to separate them. All of a sudden, Hon Pak becomes her father’s long-lost son and so they were forced to separate. This gives Lord Yin a chance to pursue her. When she finally finds out she was adopted, she has to choose between them.

Supporting Characters

Pong Ban [Derek Kwok]- He practices a supreme kind of martial arts that makes him the best in the world. His ambition is to help Fung Hung Lit restore his memory and overturn the Ming dynasty. He does anything to help Fung Hung Lit restore the Yuan dynasty and eventually dies for him.

Long Fan Wun [John Chiang]- His martial arts is as good as Pong Ban’s and he’s one of the people that protects the dynasty from falling. He later has Hon Pak as his disciple and teaches him how to use the ‘Turning Cloud’ sword.

Fan Leung Gik [Power Chan]- He is a really good thief because he has a special talent of moving really quickly. He succeeds in stealing the ‘Tossing Rain’ sabre but since no one knows about it, he feels like his art of stealing isn’t acknowledged so he decides to tell people in a story. This causes him to meet Charmaine, and later Bosco, Sharon and Raymond. He also becomes Bosco’s little sifu as he was the one that taught him a few martial art tricks. Wun Ching and him are a couple in the end after a long time of spying on her.

Lord Yin [Evergreen Mak]- He is the forth son of the King. But since his mother gave birth to him early, the King doesn’t think he's his child. Because of that, the King treats him poorly. But he is very smart and kind so he made the people like him more than the King. He eventually gains the King’s trust but the King gave the position to Wun Mun after a competition. Wun Mun only won because Fung Hung Lit helped him. Fung Hung Lit was using him in order to overturn the dynasty when Wun Mun became King. In the end though, Lord Yin was named King.

Performances

Raymond Lam as Fung Hung Lit- I think Ray portrayed his character exceedingly well. I love how he expresses his emotions in his eyes and when he cries, it’s heartbreaking. He makes FHL really convincing so you can feel when he’s cold-hearted or confused. I think this is one of his best performances to date.

Bosco Wong as Hon Pak- As the comic relief of this series, I think he did a great job. His transition from a servant to a general was really good and convincing. He can definitely cry really well and make you feel what he’s feeling, like the time where he found out he was the general’s son. Very well-performed.

Charmaine Sheh as Chun Mong Yiu- This wasn’t really anything different or new from her previous roles but she still did a good job. Her crying skills are excellent and she once again proves herself as a versatile actress.

Sonija Kwok as Gun Bing Wun- Sonija’s performance was alright. Not anything spectacular, but you do see improvement, and during her crying scenes, she really does cry.

Sharon Chan as Hui Ye Yuut- She pulled off the very energetic and cute girl role, which isn’t hard, but I give credit to her for not overdoing the ‘cuteness’ which almost always ends up being plain annoying. She’s also really pretty in this series and she’s one of the funny characters so she’s pretty likeable.

Derek Kwok as Pong Ban- He is WAY under-promoted! He does a wonderful job as Pong Ban and his performance when Sonija died was really well done.

John Chiang as Long Fan Wun- As a veteran, he portrayed his character really well as the kind-hearted, sometimes strict person. No disappointment at all.

Power Chan as Fan Leung Gik- Along with Bosco, he was the comic relief in the series and he did a really good job with it. TVB should promote him more because he plays any role really well.

Evergreen Mak as Lord Yin- Convincing, a perfect choice for this character.

Outfits

The outfits were original as well as good-looking. They had many outfit changes throughout the whole series but the one I liked best was Sonija’s white one with the green print. All the girls looked pretty and all the guys looked handsome… Well, all but Bosco at the beginning, but he was supposed to be dressed like a servant.

Chemistry

Raymond-Charmaine: I thought they’d be too old for each other when they were first making this film but it turns out that they actually have really great chemistry together. But I think the main reason for that was because they made Ray’s hairstyle very mature. Although they can pull off this great chemistry in ancient series, I’m not so sure they could do it in a modern series.

Bosco-Sharon: They are the cutest couple ever! I’ve loved them from the first time I saw them onscreen till when they departed together in the last episode. In the series, they both have really cute personalities so when you put two of them together, you get the cutest couple! Their looks are also very compatible for each other. I hope to see them as a couple in another series, preferably modern this time.

Derek-Sonija: Their chemistry took a pretty long time to send sparks but they eventually did in Sonija’s death scene. Another reason would probably be because they didn’t have very many scenes together. I think Derek spent more time with Raymond than he did with Sonija. They’re a pretty well-matched pair, but I still like Ray-Charmaine and Bosco-Sharon more.

Power-Mimi: They both had very limited screen time so I didn’t get it when Mimi all of a sudden liked him. But, seeing as they were already a couple before (in "Lofty Waters Verdant Bow") they still had really good chemistry. They were quite a cute couple.

Raymond-Bosco: Their relationship might not have been as powerful as Raymond and Ron’s in "Twin of Brothers" but it was still really fun watching them. I like them almost as much as Ray and Ron because they really create sparks when they’re together. The thing they lacked was screen time together but I really hope they act in another series together in the future.

Raymond-Derek: They’ve been in numerous series together which is what makes their chemistry so enjoyable. Derek is willing to sacrifice anything for Raymond which makes me wonder who he loves more-- Sonija or Raymond?

Bosco-John: The had pretty good chemistry as master and disciple seeing as they were already father and son in "Wong Fei Hung". This makes their relationship more believable.

Likes…

The cast, the chemistry, the costumes, the scenery and the plotline. Surprisingly, the whole cast could cry really well. The story was well-paced and I only found a couple of scenes that dragged (Charmaine and Ray’s love story). I liked how the script writers ended it because I thought they could never make a happy ending out of it now that Raymond and Bosco were on completely different sides. But, they did it without having it look stupid. I also liked how there was no bad side. You could always see Raymond’s side and Bosco’s side even though they were going against each other so it was hard to just root for one person or the other. Overall, a well-written story and an especially well-written ending.

Dislikes…

Nothing really annoyed me except for maybe the guy in Raymond’s Mongolian sect that kind of acted like a wolf when he was acting. Also, the King and Wun Mun when they were being stupid. It’d be nice to see Raymond and Bosco meet up in the end and regain their friendship that they lost due to their different backgrounds as well, but that didn’t happen.

My biggest complaints would have to be why in the world did they pick the graveyard to be their fighting spot? Isn’t that a little disrespectful to the soldiers or is there some kind of deeper meaning behind it? And also, the blood they use is so fake. It’s really watery and the actors spit too much of it out.

Overview

This series was one of the best ones I’ve ever seen. The cast was amazing, the scenery was beautiful, and the plotline was suspenseful enough to keep you watching. I have no idea why the ratings were so low, but no matter how low they were, you really must give this series a try.

Official Website: http://tvcity.tvb.com/drama/lethal_weapon_of_love_and_passion