The Four
Chinese Title: "Siu Leen Sei Dai Ming Bo" (directly translates to the four great young constables)
Theme Song: Tempest - Ron Ng, Raymond Lam, Kenneth Ma, & Sammul Chan
No. of episodes: 25
Cast
Dominic Lam as Chu Kot Jing Ngor
Raymond Lam as Mo Ching (heartless)
Kenneth Ma as Tit Sau (iron fist)
Sammul Chan as Jui Ming (life chaser)
Ron Ng as Lang Huet (cold blood)
Kate Tsui as Song Ji Yin
Selena Li as Yeuk Fei
Cilla Kung as Siu To
Crystal Tin as the Concubine
Halina Tam as Aunt Suet
Foreword
It’s here, it’s finally here! The hotly anticipated The Four, starring four (har, har) of some of the most popular TVB young scholars has finally arrived. Let’s cheer. Or not.
The Good
1) The title. Catchy, no?
2) The leaf scene. A brief 2 minutes to show how the four guys have become friends, and not a single word was uttered.
3) The fight scenes. Very well-choreographed.
4) The ending. I thought I pegged the ending. I was wrong. It was unpredictable and actually quite fitting.
5) The group scenes. I like the group together more than having a favourite constable. The offscreen friendship translates terrifically onscreen, which is surprising given that all the actors are playing against-type.
6) There's a plot and character development. Judging from the quality of recent TVB series, this is apparently a lot to ask.
The Bad
1) Bad casting/acting. Especially mediocre actresses for the younger characters. Can you imagine if there was a female version of The Four? With the terrible acting currently afflicting TVB's younger actresses, the series would be a comedy.
2) The theme song.
3) No romantic chemistry between the pairs. If you're looking for a new ship to board, look elsewhere.
Evaluation of Cast & Characters
Ron Ng
I actually find his character's back story the most interesting in this series. Being "raised" by wolves and learning kung-fu by having to defend himself is actually a pretty creative backdrop. However, without even sitting down and watching this, Ron's performance already loses major points because his look is too modern for an ancient series, even with the long hair and costume. He probably speaks a grand total of 50 lines in this series and maybe due to that fact, I'm pretty OK with his performance here. Nor will I say his performance is good enough to make this character truly memorable. Nothing here shows that Ron is anything but a teen idol. It doesn't help that he's got nil chemistry with the girl who plays his love interest, either. For those who think it's unfair to say his performance is forgettable because he barely talks - allow me to give you a suggestion. Watch Rebecca Chan's performance in The Dance of Passion. The woman has a total of probably 10 scenes and doesn't utter a single line (she's mute) and 2 years after watching that series, I still remember her. So an excellent performance sans lines is definitely possible. Ron here, not quite.
Kate Tsui
She has the same problem as Ron as in she looks too modern for an ancient series, though girls are easier to “make up” to look like they belong. She gets probably one of the most interesting characters here (after Ron's and Ray's) and I actually think this is her best performance to date, which is seriously not saying that much. What I mean is, her best moments are when she's not talking. Her eyes convey the emotions required out of this character, but it's her voice that kills this performance. She speaks her lines way too slowly and she tries way too hard to be elegant, girly and soft-spoken. I think I like her character a lot more than I liked Kate's performance here. An average performance.
Raymond Lam
So I asked for a breakthrough character for him in my MR review, and I got it (thank you, TVB). And though this performance is, like all of his others, an excellent one, there's a common flaw that runs through nearly all of Ray's performances. I hate to say it, but he severely lacks romantic chemistry with his female leads. I really do not know why. With the exception of Linda Chung and maybe Michelle Ye, Ray either has 1) zero or 2) only platonic chemistry with his female co-stars. The fact that his pairings make a good couple is only due to good writing or dialogue and not because of his chemistry with the girls. His chemistry with Kate here is probably the worst of the bunch. They seem to barely know each other. This inability to relate onscreen with his female leads is hurting him. The good news is, this guy simply oozes charisma. The fact that he's in a wheelchair in this series gives his performance even more credibility. Ray is snarky, clever, and yet a total romantic all at the same time in this performance. Someone give him a real challenge, please, because this guy needs it. A gay guy? A b_stard to the core? A father? I am sure he can do it all.
Selena Li
I went from hating her in Just Love to loving her in Face to Fate. In general, I think she works better with ancient series than in modern ones and I'm not quite sure why. I find her very pretty, not the photogenic/plastic kind of pretty but the kind of pretty with 'oomph'. Here her performance is nothing to shout about, although she does well as the bratty, spoiled Yeuk Fei and manages to be more interesting than Kenneth Ma. The two have chemistry, too. To be honest, though, her character is relatively easy to portray and could probably be done by any TVB actress, minus the super-feminine ones without an ounce of tomboy in their being.
Kenneth Ma
He looks awkward in an ancient series, though not as uncomfortable as Ron. He shows some emotional range in this series, which, unfortunately, do nothing to redeem his complete lack of leading man charm. Maybe he should stick to comedy, because like Moses Chan, he has some problems emoting in dramatic series but his performance in Survivor's Law II was hysterical in that deadpan, dry way.
Sammul Chan
Like Bosco Wong, Sammul looks good in ancient series and probably even fits ancient series the most out of the four here. In this series, he provides the comic relief as the clever, smart-aleck Jui Ming and though his character never strays that far from crass, Sammul manages to make Jui Ming likeable. Like Ray and Ron, he's got no chemistry with the girl who plays his love interest, which is probably a good thing seeing as none of the guys here end up with the girls with the exception of Kenneth. There's no real depth in Sammul's performance, but I'm happy to finally see an actor taking on a comic role for the first time and using wit instead of wackiness to portray it.
Dominic Lam
So here's my claim to fame. I went to the same Mandarin school as a kid as this guy's kids, so I saw him every Saturday morning for a few months. I remember watching this guy as a jerk in a series with Kenix Kwok years ago, and didn't think much of him then. Here, he's average as the "veteran" among the teenybopper idols, and his weird furrowed-eyebrows expression makes him look perpetually angry. He also doesn't look scholarly enough. Ray and Sammul convince more as the intelligent types. Lam's voice is also strange in that sometimes it's very loud and at other times it's quiet. But overall, I thought it was a decent performance. But would I watch a series just for him? No.
Halina Tam
Normally I like her more in comedy than in drama, but I thought she was pretty decent here. She makes the most out of her minor character and should stick to secondary characters, because she makes the most impact there.
Crystal Tin
This woman can act. Making a comeback (or is it just a come?) from ATV was a good move for her because she rocked my socks in this role. She's bloody gorgeous in the ancient costume too. I would put Crystal in the Akina Hong/Florence Kwok calibre of actresses, and she gives the strongest performance of the series (after the veteran who portrays Ji Yin's master). Looking forward to where she goes from here.
Cilla Kung
I kept staring and staring at her trying to remember where I saw her, and it was as a contestant on the "Young Girl" version of the game show Beautiful Cooking! She was the short one! Anyway, her acting sucks and she has zero chemistry with Ron. Interesting how many of the young contestants of BC have appeared in TVB somehow (JJ Jia is probably the most well-known one now).
Vivi Lee
Who is this girl? I've never seen her before but she did a commendable job as the friendly, innocent Yau Tung who meets a tragic fate. Hell, she's better than Kate.
Through the Grapevine
Tin Yui Lei is married to Chapman To, reigning king of secondary characters in Hong Kong cinema. There is one hilarious interview where the four guys call each other's characters names by their English meanings. So Ray calls himself "no emotion", Ron "cold blood", Sammul "chasing life" and Kenneth "metal hand". The four guys are good friends off screen, even making fun of Kenneth for being the only one of the cast who was invited to Halina's wedding.
To Watch or Not to Watch, That is the Question
One of the better series in 2008. Recommended for any TVB fan.
