Chor Lau Heung

Synopsis. "Oh... ughh..." Yes. Those are the words Chor Lau Heung ("CLH") says when each female cast member in this series tells him, one way or another, she likes him and damn is it really frustratingly out-of-character?

Housekeeping. A few words before we start. Firstly I watched this in Cantonese dub (presumably by ATV) meaning that about 1/3 of the main cast and every single person appearing in less than 3 scenes was dubbed (more on this point later). Secondly I have not watched the older versions of CLH so I am not going to consciously or unconsciously compare Richie with Adam Cheng (who played CLH three bloody times). Thirdly I'm not going to recite the cast since you're better off going here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_New_Adventures_of_Chor_Lau_Heung.

Overview.
(1) Presentation.
(2) Story.
(3) Characters.
(4) Concluding comments.

(1) Presentation.
Since this is not a Louis Cha (aka. Jin Yong) novel you’ll find that much of the story does not occur in massive landscapes or offer panoramic views, which reduces those feelings of ‘entering a fantasy world’ that usually comes with Wuxia series. The only time when the camera takes a wide angle shot is during the Desert Story Arc but by you would’ve watched 30+ episodes thus there’s no way any ‘new feeling’ could erupt. Much of the atmosphere is dependent on how closely you follow the mysteries that evolve, and how skilful you are at trying to answer the questions without going so far as to answer them (you will lose the suspense if you try too hard… so watch this with a mushy brain to make it more entertaining).

Given this was a 2001 series I won’t dwell on production quality but suffice to say it is adequate here. None of the costumes strike you as revolting and none of the sets strike you as inappropriate. However CLH’s costumes are a bit dull. I’m not sure if that’s to reflect the character’s general dullness or it was to match the number of characters that wear black (cue all the assassins that appear in this series). Equally, I’m not going to comment much on special effects (CGI) albeit to point out that 2010 is still doing 2001 CGI. Enough said. Personally I prefer less CGI and more live (edited) fights because if I wanted to watch X-Men I wouldn’t be watching CLH, right? Plus some of the larger CGI scenes here (Ekin Cheng destroys upside-down pyramid; last fight scene) tend to disgust than appeal.

Finally there’s not much to say about the music either other than it does its job. Although I suspect you could’ve watched it without the music and still feel 90% as happy or sad (since a lot of people die for who knows what reasons – dying somehow makes things better?). So in summary: environment + visuals + music = Acceptable.

(2) Story.
As I’ve never read the original novels I cannot compare on any deep level but honestly, the plot is not that ‘mysterious’. Its junior high-school level detective material at best but that doesn’t mean its not entertaining – how many of you could write and sell a script and screenplay? One thing that is intriguing though is the lack of plot holes. Sure there are some but all of them are so minor (except for CLH’s lightning-fast love-life and that weird mind-control guy who seems to be wearing a failed Halloween costume for a trek in the sunny desert) that you’d tend to let it slide without bashing your remote or keyboard or head. The fact there is some continuation between the story arcs is also a plus, although that’s more credit than is deserved since having a recurring group of assassins doesn’t add much to story depth. But better have some assassins than not right? Especially ones with cool hats!

There’s a fair bit of running around but funny enough with absolutely none of the running around. What was that? What the hell do I mean? If you’ve watched the first 30 episodes before the desert part you’ll probably know what I mean- characters keep travelling yet in real-time they get to their destination several seconds after instantly. The story could have benefited with mysteries that remained in a particular location or where the travelling was more than just narration (actually shown and shown to have some other significance). In fact this comes so close to a Wuxia-version of Detective Investigation Files it’s not a laughing matter. It wastes the Wuxia setting and wastes the room for untapped potential. On the point of wastage; why have CLH learn Li’s Flying Dagger if he never uses it? Does he not know the correct button combinations on his controller or is he just trigger-shy? On the point of excess; why is there so much ‘love-philosophy’ babble starting halfway through the series? Do you not know the proverb of ‘enough is enough’ or ‘its uncool to talk love’?

For most of the viewers, you’ll feel incredibly suckered when you reach the last 3-4 episodes and especially the last one. Yes you know what I mean: 1 minute final fight; sudden love-interest; and excess death. If any 3 factors could kill a Wuxia series its those three. The ending felt rushed, impromptu and worst- ridiculous. Perhaps that’s unfair since for most the series the story was at least entertaining. And that’s all it will ever be. How many people can honestly say they found the story arc where CLH goes to find a cure for his poison an enjoyable watch? It was at most bearable because everyone played their parts adequately. That’s probably equally true for the story arc when CLH finds his biological mum. What distinguishes these two stories from the rest? They are really out of place? To boil them down, they were about (a) a love-misunderstanding and (b) family troubles. These are just themes that don’t gel well with the rest of the series which was a big murder-mystery mixed with questionable people with ulterior motives. That’s what gave most of this series is ‘feel’ separating it from say Legend of the Condor Heroes. Personally I would’ve rated the ‘story’ higher if those two story arcs were excised and replaced with something more fitting.

(3) Characters.
Many people dislike Richie Ren filling the shoes of CLH and its hard to argue against them because, well, Richie just doesn’t fit the bill of a charismatic suave intelligent wise stoic manly righteous heroic dynamic principled pragmatic kind-of-guy. So find me an actor that fits all that? I dare you! Richie is actually quite acceptable here, largely because the script doesn’t require him to do a hell of a lot. However, and back to the point I made in the ‘Housekeeping’ section, its always difficult to rate someone’s acting without hearing their actual voice. Given that the original Mandarin version also dubs Richie’s voice I guess there’s not much you can do. In a sense because the characterization of CLH is so weak, in the sense CLH never really develops much unless you call his frustrating puberty angst that results in him going all monk on everybody- ‘characterization’, Richie should either have gotten some drastic plastic surgery to become more CLH-like or given some extra versatility to inject more ‘character’ into his character. The latter is a technique truly great actors can do – a technique Wayne Lai manages.

The other supporting cast is once again, you guessed it- acceptable. This is also because the script doesn’t write a hell of a lot for them. Whilst I understand CLH as a story is meant to be sombre and cerebral than flamboyant, did 90% of the cast have to be written as zombies? Cheung Sai as ‘Li Hongxiu or Li Hungjau’ was the only other supporting cast who managed to act with some flair, however I suspect this is more to do with her being lucky enough to land a role which she was compatible with than acting prowess, but at least she alone was enough to convince that this is a different world we’re watching. As things turn out, this quickly became a series which needed 4 people in one room before it began entering story mode. Most other moments was just meandering because none of the characters had enough chemistry with one another or the guts to inject a little character into their cardboard cut-outs.

The final straw is this: when you don’t long to see the title character doing X or Z, then you should know something is wrong. In this case, the fault mainly lies with the characterization and less the actors. Although the overall material is fine, I challenge you to find a scene with less than 3 people in it which excludes Wayne Lai and Cheung Sai that you can truly find engaging and not just engaged. What’s the difference? Engaging makes you want to rethink what just happened whilst engaged makes you just want to get on with the story.

(4) Final comments.
Passable entertainment which you are unlikely to re-watch in at least the next 6+ years (this includes the fact you are likely unemployed or just feel generally unmotivated to source better stuff to watch; of course you could just be a Richie Ren fan). One last thing, if the love between Ruby Lin’s character and Mark Cheung’s means anything at all, its that this series had something very philosophical to say about love which was lost amongst its simplicity. I put this point last since its an idea appearing in this series that was far too complex for its own good. Good thing it didn’t dwell on it. But that leaves me with the question to you lot: which one of you did not bash your remote or keyboard or head while thinking about how you needed to bash the script-writer or anyone else, when you realized that Richie will not end up with Ruby?