Treasure Venture

"TREASURE VENTURE" had great potential to be a successful production with a promising cast: the new rising star Vicky Zhao and Taiwan heartthrob Nicky Wu. However, the series turns out to be very disappointing.

The story goes like this: During the Ming Dynasty, the Emperor orders three people to go in search for a famous country and people management book. The book is hidden in the first Ming emperor’s tomb, together with a large amount of gold. The three people who went into the tomb are the Emperor’s royal brother Chen Wong Ye, an official Lu Duan Wen and his wife. In order to open the tomb, they need three keys. While in the tomb, Chen Wong Ye wants to kill Lu Duan Wen and his wife so he could take the treasure and the book as he wants to overthrow his brother and becomes the emperor himself. Fortunately, Lu Duan Wen and his wife are saved by a grave thief named Li Jia Li and Chen Wong Ye escapes with one key. Lu Duan Wen and his wife keep one key while the grave thief keeps the other key. Together, they propose a pact that their children would get married. On the way home, Lu Duan Wen goes into labour and gives birth to a baby girl with the help of a kind old man named Wu Ma. However, she dies soon after that.

Many years later, Lu Duan Wen’s daughter, Lu Jian Ping (Vicky Zhao) grows up to be a playful girl who always dresses up as a man. Wu Ma is now her nanny and he cares for her like his own daughter. As she has Wu Ma as her nanny, Lu Jian Ping does not know anything about being a girl. While out in the street causing trouble, she meets and becomes friends with two little monks: Xiao Lung and Xiao Fou, a rich but very nice guy Zhu Yu Lung (played by Lin Jia Hua), and a poor scholar Shui Ruo Han (played by Nicky Wu) whom she later employed to teach her art and literature. Lu Jian Ping with the help of Wu Ma is able to perform extraordinary sword techniques. The Emperor invites her into the palace thinking that she is a talented man. After knowing her identity, he orders her to marry the second Prince. However, Lu Jian Ping does not know that the second Prince is Zhu Yu Lung who likes to disguise himself as a commoner.

During this time, her father is attacked one night and the key is stolen. Wu Ma injures the thief but he managed to escape. The thief turns out to be Shui Ruo Han who is in fact a professional assassin working for the secret agency of Royal Chief Eunuch, Cao You Xiang. The two little monks save Shui Ruo Han and take the key back to the Shaolin Temple thinking that it is a strange weapon. In order to avoid the marriage to second Prince, Lu Jian Ping decided to run away from home with Wu Ma to Shiao Lin Temple. She is joined by Zhu Yu Lung (who has fallen in love with her and decides to prove his true love to her) and Shui Ruo Han (who is on his way to Shaolin Temple to get the key back). Shui Ruo Han is also captivated by Lu Jian Ping’s innocence and carefree nature.

At the temple, Lu Jian Ping saves and makes friend with a gentle girl named Bai Rui Xue (played by Liu Zhi) who is actually Shui Ruo Han’s martial sister and has also fallen in love with him. Her love turns to hatred when he rejects her in favour of Lu Jian Ping. The series basically revolves around the search for three keys and the love relationship involving Lu Jian Ping, Shui Ruo Han, Zhu Yu Lung and Bai Rui Xue. Each character in this series has a secret and these secrets would be revealed as the series goes on but I am not going to explain here.

There are many factors that contribute to the failure of this series to capture the audience, though it has a very strong cast. First of all, that would be Vicky Zhao’s character. She is once again trapped in this type of "Little Swallow" role. She once again plays a cheerful girl who is meant to bring laughter to the audience. However, in a not-too-harshly-put way, she also plays the role of a silly girl who cannot learn or remember anything and acts without thinking of consequences. I experienced the same frustration watching this series as when I watched HZGG II. The script allows no room for Vicky Zhao’s character to mature. After experiencing life and death situation, Lu Jian Ping is still a silly girl who shows no improvement in kung-fu skills and her intellectuals. Vicky Zhao does look charming and cute though. It was great watching her in the first few episodes as she plays to perfection the role of a cheerful, innocent, and honest girl but then it became too boring and even irritating for me, a fan of hers, to watch a plain character that has no depth and will never grow up.

The second factor would be Nicky Wu’s role. He does look compatible with Vicky and there is undeniably chemistry between them. However, Nicky Wu appears uncomfortable in his role as an assassin. To me, he looks like he has to struggle really hard to remain serious and calm. He looks more relax when he is in romantic scenes with Vicky. And talking about his character, it is ridiculously written. This character could be named "The Naïve Assassin of the Year". He is supposed to be a famous assassin whom everyone fears when his name is mentioned. Yet he is shy when he is asked to go into a brothel to rescue an innocent girl who is forced to work there. He has never shown remorse for things he has done before he meets Lu Jian Ping besides the pain he shows after knowing that he had contributed to the death of his father. How about all the other unfortunate people that he has killed? He cannot use the excuse that he is working according to the orders of Cao You Xiang to cast aside these crimes that he commits. Anyway, I do not like this character since the behaviour and action of Shui Ruo Han are not consistent with his identity as an assassin.

I really dislike the character Cao You Xiang, not because he is a villain in this series but because of the actor who plays this role. He simply just cannot act. There is same expression of emotion in every scene. He either scowls or grinds his teeth or laughs senselessly.

In addition, the use of Xiao Lung, Xiao Fou, Wu Ma and Song Yin Niang (Wu Ma’s love interest) and the two "Black and White" old men (who later teach Lu Jian Ping and Shui Ruo Han kung-fu) fails to create humour in the series. The jokes were lame. There is no complaint about the acting ability of Wu Ma but the series then dwells too much into his relationship with Song Ying Niang. These unnecessary characters were given a great amount of time in the series (like around three tapes) which is boring and annoying.

The badly constructed script is the main blame for the failure of the series. The production intends to provide a mix of comedy, romance and tragedy but the mixture just does not work. In addition, facts in the series are unconvincing and ridiculous. I mean it is ancient China period that the series is set in but Lu Jian Ping keeps running away from home with Shui Ruo Han while the Emperor has ordered her to marry the second Prince. Every time she returns, the Prince still intends to marry her.

The search for the treasure is also odd. It is such an important mission but look who the Emperor gives it to: an official who does not know any kung-fu, in fact he does not know anything, and his talented but pregnant wife, and the evil royal brother. Then the treasure itself, I thought a famous country and management book is meant for the use of the emperor, then why is it hidden in a tomb of an emperor? The series also throws in some bad Japanese ninjas that were very ridiculous. What were those Japanese ninjas doing there in ancient China? Short guns were also in use at that time. One more thing to complain about, why must all male Japanese characters portrayed in Chinese series look like Hitler? I thought that style of beard was not popular until World War period.

The costumes are too dull and not worth mentioning. However, I love the scenery. The scenery is really beautiful and makes me realize how dull TVB series are, always in the studio and the usual outdoor spots. About the fighting choreography, this production appears to be the illegitimate child of "The Matrix" and a Japanese ninja.

Other characters in the series that I have not mentioned above include Zhu Yu Lung and Bai Rui Xue. Zhu Yu Lung is played by Lin Jian Hua who is also my favourite actor in "Yan Seung Fei: Two Flying Swallows". In "Treasure Venture", he plays a likeable role, a lover whose love is not returned and who would do anything just to make Lu Jian Ping happy. There is no complaint about his acting ability and I hope to see him more in the future production. Bai Rui Xue played by Liu Zhi is also another character that has depth in this series, unlike Lu Jian Ping. She falls hopelessly in love with Shui Ruo Han and when he does not return her love, she swears for revenge. Beneath that fierce and angry surface, she still loves and cares for him. However, she eventually realizes that love does not mean possession of the lover. I have not seen this actress before but she is very pretty and fits into her role with ease. However, her scenes with Nicky Wu really gave me goose bumps, just the way she leans on his back or whispers to him.

If you have read up to this point, you would either be really angry if you are a fan of this series, or you would wonder whether the series is worth watching if you have not watched this series. I mean the series still has some good points that kept me watching to the end besides the purpose of wanting to know the ending. They include the beautiful scenery that I have mentioned above, some moments of suspension about the secrets concerning each character, Vicky, Nicky, and Lin Jian Hua (because I am a fan of them). There are plenty of romantic scenes between Nicky and Vicky and close-ups of their faces that would guarantee to satisfy any die-hard fan of the couple. About first ten episodes of the series were great (I could have given the series four stars out of five if it kept up with that pace) but then after that the series drags on and dwells into really boring topics like the two Black and White old men and love relationship between Wu Ma and Song Nin Niang.

For a different view of the series and plenty of pictures of the series, visit this website: http://home.kimo.com.tw/xianu/

If you have more time on hand and like reading episode synopsis, visit this website for a detailed synopsis for the whole series: http://www.geocities.com/tvseries2000/

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