Dragon Love

Starring: Benny Chan, Fennie Yuen, Nicola Cheung, Chin Kar Lok, Michael Tse, Jojo Cho.

Warning: Do not read this review if you are a die-hard fan of any actors/actresses starring in this series (well, if you choose to ignore my warning, do not blame me when you are mad).

I heard that "DRAGON LOVE" was among the series with lowest ratings in the year. However, I would blame it mostly on the scriptwriter.

Let's start with the silly plot: Benny's father is a highly regarded advisor of the King while Chin Kar Lok's father is a famous general. One day, Chin Kar Lok's father decided that he would go out and kill all the dragons (well, that was the impression I got from the series anyway). Benny's father objected to the idea of killing dragons, therefore, caused Chin Kar Lok's father to feel hatred towards him. He decided to resign and took his family away. One day, the Sea Dragon King, a very arrogant and hot-tempered man, came to his house and after a chess game, the Sea Dragon King wanted to form a friendship. However, knowing his true identity, Benny's father refused. While he was at the house of Benny's family, he forgot his duty to make rain and lightning. Therefore, his wife played by Jojo, who was pregnant, had to make rain and was injured by Chin Kar Lok's father. Benny's father saved Jojo. Therefore, the Sea Dragon King wanted to make a pact that their children would be married. Meanwhile, Chin Kar Lok's father had found out the house and was determined to kill the dragons. This enraged the Dragon King therefore, he nearly destroyed the whole city. Chin Kar Lok's mother died in the chaos. He and his sister, accidentally, were brought up by Benny's mother.

Benny grew up to be an intelligent and compassionate medicine man. Jojo also gave birth to three children, one girl (Fennie) and two boys. She met up with Benny and they fell in love. Nicola Cheung played a spoilt princess who ran away from the palace to search for fun. She also fell in love with Benny. Chin Kar Lok grew up to be a strong man who is very good at kung-fu and he loved the Princess. During this time, the Sea Dragon King wanted to fulfill his pact as he wanted Benny and Fennie to marry each other. Yet Benny's mother is fearful of the power of the Dragons and tried to deny the pact. Chin Kar Lok's father reappeared and still wanted to kill the dragons as he blamed them for his family's separation.

Basically, the whole series was about how badly Chin Kar Lok's father wanted to kill the dragons. I mean, what is that guy's problem? Why must he be so stubborn? The series started with a plot that headed for a dead end. There were moments in the series where the dialogue was so badly written that it annoyed me a great deal. It seemed at some point in the series, the scriptwriter just said to the actor/actress: "I have given up, don't know what else to write, why don't you guys just make up your own lines". some scenes contain totally unnecessary and senseless dialogue. The pace of the whole series was so slow. The fighting scenes were also done badly. The audience was dazzled with the obvious message conveyed by the TVB's special effect team, "YIPPEEE, WE KNOW HOW TO USE COMPUTERS FOR SPECIAL EFFECTS". For any fan who expects good fighting scenes, too bad, you would not find that in this series. Instead, these scenes were filled with lightning, pretty colours and explosion. Oh, one more thing, around half way through the series, I was so sick of seeing dragons flying around.

Benny could not act. I was really disappointed with his acting as I had so much expectation for him after watching JOURNEY TO THE WEST II. He and Fennie did not have any chemistry together. With the ancient costume, she looked better than in "FACE TO FACE" as the costume has many layers but her acting was terrible. I just don't like the idea of her playing a little girl, she does not look like it. Chin Kar Lok was fit to play a man with strength but no brain. Yet, he was paired with Nicola Cheung. This couple also showed no chemistry. The role of Nicola Cheung was very unreasonable at some points in the series. Michael Tse and the actress who played Chin Kar Lok's sister made a cute couple. But even they could not save the series. The whole series failed to capture the audience's attention and to leave an impression with its silly and make-no-sense script.

Screenshots (TVB Copyrighted).