Grace Under Fire

Title: Grace Under Fire <女拳> (2011)

Number of episodes: 32

Cast:
Mok Kwai Lan – Liu Xuan
Lui Ching Lung- Bosco Wong
Yau Sam Shui- Kenneth Ma
Kwai Fa- Fala Chen
Wong Fei Hung- John Chiang
Lui Gong - Dominic Lam

'Grace Under Fire' is marketed as a real kungfu drama
featuring a legendary female martial artist as the backbone;
this alone sparks interest to many women and kungfu lovers.
However, the screenplay and direction took another turn and
were done so lousily that it fails to deliver and the end
result is just another TVB incongruous soap opera.

Plot, theme direction and screenplay:

The Chinese title for this series is literally translated as
Female Fist. The costume fitting clearly stated that the series
focal point will be Mok Kwai Lan, Wong Fei Hung‘s fourth wife. All
preceding promotion and marketing stunts are focused on China’s former
national gymnast Liu Xuan who played Mok. Yet, the main plot is not
about Mok, instead the screenwriters just took out cliches from past
TVB serials and crushed them all in here. Mok only gets to display
more action skills between episode 30-32 (or episode
30 in HK which lasted approximately 2 hours and 45 minutes).

The screenplay is incongrous and flowed badly. I reserve some opinion
that many scenes have been cut to fit the 32 episodes, but that just
means the editing department is doing a lousy job at editing. There
was one scene where Mok and Lui Ching Lung were practising martial
arts using some sticks, and the scene only lasted 2 seconds (what??)
before abruptly cutting just when I was trying to pay attention. The
series has a bad flow in screenplay and editing.

Choreography:

Since TVB marketed this series as a “martial arts drama” I will put
some attention on this part. The martial arts sifus look weak from my
preception. True, we can’t expect a lot from TVB and John Chiang and
Dominic Lam have aged but when martial arts practitioners Kenny Wong
and Sin Ho Ying don’t deliver much either, I began to question whether
the weakness is contributed mostly by the choreographer.

Characters:

No characters really “wow-ed” me since the screenplay is lousy, not
even the main protagonist Mok. Some characters undergo too much
development while some others develop "behind the scene” and these
elements contribute to the incongruousness of the story. It’s
unnecessary to show every bit of Yau Sam Shui‘s idiotic moves and
everyday abuse that much.

There’s also Lui Gong whose changes are all over the place, although
Master Lui is undeniably one of the more entertaining character. What
about the other main characters Mok, Ah Lung and Kwai Fa? Mok’s
character is allocated much screentime, but in the beginning of the
series she doesn’t have much to do and only serves as side character
to Sam Shui. Ah Lung is a “soy-sauce” character and has little
development and little involvement with the central plot. Kwai Fa is a
vase for the most part, until she gets more involved near the end of
the series.

Among the supporting characters, the more prominent are Mok Ping (Law
Lok Lam), Chui Hing Tou (Eddie Kwan), Tong Yit Hang (Ngok Wah) and
Wong Hon Bong (Power Chan).

Acting:

The acting is decent for the most part, but appear mediocre
because of the weak screenplay.

Liu Xuan did a decent job as Mok Kwai Lan (considering
this is her TVB debut) based on her expressions alone since I can’t
judge her speech. She has good screen presence although she is small.
Her moves are pretty fluid but I wished she was given more kung fu
scenes to do. I appreciate that she did most of the fighting by
herself. If this is her HK career launcher, I think she needs to thank
the promotional and marketing team more than the
screenwriter.

Bosco Wong did a decent job too as Lui Ching Lung. He
acts with nuances and showed better grasp in drama compared to his
previous serials, he also is capable of showing emotions in his eyes
besides utilizing proper body language to his character. The part
where Ah Lung pounded the table in exasperation is one of his better
scenes. I also appreciate his effort for doing most of the fights by
himself and he moves decently for an actor without martial arts
background.

Kenneth Ma‘s acting here is not my cup of tea. Yau Sham
Shui is pure evil and some of the “evil” deeds he did in this
drama are enjoyable to watch, but to me is enjoyable for another
reason. I don’t blame Kenneth entirely for not capturing my attention
since the screenplay needs to be responsible too for making Sam Shui
an “idiotic fool” with low IQ in the beginning and changed into an
entire different “scheming smart guy” with high IQ Sam Shui in the
later part. I can’t see them as the same person.

Kenneth does play around with the classic TVB-villain-expressions
but without much nuance and only relying on dramatic actions and
expressions, that’s why he’s not my cup of tea here. However if this
is a “comedy” I may rate his performance higher in my book because I
found him unintentionally ‘amusing’.

Fala Chen did a decent work with what she’s given as the “vase”
Kwai Fa. Her beauty is one of her strong points since she looks
remarkable in the period clothing and simple make-up. Braids suit her
too. Fala has gotten better control in her emotional scenes. One of
her notable scenes is her connection with the little girl. I did like
the chemistry between Fala and Bosco although the spark only lasts for
a few episodes. They had little of it during the beginning, thanks to
the incongruous plot.

John Chiang may seem “meh” to some but his acting is my cup of
tea. This is an actor who understands how to act with nuances and
depth without doing too much. I enjoyed his chemistry with his son
Raymond Wong, Mok Kwai Lan, and Ah Lung. Dominic Lam is
faced by Lui Gong’s absurd changes, but he is a solid performer. I
appreciate both of the veterans’ effort in Lui Gong and Fei Hung’s
fighting scene in episode 23.

Eddie Kwan and Ngok Wah are solid as the villains.
Special mention goes to Power Chan for his acting as a mentally
challenged person. He did not use Roger Kwok’s Ah Wong or Pierre Ngo’s
overacting methods in The Rippling Blossoms. Oscar Leung
is adorable and funny as “Monkey” Siu Hao. Leung Ka Kei‘s
weakness is striking among the sea of more experienced actors and
she’s burdened with a weak character.

Final Verdict:

All in all, 'Grace Under Fire' has a potential to be a good drama had
the theme direction didn’t lose focus and divert from the “marketed”
theme. A biography that truly focused on female fighter Mok Kwai Lan
would’ve made the drama more substantial and meaningful than a
recycled mess of TVB political dramas. I give this drama 2.5 stars.
The screenplay structure is messy for the most part.