Treasure Raiders

Siu Sup Yat Long: Felix Wong
Fung Sei-Leong : Maggie Siu
Sum Bik Gwan : Anne Heung
Yang Heung Tai : Tsang Wai Kin
Fa Yu Yoke : Halina Tam

I felt a strong urge to write this review after reading SPCNET's as I think this series is rather fascinating and not as bad as claimed. I'm new to Gu Long's books as well; in fact, this is only the second series from his work that I've watched besides Chor Lau Heung (Adam Cheng).

I think this series boasts of an excellent cast and an interesting storyline. Felix plays the title role, and as usual, he gave a veteran performance, although I must say he really doesn't look or act like a thief. His character is the typical hero plagued by a tragic past and a forbidden love. Not being Chinese-literate, I haven't read the book and so I'm ignorant of how Gu Long himself portrays this character. Role development in terms of script is rather flawed, though Felix really gave it depth. However, I was annoyed at the number of times he died and is revived again. It came to a point that I wished he'd just die and be done with it, especially at the end. The idea that Siu won't die that easily just because he is a determined person is ludicrous to the extreme. He is not THAT incredible.

Maggie Siu portrayed Fung Sei-Leong with ease and skill. She plays a thief-turned-cop character who spends the entire series chasing after Siu Sup Yat Long, both literally and figuratively. Although Fung is likeable, her role in the story is not really substantial, at least not that I can see, except for her relationship with several other supporting characters, like Yang Heung Toi and Fa Yu Yok. One grouse that I have is that she doesn't seem to care much about Fa Ping (head of Black Mountain Bandits)'s death although the guy did a lot for her. She sobbed at Yang's passing, but Fa Ping could have been a pebble for all the notice she took of him.

Hugo Ng was good as the villain, but somehow, he lacks something. At the beginning, he is cunning and patient, manipulating his enemies' moves with every turn. His strength was not in his physical skills, but in his mind. Here, Hugo is in his element, and he was superb, as you can see that he is in control and everything he predicted came about. At the end, he suddenly became more impulsive and aggressive, and his demise was too abrupt to be believed. If Siu can return from the dead, I don't see why this guy couldn't, especially since his kungfu skills are supposedly much better than Siu's.

Kwok Ming Yiu is average as Lin Sing Bik. In fact, I'm so used to seeing him play a good-who-is-actually-bad person, that I knew that Sing Bik is one of the hidden villains long before TVB revealed it. I must say that I never expected him to be the long-lost brother of Siu though. That was a really interesting twist. And I was touched by the genuine love he bears for Bik Gwan throughout the series although I was relieved that Gwan never returned it. Performance-wise, Mr. Kwok almost imitated a tree but that's forgivable as his role demanded little in terms of acting skills.

Anne Heung as Sum Bik Gwan? She improved, I'd say that for her, and her sweet patient Bik Gwan is credible. She doesn't have the face for being the number one beauty in the world however. And her performance just doesn't have the spark. Carmen Lee would have been a better choice for this role, if she'd been available. The three supporting casts which I really liked are Little Master, Fa Yu Yoke, and (much to my own surprise) Yang Heung Tai. In fact, the only scene which made me cry was when Yang died. He portrayed the dumb-but-loyal man so well that I find him quite the victim when he was killed. And although I don't know the actress who plays Little Master, kudos to her. Her performance was excellent! I really hope to see more of her in future series.

This series is quite enjoyable, and there were times of suspense when you don't quite know who is the traitor and who isn't. Admittedly, there are some cliches, but as an ancient series, it is commendable. Plotwise, it has some good twists. Watch it for the cast and story if for nothing else.