This is what happens when you remake a classic but can't decide if you want to go for a fresh take of the story or if you want to imitate the original. In this case, the director/writer decided that it'd tell original story as well as copying some aspect of the original. Well, it doesn't work.
At the start, the film has an interesting original twist: Louis Koo's character, Yan Chixia, is revealed to be the main love interest for Liu Yifei's character, Nie Xiaoqian. Unfortunately, instead of exploring this new take of the story, the writers decided to also include the scholar character to create some kind of love triangle.
This is pointless because unlike Leslie Cheung in the original, the actor who plays Ning Caichen in this film is completely devoid of any charisma. On top of this, he's also a VERY AWFUL actor. As a result, the audience's sympathy immediately defaults back to Louis Koo's character, which admittedly is pretty cool.
And here's the problem: Koo's character doesn't get shown that often until the later half of the story. Instead, the story decides to retell the whole encounter of Ning Caichen and Nie Xiaoqian from the original film. So you are now forced to watch some cringe-worthy scenes of the chemistry-less couple until the end reveals the real pairing of the story.
One would also think that since the original is pretty outdated in terms of FX, this one will at least have some good one. Unfortunately that's not the case either. Sure, it's slightly better but it's nothing extraordinary. In fact, most scenes look bland and lack the mystery/enchantment of the original.
In summary: disappointing remake of a classic. The only redeeming factor is the introduction of the new character played by Koo. But since he's not even featured that often in the story, the whole point of a retelling ended up being moot.
At the start, the film has an interesting original twist: Louis Koo's character, Yan Chixia, is revealed to be the main love interest for Liu Yifei's character, Nie Xiaoqian. Unfortunately, instead of exploring this new take of the story, the writers decided to also include the scholar character to create some kind of love triangle.
This is pointless because unlike Leslie Cheung in the original, the actor who plays Ning Caichen in this film is completely devoid of any charisma. On top of this, he's also a VERY AWFUL actor. As a result, the audience's sympathy immediately defaults back to Louis Koo's character, which admittedly is pretty cool.
And here's the problem: Koo's character doesn't get shown that often until the later half of the story. Instead, the story decides to retell the whole encounter of Ning Caichen and Nie Xiaoqian from the original film. So you are now forced to watch some cringe-worthy scenes of the chemistry-less couple until the end reveals the real pairing of the story.
One would also think that since the original is pretty outdated in terms of FX, this one will at least have some good one. Unfortunately that's not the case either. Sure, it's slightly better but it's nothing extraordinary. In fact, most scenes look bland and lack the mystery/enchantment of the original.
In summary: disappointing remake of a classic. The only redeeming factor is the introduction of the new character played by Koo. But since he's not even featured that often in the story, the whole point of a retelling ended up being moot.
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