Fighting for Love (2024) - Final Review
Final review/rating: Fighting for Love (2024) - Hodgepodge of cringe comedy, decent action, and poorly written palace intrigue that falls well short of epic
This is 7/10 stars ✮✮✮✮✮✮✮ from Pandafan🐼
Overall rating: 7 Stars Plot: 6.5 Stars Acting/cast: 7 Stars Couple chemistry: 4 stars Music: 7 Stars Re-watch value: 4 Stars Enjoyment factor: 7 Stars |
The drama had such promise - a fantastic cast with Zhang Tian Ai, whom I remember fondly as the lethal foxy swordstress from Sword Snow Stride (2021), and Zhang Hao Wei, who has had a number of intriguing secondary character roles under his belt and who recently did a stellar job as the comical lead in The Trust (2023). Not to mention Wang Rui Chang whom I have not seen in a substantial role since In a Class of Her Own (2020) and whom you can always rely on for very watchable snark, as well as some veteran actors, such as Wang Yong Quan (whom viewers may remember as the iconic Xia Jiang from Nirvana in Fire (2015)).
The drama essentially tells the story of A'Mai (played by Zhang Tian Ai) and her quest for vengeance against Chen Qi, the childhood friend who massacred her family, and how she meets Shang Yi Zhi (played by Zhang Hao Wei), the happy-go-lucky son of the Grand Princess (the Emperor's sister). Because Shang Yi Zhi is actually the son of the previous Crown Prince, it is little wonder that the Emperor repeatedly tries to assassinate his 'nephew'. But A'Mai rescues Shang Yi Zhi on more than one occasion, and the two form a close bond.
To start off with the positives, I think Zhang Tian Ai did a commendable job of playing a female disguised as a male. She gets the swagger and mannerisms right and can pass for a beautiful looking man, so her natural beauty is not unnecessarily distracting. She also gives us an empathetic portrayal of A'Mai, who is a character that the audience can root for. Although she is something of a Mary Sue and has a saviour complex which makes her vulnerable to manipulation, she is also fiercely loyal and courageous - the kind of 'brother' you would like to have your back in a fight.
Wang Yong Quan's Lin Xiang (Chancellor Lin) also impressed, giving a compelling performance despite the role not being very well written. I also liked Yu Yang's portrayal of the wryly knowing Advisor Xu and was moved by Zhou Kui's General Shu. Tong Shu's Grand Princess Sheng Hua was particularly well done - the ruthlessness behind that smiling serenity was unnerving and made me think that with a mother like that, how was it possible for Shang Yi Zhi to be so useless? Incidentally, the chemistry the Grand Princess shared with General Shang in 5 minutes showcased more chemistry than anything the leads were able to show us in 36 episodes.
Instead, we get a half baked version of this in the drama, which had me suspecting that the scriptwriter actually wanted us to dislike Shang Yi Zhi. He is written to be a useless goofball from the outset, has occasional moments where he can inspire the troops and makes you wonder if he has hidden depths, but then he promptly proves otherwise. He also repeatedly does things that are sure to turn an audience against him. Notable examples were his unbelieving laughing when A'Mai reveals her true identity and explains why she needs to seek revenge, his revealing of A'Mai's gender to others on more than one occasion and without permission, his accidental killing of Chang Yu Qing's brother by shooting him in the back, and his expressed intention to keep A'Mai in the dark about how his parents killed hers. Just no.
Chemistry is not the only victim of the sub-par writing. There is also little attempt to tell a logical and compelling narrative.
But in the final two episodes, the crazy goes up a notch, again with no logical lead up. Emperor Shang Yi Zhi who has, up to this point, merely been feckless and bland, suddenly goes full Machiavellian, He starts offering to kill his Empress and concubines if only A'Mai will love him, imprisons A'Mai in her palace when she rejects him, before restoring her General status only to send her and her men into battle and deliberately withholding promised reinforcements whilst in league with Bei Mo's Chen Qi.
🐼: Fighting for Love (2024) was disappointing in that it squandered the potential of a highly rated source novel and somehow managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
The source material for the drama is also great. The drama is based on the popular novel A'Mai Cong Jun 阿麥從軍 ("A'Mai joins the Army") which as at the time of writing this review has a rating of 8.5 on Douban, which is a high score on a platform not given to generous ratings.
And yet, despite a promising beginning, this drama failed to deliver compelling viewing. I'm not of the view that a drama has to follow its source novel religiously, but watching this had me wondering how it was possible to butcher a great story this badly. It's as if the scriptwriter decided to demonstrate that with enough incompetence it is indeed possible to make a sow's ear out of a silk purse.
It's not all bad - there are some decent fight scenes, some great acting from the older veteran actors, and Zhang Tian Ai holds her own with a committed performance as the lead. I also thought that the ending was a fitting one. But unless you are a huge fan of the leads, this is definitely not a must watch and an overall rating of 7 is probably on the generous side...
For a spoiler free synopsis, see mine 👉 here.
Partly to escape the Emperor and because war breaks out with Bei Mo, Shang Yi Zhi become a general. A'Mai also joins the army as a foot soldier alongside her sworn brother Tang Shao Yi (played by Gao Ge) when she finds out that Chen Qi leads Bei Mo's armies. On the battlefield, A'Mai meets and clashes with Bei Mo General Chang Yu Qing (played by Wang Rui Chang) and due to her talent, A'Mai swiftly rises to become General Mai, the army's "little god of war".
But when a palace coup overturns the status quo, Shang Yi Zhi ascends the throne and A'Mai finds that power does indeed corrupt as Shang Yi Zhi repeatedly breaks faith with her and her troops...
What worked: FL, veteran side characters, decent action scenes
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| Zhang Tian Ai as A'Mai |
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| Yin Zhu Sheng as Emperor Qi Jing |
The drama also consistently gave us some great performances from the older veteran actors.
There's Yin Zhu Sheng's Emperor Qi Jing, whose acting elevated what would otherwise have been a one-dimensional villain into something more intriguing - a small minded tyrant given to random bouts of indulgent interpretative dance who should have known better and who lives long enough to find out that karma is a bitch. As soon as he appeared in episode 1, en déshabillé in low cut robes and a messy man bun, it brought to mind Chen Dao Ming's fabulous Joy of Life (2019) emperor, though it must be said that Chen Dao Ming definitely wore it better and the similarity in the respective characters end with the styling.
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| Tong Shu as Grand Princess |
The drama also gave us some fairly decent action scenes (both individual fighting scenes and battle scenes) which were not bad considering the budget, though for a drama ostensibly about A'Mai's adventures in the army, there definitely were not enough of these. But the ones that were there, and the showcasing of the bonds of brotherhood that A'Mai had with Tang Shao Yi and her fellow soldiers, were well done.
What didn't work: cringe comedy, crappy characterisation, and the lack of a logical and compelling narrative
One of the problems with Fighting for Love (2024) is that it failed to pick a lane, in that it tried to be funny and serious at the same time, with questionable results. From the outset, I found the comic tone to be off-kilter and rather cringeworthy. This is partly because comedy is not Zhang Tian Ai's forte and partly because Zhang Hao Wei's antics as Shang Yi Zhi just seemed inane given the circumstances in which Shang Yi Zhi and A'Mai find themselves. (Incidentally, Zhang Hao Wei actually can pull off comedy - see for eg) The Trust (2023), but in Fighting for Love (2024), his comedy is very hit and miss).
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| Zhang Hao Wei as Shang Yi Zhi |
It probably did not help at all that Shang Yi Zhi's character is really badly written and about as bland as cardboard and that his story largely overshadows that of A'Mai's in the second half of the drama. Zhang Hao Wei is usually very compelling as morally grey characters, but there wasn't much he could do with Shang Yi Zhi as written. It's a pity really because Shang Yi Zhi could have had so much potential in the right scriptwriter's hands: we could have had a wise 'fool' who "uses his folly like a stalking-horse" to disarm, an inspiring general whose men will follow him to hell and back, a reluctant king who has greatness thrust upon him, and who slowly gets corrupted by power and ultimately betrays both his lover and his brothers-in-arms. Now that would have been worth watching.
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| Shang Yi Zhi and A'Mai: Chemistry undetectable |
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| Chang Yu Qing and A'Mai |
There's also no real chemistry between A'Mai and Shang Yi Zhi and no build up to their 'romance' and to be frank, her choice of him had me seriously doubting her judgment. I am uncertain why the English title is Fighting for Love because there is no convincing CP pairing worth fighting for in sight. A'Mai literally has more chemistry with everyone else in the drama, including with Chen Qi (who massacred her family) and with Xiu'er, the girl who 'marries' her to protect her secret from being revealed. Thankfully, the drama spared us a love square as Gao Ge's Tang Shao Yi remained a brother throughout rather than yet another love interest as 3ML.
Many viewers were likely rooting for 2ML Wang Rui Chang's Chang Yu Qing to 'get the girl' but honestly, although their chemistry is comparatively better, there is also no build up for that potential pairing. Chang Yu Qing has minimal screen time (alas!) and just appears to fall for A'Mai out of the blue. It's baffling and squanders a potentially evocative forbidden romance between two generals on opposing sides.
Somehow A'Mai's impetuousness on the battlefield (seeing red and disobeying orders in order to gun for Chen Qi thus causing many comrades to die needlessly) cements her reputation as the "jade faced Yama" and the drama does not convincingly shore up credibility elsewhere for her military prowess as Nan Xia's "little god of war". I don't think we are ever shown any true military feats which justify her swift ascension to the rank of General. Key interconnecting scenes, such as when A'Mai's gender is revealed to all her troops, also appear to have been cut - one moment she is marrying Xiu'er to protect this secret, and then later, with no explanation, her troops are in on the secret and offering to revolt on her behalf against Shang Yi Zhi for marrying another woman.
Then there is the tediously unnecessary palace intrigue that ends with the unlikely scenario of the Emperor abdicating in favour of Shang Yi Zhi and later, Chancellor Lin trying to stage yet another poorly executed coup despite the fact that his daughter is Shang Yi Zhi's Empress and pregnant. I didn't sign up to have a female-centric revenge story turn into a tedious palace intrigue in which all parties seem to lose any semblance of intelligence and A'Mai is reduced to a lovelorn weepy woman who is deprived of her General status and consigned to being an Imperial Concubine against her will. Thankfully, she has the courage to get out of that mess, and not before time too.
The ending: more crazy, and ultimately a fitting conclusion
All this to 'buy peace' with Bei Mo for ten years by giving them a strategic city, just as the previous Emperor had apparently purchased 10 years of peace by collaborating with Bei Mo to kill A'Mai's father - the only Nan Xia general worth his salt. Beyond ridiculous really - why would any rational Emperor agree to neutralise the sole bulwark against invasion of his State in exchange for a promise by the potential invaders not to invade? Or think that appeasement brought at the price of betrayed troops will safeguard against further incursion and with no repercussions?
By the end, I was just relieved that A'Mai said hell no to all of this betrayal crap and decided to guard Jing Yang pass with her troops and to make it clear to Shang Yi Zhi that she would never take orders from him or see him again, Emperor or not. He didn't deserve her love and loyalty, and if she had forgiven him that last betrayal which saw her sworn brother die for nothing, the drama would have flopped completely.
As it was, A'Mai (finally) found her spine, and it was a nice touch to have Chang Yu Qing (hello handsome stranger, barely knew you) rock up with his troops to propose marriage in a thumbing of the nose to Shang Yi Zhi, and for A'Mai to refuse, and literally ride off into the sunset on her own terms. A trite HEA was definitely surplus to requirements here and thankfully the drama did not give us one.
Final thoughts
It's not everyday that a source novel rated 8.5 on Douban can be dramatised into a hodgepodge of cringe comedy, crappy characterisation, non-existent chemistry, and poorly written palace intrigue that leaves logic by the wayside and falls well short of being epic.
Zhang Tian Ai saves it from being a complete disaster by holding her own as the female lead, and there are also some decent fighting scenes interspersed throughout, as well as some commendable acting from the older veteran actors in the drama. But I would not recommend this one for readers of the original source novel who want a faithful adaptation or for those who want something more than a filler drama.
7/10 stars ✮✮✮✮✮✮✮
