Yong An Dream (2024) - Final Review
Final review/rating: Yong An Dream (2024) - A sweet adaptation that eschews the darkness of the source novel in favour of light fluffiness
This is 7/10 stars ✮✮✮✮✮✮✮ from Pandafan🐼
Overall rating: 7 Stars Plot: 7 Stars Acting/cast: 7 Stars Couple chemistry: 6 stars Music: 6 Stars Re-watch value: 6 Stars Enjoyment factor: 7 Stars |
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| Jeremy Tsui/Xu Zheng Xi as Lu Shi Yan |
I've always wanted a magnum opus from Xu Zheng Xi - a drama that showcases the full extent of his considerable abilities. The man has a gravelly low voice (criminally under used alas!), the ability to swing from high comedy to tormented angst, and the acting chops to carry off nuanced morally grey anti-heroes. Sadly, he has not had much luck with the scripts that have come his way and more often than not, he has been paired with much younger actresses who are not in his league acting wise, and/or he is casted in some generic idol romcom.
Yong An Dream (2024) is more of the same, rather than magnum opus material. Notably, the source novel《長安第一美人》Chang'an's First Beauty goes down some very dark Stockholm-syndrome-on-steroids pathways and was a did-not-finish for me, but the drama adaptation sanitises this in favour of light fluffiness.
