Huo Yuan Jia review
Huo Yuan Jia
Story
Huo Yuan Jia is the story of the martial artist in the early 1900s who founded the Chin Woo Athletic Association. The small town of Jinghai is divided in two, supporting either the Huo or the Zhao family. The patriarchs of the families, Huo En Di and Zhao Sheng Xian were once disciples of the same martial arts sect but a past misunderstanding lead to an argument. Ever since then the Huo and the Zhao families have been rivals. The fourth son of Huo En Di, Yuan Jia is forbidden by his father to learn martial arts. Yuan Jia learns martial arts behind his father's back and manages to keep it a secret as he's growing up. When an acquaintance from the past suddenly reappears, Yuan Jia is forced to reveal the martial arts skills he has kept hidden all his life. This is only the beginning of Yuan Jia's journey towards becoming the legendary man who inspired Chinese to take pride in themselves in a time when China was dominated by foreign countries.
This series is a remake of an old ATV series called "The Legendary Fok", which I have not seen. I already knew the gist of the story from Jet Li's movie "Fearless" but I soon discovered that this series would portray Yuan Jia very differently, not to mention that this series is a whole lot better than "Fearless". The first half of the series is focused around Yuan Jia, his relationships and his family mostly, while the latter half moves on to politics and the foundation of Chin Woo Athletic Association. There's a real nationalistic feeling about this series, different political views are portrayed but what's good IMO is that Yuan Jia stays on his own path all the time. Though the people around him have different views on how the country should change Yuan Jia can understand their points yet focus on what really he set out to accomplish and not get side tracked. Save for a few things the plot is well written. Nearly all the characters seem to have a journey of their own and the character development is great.
Cast/Characters
Ekin Cheng as Huo Yuan Jia
The hero of the story, at times I thought that Yuan Jia was a little too perfect. His only fault lay in not being able to love Wang Yun because he was already in love with Qian Nan. But Huo Yuan Jia is somewhat iconic hero, so the "perfectness" didn't bother me. He was portrayed more like a calm, sensible person in a pretty chaotic time. Yuan Jia has walked his own path from the beginning and it was great seeing the more mischievous, carefree young man in the beginning evolve into the hero that he was in the end. Perhaps I'm biased but the moment I heard that Ekin Cheng was going to act as Huo Yuan Jia I thought that he would be perfect. After watching this series I wasn't let down at all. Ekin uses a rather "quiet" way to play Yuan Jia. Rather than relying on obvious face expressions he uses body language and his eyes to convey emotions. Ekin's Yuan Jia was quiet, calm, humble yet still brave and heroic. I thought this was perfect, as Huo Yuan Jia shouldn't be acting flamboyant in any way. I actually thought that Ekin wasn't as good in the few scenes where Yuan Jia has wild displays of emotions, the acting there didn't feel convincing to me.
Jordan Chen as Chen Zhen
Though the title is "Huo Yuan Jia", this series is just as much about Chen Zhen. Chen Zhen goes through his own journey throughout the series, watching the last two episodes made me realize just how far his character has come since the beginning. He starts out as simple minded and a little dumb but grows immensely and becomes more complex. Chen Zhen becomes a person who is torn by his loyalty to his two masters. Jordan Chen portrays that very well, he was probably the best actor in this series. I could not think of one scenes where I thought he did bad, but rather several where his acting really moved me. Physically he suits Chen Zhen's character too. Jordan Chen is simply amazing, the scene where he confronts Yuan Jia in the church was probably the best in the entire series.
Zhou Mu Yin as Zhao Qian Nan
Qian Nan and Yuan Jia met in secret throughout their childhood and from the beginning it's obvious how they have feelings for each other. Initially I did not like Qian Nan's character. In the beginning she was very selfish and it was difficult for me to see why Yuan Jia loved her. I expected her to have a stronger character in the beginning and not be such a damsel in distress, especially since she had trained martial arts with since she was a child. For a long time her character was a bit of a let down. There were a lot of times I thought that she was going to step up and do something useful, to become a force to be reckoned with. That did not happen and instead Qian Nan started to feel more like victim. It was not until the end of the series that she seemed to mature and grow into a strong, capable woman. At the end of the series I could understand why people called her a heroine and why she and Yuan Jia suited each other. While Wang Yun was the ideal wife, Qian Nan was someone who could share Yuan Jia's work and take charge of the situation. Her martial arts skills did not seem to progress but she gained inner strength at the end of the series. Zhou Mu Yin is a good actress who portrayed Qian Nan well. Regardless of what I think about her character, her crying scenes were really amazing.
Ding Li as Wang Yun
Wang Yun and Yuan Jia have been bethrothed since their childhood. Wang Yun has loved Yuan Jia ever since but he has never thought of her as more than a sister. This storyline was what initially captured my interest, because of Ding Li's wonderful portrayl and sympathy for Wang Yun. Despite her feelings for Yuan Jia, she puts his happiness above her own. What I liked was despite all she suffered, she never blamed Qian Nan for it. It was really difficult trying to understand how Yuan Jia could love someone else when he already had such a caring wife. As I mentioned before Ding Li was wonderful in this role. Much like Ekin she has a quiet sort of acting, relying on subtle expressions and using her eyes. But unlike Ekin, the scenes where she breaks down are very convincing. It actually added to the sympathy that I felt for Wang Yun, who is normally such a calm and quiet character that it feels awful to see her in tears.
Bryan Leung as Huo En Di
Bryan Leung is one of my favorite veteran actors so I was happy to see him in this series. He was a good pick for Huo En Di as well, portraying him as a hot tempered, righteous and strong man. While Huo En Di is all that, he is also a person who loves his family more than he expresses. The last few episodes he appeared in were really sad. It showed the natural aging of his character and how everyone, sooner or later, must realize that their parents, no matter how invincible they seem to be, grow old and eventually pass away.
Xiu Qing as Long Hai Sheng
Long Hai Sheng is Zhao Qian Nan's cousin. Though he is well educated and rich, there is something much dark dwelling underneath the surface. Long Hai Sheng is one of the many villains of this story. The word despicable really isn't enough to describe him. He is played by Xiu Qing, who has played Ouyang Ke in "Legend of the Condor Heroes 2003" and Murong Fu in "Tian long ba bu 2003". Most people did not seem satisfied with Xiu Qing in those two roles but I thought that he was good, he really got the villain part down. Long Hai Sheng is no exception, he is a tragic villain only he is tragic in the sense that he had far too great ambitions.
Qu Yue as Wang Xiu Zhi
Wang Xiu Zhi is the sister of a bank owner in Tianjin. She is Christian and teaches the local children as well as Chen Zhen about Christianity, although she too has a secret. I can't really decide whether I like Xiu Zhi as a character or not. In her scenes with Chen Zhen she's quite charming but in the more dramatic scenes I thought she was somewhat weak. Qu Yue's acting was good and she has a very radiant smile which suits her character.
Other characters
Praise goes to the actor who played Liu Sheng Zhen, whose name I couldn't find. Although Liu Sheng Zhen never really has a storyline of his own, he is a good and very likable supporting character. Ge Lei who plays Huo En Di's wife and Yuan Jia's mother was good as well, being maternal, strong and a gentle wife at the same time.
Technical details
The opening theme (Youtube video) is the same as the one from "The Legendary Fok". It's sung in Cantonese and the lyrics are quite nationalistic, which fits the series very well. The ending theme is "Ye shang" by Mao Ning and Chen Ming, which is a more romantic, tragic duet. I like the clips for both themes. The opening clips are more focused on Yuan Jia and Chen Zhen, while the ending clips show the emotional scenes of the series. Otherwise I recognized a lot of the background music from "Sword stained with royal blood 2007" as well as "Legend of the Condor Heroes 2003".
One thing I liked about this series is how the choreography feels real. Since this is the early 1900s and has no element of fantasy in it and it's not wuxia, too much CGI would have felt out of place. Having said that there's quite a bit of wire work but nothing that looks completely unreal. I enjoyed the fight scenes a lot, they show that it's possible to be both creative and realistic at the same time.
Overall impression
Now that I've raved about the plot, the actors, the choreography, what's left? At times I thought that the series dragged a little and while it was great, it wasn't the kind of series that I would watch over and over again. But as I was going to delete it I kept wanting to look back to different scenes here and there. It's Yuan Jia's heroism, Wang Yun's unselfish and sacrificing love, Chen Zhen's conflicts, not to mention the overall plot. I could really feel how Huo Yuan Jia was an iconic hero at a time when the Chinese were being called "The sick men of Asia". There's something very touching about this series which has left a lasting impression on me, so in the end it's a keeper anyway. It gets 4,5 out of 5, only because of a little dragginess and because Qian Nan's character in the first 3/4 of the series.