AlternativePerspective
This review may contain spoilers
Stay true to You and You will become your own Hero
A Quick Summary
Heroes is a story told from the perspective of a young, bright-spirited orphan called Wang Xiaoshi (played by Zeng Shunxi), who grows up in the outskirts of the city, under the tutelage of his Shifu. After being endowed with a special Retainment sword by his Shifu, Wang Xiaoshi (WXS) aka "Little Rock" is instructed to venture onto the mainland and personally hand over a locked Jade box to a person named Su Mengzhen (SMZ). WXS has no idea what the locked Jade box contains but he dutifully sets about to accomplish this mission. When Little Rock steps onto the mainland fresh off the boat, the action and adventures begin. He tries to drop codenames to find the whereabouts of Su Mengzhen, but finds himself landing right in the storm of a power conflict between 2 pugilistic sects that dominated the scene - House of Sunset Drizzle (HSD) and Six Half Hall (SHH). Both sects run by their own ideologies and are constant competition with one another for fame, money and power. The defected members of HSD (the sect whom which Su belongs to) tries to steal the Jade box off Wang Xiaoshi, while members from the opposing sect, SHH, are also chasing him for the Jade box. On the run, Wang Xiaoshi meets 2 other characters; a feisty, hot-headed aristocrat called Wen Rou ~WR (played by Yang Chao Yue) and an ambitious and lone fighter called Bai Chou Fei ~ BCF (played by Liu Yu Ning).
With the assistance of Wen Rou's connections, Wang Xiaoshi and Bai Choufei eventually meet the famed Su Mengzhen in the middle of a HSD sect civil war and pass him the Jade box. The Jade Box isn't the centrepiece of the entire drama story, it simply contains a slip of paper naming Su to be the next sect leader of HSD. Su Mengzhen, the shrewd leader, is taken by the courage, chivalry and talents of the two young voluntary messengers and quickly offers them an opportunity to join the HSD sect as and become his sworn brothers. They form the new trio musketeers of the story, and this is where the drama gets a little messy and confusing. Instead of viewing the drama through the lens of the eternal optimist Wang Xiaoshi (as the opening episodes suggested), the viewers get introduced to many characters, each with their own agendas, backstory and transformation arc.
The Overarching Plot
The title of the drama suggests that the Scriptwriter wants the viewers to rethink how they would define someone as a hero as no character in the drama is morally perfect without flaws or blemish. Through the various situations each character experiences through the drama, we can see how each one of them end up wrestling with their ideologies and values of what it means to be true to themselves. Some characters end up in a tragic down spiral (Bai Chou Fei), some reach an endpoint of their game and giving up striving (Su Mengzhen, Lei Sun), some wisen up and mature for the better (Wang Xiaoshi, Wen Rou, Lei Chun) while some make silent sacrifices that remain unknown to many (Di Fei Sheng, Zhu Xiaoyao).
Some Weaknesses in the Storyline of the Plot
There are several subplots mostly in the script which should not have been omitted so that the audience isn't left feeling underwhelmed and short-changed enough to fill the gaps with their own imagination. Examples include the final takedown of evildoer Fan Yingkan by silent hero Di Feijing, the backstory of how Wang Xiao shi's famous father actually died, the much needed maturity for Wen Rou to grow into in order to become a worthy life partner for the main protagonist Wang Xiaoshi other than just being a socially convenient connection to Su Mengzhen etc
Also, I felt that the filmmakers should have focused more scenes either on the spontaneous light-hearted friendship of WXS, BCF and WR or sworn brotherhood between the 3 young leaders of HSD- SMZ, WXS and BCF. The friendship and brotherhood felt too shallow as it was formed too quickly over too few scenes for my liking.
My 2 Cents
Overall, I did enjoy watching this drama for its action sequences, cinematography and good looking acting talents. But I do feel that despite the heavy investment in the exquisite costumes, scenic locations, set design and martial arts choreography, this drama could have been done much better. I do hope that the producers can consider making a sequel to this Wuxia drama as there is potential for some of the characters to develop their own unique story arcs.
Heroes is a story told from the perspective of a young, bright-spirited orphan called Wang Xiaoshi (played by Zeng Shunxi), who grows up in the outskirts of the city, under the tutelage of his Shifu. After being endowed with a special Retainment sword by his Shifu, Wang Xiaoshi (WXS) aka "Little Rock" is instructed to venture onto the mainland and personally hand over a locked Jade box to a person named Su Mengzhen (SMZ). WXS has no idea what the locked Jade box contains but he dutifully sets about to accomplish this mission. When Little Rock steps onto the mainland fresh off the boat, the action and adventures begin. He tries to drop codenames to find the whereabouts of Su Mengzhen, but finds himself landing right in the storm of a power conflict between 2 pugilistic sects that dominated the scene - House of Sunset Drizzle (HSD) and Six Half Hall (SHH). Both sects run by their own ideologies and are constant competition with one another for fame, money and power. The defected members of HSD (the sect whom which Su belongs to) tries to steal the Jade box off Wang Xiaoshi, while members from the opposing sect, SHH, are also chasing him for the Jade box. On the run, Wang Xiaoshi meets 2 other characters; a feisty, hot-headed aristocrat called Wen Rou ~WR (played by Yang Chao Yue) and an ambitious and lone fighter called Bai Chou Fei ~ BCF (played by Liu Yu Ning).
With the assistance of Wen Rou's connections, Wang Xiaoshi and Bai Choufei eventually meet the famed Su Mengzhen in the middle of a HSD sect civil war and pass him the Jade box. The Jade Box isn't the centrepiece of the entire drama story, it simply contains a slip of paper naming Su to be the next sect leader of HSD. Su Mengzhen, the shrewd leader, is taken by the courage, chivalry and talents of the two young voluntary messengers and quickly offers them an opportunity to join the HSD sect as and become his sworn brothers. They form the new trio musketeers of the story, and this is where the drama gets a little messy and confusing. Instead of viewing the drama through the lens of the eternal optimist Wang Xiaoshi (as the opening episodes suggested), the viewers get introduced to many characters, each with their own agendas, backstory and transformation arc.
The Overarching Plot
The title of the drama suggests that the Scriptwriter wants the viewers to rethink how they would define someone as a hero as no character in the drama is morally perfect without flaws or blemish. Through the various situations each character experiences through the drama, we can see how each one of them end up wrestling with their ideologies and values of what it means to be true to themselves. Some characters end up in a tragic down spiral (Bai Chou Fei), some reach an endpoint of their game and giving up striving (Su Mengzhen, Lei Sun), some wisen up and mature for the better (Wang Xiaoshi, Wen Rou, Lei Chun) while some make silent sacrifices that remain unknown to many (Di Fei Sheng, Zhu Xiaoyao).
Some Weaknesses in the Storyline of the Plot
There are several subplots mostly in the script which should not have been omitted so that the audience isn't left feeling underwhelmed and short-changed enough to fill the gaps with their own imagination. Examples include the final takedown of evildoer Fan Yingkan by silent hero Di Feijing, the backstory of how Wang Xiao shi's famous father actually died, the much needed maturity for Wen Rou to grow into in order to become a worthy life partner for the main protagonist Wang Xiaoshi other than just being a socially convenient connection to Su Mengzhen etc
Also, I felt that the filmmakers should have focused more scenes either on the spontaneous light-hearted friendship of WXS, BCF and WR or sworn brotherhood between the 3 young leaders of HSD- SMZ, WXS and BCF. The friendship and brotherhood felt too shallow as it was formed too quickly over too few scenes for my liking.
My 2 Cents
Overall, I did enjoy watching this drama for its action sequences, cinematography and good looking acting talents. But I do feel that despite the heavy investment in the exquisite costumes, scenic locations, set design and martial arts choreography, this drama could have been done much better. I do hope that the producers can consider making a sequel to this Wuxia drama as there is potential for some of the characters to develop their own unique story arcs.
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