I've always had kind of a love hate relationship with Chinese historical BLs. Some are genuinely excellent, but then there are others that cram in so much plot that keeping track of all the layers of betrayal and scheming gets exhausting, and I end up checking out mentally. Part of the issue is also just how much content is out there in this space, so something really has to stand out to keep me hooked. In this case, the production value is genuinely impressive, top tier stuff, but story wise, I just couldn't bring myself to actually care about these characters. There's a ton of political scheming and backstage manipulation running throughout. Somewhere in the middle of all that chaos, a hostage ends up falling for his own Prince Charming. The show runs eight episodes, each around 50 to 60 minutes long. After spending three years guarding the border, Fifth Prince Yin Qi gets called back to the capital because of a secret letter, only to end up walking straight into a deadly...
Daniel and Christopher are about to get married. The day before, Daniel, the older and more controlling of the two, is organizing the rehearsal dinner for family and close friends. Christopher's closest friends have a surprise for him when they track down his best friend Emma from his childhood days and invite her for the wedding. Christopher cant control his excitement but Daniel is little upset that he didn't even know of her existence. Few friends have doubts if the couple will make it because of age difference but they are all very supportive. Its time for dinner and slowly folks start toasting. The group includes Daniels parents, his sister and his best friend and 3 of Christopher's friends. We slowly find out how Emma and Christopher know each other and how Christopher gets emotional about his parents when he gets the love from his in-laws. But this eventually leads to an explosive argument when Christopher tells Daniel that the woman who was supposed to marry them can't make it anymore. Both of them start questioning on their communication and are they really ready for this marriage. Eventually Emma and Daniel's sister put some sense in them individually and they decide to get married then and there that night.
There is a lot of drama in the film, but thankfully nothing was over the top or even humongous issues. But every single thing that was the reason for drama is something that you would expect to come up in a new relationship. You expect that a couple who has been together for 4 years would have talked about these things. There is barely any humour and everything after a while gets very dramatic and too talkative, especially at the dinner table. The 2 men have both withheld information but due to any malice or bad intention. t just happened and it takes external folks to make them realize how much they love each other. Acting wise thankfully everyone does a very good job and I never rolled my eyes. They were all thorough professionals and the leads had very good chemistry between them. The problem here is the story and screenplay. There is not much meat to it. Too much dialogues and a lethargic direction is the big disappointment.
The film is strictly average. It feels like a made for TV movie. Not a bad film but the slow pace and too much dialogues test your patience to an extent. (5.5/10)
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