Big Shot - 大人物

Big Shot (大人物) is a 2007 wuxia series out of China. The main stars are Nicholas Tse, Angelica Lee, Yan Kuan, Liu Tao, and Zhao Qing. The supporting cast include Tang Yi Fei, Yang Jia, Xiong Nai Jin, and Yang Huai Ming. The version I watched runs a smooth 40 episodes, but its listed as 31 in drama wiki.

The Cast
Nicholas Tse as Yang Fan
Angelica Lee as Tian Si Si
Yan Kuan as Qin Ge
Liu Tao as Gong Zi Chu (Chu Chu)
Zhao Qing as Fei Wu Ji
Si Qin Gao Li as Zhang Hao Er
Tang Yi Fei as Qian Ning
Ren Tian Ye as Liu Qing

The Story

There is a metal masked man that been terrorizing Wu Ling for decades. The masked man has his grips in many activities. Yang Fan is the son of a successful general. Yang Fan is sent to Meteor Clan to study at an early age and has the double duty of finding out its dirty secrets too. However, he's engaged to the daughter of a very rich business man in the capital, Tian Si Si. Si Si is as annoying as heck and wants to get out in the Jiang Hu and see it for herself. However, the night before their wedding, Yang Fan is killed and replaced. No one knows this and not even the replacement Yang Fan. The two get married, but Si Si has more hate than love for her new husband. Can Yang Fan investigate and find out if the Meteor Garden is evil and who is that masked man controlling all those puppets.

My Thoughts
The series was pretty enjoyable for the most part. The wuxia mythos were all there. Strange kung fu, lots and lots of clans, Shaolin monks, cool swords, flying when convenient, and Chu Liu Xiang! Haha, Chu Liu Xiang was in this film. It was also weird that the later half of the series shifted away from the stars, Yang Fan and Si Si. A good third of the series shifted to a snowy mountain adventure that didn't include them. It was strange! And than the last story arc of 45 or so minutes brings them back?! But since they had the Gu Long formula to fall back on, the story wasn't a complete disaster. Nicholas Tse had some really bad acting in this series as well. Tse's acting in Beast Stalker and The Stool Pigeon was completely absent in this series. Angelica's lone venture into wuxia dramas should be considered a complete failure too. Angelica should stick to movies and not play annoying teenager roles. Si Si was seriously annoying for half of the series and it was just strange to see the 30 something Angelica doing it. However bad the acting of the two leads were, the story was the drawing point for me.

This series also features some easy on the eyes female leads. Liu Tao as Chu Chu was stunning and had a fair amount of screen time. Si Qin Gao Li was a welcome surprise as Zhang Hao Er. Si grew on me and I eventually came to appreciate her beauty. Tang Yi Fei stole the show for me. Tang was stunning and her scenes kept me engaged. I hope to see more of Tang. And Xiong Nai Jin rounds out the last of the beauties.