I recently finished watching the Chinese wuxia drama The Royal Tramp starring Huang Xiao Ming. Of the 50 episodes, I really didn't start fast forwarding until around episode 42 or so. The last 8 episodes takes such a shift from the 20 or so that preceded it. I was bored and fell asleep watching. The first 6 episodes featured Wei Xiao Bao as a pre-teen. That was quite annoying and I kept thinking, when are they going to turn into "adults".
Also, the Mandarin the children were speaking was much different than the rest of the cast. I have a rough time deciphering slurred Mandarin. It was a double blow of annoyance. Kids and slurred Mandarin.
But once the "adults" came about, the series took a turn for the better. I like Huang Xiao Ming and think he has star quality.
Cherrie Ying plays a "love" interest of Wei Xiao Bao and is suppose to be the most "beautiful" of the 7 wives. I also liked newcomer He Zhou Yan. As I've written in past blogs, Cherrie Ying is one of my favorites. Looks like Cherrie Ying is making a transition to Dramas.
I was a big fan of Tony Leung's The Duke of Mount Deer series in 1984. I think I might have watched it like 4-5 times by the time I started high school. I haven't seen the 1984 one since the late 80s. Maybe in a few years, I'll get the remastered TVB series.
I also enjoyed the Stephen Chow Royal Tramp movies from 1992. In many ways, he may have been the very best Wei Xiao Bao there has ever been.
