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.

The Drummer - 戰鼓

The Drummer (戰鼓) is a 2007 film out of Hong Kong. The movie stars Jaycee Chan, Tony Leung, Angelica Lee, and Roy Cheung. Eugenia Yuan makes a brief cameo.

Jaycee Chan plays Sid, the son of one of the toughest triad bosses in Hong Kong. That tough triad boss is Tony Leung as Kwan. Sid starts up a relationship with a mistress of a triad boss higher up than Kwan, Stephen Ma. Ma catches Sid and his Mistress Carmen. Sid confronts Ma and insults him in front of his men. From that point on, Ma wants Sid dead. Kwan steps in and sends Sid to Taiwan to hide out while he takes care of the situation in Hong Kong with Ma. While in Taiwan, Sid has to settle into a boring life and laying low and not causing trouble. Sid is awoken daily by the sound of drums every morning. Sid was a drummer in a band back in Hong Kong and is interested in finding out where this sound comes from. Sid works his way into the group. As its most junior member, he'll have to learn the virtues of being a drummer. Sid befriends Angelica Lee as Hong Dou and tries to impress her. Along the way, the events in Hong Kong eventually get worst for Kwan as he ends up in jail. Will Sid be able to find the virtues of drumming? Will he be able to get back to Hong Kong?

The movie was beyond my expectations. It took the Hong Kong triad movie style and applies it to the slow pace of a "coming of age" story. Character development of the primary protagonist Sid is explored to its fullest at the expense of of the people around him. The pacing of the movie was herky jerky, but it worked for me. At times, the mood who be intense, than move to a somber moment. The mood shift would normally be too abrupt for me. But it worked me in this film. Fast to slow, slow to fast, over and over again.

The drumming group featured in this film is the famed U-Theatre (優人神鼓) drumming group based out of Taiwan. Other than Angelica Lee and Jaycee Chan, the rest of the troupe are real members. I would like to see U-Theatre one of these days. If I ever find out they are coming to Los Angeles, my wife and I will try to make time to go see their show.

I got the movie off Netflix and their was only 1 language track with English subtitles available. The scenes in Hong Kong were in Cantonese and the scenes in Taiwan were in Mandarin. Normally, I'd like to watch the completely Mandarin dubbed version so I don't have to read subtitles. But this version wasn't bad and it was a change of pace to hear their real voices. The "making of" was long and gave an in-depth look at the movie that was excellent.