Rhythm of Life 变奏曲: 1st review

May 10, 2008 in 2008 Dramas, Dramas

This will be a short post.

THOUGHTS

I’m quite, quite disappointed with the show. Firstly, the 1st episode starts miserably. Secondly, I can’t stand the set which is supposed to be the back of the bakery (where Chris, Elvin, Zzen and Jesseca hang out), and lastly, it’s moving TOO SLOWLY!

The 1st episode is supposed to get the viewer to say, “YES! this is a show i’m going to watch”, so it shouldn’t be too miserable. But IT IS! With Chris narrating, and facing the camera like he is in jail or something — it really gives the viewer an urge to reach for the remote and change the channel or something. It was like that for me. But, I reassured myself, “it’ll get better”, so i continued watching. AND I’LL KEEP WATCHING. that’s not the point.

THE POINT IS THAT the viewer can already expect whatever events which unfold from the beginning theme song clip. WHY DID THEY HAVE TO HAVE A PRELUDE BEFORE the theme song which was so utterly miserable? If the reason for this was to get the viewer’s interest and keep them glued, it didn’t work. OH WAIT. was that the preview which was aired earlier? (i didn’t catch this prelude, so please tell me if it is so!)

The problem with the set where Junjie, Zhiyuan, Tianbao and Zhiling hang out is SO FAKE. Especially when they show it with a sky. It doesn’t fit into the show at all. They’re supposed to be in some part of Geylang, where the buildings aren’t so perfect, and it is quite rough, but this set makes it feel so tranquil and peaceful. And they thought that by adding a neon signboard stating ‘小红 Karaoke’, it’ll give the same feeling? NO, it DIDN’T!

The pace of this show is TOO SLOW! Especially the 1st episode. Mann. They spent SO LONG focusing on Chris and Jesseca at the “wishing pool”, and even the flashbacks were dull and uninteresting. And when they try to make it light-hearted, it didn’t seem funny. It had a sort of clinical quality — clean, spick and span. NOT FUNNY. The pace needs to QUICKEN.

One more thing… Other than this whole love-complication story, the only sub-plot here seems to be the rivalry between Zhang Nan and Tianbao. Not very interesting. No industrial espionage? No secrets waiting to be revealed? SIGH. That’s boring.

CURRENT RATINGS: 3.4/5.0 (Fair)

I really do hope it improves. I was SO LOOKING FORWARD to this, because the storyline seemed so interesting, but they just couldn’t get it going. Well, all I can say now is that this drama is like a car, and the first 5 episodes are evidence that the car has stalled. Hopefully, it wouldn’t be too long before the car starts, and I can only hope that it’ll be a smooth drive from there.