‘Line Walker: Bull Fight’ or commonly known just as ‘Line Walker 3’ (使徒行者3) is one of my most anticipated Hong Kong dramas this year. It certainly does live up to its expectation though not as good as the first series released back in 2014. Well, at least it is way better than the second series in 2017 from my personal opinion.
‘Line Walker 3’ has a total of 37 episodes (very odd number) and starred Raymond Lam, Michael Miu, Kenneth Ma, Mandy Wong, Benjamin Yuen, Priscilla Wong, Sisley Choi, Owen Cheung, Benz Hui, etc. It does have a pretty big and popular cast including some surprising cameo appearances by several other famous actors.
The storyline runs quite smoothly in this third instalment without confusing transitions as it focuses from one side story to the next and eventually joining up everything to the main plot without too much complications. Although it doesn’t manage to deliver as many cliffhanger or intense moments as the first series (the reason why I loved the first series so much), but the plot is still pretty engaging and deserves my full attention. However, there are still some minor scenes involving some supporting characters (like the story arc between Shiga Lin with Benjamin Yuen, etc) that felt a little draggy and unnecessary at times.
It’s good to see the return of Raymond Lam to TVB series as he had left the station for many years. His last role in the first series almost won him Best Actor on that year’s TVB Anniversary Awards but he eventually lost to Roger Kwok. He came back in this third series and he carried the role very well too. I do hope that he can finally win his first best actor award. He deserves it…and it would be cool to see Charmaine handing the award to him too. They are very compatible as on-screen couple and it is a huge pity not to see him reuniting with Charmaine in this third series. It’s really unfortunate that Charmaine isn’t returning for this third series although we kept hearing her name mentioned a lot of times throughout the series (I was hoping she would make a cameo though near the end but nope…).
Kenneth Ma on the other hand also surprised me with excellent performance as the main villain in this series. His eyes and facial expressions are on point. The female cast line-up is not that strong and it is further weakened by an underwhelming performance by Mandy Wong. I can sense her acting very hard to portray the strange personalities of Madam G and her performance felt forced. Sisley Choi on the other way acted way more naturally. Benjamin and Priscilla makes a good pair but their story arc is not interesting.
The last two to three episodes are certainly very intense and exciting, and that is what I hope for. However, I don’t really like the very last section of its final episode that shows some very odd cliffhanger scenes to tease us that there may be another sequel coming in. The way these scenes are plotted out felt very similar too.
Anyway, in overall, this series didn’t disappoint. It had a strong shot for best series win at TVB Anniversary Awards near the end of the year with its good storyline, multiple action-packed or climactic scenes, and of course solid cast with most of them delivering great performances. Out of 10 points, I rate ‘Line Walker: Bull Fight’ a total of 8.0.
(Images in this post are from various online sources)
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