Finally! Sammi Cheng won her first best actress honor from Hong Kong Film Awards!

Finally! After 10 nominations in over 20 years, Sammi Cheng finally won her first ever best actress honor from the prestigious Hong Kong Film Awards. The 41st Hong Kong Film Awards which is often known as the Hong Kong equivalent to the American Academy Awards was held a moment ago (16th April 2023) to honor the best in Hong Kong films released last year (2022).

Those who knew me must have been well aware that I’m a fan of Sammi Cheng. She is my favourite idol. She enjoyed immense success in Hong Kong music industry from 1990s till now and is regarded as Cantopop queen/diva. However, the same success cannot be replicated for her involvement in acting industry as her acting in close to 40 films in nearly 3 decades do not appear to receive significant recognition.

All that changes this year with multiple local film awards honoring her with best actress honor from her performance in 2022 film ‘Lost Love’. In the film, she portrayed a grieving mother who lost her 3-year old son to illness and decided to devote herself to foster children with her husband. I watched the film last weekend when I was back in KL and I’m indeed moved by her performance.

After all the hard work switching from her signature early works in romance-comedy movies back in early 2000s to more drama films in later years, her effort finally paid off. For her impressive performance in this film, she had so far swept 4 best actress honors from Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards, Hong Kong Directors’ Guild Awards, Hong Kong Online Film Critics Highlight Awards and the most recent 41st Hong Kong Film Awards in 2023.

She had been very emotional during her acceptance speech just now. She had waited over 20 years for this and it is finally in her hand. Also can feel her immense joy near the end of her speech. Very well deserved. She is now Hong Kong music queen and film queen. An astonishing feat! It is also a beautiful moment when she received this award from her frequent film co-star, Andy Lau who is the evening’s guest presenter for best actress award. What a nice arrangement for him to present this award to Sammi. She had also won ‘best original film song’ earlier at the awards ceremony for her song ‘Live a Life’ in the same film.

Well, I hope her film ‘Lost Love’ will be able to contend at Taiwan’s Golden Horse Awards near end of this year and also at next year’s Asian Film Awards so that she can go on a winning streak. What a good news for her and also for me. It gives me a much needed ‘feel good moment’ at this period of time when I was seriously feeling very down.

There are actually quite a number of past films where she delivered brilliant performances too but didn’t seem to have the luck to win major awards back then. Those films are ‘Wu Yen’, ‘My Left Eye Sees Ghost’, ‘Everlasting Regret’, ‘Blind Detective’, ‘Fatal Visit’, and ‘Fagara’. I also particularly enjoyed her funny light-hearted roles in ‘Love on a Diet’, ‘Needing You’, ‘Love for all Seasons’ and ‘Marry a Rich Man’. There is no doubt her acting isn’t always the best, sometimes feeling not natural and often her ‘superstar image’ sticks around her making audiences felt like she couldn’t able to dissolve into the characters. However, she had truly improved a lot over the years and is certainly overdue for a recognition. And her well deserved recognition finally comes today.

She will be holding her concert at Hong Kong’s Coliseum at this coming July. I do have a wish to watch it. I have watched her past concerts (I think twice) at Malaysia’s Genting Highlands but I have the desire to watch her performing at her home turf on 4-sided stage at Coliseum. It would be a wonderful experience.

(Images in this post are from various online sources)

The latest Dr. Strange film is a visual masterpiece!

Right after seeing Doctor Strange appearing in ‘Spiderman: No Way Home’ a few months back, now we are seeing him again in his own solo film. In fact, this latest Marvel film is his second solo film after 2016’s ‘Doctor Strange’ film. Titled ‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’, this sequel sees Strange facing against Scarlet Witch while trying to protect a teenager who has the power to travel between multiple universes.

Reviews to this movie were just mildly positive which is actually uncommon to Marvel films that usually do extremely well to critics besides than enjoying success in box office. I’m not in the position to miss any single Marvel films and so I still give it a go on its first weekend of release. Well, after watching it just now, I thought that it was very good! I even think that it is better than ‘No Way Home’ and also the first ‘Doctor Strange’ movie.

I was very engaged throughout the entire film to the point I do not have time to grab the snacks I bought before the movie. The movie is full of actions (a lot of cool fight scenes that will keep you at the edge of your seat) and sees great performances by the main cast especially Benedict Cumberbatch (as Doctor Strange) and Elizabeth Olsen (as Scarlet Witch). I also like the movie for its simple plot which is fitting due to a movie that takes place in multiple worlds/universes. Sometime we just do not need to complicate certain things further to keep general audiences interested.

The main highlight of the movie must be its visual effects. Wow…just wow! I’m speechless by how amazing all the CGIs and visual works seen in this film. A lot of effort must have been put to make this a truly visual masterpiece! It will be beyond shocking if it does not receive at least an Academy Awards’ nomination in visual effects next year. A quick praise too to the famed director, Sam Raimi as well for delivering such beautiful work.

There are several interesting cameos appearing in this film as well but there is nothing much to shout out for especially after the recent over-the-top cameos from ‘Spiderman: No Way Home’. Major spoiler ahead….Zombie Strange is awesome while Wanda (Scarlet Witch)’s power has increased a lot in this film since ‘Avengers: Endgame’. If she had such level of power back during the ‘Endgame’, she could have easily defeated Thanos alone already before he collects all the six Infinity Stones.

Out of 10 points, I rate ‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’ a total of 8.4. So many films now tend to go on the multiverse idea in their plots. You will soon get bored of this approach. It is quite likely that this latest Marvel film may also gross over a billion US dollar in worldwide box office, a feat that is harder to accomplish in post pandemic era now. The next movie I’m very much excited for is ‘Jurassic World Dominion’ which is scheduled to be released early next month.

(Images in this post are from various online sources)

‘Moonfall’ last week and ‘Uncharted’ this week. Lastly, a review for ‘Freedom Memories’ series.

I didn’t go to the cinemas for over a month and after returning from KL two weeks ago, it’s time to compensate by paying a visit to the cinema once every weekend. There are quite a number of newly released movies that I’m looking forward to watch. I watched ‘Moonfall’ last weekend and went for ‘Uncharted’ this weekend. Haha…I guess that’s enough…no more visit to the cinema for the next weekend or two.

‘Moonfall’ is a sci-fi disaster film co-written, directed and produced by Roland Emmerich, a man who is very popular for his past disaster films like ‘The Day After Tomorrow’, ‘Independence Day’ and ‘2012’. I enjoyed this type of films and always thought that he did very well in producing these films. ‘Moonfall’ delivered to my expectation although there isn’t much disaster scenes in this film. What’s interesting from the movie is its unexpected plot and unique take on the origin of the Moon. I won’t spoil any further. There are still some exhilarating scenes though, captured with impressive visual effects and excellent score. Out of 10 points, I rate ‘Moonfall’ 7.5.

‘Uncharted’ on the other hand is an action adventure film based on a video game series of the same name and starred Tom Holland and Mark Wahlberg. I didn’t play the video game and only knew that this is going to be a treasure hunt film similarly to the past ‘National Treasure’ or ‘Tomb Raider’ film series. ‘Uncharted’ couldn’t match those films but it is still an enjoyable adventure film with the currently very popular young actor, Tom Holland as the main lead. Whenever we see him on screen, we immediately thought of Spiderman now. Haha…Many scenes are not making sense (Tom can stand very stable on a car floating on the sky, helicopter holding a huge decaying old ship and flying it around with so much manoeuvring and the ship still does not fall apart unbelievably, etc). Less puzzle solving and actions but the movie is still quite entertaining overall. I rate ‘Uncharted’ 7.1 out of 10.

Right after finishing ‘The Righteous Fists’ last week, I managed to complete another TVB series in just a few days. The series is called ‘Freedom Memories’ and only has 15 episodes (hence I managed to finish it this quick). This drama is based on the Hong Kong TV industry in the 1980s, featuring characters who were TV artists in that era and how they later worked their way to become Hong Kong TV’s future superstars. The series starred many junior artistes like Karl Ting, Dickson Yu, Joey Thye, Tiffany Lau, etc.

This series surprises me a bit with very refreshing storyline and cast lineup. It is a very motivational drama and is a great opportunity to groom the younger generation of the actors and actresses in TVB. I guess Karl Ting’s character is inspired by Stephen Chow while Dickson Yu’s character is inspired by Andy Lau. The series also brought us back a lot of good memories from the past (Hong Kong in their golden era in 1980s with many classic hits and superstars). Out of 10 points, I rate ‘Freedom Memories’ a total of 7.6.

(Images in this post are from various online sources)

Huge crowd reaction in the cinema while watching ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’.

The last time I witnessed crowd cheering and clapping while watching a movie in the cinema was during the screening of ‘Avengers: Endgame’ two years back. Even the crowd reaction at that time was not that huge as compared to what I went through during yesterday’s evening while watching ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ on its first day of release here in Singapore. Must have been a lot of Spidey fans in the theatre with me yesterday….haha. They got too excited.

I’m excited but not to that extent. Okay…warning; spoiler ahead. Do not read further if you have not watch the movie. Would not want to spoil anything to you.

I still felt incredibly great, contented and nostalgic as soon as Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire first appeared in this movie as Spiderman from their respective universe. They have insistently denied their involvement in this film from past interviews to keep it as a secret from their contractual obligation (typical Marvel). So you two are indeed lying…haha!

In fact, the film delivered more of a fan service than a solid action-packed adventure film for the titular hero. But the former alone does adds a lot of point from me who have grown up watching Tobey’s Spiderman, then to Andrew’s version and finally now to Tom’s version. That’s 3 generations of this superhero that brought us back a lot of childhood memories of the past films (the first film with Tobey as Spiderman was almost 2 decades ago).

In this latest film that continues immediately from where the previous film ends, Peter Parker’s identity as Spiderman is revealed to the public and he seeks the help of Doctor Strange to cast a spell that would make all people forget that Peter Parker is Spiderman. However, the spell goes wrong and leads to opening of multiverse, where dangerous foes from the other worlds start to appear.

As mentioned earlier, the story for this film isn’t as solid and the sense of adventure is lacking as compared to the 2 previous Tom Holland’s Spiderman films. But beware, there are a lot more emotional scenes in this one that would make you felt really moved to compensate for that. Seeing the return of villains from previous live-action Spiderman films are fascinating too (Green Goblin, Doc Ock, Electro, Lizard and Sandman) and it is great to see that this film brought some form of closure not only to the 3 Spiderman but also to the villains.

The battle scene at the end is too quick for me. I have 3 Spiderman on the screen and hence I’m expecting triple amount of time for the battle with the villains. But it was all too fast as mentioned earlier. Nevertheless, the battle is still fantastic. Out of 10 points, I rate ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ a total of 8.0. Also as expected, do stay till the end of the film to watch one mid-credit and one post-credit scene (post-credit is more of a movie trailer). This movie is most likely to be the first ever film since the pandemic to gross over US$1 billion dollar worldwide.

(Images in this post are from various online sources)

TVB Anniversary Awards 2021’s nomination list is out and my movie review for ‘Anita’.

It’s almost end of November. One more month left before we say goodbye to 2021! It is yet another full year of Covid-19. That’s unfortunate. More on the recap of this past one year will be detailed out soon in one of my posts near end of December as usual. And by the way, my 30th birthday is just around the corner; it will falls on this coming Saturday! Steady…steady…

Okay..let’s get back to the two main topics of this post. TVB had recently released its nomination list for their annual TVB Anniversary Awards for the year. As usual, everyone is nominated as long as you are involved in anything in this whole year. TVB should really cut down the nominees to like top 5 or top 10 rather than nominating everyone. There are also several new categories introduced this year (they are breaking down hosting award to male and female categories, etc). The awards presentation will be held on 2nd January 2022.

My choice for best drama would be ‘AI Romantic’ but I think TVB will give this to ‘Kids’ Lives Matter’. My choice for best lead actor would be Shaun Tam from ‘Take Two’ (Vincent Wong did very good in ‘Murder Diary’ but that series is a flop). No particular choice for ‘Most Popular TV Male Character’. Maybe Billy Luk from ‘AI Romantic’ but his chance of winning is very slim. My choice for best lead actress would be Linda Chung from ‘Kids’ Lives Matter’ (Kara is excellent in ‘Murder Diary’ but as mentioned earlier, the drama is bad). Ali Lee will most likely take home ‘Most Popular TV Female Character’ instead since she had won best actress before while Linda has not win any. ‘Murder Diary’ is a very complicated but boring drama (not up to majority’s taste and with very low TV rating) but we can’t ignore that the series showcased excellent performances by the two leads, Kara and Vincent. However, they both won before and so their chances are close to zero of winning again this soon.

The late Anita Mui was one of the most beloved Hong Kong artistes who tragically died from cervical cancer at the age of 40 in December 2003. Famously known as ‘daughter of Hong Kong’ and Cantopop diva, she excelled in both her singing and acting careers. Although she is in the era earlier than my generation but I do like some of her iconic songs and movies (especially her comedy films). There is a new biopic film titled ‘Anita’ that tells her story from being a kid performer to her death in 2003. I watched the film yesterday. It is quite a moving film (especially near the end) with excellent performance by Louise Wong who portrayed the late Anita Mui. The film also boasts great cinematography and production design.

The only downside of the film are the draggy plot involving her futile love life and the exaggeration of her loneliness, sadness and perhaps depression from small causes (that may seems to be not the actual case) in this film. Anyway it is still a very beautiful and touching film that brought us back to the golden years of Hong Kong from 70s to 90s. Out of 10 points, I rate ‘Anita’ a total of 8.1. I do really admire Anita Mui’s unmatched dedication especially from her decision to hold her farewell concert just 45 days before her passing. She is truly a legend and it is very understandable why she is so beloved even until today, 18 years after her death.

(Images in this post are from various online sources)

‘No Time To Die’ is a fitting conclusion to Daniel Craig’s James Bond.

‘No Time To Die’ is the 25th film in the popular James Bond film series. It stars Daniel Craig in his fifth and final outing as the iconic fictional British MI6 agent, James Bond. His first film in the series was ‘Casino Royale’ in 2006. His journey as the titular character continues with ‘Quantum of Solace’ in 2008, ‘Skyfall’ in 2012, ‘Spectre’ in 2015 and finally ‘No Time To Die’ in 2021. 15 years in the role, Daniel Craig is indeed the James Bond of our generation.

In ‘No Time To Die’, Bond, who has left active service with MI6, is recruited by the CIA to find a kidnapped scientist, which leads to a showdown with a powerful adversary. Besides Daniel, the film starred Rami Malek, Ben Whishaw, Naomie Harris, Christopher Waltz, Ralph Fiennes, Lea Seydoux, Lashana Lynch, etc.

Although Daniel Craig looks tired and aged, but he did nailed the role once again with brilliant performance from his actions to emotional scenes. It’s very much satisfying to see him again for the final time as Bond in this film that delivered in almost all aspects. The action sequences are amazing although the final clash with the main villain (Rami Malek) is a bit of a letdown. Besides that, the cinematography is excellent!

The only downside to the film would be its excessively long runtime. The film is over 2 hour and 40 minutes long. It took me more than four days to finish the whole movie mostly during my lunch break for the past week. Nevertheless, ‘No Time To Die’ is a solid film that offers a beautiful and fitting conclusion to Daniel Craig’s James Bond. Out of 10 points, I rate it 8.0.

The movie has been performing fairly well in the worldwide box office too. As of today, it has grossed around $670 million dollars and is the 5th highest grossing film of the year. Top 2 highest grossing films of the year so far goes to China’s films, ‘The Battle of Lake Changjin’ and ‘Hi, Mom’ (have watched this one too) that has grossed $881 million and $848 million respectively. Hollywood no longer dominates the box office figures since last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic that has affected operation of cinemas worldwide. China’s blockbuster films are still making big bucks due to its reliance only on its domestic market which is big enough and that the country has reopened their cinemas way earlier than the rest of the world. ‘Fast and Furious 9’ sits at 3rd place and is Hollywood’s biggest film of the year so far with over $721 million dollars grossing.

(Images in this post are from various online sources)

Happy Deepavali! Watched Marvel’s ‘Eternals’ today.

First of all, I would like to wish Happy Deepavali to my Indian friends and to everyone else who are celebrating this festival too! May the beauty and festivity of Diwali, the ‘Festival of Light’ fill your home with happiness and joy! Didn’t have the chance to pay a visit to Little India today to bask in the festivity but heard from news that the street is super crowded this week.

I ended up at Vivo City shopping mall today instead for a lovely Thai meal (suddenly had a craving for tom yam today), quick window shopping and most importantly, watched the new Marvel film ‘Eternals’ in the cinema. Today almost felt like a Saturday to me. It has been nearly 3 months since we last had a public holiday here in Singapore (last one was the National Day holiday on 9th August). A very much needed holiday although it would be better if it falls on tomorrow instead (because it’s Friday tomorrow!).

‘Eternals’ is the 26th film in Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) and features the ‘Eternals’, an immortal alien race who emerge from hiding after thousands of years to protect Earth from their evil counterparts known as the Deviants. Directed by award-winning director Chloe Zhao, the film starred Gemma Chan, Richard Madden, Angelina Jolie, Kumail Nanjiani, Barry Keoghan, Don Lee, etc.

When I first knew that the movie is going to be over 2 hour and 30 minutes long before watching the movie itself, I was a bit worried that the movie is going to be draggy and boring with a lot of dialogues. I couldn’t stand the boredom from watching ‘Nomadland’ which is also directed by Chloe Zhao and had won best picture last year. Fortunately, I didn’t feel that way for this film. There are still some unimportant extended scenes but the beautiful sceneries and visuals, great action scenes and a myriad of good characters save the movie.

The plot has a lot more depth than simply featuring typical superheroes assembled together to fight villains. That’s a good thing but it may be confusing for younger audiences. Although the ‘Eternals’ consists of many members but none of them gets neglected thanks to some solid characters’ development and of course the long runtime. There are also some unexpected hilarious scenes and surprises in the two post-credit scenes to add fun to the film. Out of 10 points, I rate ‘Eternals’ a total of 7.0. Not super spectacular and very different to past Marvel film, ‘Eternals’ may not be for everyone’s taste.

(Images in this post are from various online sources)

‘Jungle Cruise’ movie is so fun …and I will be going for ‘cruise to nowhere’ tomorrow.

My Friday’s night yesterday was instantly lit after watching the recently released ‘Jungle Cruise’ film. I had a great and a fun time watching this 2-hour long movie yesterday. The film starred Dwayne Johnson, Emily Blunt, Jack Whitehall, Jesse Plemons, etc and is based on Disneyland’s theme park ride where a small riverboat takes a group of travelers through a jungle filled with dangerous animals and reptiles but with a supernatural element.

The plot follows a pair of siblings who get the help of a riverboat captain in search of Tears of the Moon, a mythical tree of which its petals can cure any illness, heal any injury and lift any curse. The storyline is very engaging and straightforward, and it is aided with great chemistry between Dwayne and Emily. The movie is also filled with plenty of hilarious moments, particularly with Jack’s scenes.

I have to agree to some critics who pinpointed overuse of CGIs in this movie. There can be some shots that can be done as beautiful as what it is now without obvious visual editing. Anyway, this doesn’t take away the entertainment value of the movie and how much fun I had watching it. This movie is an old-fashioned escapism which is what we need and deserve right now too. Out of 10 points, I rate ‘Jungle Cruise’ a total of 8.2. This movie also somehow reminds me of ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ but in a lighter note.

Coincidentally, I will be going on a cruise too! Not a jungle cruise, but a cruise to nowhere! Yup…I will be getting on board Genting World Dream cruise ship tomorrow for a 4 days 3 nights ‘seacation’ (sea + staycation). The cruise departing from Singapore’s port will just be a making a round near Straits of Malacca before getting back to original destination, hence called as a ‘cruise to nowhere’.

That’s my form of escapism that I need right now too to destress. I need to take a short break away from countless works, online meetings, Whatsapp work calls and messages. The price per pax is quite reasonable. The only downside is that Singapore is still under Phase 2 heightened alert period now and hence there will be no dining in and mask-off indoor activities allowed in the cruise. I think I would still be okay with that restrictions. I will write a post here detailing my experience on board the cruise once I’m back on land this Wednesday!

(Images in this post are from various online sources)

First time dining out after over one and a half month and movie review for ‘Fast and Furious 9’.

This is the first weekend after the ban of dining in is lifted and I can’t wait to be able to dine out at a restaurant again. The ban of dining in has been enforced since early May due to increase of Covid-19 cases among the community. The cases have stabilized since then and the Singapore’s government is gradually relaxing the restrictions again. I’m bored of take-aways on weekends already.

After a long week of stressful work, it’s finally the day for me to head out to unwind. It’s a beautiful Saturday after a good sleep and a morning rain. In the afternoon, I went to the Vivocity shopping mall for a quick shopping, a movie and a dinner with my friend. The mall is so crowded as though the pandemic is over.

It’s ‘Fast and Furious 9’ (or known as F9: The Fast Saga) for the movie of the day. This long film franchise has come to this far and I have watched all the previous ones. I must admit that I have forgotten most of the first few movies in this series. This latest instalment follows Dominic Toretto and his team as they come together to stop a world-shattering plot headed by Toretto’s brother, Jakob. The film starred the same group of cast (Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Ludacris, Helen Mirren, Charlize Theron, etc) along with new cast members (John Cena, etc).

The first thing I have to say for this movie is its very unrealistic action sequences. The action scenes have all gone over the top and do not make any sense ever since the 6th or 7th film. The main characters were all left unhurt and without a scratch even after major crashes or explosions. They are also unbelievably luck with a centimeter or a millisecond away from disaster every time something occurs. It’s the same for this 9th instalment and is even acknowledged by the characters themselves in this movie. And in here, they even fly their car to the outer space! What else they can do to get crazier in F10 and 11? (Yup..the 10th and 11th instalments are already in production).

Although the action scenes are unrealistic and over the top, but they are the ones that got me engaged to the movie. Some of them still left me in awe but some of them started to feel laughable (that’s not a good thing because it means they are too ridiculous and unconvincing). The serious talking scenes are boring and the frequent emphasis on ‘family’ theme in this film series isn’t really hitting me maybe because Vin Diesel doesn’t excel in this sort of thing. The film series continue with its formulaic script (same issue with this F9) and I think it should really have to end after F11. That’s all for my review to the film. Out of 10 points, I would rate ‘Fast and Furious 9’ a total of 7.3.

(Images in this post are from various online sources)

Movie review for ‘Army of the Dead’ and drama review for ‘Shadow of Justice’.

Not long after Zack Snyder’s Justice League version is released, another one of his works is out to the public this year too. It is ‘Army of the Dead’, a zombie heist film that follows a group of soldiers who plan a Las Vegas casino heist amid a zombie apocalypse. The film starred Dave Bautista, Ella Purnell, Omari Hardwick, Theo Rossi, etc.

It is a fairly entertaining and enjoyable zombie movie to watch especially on a comfortable Saturday’s night at home. We have got to spend most of our time now at home again due to the current ‘heightened alert’ of Phase 2 reopening in Singapore which saw increased number of daily Covid-19 cases in the community and more restrictions kicking in including ban on dining-in.

Let’s get back to the movie. The gore is there, the visuals are great and the actions are cool. However, the movie is lacking emotional punch extensively; I couldn’t feel the characters including the story arc between the main lead, Ward with his estranged daughter. The runtime of the movie is also extremely long (it’s nearly 2 hour and 30 minutes long, untypical for a zombie movie). I have to skip some of the unnecessary scenes.

Out of 10 points, I would rate ‘Army of the Dead’ a total of 7.1. It’s stylish and quite entertaining but even with a ‘zombie tiger’ in it, it still hasn’t manage to cross the line yet.

Recently, I have been watching three TVB series concurrently; ‘Shadow of Justice’, ‘Sinister Beings’ and ‘AI Romantic’. As mentioned earlier, more time at home means more time for movies and TV series. The first of out of the three to end is ‘Shadow of Justice’ (伙記辦大事), a 32-episode crime drama starring two TV kings, Bobby Au and Joe Ma. The drama also starred Joey Meng, Jeanie Chan, Mat Yeung, Pierre Ngo, Winki Lai, Timothy Cheng, etc.

I am purely disappointed with this drama. I am expecting to see more screen time of Bobby showing his intelligence in solving difficult cases and his chemistry with Joey. However, the drama is overly filled with Jeanie Chan’s love relationship with Joe Ma and Mat Yeung. It looks like as though Bobby is just playing a supporting role here. Jeanie is more suited for supporting role and she isn’t ready for leading role yet. Instead, she was given the most amount of presence here in this drama and it mostly revolves on her absolutely boring love storyline with Joe and Mat (also not to mention the huge age gap between Joe Ma and her which made the whole thing awkward too).

Both Joe Ma and Joey Meng delivered nothing to the show, thanks to their very stiff expression and poor acting. I still can’t get over how Joe Ma can win best actor few years ago over Dicky Cheung in that year. The one who shines in this series is not any of the main actors but a veteran actor who played an antagonist role here as a pervert rich businessman. He is Timothy Cheng, and he nailed the role.

The story development of the drama is also a mess. Bobby get to have his own story arc, Joe Ma has its own part too and it is up until 20 episodes only then they start to bump into each other. It is way too slow. People are expecting to see the dramatic clash between the two and it only started after two third of the whole series. That’s lame.

Out of 10 points, I can only rate ‘Shadow of Justice’ a total of 5.0. The lowest rated drama of the year so far (also among the lowest in recent years). It is bad…near to being awful. The drama should be called ‘Shadow of Love’ rather than ‘Shadow of Justice’. Jeanie Chan’s super frustrating, awkward and boring love storyline occupied 80% of the whole series. The clash between Bobby and Joe came in too late. Poor use of Bobby Au’s talent. What a waste. I’m glad this series is finally over. ‘Sinister Beings’ and ‘AI Romantic’ are way better.

(Images in this post are from various online sources)