[review] Kim Mo Tuk Ku Kao Pai

shaw_mag

 Kim Mo Tak Ku Kau Pai

TV Series Genre: Anicent/ Wuxia/ Romance

Stars: 4/5

Characters/Cast List & Analysis:

Felix Wong - Lam Hong/ Lam Khang
Felix Wong without a doubt portray this role really great. His character is way too nice and sometimes irks me because he doesn't understand or see the evil or when people are doing bad stuffs, but kept blaming on Maggie for killing people. She's wrong too for doing that, but it seems like he's looking for a reason to get rid of her so he could go with the other girl. Other than that, I like his role more after he finally figure it all out and is with Maggie. Those scenes were the best. Watching Felix doing those sword practices were cool also. Even though he doesn't look pro and cool like some others but still he was way better than when he was doing fighting moves for The Legend Of The Condor Heroes.

Maggie Siu - Lanh Chi Yen
Lanh Chi Yen appears to be a very cold-blooded girl who kills without a thought. But behind that cold exterior is a girl who kills not because she wants to but because she has to. Because she was brought up by her master, she obeys everything her master said. She also knows how to distinguish between good and bad, getting past the "good guy" exterior that some people try to present themselves. She discovers the feeling of warmness of having a family after being saved by Lam Khang at one time when she was trying to assassinate Lieu Hang Khong. She tried to escape the bloody-killing world by staying there at Lam Khang's house - after much persuasion from Lam Khang & his mom. However, what you want and what you have to do will never go hand in hand, so she is pull back into that world again. I must say that this is one of Maggie's best role and performance. Not saying that others isn't but this character just stick in my mind so much that I thought it's her best role ever. I really like her character - so multi-layer and self-sacrificing. I also like the way how she helps Lam Khang a lot of times but never show-off or tell him about it, except when she was super mad at him for kept accusing her and blurt it out by accident because she couldn't take it anymore.

Hugo Ng - Bach Thanh Trung
His character is just bad to the end. Can't explain much about him. He's a rich-spoiled dude but for some reason his father is good. Weird, probably 'cause his mom kept shielding him from his dad's words/ lessons. He's a bully at the beginning of the series and become a cunning guy in the middle and super unreasonable in the end. He's just full of himself, thinking that Lam Khang stole everything from him or act like the world owes him. If he tried harder and stop using shortcuts, he would get there. But he never did and kept blaming others, especially Lam Khang.

Man Seut Yee - Lieu Ngao Suong
Although she's kind and nice and quite sweet but I dislike her character. The reason? She always act and treats Maggie's character real nice and all when she knows Maggie's Felix's wife but when she knows that Felix & Maggie are together after all misunderstandings are sort out, she's like calling Maggie "Ma Nu". I meant she'd been calling her "Lanh co nuong" all the time even when Maggie injured her mom. It's reasonable that she would hate Maggie for that, but NO! She's acting all nice to her and then when she knows Maggie's back with Felix, she's being mean. I understand she could be jealous, but it's like she thought there's no hope for Felix & Maggie since they're on different sides, etc - but when she sees there's hope for them, she's mad. Although she tried to undo her dad's wrongs, but it doesn't help either. She seem too fake to be one of the heroines. She's smarter and knows that Hugo's character isn't that nice and doesn't get tricked by him like her sister but I like her sister a lot more since the girl is just naive and dumb, but at least he girl fight for what she wants and doesn't act fake. But she knows more and sometimes she's just acting childish.

Law Lok Lam - Tak Ku Tin Fong/ Doc Co Thien Phong
His role is quite interesting and I never doubt his acting. He turns into quite unreasonable after his wife's death but it's understandable, but I never forgive him for killing this one guy who doesn't even know kung fu. That's just wrong, taking his anger out like that. I'm also mad at him for making Maggie practice that one kung fu thing that mad her lose her kung fu skills later. It irks me because that was her death sentence.

Lily Lee - Nghiem Hieu Thanh
Although thirst for revenge like her husband, which she has the right to, she still knows how to treat her disciple with kindness, especially with Maggie & Gordon. I always like Lily and thought she has a lot of Charm. She's great portraying the strict master figure and also a motherly figure.

Gordon Liu - Giang Chan Hung
I really like Gordon's character in here. Although he's jealous and wants to kill Lam Khang in the beginning, but later he came to realize that Maggie only loves Felix so he tries to help them reunite. He's also very loyal to his master.

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shaw_mag

 

Summary:
A couple was hunted down by many sects, claiming they needed to kill the two off to seek justice and drive evils out of the wuxia world. Their reasons sounds righteous, but their actions are far from it. After many hours of attacks from a huge crowd, the couples' energy wore out, especially the pregnant wife. She escaped in time to give birth to a baby boy, but switch it withed someone's else's baby seeing that that person's also just gave birth. Doing so is quite cruel because it would endanger the other baby, but she had no time to think since the other sects were coming. She fled back out to the woods and continued to fight with them. She got back to where her husband was, but couldn't reach him before the innocent baby was killed by the sects. The husband, misunderstood that his child died, went into a crazy killing rampage but still couldn't kill all of them. He fell down the cliff and was thought to be dead. The wife, whose energy has strained since she just gave birth and had to go back fighting, also fell down another part of the cliff.

About twenty years later, the story focuses on Lam Khang. Lam Khang grew up with his mother in a very simple environment with only the mind to get by each day by selling soy bean drinks to others. He was raised in an environment so simple and nice that he hates all violence acts - regardless of reasons. However, an unfortunate event that cause them to lose their house, forcing them to seek shelter elsewhere. All doesn't end there. Many more unfortunate events continued to un-weave itself. Lam Khang learned a lot going through those hardships, even learning kung fu and other martial arts to protect himself. However, he still maintained his kind nature - sometimes too kind. When everything began to go uphill for him, he found out about his own identity. His world collapsed because he became he one being chased by the so-called "good guys" also.

Lam Khang went into conflict with his parents, seeing how his dad was killing people just for no apparant reasons. However, he later discovered that the so-called "good guys" of the wu lam are just bunch of hoax. He was no longer the naive Lam Khang, thinking people on the good side are good and vice versa, and become Tak Ku Kau Pai/ Doc Co Cau Bai. He faught fiercely against those hoax people. Not only that, but he had to also go against the guy who was pulling the strings to cause everyone, including some reasonable people, to misunderstand him. He won the battle in the end, but lost everything in the process, including his parents and his wife.

Opinions:
Honestly, after so much bashing towards this series, people would say I hate this series to death but look at the rating. I thought this series was quite good overall but just some stuffs that irks me here and there. It's one of the great TVB series before the downfall. The overall story and fighting stuffs was really good, just that the romance side just irks me to death.

Recommendations:
If you read/ watch Yin Yong novels/ series, you probaby heard or know about Tak Ku Kau Pai/ Doc Co Cau Bai. It's good to see a series of the young Lam Hong/Lam Khang turning into the older Tak Ku Kau Pai later. Also that if you're a fan of the main cast, especially Felix & Maggie. But it isn't a really good or satisfying ending so don't expect much.

Bonus Section:

Favorite Characters (Aside From The Main Cast):

Kim Cau - Felix's master who loves to catch & eat fish, especially the golden reddish fish
He's so funny and really honest unlike the other dude who always acting all corteous but stubborn about good side and evil side, etc. I really like him to the fact that he doesn't mind Maggie's on the bad side (mostly according to the other people). He doesn't want Felix to look down on her or dispose her just because she's on the other side, etc. My favorite part would have to be the part where Ngan Dich (Felx's other master who loves to read, etc) is accusing Maggie of trying to inform her master of their whereabouts & exchange info through the pigeon. Then everyone runs out, even Felix's asking her. Then later when Kim Cau grabs the message and reads it, he's like asking the other guy, "Are you clear now?" That's the funniest part since he's right about Maggie.

Ho Dai Thanh - The Leader Of The Beggar Clan
He's a guy that doesn't just follow rumors to judge a person. Although he heard that Felix's character is doing bad stuffs, etc but he still knows through Felix's actions - helping him and other people - that Felix isn't bad like others thought. He doesn't know that's Felix at first 'cause Felix uses a piece of cloth to cover his face but when he found out, he believes Felix and doesn't bury his conscience like some people. He still believes in Felix after knowing that Law Lok Lam's Felix's father. He's still loyal to the end.

Couples:

Felix Wong & Maggie Siu
Their chemistry is really great and this is my first series of watching them together. I really like it and it was really disapointing that they couldn't end up together. I meant like everyone survives. It doesn't have to be a definitely happy, crazy ending, but at least like they left together to find peace somewhere else? Is that too much to ask?

Felix Wong & Man Suet Yee
Ok but not a perfect match.

Law Lok Lam & Lily Lee
They're cool together. Sometimes I thought they're really Felix's parents, lol.

Note: I'm going to do it a little different than my other reviews, listing Favorite/ Least Favorite Parts/Concepts rather than scenes because I want to shift it into that area and I can't really find definite favorite/ least favorite scenes or list it all.

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shaw_mag

 

Favorite Parts/ Concepts:

• All the parts with Felix & Maggie, except for the ones that he's yelling at her!
• The part where Gordon plots for Felix to come and get Maggie out and he's fighting with Felix, lol.
• The fact that Lily really cares for Maggie as a disciple and treats her like a daughter instead of a tool she uses to seek revenge. She also doesn't want Maggie to risk her life trying to help either. The relationship of master and disciple is quite powerful here.
• Multi-relationship among several people like Lily's Maggie's master but also mother-in-law.
• The funny and most interesting part is that Lily is trying to find her son throughout the series but at the same time trying hunt down and kill Felix since she doesn't want Maggie to think of him anymore! LOL!
• The part after Maggie fed Felix the ginseng and he was carrying like 4+ bags of rice and didn't even feel a thing and Hugo's like, "What the heck did you eat? Why are you so strong?" That was one of the funniest part of the series and I actually sorta like Hugo at that part.
• The fact that although Hugo hates Maggie's guts since she's one of the people responsible for his family's death but he reminds Felix that Maggie's Felix's wife. Although his motive was to discourage Felix from following Lieu Ngao Suong, but still, that's like one of the things that I thought Felix needed reminding.
• The fact that Hugo hates Maggie and calls her "ma nu" instead of being fake like Lieu Ngao Suong about it. Yes, he's cunning and quite devious as the series progresses, but at least he's straight to the point about that part.
• The fact that Lily Lee & Law Lok Lam actually look like Felix's parents instead of just casting people to play the part because it's necessary.
• Music. The bg music was awesome and somehow the themesong was quite powerful although I don't understand it but the bg music sorta suits with the whole series itself.

Least Favorite Parts/ Concepts:

• The fact that Felix married Maggie but didn't really care or understand her, plus still chase after Lieu Ngao Suong. Viewers probably understand that the reason Felix married Maggie in the first place was because he tried to warm her one time and didn't know that she's a girl, so they spent a night together by accident. Although they didn't do anything and was separate by blankets but still. He probably liked her somewhat but not that much than Lieu Ngao Suong. I'm not mad about that 'cause he knows Lieu Ngao Suong first and a long time ago but he doesn't have to marry Maggie and then ignore her later on. Yea, knowing she's killing people and on the bad side seem to be the reason but it seem like a reason for him to get rid of her more than about righteousness. Maggie didn't mind about the incident that happened and said he doesn't have to take responsibility since he didn't know or meant to do it, but he still insist and then goes around cheating on her. It's not directly seen but still. The other reason that he married her was because his godmother liked her and it's not a good reason also we know he's a very filial child. If he decided to marry her, he shouldn't regret or go around flirting with the other girl when she isn't around. It happened even before he knows she's an aassassinator. Also, he felt that he can't reach high to Lieu Ngao Suong's status so he's just settling for Maggie. It's totally unforgivable. Although he really cares Maggie in the end and realizes that when he appears at the wedding to take her away, but he didn't keep his distance from Lieu Ngao Suong, causing misunderstandings later. Ngao Suong is like his best friend but still, he should refrain a bit. Maggie wasn't just plain jealous and selfish but she felt she isn't a good match with Felix and know that she's actually the third wheel so wants Felix to be with the other girl. Whatever Felix did in the end for Maggie still wasn't enough. Maggie probably doesn't measure or count but for me, it's just still isn't fair.
• The fact that Felix and others kept blaming Maggie and her master for doing bad stuffs and causing chaos in wu lam and not forgiving them easily but when Lieu Hang Khong was exposed, they're letting Lieu Ngao Suong off so easily. It's like a bias or something. It's like, "Although your dad captured and tortured my dad, but it's ok!" What the heck? I was really piss about that while watching and still is now. It's like the majority of the series is about pointing finger towards Maggie's side (including her master, etc) and then later just forgive the other people so easily.
• The fact that Maggie died at the end. We know that the writers can't twist the story too much or it won't be relevant to Yin Yong's novel but still, at least do a little thing at the end, stating he and his wife live happy for awhile at least! Don't have to kill her off like that. Too much bias people. Although Lieu Ngao Suong has nothing to do with it, but it seem she never got any trouble coming her way - always the goody-two shoe image and others love her no matter what. She helped a lot too but it's just not fair for the other side, espeically Maggie's master.
• The part where Hugo raped Maggie and the part where Maggie commited suicide. Of course she didn't die yet, but she will later so yea. Hates Hugo after watching this.
• The part where Hugo killed Gordon. Why did he have to die? Just a bit more and the series is over.
• The part where Hugo killed Ho Dai Thanh (the beggar leader dude). He's one of my favorite character. Why let him die?
• The parts where Maggie saved Felix ass time after time or try to feed him medicine/ ginseng that actually worked but he kept thinking it's Lieu Ngao Suong helping him, etc. So annoying! Always thinking it's her and never thought of his wife is the one helping him all along.
• The part where Lieu Ngao Suong was crying because Felix & Maggie had reunited. Ngan Dich tried to calm her down and ask what's wrong. That whole thing with her crying and being jealous is just whack since that causes Ngan Dich to go bully Maggie about stuffs and she made it sound so wrong that Felix reunite with his wife.

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charmed

After almost three years of having bought this, I've finally finished it. I had to watch the first few episodes like 5 times because I kept starting it and then stopping for months, and then forgetting what the first few episodes were about.

And wow, did the ending suck! And not just because of Maggie's character, the whole ending kinda sucked in general for all of the characters. Gah, what a let down.