![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Entry tags:
Review: Wu Xin: The Monster Killer 3 (無心法師 3) (2020)
This season was more enjoyable than Season 2, but it still didn't have the charm of Season 1. At this point, it is time for the franchise to take a new direction other than focusing so much on romance. Wu Xin needs higher stakes, which I know is hard to do since he's immortal.
I wouldn't say that I'd recommend this season, but if you're watching the entire Wu Xin series for completion, I'd rank this below Season 1 and above Season 2.
Spoilers.
Story
As I mentioned, this season focused on back stories for the recurring characters, which included Yue Qiluo (in the form of Liu Qingluan and Liu Xuanhu), Chu Chen Zi (in the form of Shang Qingtian), and Bai Liuli.
The short version is that Liu Qingluan and Wu Xin fell madly in love. However, the big blockade was Liu Xuanhu, who was Qingluan's evil younger twin brother who was obsessed with the dark arts because he was cursed with an illness from a young age. Xuanhu was eventually disposed of and Wu Xin and Liu Qingluan lived together until her death.
At the beginning of the season, the monkey demon gave Wu Xin foresight through which he found out that Qingluan was supposed to solve his suffering of being an immortal. As Qingluan died, she told him her observation that his solution wasn't to die, but to find a way to erase his memories. I think it's implied that he found a way to do so by the end of the season, but it's not clear.
Back to Qingluan and Xuanhu. They considered themselves two halves of a whole, being twins and all. There was also a period of time that Xuanhu wanted to possess Wu Xin's body so that he could have immortality. This basically explains Yue Qiluo's obsession with Wu Xin. She is somewhat romantically attracted to him (that's the Qingluan side) but she also wants to possess him for his power (that's the Xuanhu side).
At the end of the series, Wu Xin meets someone who looks like Qingluan out on the street. They show recognition to one another, so I'm not sure if it's implied that they have both retained their memories, or if they've forgotten their memories but are inexplicably attracted to each other (love at first sight).
Bai Liuli was introduced part way through the series. He was revealed to be half fox-demon and thus had a longer life than humans. Wu Xin sought him out to help him end his life. In his attempt to do so, Bai Liuli extracted a curse, which was gotten rid of by the end of the season. By the end, it was also revealed that Bai Liuli somehow gained immortality. In seasons 1 and 2, Bai Liuli was played by another actor, but he was also shown to be a shapeshifter of sorts, so I think he probably gained more powers in the centuries that passed.
The charm of the first season was that the story focused on several unrelated cases which gave the story a light-hearted feel. The last arc which involved Wu Xin and Yueya's wedding and Yueya's death was a departure in tone, but there was enough in the previous arcs to balance out the entire season.
The fact that Liu Xuanhu was introduced as a morally questionable character fairly early on basically set the tone for the season. We knew that there was going to be fallout between the twins, so it was basically impossible to have a lighthearted season. That being said, this season still split up the story into arcs which made for more comfortable viewing, something that season 2 failed to do.
There was also not enough monster hunting for my liking. There was politics and such, which are staples of Chinese dramas, but now that I'm thinking about it, Wu Xin didn't have too much opportunity to show off his monster hunting skills. I guess it could be explained by the fact that he was way more experienced in season 1 than he was in season 3, but that was what made season 1 so much more fun to watch.
I wouldn't say that this was a good story, it just is what it is. It had a bit too much baggage because it kept trying to call back to previous seasons, but in doing so it made it difficult to keep the tone light.
Production
The acting was okay? I feel like the script wasn't great so the actors didn't have much room to move and express themselves.
As for the CGI, I knew what I was getting into. It's never going to be top notch, but it does the job.
Characters
Wu Xin
As I mentioned, I did feel that the script was a bit limited, so Elvis Han didn't have that much room to express Wu Xin the way that he did so well in season 1. In any case, we found out more about Wu Xin's immortality condition, though as I mentioned above, it's not clarified by the end of the season as to whether he's actually been able to erase his memories.
His personality didn't change much from the previous seasons. He was still easygoing but also kind. But at this point, I do admit I am seeking something new from this character. The fact that he's immortal automatically makes everything low stakes, and we've seen him deal with love already in season 1.
Liu Qingluan
I'm going to say it. Qingluan doesn't have much of a personality. She's smart, just, and sweet, and her one weak spot is her brother, but she's just so bland and Mary Sue-like to me. There's nothing interesting about her.
I was expecting Wu Xin and Qingluan to have a huge falling out by the end of the season, when she sides with her brother against Wu Xin, but that didn't happen.
The romance with Wu Xin was also a bit forced because they seemed to show attraction from the get-go, as opposed to a buildup. I admittedly am not over Wu Xin and Yueya's relationship from season 1. The way that was built up, both Wu Xin and Yueya were wanderers so it made sense for them to protect each other, and along the way, they started to care for each other. However, with Wu Xin and Qingluan, they were already in love when Wu Xin followed Qingluan to the manor (otherwise it would've been weird and too forward).
Qingluan mostly served as a love interest, and the one to reveal to Wu Xin how he could overcome his suffering as an immortal. More of a plot device than an actual character.
Liu Xuanhu
Xuanhu was definitely more interesting than his sister as a character. He was selfish and ambitious, but his poor health stopped him from being able to do much. He'd monopolized his sister's life, requesting that she be his double as he was unable to uphold a career in his current state of health.
Later when they Xuanhu found the bell, his eyes were opened to the possibility of extending his life through the dark arts (and he kind of forgot about his academic career...). He became obsessed with the idea, going so far as to killing innocent people to drain their life force and sharing a body with his sister even after his death.
Xuanhu was also protective and possessive of his sister, hating that she was in a relationship with Wu Xin. He openly despised Wu Xin, but Wu Xin finally put him away for good by the end of the season.
Shang Qingtian
Shang Qingtian was just in the season for comedic relief, as he didn't have much of a role. He was a lowly disciple so he didn't wield much power, and because of that, there wasn't much he could do to help Wu Xin with his ghost-busting and such.
Bai Liuli
I think Bai Liuli was a more striking character in season 3 than in season 1 or 2. It was hard to pinpoint his actual personality in the previous seasons, especially because he was introduced as a hardass in the end of season 1, but right from the start of season 2, he was subject to Wu Xin's pranks and such.
In season 3, it's established right from the beginning that he is very pretentious and uptight, and only further in the season do we see how his dynamic with Wu Xin came to be.
Liuli's powers are rather hand-wavy and the way he gains immortality is also a bit hand-wavy though.
Overall
Overall, I wouldn't say that I particularly liked this season, I just liked that it wasn't as bad as season 2. I wouldn't recommend it as a standalone, even if I'm not considering the continuity from the previous seasons. It's just too average/less-than-average in all areas to showcase the charm of Wu Xin.
If they are going ahead and producing a Wu Xin season 4, I am hoping that Wu Xin gets some higher stakes to deal with, something other than romance because we've seen that twice before. I'd also like for some more actual monster killing rather than Wu Xin sticking his nose in other people's business and occasionally using his blood to get rid of curses and demons.
I wouldn't say that I'd recommend this season, but if you're watching the entire Wu Xin series for completion, I'd rank this below Season 1 and above Season 2.
Spoilers.
Story
As I mentioned, this season focused on back stories for the recurring characters, which included Yue Qiluo (in the form of Liu Qingluan and Liu Xuanhu), Chu Chen Zi (in the form of Shang Qingtian), and Bai Liuli.
The short version is that Liu Qingluan and Wu Xin fell madly in love. However, the big blockade was Liu Xuanhu, who was Qingluan's evil younger twin brother who was obsessed with the dark arts because he was cursed with an illness from a young age. Xuanhu was eventually disposed of and Wu Xin and Liu Qingluan lived together until her death.
At the beginning of the season, the monkey demon gave Wu Xin foresight through which he found out that Qingluan was supposed to solve his suffering of being an immortal. As Qingluan died, she told him her observation that his solution wasn't to die, but to find a way to erase his memories. I think it's implied that he found a way to do so by the end of the season, but it's not clear.
Back to Qingluan and Xuanhu. They considered themselves two halves of a whole, being twins and all. There was also a period of time that Xuanhu wanted to possess Wu Xin's body so that he could have immortality. This basically explains Yue Qiluo's obsession with Wu Xin. She is somewhat romantically attracted to him (that's the Qingluan side) but she also wants to possess him for his power (that's the Xuanhu side).
At the end of the series, Wu Xin meets someone who looks like Qingluan out on the street. They show recognition to one another, so I'm not sure if it's implied that they have both retained their memories, or if they've forgotten their memories but are inexplicably attracted to each other (love at first sight).
Bai Liuli was introduced part way through the series. He was revealed to be half fox-demon and thus had a longer life than humans. Wu Xin sought him out to help him end his life. In his attempt to do so, Bai Liuli extracted a curse, which was gotten rid of by the end of the season. By the end, it was also revealed that Bai Liuli somehow gained immortality. In seasons 1 and 2, Bai Liuli was played by another actor, but he was also shown to be a shapeshifter of sorts, so I think he probably gained more powers in the centuries that passed.
The charm of the first season was that the story focused on several unrelated cases which gave the story a light-hearted feel. The last arc which involved Wu Xin and Yueya's wedding and Yueya's death was a departure in tone, but there was enough in the previous arcs to balance out the entire season.
The fact that Liu Xuanhu was introduced as a morally questionable character fairly early on basically set the tone for the season. We knew that there was going to be fallout between the twins, so it was basically impossible to have a lighthearted season. That being said, this season still split up the story into arcs which made for more comfortable viewing, something that season 2 failed to do.
There was also not enough monster hunting for my liking. There was politics and such, which are staples of Chinese dramas, but now that I'm thinking about it, Wu Xin didn't have too much opportunity to show off his monster hunting skills. I guess it could be explained by the fact that he was way more experienced in season 1 than he was in season 3, but that was what made season 1 so much more fun to watch.
I wouldn't say that this was a good story, it just is what it is. It had a bit too much baggage because it kept trying to call back to previous seasons, but in doing so it made it difficult to keep the tone light.
Production
The acting was okay? I feel like the script wasn't great so the actors didn't have much room to move and express themselves.
As for the CGI, I knew what I was getting into. It's never going to be top notch, but it does the job.
Characters
Wu Xin
As I mentioned, I did feel that the script was a bit limited, so Elvis Han didn't have that much room to express Wu Xin the way that he did so well in season 1. In any case, we found out more about Wu Xin's immortality condition, though as I mentioned above, it's not clarified by the end of the season as to whether he's actually been able to erase his memories.
His personality didn't change much from the previous seasons. He was still easygoing but also kind. But at this point, I do admit I am seeking something new from this character. The fact that he's immortal automatically makes everything low stakes, and we've seen him deal with love already in season 1.
Liu Qingluan
I'm going to say it. Qingluan doesn't have much of a personality. She's smart, just, and sweet, and her one weak spot is her brother, but she's just so bland and Mary Sue-like to me. There's nothing interesting about her.
I was expecting Wu Xin and Qingluan to have a huge falling out by the end of the season, when she sides with her brother against Wu Xin, but that didn't happen.
The romance with Wu Xin was also a bit forced because they seemed to show attraction from the get-go, as opposed to a buildup. I admittedly am not over Wu Xin and Yueya's relationship from season 1. The way that was built up, both Wu Xin and Yueya were wanderers so it made sense for them to protect each other, and along the way, they started to care for each other. However, with Wu Xin and Qingluan, they were already in love when Wu Xin followed Qingluan to the manor (otherwise it would've been weird and too forward).
Qingluan mostly served as a love interest, and the one to reveal to Wu Xin how he could overcome his suffering as an immortal. More of a plot device than an actual character.
Liu Xuanhu
Xuanhu was definitely more interesting than his sister as a character. He was selfish and ambitious, but his poor health stopped him from being able to do much. He'd monopolized his sister's life, requesting that she be his double as he was unable to uphold a career in his current state of health.
Later when they Xuanhu found the bell, his eyes were opened to the possibility of extending his life through the dark arts (and he kind of forgot about his academic career...). He became obsessed with the idea, going so far as to killing innocent people to drain their life force and sharing a body with his sister even after his death.
Xuanhu was also protective and possessive of his sister, hating that she was in a relationship with Wu Xin. He openly despised Wu Xin, but Wu Xin finally put him away for good by the end of the season.
Shang Qingtian
Shang Qingtian was just in the season for comedic relief, as he didn't have much of a role. He was a lowly disciple so he didn't wield much power, and because of that, there wasn't much he could do to help Wu Xin with his ghost-busting and such.
Bai Liuli
I think Bai Liuli was a more striking character in season 3 than in season 1 or 2. It was hard to pinpoint his actual personality in the previous seasons, especially because he was introduced as a hardass in the end of season 1, but right from the start of season 2, he was subject to Wu Xin's pranks and such.
In season 3, it's established right from the beginning that he is very pretentious and uptight, and only further in the season do we see how his dynamic with Wu Xin came to be.
Liuli's powers are rather hand-wavy and the way he gains immortality is also a bit hand-wavy though.
Overall
Overall, I wouldn't say that I particularly liked this season, I just liked that it wasn't as bad as season 2. I wouldn't recommend it as a standalone, even if I'm not considering the continuity from the previous seasons. It's just too average/less-than-average in all areas to showcase the charm of Wu Xin.
If they are going ahead and producing a Wu Xin season 4, I am hoping that Wu Xin gets some higher stakes to deal with, something other than romance because we've seen that twice before. I'd also like for some more actual monster killing rather than Wu Xin sticking his nose in other people's business and occasionally using his blood to get rid of curses and demons.