A Fistful Of Stances [2010][TVB][E]

This series has one of the best trailers I have seen so far, and a very decent epic series-ish title, whether in English or in Chinese. So I was eager until I found out Kevin Cheng plays 2 roles, that of the missing father and the kidnapped son. My interest was still there until I actually sat down and watched the entire 1st episode. But first the recap.

It starts in 1912 or somewhere around then and we see a very teary eyed Tavia walking alone at night, thinking to herself "I am listening to you (you being the fate teller), you said if I kept walking in this direction I will find my husband... where are you my husband?" and we see some more flashback as we see the whole clan in the house raging against someone for the murdered sifu and his young wife. Kevin sat on a bicycle as he bid his wife, Tavia (who was pregnant and already had 2 children at that time but later I found out she already had 4 children with one on the way so frankly I am confused are they hers or adopted?) goodbye as he said he was gonna go see the police about the progress of the case. Off he went.

We see Tavia alone when she heard the bells of the bicyle and she rushed out and frankly this is one of the most beautifully shot scene I have ever seen coming from TVB, There was a hawker by the side, the smoke covers the air and we could hear the bicycle but not the person and like Tavia we waited with abated breath and then we see a man cycled past and it wasn't Kevin. Tavia disappointed narrated "Husband, you have been missing for 59 days. Where are you? Or there's foul play by that man? Tell me if there is, tell me in my dreams so I can seek justice for you"...

That man she mentioned is Dominic Lam, she went to see him and in front of everyone confronted him and asked angrily "Where is my husband?" and he pretended to be offended and said "My dear sister in law, your husband and I are like sworn brothers, I am as concerned about him as you are, please do not throw such accusations..You're also pregnant, don't think so stupidly, have a rest!" as Tavia kept saying "WHERE IS MY HUSBAND? WHERE HAVE YOU BURIED HIM!! WHERE?!" and everybody including the police said "Madam, believe me, we have investigated and this man has nothing to do with your husband being missing" but Tavia grabbed him by the shoulders and tearfully shouted "WHERE IS MY HUSBAND?!" when her I suppose butler or someone rushed in and said "1st and 2nd masters have been kidnapped!!!" and she rushed out and indeed, her first 2 sons were missing! She vowed to look for them and so she did, went looking at the train stations, with increasing panic and we see a couple holding the 2 young boys and the younger boy saw Tavia and said "Mommy!!!" and Tavia saw him and rushed into the train and grabbed back her son but her oldest child was not to be found and tearfully she cried for her oldest son.

Pause here.

I do not know who these people are but I wonder are they connected with Dominic Lau?

Back to 1935 or somewhere thereabouts and we see the 2nd son grew into Kenneth Ma. Kenneth Ma runs a kung fu club cum Traditional Chinese Medicine hall, thanks to the investment by I suppose his uncle who brought gold bars back from I suppose back from overseas. Kenneth is a kind man who does not accept fees or moneys for his services and we are told he has a reputation as a "Everything Also Know" Master or in chinese "Mat Dou Hiu" Master. I thought it meant he was capable but we shall find out later the origin of this nickname.

Then we are introduced to his siblings and frankly I was even more confused after the introduction so I shall leave this as it is for now.

One guy rushed in and said the doctor was beaten. So Kenneth rushed to see the doctor who is a TCM doctor, and the doctor said "Many patients came to me, with symptoms of mecury poisoning (I think it is mercury poisoning, I stand to be corrected) and so I told them to stop taking that pills.." and one of them said "The one endorsed by the top 5 martial arts school? Made by that Wing Pharmaceuticals (this is actually my name for his company since I have yet to catch the name)?" and the doctor nodded and he continued "Not long later some thugs came and beat me up and told me to apologise and go to each customer and explain the pills are harmless but I refused and so they slapped me so hard, two of my tooth fell off!".

Kenneth wanted to protect the doctor and at the same time appease the situation since the doctor's life is in danger. He and a few of his siblings went to see Wing Man-kwan, the son of Wing Tak (Dominic Lam) and anyway Kenneth sorta apologise and yet sorta insulted Man Kwan to the point Man Kwan had enough with Kenneth's rhetorics and suddenly, Kenneth started to have difficulty in breathing and started to go "hiu... hiu... hiu..." and the villains laughed and said "So here we have the Everything Also Know (Mat Dou Hiu) Master going "I can! I can! (Hiu! Hiu!)!!" and his siblings tried to carry him away but the vilains refused and said "Oh no you don't walk out! You will fly out!" and basically they threw Kenneth out. Quickly one of them found a cart and he sat on it, breathing still very laboured when they nearly knocked down a pretty girl on a bicycle who happens to be a doctor (western medicine). She somehow has the cure with her, mixed with hot water and he breathed in and felt much better. Kenneth stood up and siblings said "Come on, let's go home" but Kenneth angrily said "NO! I will seek my vengeance!!" and rushed back in time to see the villains leaving and saw him and laughed and Kenneth declared "The Every Know" Master is here! And the flying master as well!!" and they laughed and said "Coming back for seconds? Not afraid to go hiu hiu hiu again? Apart from that, you also know how to fly right?" and laughed hard as Kenneth smiled slyly and said "Oh yes, I do know everything. I also know how to ... FIGHT!!" and he basically beat them to pulp and celebrated his win as Wing Man-kwan stood there looking angry.

Far far away Kenneth's mother, Au Yeung Wai Lan stood looking disapprovingly and thought "This boy of mine will never ever learn. When will he learn never to stand up for someone else not to his benefit? But.. he reminds me so much of father..." and she smiled a little and again flashback to 1912 or thereabouts.

The opening of a new branch perhaps, Wai Lan's father is a celebrated kung fu master and her husband Shing was doing the lion dance when he switched to another student and Wai Lan's father said "What is he doing??" and Wai Lan said "His wife and child is there, Shing knows what he is doing" but the student couldn't stand properly and fell thus spoiling the event.

Back inside, Biu the father scolded the student very badly saying "If you want to show off to your fat sweetheart (yes he said that) do it somewhere else! Don't let people know I am your master! You can even do a decent stance and you want to do lion dance! You are a disgrace!" as Wai Lan and Shing tried to appease his anger and the student quietly walked in crying.

Next thing the student came back out with a bag and said he was leaving but Biu scolded him and said "How can I not worry about you who can't even fight properly? Here let me teach you a method that will save your skin" and Shing asked "But sifu, you never taught me that method" and Biu said "Only for the weak ones like this one" and he demonstrated and the student managed to get it right and in a way this was Biu's way of asking him to stay as everybody ended up practising and everything else was forgotten.

Back to present day.

Wing Man-kwan wasn't pleased as he scolded his assistant on the poisoning issue but the old assistant said "But master I told you not to replace the ingredients but you refused to listen to me!" and Wing Man-kwan angrily said "Well from now on switch the ingredients back!" and old man asked "Should we consult old master?" and Wing Man-kwan said "No need to disturb father. If he sees that I made a mess of this pill, he will never trust me again!" and he said to himself "I will make sure that Everything Also Know master and that meddlesome doctor pay for all these!!"

Kenneth is hiding the doctor whom we know as his physician for his asthma. Wai Lan wasn't pleased and scolded her son "How do you know the doctor is innocent and that he has no part to play in the pills? How do you know he has your best interest at heart? Boy, don't be stupid! If you persist this way, your uncle (I assume he is the uncle, the one who invested in the business) will close this place, sell it and leave! Is that what you want? Your father has been missing for over 2 decades! The responsibility lies with you! Don't throw all this away for that one man you can't even be sure you can trust!" and Kenneth said "Mother I trust the doctor. He is the victim!" and Wai Lan said "I don't care. He leaves immediately!" and suddenly Kenneth started to go hiu hiu again and Wai Lan said "Don't pretend boy!" as his siblings cried "It's real mother!" and in the end Wai Lan conceeded and said "Fine, he leaves in 3 days!".

Kenneth was brought into a room where the doctor was hiding and panicked they said "Brother is having the attack again!" when Kenneth smiled and said "I told you I can get mother to agree! Now you have 3 days!" and everybody happily laughed when the uncle rushed in and they went back to pretending as the uncle said "I have decided! I will sell this place!!" and he left and the doctor pondered if he should leave immediately as I think it was Shirley who said "Don't worry! No one would buy this place since 2 people were murdered here!" and they laughed and pretended to play a game of paying respects to the dead (huh?!) when the uncle rushed in again and said "I will sell to the next door!! I will!" when they played with him, the paying respects to the dead game when someone rushed in and said "The police commissioner and 5 masters of the top 5 martial arts school is here!" and uncle walked out to entertain them and found out they want an explanation from Kenneth why he defamed the pills. Uncle panicked, rushed in and pulled Kenneth out but this time he had a real asthma attack and the uncle didn't care and kept pulling as everybody tried to pull him back and so the episode ends here.

Next episode, didn't pay attention to what's coming next but probably about the true nature of the doctor.

Honestly speaking, what a chore to watch! I know 1st episode is always messy and dramatic and not a good judge of what's to come but as I sat to watch this 1st episode, I felt like it was so uncoordinated. The switch between present and past was so confusing and convulated and the very first scene though beautifully shot did nothing to create the urgency that the cinematography did. I am sure we will know more of Shing later but right now he is just a pretty boy who went missing years ago. There are so many wrongs with episode 1.

Like I said, the entire past and present is just too confusing. I wished they just stick to telling the past story properly and then move to present. Too many dialogues is inside the head of the character and mainly this happens with Wai Lan. I just wish she speaks those words out. And so far the younger Wai Lan comes across as stressed and the older Wai Lan comes across as not so noble.

The kung fu scenes are terrible. I know they're actors first and foremost but when they do kung fu, I could almost feel like they're counting their steps. Nothing flowed naturally, nothing to indicate they can actually fight. Let's wait for Yuen Qiu to show them how. None of them probably can dance because kung fu for actors is like dancing.

The story is unexciting. The drama came too soon, nothing to build up the tension or the fear but straight to the consequence so I felt nothing for any of the characters.

Talking about characters, why make Yue Tong asthmatic? It is so annoying. Why not make him blind in one eye? Oh wait, I know why. To set up his relationship with Selena who let's guess; she will be the kind hearted daughter of the villain. Boring. And too many children. How many children they have??

And the worst is the casting decision.

I like Kenneth Ma but come on, he can't act drama at all. He pouts and that's it. He fights slow mo. He has the height, the built but nothing else to convince me he is this young capable master. He can't even convince me he is the leader. I feel like I am watching someone pretending to be a leader. He is just not convincing at all.

Kevin Cheng will play 2 roles. Why? Why can't Sunny Chan take on the husband role as a special guest star? What did Kevin do to score this role? His acting is not only wooden, it is terrible! Just that few minutes and I feel he is spoiling this series. It is like Tavia did all the acting and he just stood there, pretending to act. And chemistry with Tavia? Zero.

Even the old man, Chung King Fai is a poor choice. He does not have the calibre to be a master, a leader feared by his students. Where is Kok Fung when you need him? Or Wong Wai (who has retired-is he dead?) or even Chun Pui? Where are they? Because the casting here seems like second rate. I know he is a teacher in TVB drama class but my god his acting... is.. so.. bland.

Then there's Shirley Yeung, Natalie Tong and Tavia. There should be some switching of roles. Shirley is too old to play that sort of character. I wished she gets Natalie's character and Natalie gets hers. Tavia should be the eldest daughter, or rather Kevin eldest son, next Tavia, third Kenneth, etc etc because Tavia's role as the younger Wai Lan should have been someone who not about acting but more about screen presence and I kept thinking why can't Charmaine Sheh get this role? Why her? Charmaine Sheh is often cast as the pitiful character or the brash one once in a while but she is at her best when as someone in authority, someone desperate, someone desperate and yet in command of situation and I feel she should have been a special guest star as Wai Lan. Tavia can play desperate, she can cry pitifully but also noisily and not a beautiful crier but Charmaine can do both desperate and commanding at the same time, where she would be the best in the scene where Wai Lan confronts Wing Tak about her husband.

Yuen Qiu is just not good enough. Her acting is raw and I am just dying to see her fight.

The entire series' casting is like wrong wrong wrong! Frankly even Dominic Lam as the villain is questionable. He can act, I welcome him back but does he have that commanding presence as the villain who ruined everyone's life? I hope so.

I am most disappointed with episode 1 and I feel like abandoning it. I love the cinematography, the costume, the settings, the atmosphere but so far the story is like run of the mill although I welcome the drama of this series, the acting is mostly terrible and the casting is just plain wrong eventhough I applaud the producer for taking chances in certain actors as opposed to another producer who just cast the same people in the same story. But the casting this time just doesn't work. I feel like abandoning this series but I know I shouldn't judge this by the 1st episode. I hope it gets better as it goes along. But if episode 1 is to be the judge of this entire series, sorry to say the trailer would have been a better series than episode 1.

The themesong sung by Kevin Cheng. Can someone just beg TVB to let proper singer sing the themesong? PLEASE?