http://www.spcnet.tv/TVB-Series/Treasure-Raiders-review-r97.html#.UwNsG2JdWCk
Mandarin title: Xiao Shiyi Lang
Cantonese title: Siu Sup Yut Long
Warning! Spoilers!
The latest Gu Long adaptation by TVB fell short of my expectations. Frankly, I carried nary an ounce of suspense as I watched it. Admittedly, after reading the english translations and some summary spoilers on the net, I already knew the story beforehand. On the other hand, I watched most Jin Yong series after having read the novels and knowing the story extensively and most adaptations still managed to hook me on.
To be honest, Gu Long's writing style never really appealed to me and usually has me vomiting blood when reading the dialogue exchanges between his characters--they just seem to talk in circles and don't get to the point! Add Gu Long's sometimes preachy tone and "facts" of life, his writings gave me headaches at times. Becky Tai's english translations actually had me start to appreciate Gu Long and even like him. There must've been something regarding language, because in english, the dialogues seemed witty and quite humorous (a humor I never detected in chinese) and gave me the impression that I was reading some sci-fi/fantasy genre novel. It makes me wonder whether Gu Long was trying to write wuxia with a fantasy style and was in some way "translating" that style into the chinese language.
Basically, given my weak background on Gu Long's works, I was giving myself lots of room for forgiveness on TVB's part for plot inconsistencies as I watched it. However, when boiling down to adaptations, the most important element in my book is still character consistency. A character has a set of personality traits. Place him in a different environment, he is expected to act and speak in one way, as defined by his nature. If there are exceptions, there must be adequate and convincing motives in order for us to accept it.
So no, I am not anal about an adaptation following a novel scene by scene or word by word. TV producers can have fun making up new events, situations, for these characters, but it must connect and the characters must behave in the way that they are supposed to. Changes, if any, should not redefine a character's original personality to the point that it is no longer the character anymore (i.e. making a character who is a pessimist into an optimist). If so, why bother naming them the same name or even bother to call it an adaptation?
"Treasure Raiders" had a lot of liberal changes made to it, one of the more obvious is that Fung Sai Leung/Feng Si Neng (Maggie Siu Mei Kei) works for the government as a "bo fai", our modern day equivalent of a cop or detective. Siu Sup Yut Long/Xiao Shiyi Lang (Felix Wong Yut Wah) is still the scapegoat where all crimes and bad deeds are placed on his head. He is burdened with the secret of location of Chor Lau Heung's hidden treasure since a child and developed an I-am-destined-to-be-lonely kind of belief.
His father was ruthless and merciless enough to kill his own brothers and let his wife and younger son die for the sake of an oath. One can call that honor for keeping an oath to an extreme or call it the acts of a looney mule who placed no importance on his two son's fates. He personally threw his younger son down a cliff because he claimed his younger son has a weaker mind and body than his older son, Siu Sup Yut Long, and would falter from the pressure of keeping and protecting such a secret. (Side question: Is his younger son named "Siu Sup Yee (12) Long/Xiao ShiEr Lang"?)
In order to test whether Siu Sup Yut Long really held this secret, Siu Yiew Hau/Count Carefree (Hugo Ng) has his hooligans, Little Master and a gang of martial artists under his control, spread a rumor that the Deer Carving Saber contains the secret to Chor Lau Heung's treasure. Siu falls for the bait and does try to get the saber to find out the validity of this rumor--which confirms Count Carefree's guess. Count Carefree then plans a series of ploys to get Siu Sup Yut Long to reveal this secret.
Shum Bik Kwan (Anne Heung Hoi Lam), married to Lin Sing Bik, is kidnapped by Little Master and used as pawn to trap Siu. She is saved time and again by Siu Sup Yut Long and they eventually fall in love, despite her being a married woman.
Siu Sup Yut Long played by Felix is a mistake. No doubt Felix is getting old and though he is one great actor, I think he has played a "dai-hup" (hero) too much that he subconsciously plays a "dai-hup" in "Treasure". This can be visibly seen in scenes when Felix is speaking, he raises his hand up with two fingers pointed as if he is scolding/teaching or warning the other person. Felix exudes a sort of righteous, noble, and heroic aura, all of which Siu Sup Yut Long is not supposed to exude. Siu is more lonesome, playful at times, moody at others. Dai-hup, Siu is not though. Somehow, I can't imagine Siu saving needy people, not to say he wouldn't, but more like he's too busy fending off all the accusations or minding his own business. I feel that if Siu Sup Yut Long was a Felix-type exuding heroic qualities character, Gu Long would've penned him down as a two-face person, like all his so-called "good and righteous" characters who turn out to have committed the most atrocious crimes. Gu Long's Siu Sup Yut Long is a person living on the margins of society--misunderstood by most and does not have this kind of righteous air.
Physical-wise, Felix looked really big compared to the other men and as reported, he really did gain some weight. He looked tired and the dangling curls were quite ugly--good decision to rid of it later. Felix's veteran performance, however, did compensate for a lot of the deficiencies in appearances.
Maggie Siu, as Fung Sai Leung, easily fitted the role and was a living, breathing Fung Sai Leung. The only complaint I have is on her costumes, especially ones where a piece of cloth drapes over her stomach, making her figure quite unattractive. I thought making her character a government official was another mistake. Fung Sai Leung is another marginal character like Siu Sup Yut Long and making her a government official is TVB's cop-out way of trying to justify the heroine to the audience. All this makes me wonder whether TVB is trying to cater to the moral trends of today's society--the hero/heroine today is less the dark, masked persona, but rather has to be specifically on the good side.
Fung Sai Leung's relationship with Siu Sup Yut Long is not very credible. Either I missed some explanation or flashback, but Fung only had about two encounters with Siu and that was enough for her to love the guy this deeply? One was when she was still a thief trying to steal some treasure and he saved her. Another is when he saved her again when she sets up a trap to capture him at the beginning of the series. I think I missed the sparks between them. I believe in the novel, they already knew each other for years and were close friends, since Siu would incessantly tease her. Siu is not a tad funny in the series, he probably cracked one joke with Fung--which was not funny. Their banterings were fun and humorous in the novel and Siu had such a way to rouse the emotions of Fung, that one could tell Fung loved him despite her tantrums. Too bad that "Treasure" failed to bring that across.
"Treasure Raiders" welcomes Hugo Ng Dai Yung back in a TVB series, playing a villain again as he did in "Kim Mo Dok Gu Kai Pai", in which he also co-starred with Felix Wong and Maggie Siu. Hugo Ng's Count Carefree is played with ease and was a good casting as the top martial artist. The question I have is, why does Count Carefree need Chor Lau Heung's treasure? This man is already the most powerful man in the story--he has great martial arts and immense wealth. Count Carefree could probably attain all the means he needs already to conquer the world without the treasure of Chor Lau Heung. So why?
The usual cool-headed, brilliant Count Carefree is stupid enough at the end to disturb the coffin of Chor's wife, open the box in her hands without any sort of precaution? Somehow, that is very hard to believe, considering the manipulative and calculating mind of Count Carefree. People like that don't trust other people, so no matter what, Count Carefree could not possibly believe Chor Lau Heung would not set up some contraptions to protect his beloved wife's corpse from being disturbed. Then to die a silly death, getting crushed from a falling pillar, is another TVB cop-out. It's hard to imagine that someone like that could that easily be killed. The Count is not exactly a smart Lara Croft type "tomb raider".
Tsang Wai Kin is the other veteran actor and his Yueng Hoi Tai is also portrayed quite well. Though he is less of the bashful and stuttering "6th Gentleman", he is still the giving lover who loves Fung Sai Leung.
Anne Heung's Shum Bik Kwan was weak comparatively. Up against Maggie Siu, whose face is so lively and expressive, she looked like a wooden doll that had three expressions--sad, angry, and relieved. Given, I have a gripe with this character too since I have always rooted for Fung Sai Leung.
Kwok Yiu Ming's get-up as Lin Sing Bik was very sissy-looking. With two lines of hair at the sides and the flowing gown, Lin didn't have the built or right look. I laughed every time I saw him so it was hard for me to reckon this character seriously or doing any damage. Kwok Yiu Ming gave a passable performance though.
The fighting sequences in "Treasure" were only mediocre. Nothing really to sneeze about, but also without special effects.
Boiling down, I did not enjoy the series. The plot itself was uninteresting and boring, with too much dramatic irony, where the audience already knows who is the bad guy, who did what, and what is being planned. A lot of scenes with Count Carefree laughing evilly as he plans the next step and plays the puppet master kept giving an imminent warning of what's in store for the characters. It was also tiring after a while to hear Siu Sup Yut Lang's name uttered at the end of a sentence.
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