The Righteous Fists Episode 1-10 Thoughts

I was a big fan of A Fist Within Four Walls because of the fighting choreography and Grace Wong's character. Now, The Righteous Fists is an almost exact replica of it in terms of storyline. Once again, Ruco's dad is framed and he is looking for his lost siblings in a very chaotic environment run by powerful families. Same old, same old but I don't mind cause I am just here for the fights :D The drama is enjoyable so far with interesting characters (mainly with the women's) and even though I don't like the consistent use of slow cuts of the fighting scenes, I am still enjoying it.

What Happened in the First 10 Episodes?

We got three families that arrived in Bangkok's Chinatown. We got the Bu family, Lian family and Lu family. Each family is skilled in a particular form of martial arts. Arriving in Chinatown, life was tough and the people there were often bullied. The three men from the families confronted the bullies and soon became the heroes of Chinatown. They started teaching their fellow men martial arts and as things are going well, their kids were kidnapped. The Lian family have one child, the Lu family have one child plus a child maid while the Bu family has three. The three fathers were killed while trying to save their children. After the event, it is said the was Lian Zhenshan who betrayed the other two fathers and that is why they were killed. The Bu family ended up losing two of the children as well...and were heavily criticized by the people in Chinatown. The remaining mother and child then left Chinatown.


 
 Years later, the Bu Family (Ruco Chan as Bu Tin Ha and Yuen Qiu as Fung Jie) returns to Chinatown after receving some clues about their two kids/siblings. Once again, Bu Tin Ha finds himself in a similar situation as his father....wanting to fight to protect those who cannot protect themselves. He and his mother then befriended Chin Chien Chien (Natalie Tong), Pilip Ng (Je Loi Gat) and their crew of con artists.

Thoughts: The con artistes crew is quite adorable to watch. I like the chemistry between the characters. Yuen Qiu is quite comical and I am enjoying her interactions with the group. Philip Ng is also sooooo cute! There's something about him that makes him so endearing to watch. 

The group soon find themselves caught in between two large gangs of Chinatown while rescuing a group of girls who were kidnapped. One gang is led by Gam Lung (Jimmy Au) and his group of children (consists of Elaine Yiu and Pierre Ngo). The other is led by Paang Gin (Cheung Kwok Keung) and his younger brother.

Thoughts: Gam Fuk Mui (Elaine Yiu) is a capable, strong, intelligent leader but her biggest 'fault' is that she is born a woman. I respect Elaine Yiu's character and if she was to lead her family instead of being pushed into the shadows, I believe she would be able to provide the people's of Bangkok Chinatown the equality and justice the people are calling for. As for her fighting, it's good that her martial arts focuses on weapons. Elaine's Yiu body frame is too...frail..to look convincing in a strength fighting scenes. I hope to see her use her weapon more. Fortunately, she is still much more convincing than Natalie Tong in the fighting scenes.

Thoughts: The scene where Chin Chien Chien (Natalie Tong) lost it and killed the guys chasing her and Bu Tin Ha (Ruco Chan) is soooooo cringy. Her martial arts is supposedly the most powerful out of everybody...but I really don't want to see Natalie fight anymore. Character wise though, I am enjoying Natalie's characters much more then Nancy Wu's in A Fist Within Four Walls. Both are a bit cartoony but Natalie's is not as overly dramatic as Nancy's character. Hopefully Natalie's backstory will not disapooint though.....Cause Nancy's had so much potential, but ended up being lackluster.

 

Forced to face his past, Bu Tin Ha also encounters Tony/Lin Gik (Joel Chan) and finds out that he is the son from Lian's family. In addition, he also manage to find one of his long lost sibling, Bat Ji (Hoffman Cheung).
Thoughts: Ruco's long lost brother turned out to be Hoffman Cheung. WHO WOULD'VE GUESSED!?! I had my money on Philip Ng being the long lost brother...and eventually he and his brother will get into a love triangle with Natalie. It does blow my mind that his long lost brother is Hoffman though. Very good surprise and Hoffman does deserve some limelight despite his despicable character.

Joel Chan's character is probably the most interesting male character in the drama. Joel's character is multilayered, acting as the bad guy while helping Ruco behind his back. When he was young, he witnessed his uncle getting beat up by the police for trying to seek justice for his father's death. When that he happened, Joel turned over to the police and started working for them even though they were undoubtedly hiding something about the murder of his father. Though not mentioned yet, I believe he is there to seek the truth behind the whole murder. Whenever Ruco or any of the family members were in trouble, Joel would always secretly help out in the shadows. I like how he is observant, smart and would meticulously plan out his every move without worrying how others view him. Hopefully there will be more to see from his character!

As things are brewing up between the two gangs and Bu Tin Ha's crew, Paang Gin (Cheung Kwok Keung)'s only son also returns with his fiancée Anna (Grace Wong).....stirring up even more conflict in Chinatown.
Thoughts: Grace Wong as Anna. THANK GOD Grace got a meaty role in here! Her role as Fa Man is sooooo iconic in A Fist Within Four Walls so I was worried that her role in here would not be able to compare. So far though, TVB did not disappoint us. Like Fa Man, Anna is a smart and capable woman with outstanding martial arts skills. She's got a strong moral compass (so far...) as well and her background is a mystery for now. Can she be Ruco's long lost sister again...? I am excited to see how her character unravels. In addition, I just love watching Grace's fighting scene. Her fighting scenes are powerful and fluid. I'm not sure what it is...maybe because of her dancing background...but her movements are just so much more fluid than the other actresses.

That's so far for The Righteous Fists! I'm excited to see more.

[Comments] TVB Drama: A Love of No Words and Used Good

Watching the recent TVB dramas made me miss blogging :D
The last bit of 2021 and beginning of 2022 has been a good year for TVB! I recently enjoyed some very good dramas including A Love With No Words and Used Good. More so, it is just SO refreshing to see new faces onscreen. I'm not a big fan of TVB 'blockbusters' or star studded cast....I'm just in hope of some good stories to watch. Could some acting be improved by the two main leads in Used Good? Yes. Fortunately, I still quite like Matthew and Hera and the story did well in grasping onto the mystery and fantasy elements. It is reminiscent of Barrack O'Karma for sure...but less romantic and creepy. There are certain dramas that are character driven and there are ones that are like Used Good, which is very storyline driven. You don't watch it for the characters per say because the two main characters were quite bland in personality. What you watch for is how the sub stories unfolded; the weird coincidences that are not coincidences, the hidden clues and the secrets that were revealed. What is impressive is how all the stories trace back to link with each other as well. BAM! We can create a character map and there will be a whole intricate spiderweb network of relationships. Everybody links back to each other. Furthermore, everything was subtly laid out so you don't really notice it until the very end. Very well done. I can't wait to write more about this later and I might as well draw out the character map too!
The drama's ambiance is the complete opposite of Used Good; A Love of No Words provides a light hearted story that consists of an emotional roller coaster ride. I can't remember last crying for a drama the way I did in this one. The story's formula resonates with any other regular modern romance drama, but it WORKED. The drama was not too complicated/draggy, you pity the characters, the shots were beautifully done, Hubert's got a godly voice for romantic songs and it's just sad....Why is it so sad?! The mother-son story, the mother-daughters story, the dad-daughter story...most of the relationships managed to tug on a heart string or two. Lastly, everybody performed exceptionally well...especially for all the new faces. For Regina's first leading role, this girl can for sure cry. Hubert also did very well too...and how I wish he would've gotten the my Favorite Character award for this. Overall, this drama was solid and did well for a romance drama. When was the last time TVB was this romantic? It is also great to see new casts in the leads...much more vibrant and youthful than recent TVB dramas. It seems like TVB is promoting younger actors/actresses, which is nice. Provides a more appropriate youthful energy for these types of love stories.