Tuesday, February 7, 2012

"Wish and Switch" Review


Supernatural has been a weak genre of TVB's in recent years and usually results in tacky and messy dramas (i.e. "Men With No Shadows").  However, "Wish and Switch was a fun and enjoyable comedy with creativity and sweetness...until the last week anyway.  Unfortunately, inconsisent chracterization is more obvious here than ever in the form of Johnson's character, "Ka Yan".  As a result, by the last five episodes, "W&S" becomes hard to stomach, ruining the overall product.  However, the first 15 episodes are still entertaining with a lot of laughs.

Characters and Performances
In an ensemble with familiar supporting faces yet headed completely by the younger generation, everyone did pretty well.

Myolie Wu in all her comedic glory brings hilarity to her housewife character.  She nails the stereotypical aspects of a housewife, such as talking to herself.

"Suk Heung" was rather foolish and silly at times, annoying me the later episodes.  Her character was not smart and even stupid at times, but Myolie still makes it works.  However, it wasn't without irritating me.

Johnson Lee has been one of my most well liked supporting actors since "Catch Me Now".  He always manages to be funny and stand out.  Unfortuntately, his first male lead role "Ko Ka Yan" fails to reflect that .  While I admit he portrays the useless husband in a very convincing fashion, he was still unlikable.

"Ka Yan" was one messed up character.  He started off as a dorky and uncharismatic yet loyal and sweet man.  I wasn't fond of him, but didn't hate him.  Then, he unexpectedly becomes the main villain.  This change was so out of character, unrealistic, and completely illogical.  The evilness of the character was so cartoon like and unjustified it was almost laughable.

Selena Li shines as "Hailey", and both the character and performance were lovable.  I find Selena such a cute and endearing actress, so I was happy to see she finally had room to show her acting and potential.  Hailey was so capable, intelligent, and clever!  My new favorite roles of hers.  While Hailey wasn't as fleshed out as she could've been, Selena portrays her in a way that tells me she can definitely be leading actress material.  Sher exerts the charm, cuteness, and does her emotional scenes well.  The short hair was also a nice change.

Although Vincent Wong isn't a great actor, he is decent and has a likable factor about him.

Though intriguing, "Wayne" was not developed to his full potential.  He became an interesting and likable character after the revelation of the true reason for his actions, but had little screen time.

Vincent and Selena were so cute and sweet together.  Their story was different, and I was rooting for them to reunite.  Sadly, they didn't share many scenes and I was never satisfied with how much they got.  They were my favorite part about what was otherwise a mediocre drama.

Ram Tseung was hilarious and once again proves how valuable of a supporting actor he is.  His switching back and forth between a male and female voice was effortless and cracked me up. 

The beginning of the series focused mainly on Suk Heung and her family.  While there were some funny bits, it aggravated me how annoying her family was and why she worked so hard to take care of them.

The middle when Suk Heung and Hailey switched identities was enjoyable.  It was fun seeing the two adjusting to each other's lives, and some hilarious scenarios occurred.

However, it becomes dragyy and ridiculous by the last few episodes.  After the girls switched back, there is nothing but illogical and irritating drama.

Overall, "Wish and Switch" was a major victim of poor scriptwriting.  The last five episodes screwed up a decent series.  It was like the scriptwriters just threw in the towel and made stuff up.  At the least, it was enjoyable to watch Selena and have her finally show her acting capabilities again.  On the other hand, I hope Myolie doesn't take up any more of these housewife roles.

Rating: 2 3/4 stars