New Feature: Analyzing Articles - "Kevin Cheng: From Leading Actor to Supporting Actor"

A new feature is finally here! You can find out what this new feature is about by simply reading the article: Analyzing Articles. Nowadays, it's hard for you to believe anything you read. It's up to you to think what is true and what is trash. Like the title says, I will be picking articles I read that I find interesting and posting them on my blog. I will analyze which parts I think are pure gossip, partly right and wrong, or nothing but the truth.

Key

Words in blue = Fact
Words in green = Gossip
Words in pink = May be true, may be false
Words in purple = General Opinion

*Credits: Thanks hyn5 for the translation of this article! To read her translation straight from her awesome blog, click here. Original article by Sudden Weekly.



Kevin Cheng: To Leading Role to Supporting Role

Originally, Kenneth Ma was supposed to be the second male lead. Whether it is liking from the audience or acting ability, Kenneth Ma exceeds Kevin Cheng by a mile. Logically, he moved from second lead to first lead. The ratings for "A Fistful of Stances" have been steadily increasing. TVB has arranged for the finale (two episodes) of the series to air (April 18th 8:30pm) after "Super Trio Game Master" to go up against "The Hong Kong Film Awards Presentation", which will be airing on ATV.

The writer has been watching this series every night. The partnership of producer Lee Tim Sing and screenwriter Cheung Wah Biu didn't disappoint, as the plot is well-paced. On the contrary, as the male lead, Kevin Cheng's screen time and limelight are inferior to Kenneth's. It seems as though he had been moved from a leading role to a supporting role. Why is that so? A TVB snitch revealed that someone was always sick, and would only do three moves at most while filming fight scenes. [This person] would not be able to remember long lines of dialogue. Thus, action choreographers gave [this person] the nickname 'Three Moves'. Screenwriters gave his screen time to Kenneth Ma.

Kevin Cheng's smoothest fight scenes were with Yuen Chau and Ram Tseung.

Netizens Greatly Criticize Kevin Cheng
It was rumoured that Kevin Cheng obtained his leading role from complaining to executives, but what about it? He can't fight, he can't speak, and he is greatly criticized by netizens.

The writer asked the crew of "A Fistful of Stances", but they were unwilling to respond to the rumours. However, the truth is in front of us!

Facts

1. Kenneth Ma was originally second male lead of A Fistful of Stances. Kevin Cheng was clearly stated male lead (and was also positioned at the front of the poster).


2. If you've watched A Fistful of Stances, it becomes clear to you that the plot is more focused on Kenneth and he has a significant increase in screen time.

Pure Gossip

1. I'm not a fan of Kevin, but people still shouldn't talk about him that way. This piece of the article was clearly exaggerated to make Kevin look bad. Everyone messes up their lines occasionally and longer lines are harder to memorize. Plus, if Kevin was truly "always" sick then we probably would've heard news that filming of the series was taking longer than planned with the [at the time] lead actor not feeling well. Normally, when an artiste is sick, there will be news about it. It's never a big cover story, but a short paragraph and picture tend to be leaked. Remember that article about Raymond getting food poisoning? Also, I highly doubt that Kevin refused to do more than three moves at a time while filming fight scenes. The 'Three Moves' nickname I think is something the paparazzi made up to make the article more juicy. I also find it rude they refer to him as [this/that person].

Might Be True, Might Be False

1. Kevin is one of TVB's "biological" sons. It may be true that Kevin used his connections to ask for a leading role. I wouldn't be surprised. Perhaps he even complained (but I hope an artiste would not be so vain and immature to do so). However, the latter part just seems like the paparazzi exaggerating things a bit, as usual.

General Opinion

1. When writing articles, people (such as the paparazzi) like to include the general opinion people have of someone or something. I was about to put this in the "fact" section, but this is an opinion. In most people's opinions, Kenneth performed better than Kevin.

A Fistful of Stances Review

A Fistful of Stances is addictive and engaging. The pacing and length are just about right. It shares the same "formula" as Moonlight Resonance, but I managed to not mind much at all.

Characterization

Practically all the characters bear similarities with those in Moonlight Resonance, but they're developed better and more likable. While Moonlight had two well developed and complex characters (Cho Pa and Sa Yi), Fistful has better overall characterization. Each and every single character is developed either well or decently. In other words, Fistful took what Moonlight had and made it better. I guess second time's the charm. For a more in depth look at the similarities of the characters in the two series, read here.

Performances

Yuen Qiu - "Au Yeung Wai Lan"

With her impressive kung fu and seemingly natural tough nature, Yuen Qiu portrayed the lovable strong yet caring mother well. Kind of puts Lee Sze Kei's portrayal of the ridiculously angelic "Hor Ma" to shame doesn't it?

Kenneth Ma - "Koo Yu Tong"

Having always been a good actor, Kenneth rarely receives interesting roles that have the ability to showcase his talent. That can't be said anymore however, because "Koo Yu Tong" is a complex and lovable character. He is uneducated yet clever, serious yet playful, silly yet hardworking, as well as determined and caring. His character is the most realistic, entertaining, and lovable. Kenneth brings the character to life, making me love him even more. This is probably his best role (and performance) to date.

Kevin Cheng - "Koo Yu Cheung"

Kevin is supposedly the male lead of the series, yet he is out shined by Kenneth. Despite the fact he has been acting for around ten years, Kevin still doesn't seem to have the passion or talent. His emotional scenes are poorly done with a half hearted effort. It was extremely hard for me to pity his character when he first appeared because honestly, these scenes made me cringe like crazy. It's obvious that while Kevin is now 41 years old, he still looks very young. Too bad that handsome face of his can't seem to express anything. Koo Yu Cheung was initially insecure, upset, confused, and just plain lost. Kevin however, made it seem like Ah Cheung simply had a bad temper.

Selena Li - "Wing Chi Ching"

No matter what, Selena always exerts that sweet and adorable charm of hers. Out of all the current fa dans, I must say Selena is one of few who portrays their emotional scenes the best. While I didn't spot many tears in her crying scenes, at least I know she's portraying the crying naturally instead of using the aid of eye drops. Kate and Shirley, you might want to learn something from her. The scenes where she's working as a doctor at the hospital and dealing with Koo Yu Tong as her patient were adorable. She and Kenneth have so much chemistry!

Natalie Tong - "Ying Ngan Ming"

It was a smart move on TVB's side to give Natalie a significantly larger role than she's received in the past. I've always thought she has a lot of potential as an actress, and she was able to prove so with her portrayal of "Ah Ngan." Her emotional scenes weren't done all that bad either. I found the portrayal of the trauma she went through after getting raped was quite realistic. I was also cheering for her when she stood up for herself. Natalie is very cute, and surprisingly has chemistry with Kevin despite the age difference. This is probably because the two have collaborated as brother and sister twice.

Dominic Lam - "Wing Tak"

Why Wing Tak was so keen in making life difficult for the Koo family was unreasonable and never really justified. Dominic delivers a solid performance, as he is convincing as the selfish and self absorbed villain. The fact that Wing Tak never admitted nor believed he did anything wrong and yet hung himself the day before his execution cracks me up. I thought Wing Tak was simply evil and stubborn, but I guess he was a coward at heart. *sarcasm*

Jacky Heung - "Wing Man Kwan"

Is Jacky Heung the newest kung fu "bad boy"? Upon finding out more about him, I saw that most of his past movies are all kung fu flicks. The new actor will also be filming Female Fist alongside the Olympic kung fu gold champion, John Chiang, and Kenneth Ma. While his acting is not all that great, he has the look to make his portrayal of the immature bad boy more convincing. Something about his voice bothers me though, and it seems unfit for his appearance somehow. It was still touching to see Man Kwan turn good, and I must admit it is probably my favorite part of the finale.

Angela Tong - "Chow Fong Fong"

There's something else I'd like to admit, and that is the fact that I adored Angela's character and performance. Some would probably find her annoying, but I actually loved her. She was so cute when arguing with her husband and forbidding him from doing kung fu. She even put up a sign in her company saying that no one can perform, talk about, or even mention anything relating to kung fu. Her relationship with Leung Cham (Ram Chiang) was cute and hilarious. It was sad to see Fong Fong mourn over the sudden death of her husband, especially with the regret she had for not making up with him. I enjoyed seeing her fall back up again and doing everything she could do to expose Wing Tak's wrongdoings. However, I found the times she called Wing Tak "Chicken Face" to be extremely unnecessary. Come on, it almost cost Fong Fong her life.

Ram Chiang - "Leung Cham"

I've always loved Ram Chiang as a supporting actor and he always manages to make me laugh. This series was no exception although his character was nothing too special. Like I said above though, he was so cute with Angela. His sudden death made me sad and this makes it the second series where Ram had a good character but died out of nowhere after Beyond the Realm of Conscience. I see how it was necessary for the finale though.

Stephen Wong - "Koo Yu Yan"

Stephen might be tall and quite cute sometimes, but he doesn't have what it takes to be a solid supporting actor. His emotional scenes still make me cringe. There doesn't seem to be much improvement from his performance in 2007's Steps.

Alex Lam - "Koo Yu Leung"

How tall is Alex? He's so short! Nevertheless, he is a decent actor. He exaggerates at times, but he is so much easier to watch than Stephen despite not being handsome.

Shirley Yeung - "Koo Yu Kuen"

I'm actually surprised Shirley had so little screen time. Her "status" with TVB is falling quicker than Ron's. Then again, I'm relieved. She constantly screams all her lines in all of her performances. I couldn't find the difference between Shirley's portrayal of "Ah Kuen" and "Ah Fun" in A Chip Off the Old Block, except for hair and costume.

Nancy Wu - "Chow Bing Bing"

I was expecting more from the character, but Bing Bing made no impact on the overall plot whatsoever. She gave Ah Ngan a hard time, got dumped by Ah Cheung, then disappeared. This role brought no justice to Nancy's talent.

Tavia Yeung - Young "Au Yeung Wai Lan"

All I have to say is: TVB, just because Tavia is very good at crying, it doesn't mean you should force her to cry in all her scenes.

Length

I wasn't impressed with A Fistful of Stances when I first started. The flashbacks were necessary to foreshadow the plot, but were boring. It was a big 'sob story.' While I appreciate that they went with the 'show, not tell' method, I would've preferred that they didn't waste so much time with them. Flashbacks are cool, they give you a taste of what the characters were like before, but TVB always goes overboard with them. I continued to be not impressed when "Koo Yu Cheung" was introduced. Yes, he was pitiful, but it's frustrating to see a character throw a big tantrum. The series first started intriguing me after Koo Yu Cheung started settling into the Koo family after his kidnapper/adoptive mother's death. The family at that point was reunited and the plot finally started to develop. Fistful's turning point was definitely the rape of Ah Ngan. (The rapist was potrayed by Eric Li, who gave a very convincing and rather haunting performance!) The family's chemistry (as well as Ah Ngan's blooming friendship and crush on Ah Cheung) finally came full circle. From then on, the series flew by. The pace after episode 8 is very fast and very addictive.

Overall Thoughts

A Fistful of Stances is clearly a Moonlight Resonance rip off. However, it's hard to hate the series for it because it took everything Moonlight had and made it better. All the ridiculous bickering was toned down. The issues dealt with the Koo family were much more tragic than the silly problems dealt with in Moonlight. Fistful, in my opinion, holds many more merits. It ties together drama and comedy much better. While some family scenes were included, they didn't occur as often and were not as forced. There weren't a bunch of family scenes included just for the sake and fun of it. Fistful is engaging, addictive, and definitely one of the better series of 2010.

Rating: 4 stars

Comparing AFOS and MR: The Characters

VS.

Although 2010 series A Fistful of Stances has gotten better as it progressed, it's hard to ignore the similarities between it and 2008's critically acclaimed and award winning (don't forget overrated) grand production Moonlight Resonance. One of the hardest similarities to ignore would be the characters. Some characters from both productions seem so alike that A Fistful of Stances seem like they based them off of Moonlight's. Some simply bear some of the same qualities and/or characteristics, while some look like they were practically plagiarized.

Yuen Qiu 's "Au Yeung Wai Lan" vs. Lee Sze Kei's "Hor Ma"

The similarities aren't exactly hard to notice. Both are caring mothers who raised big families on their own. Both have suffered much hardship including losing their husbands. They are both however tough and extremely "good" in that way TVB characters are.

Take your pick. Easy. Yuen Qiu's "Au Yeung Wei Lan." While both are very caring and kindhearted, Wei Lan comes off more realistic. Then again, maybe I'm just biased. I've never seen Lee Sze Kei as a versatile actress, and it's refreshing to see Yuen Qiu as I've never seen her in a series before. However, I'm a lot more fond of Wei Lan because of her tough qualities and talent in kung fu. I'd pick those two over Hor Ma's lousy gags anyway.

Kevin Cheng's "Koo Yu Cheung" vs. Moses Chan's "Kam Wing Ka"

Ah Cheung and Ah Ka are both the eldest brother in the family. However, in both cases, they barely act like it. The role of the eldest brother is taken over by the second brother (Ah Tong in Ah Cheung's case and Goon Ga Jai in Ah Ka's case). This is a result of both characters being 'useless.' Ah Cheung only calls himself useless because he is still new to the family and not familiar with all his family members, making him more modest and understandable. Ah Ka on the other hand initially wasted his life by getting addicted to the stock market, was irresponsible, and silly.

Take your pick. Koo Yu Cheung. While I'm not fond of the character too much, he doesn't feel as much of a waste of my time as Ah Ka was. At the least, he was more hardworking. He also didn't fall in love with a girl (like Ah Ka towards Ka-Mei) just because she was "hot." The character is likable after he puts all his anger issues aside.

Kenneth Ma's "Koo Yu Tong" vs. Raymond Lam's "Kam Wing Ho/Goon Ga Jai"

Although only the second eldest, both guys do a good job of acting as the eldest. They are the father figure of their household. They care for their family and put their family first no matter what. Lastly, both fall for the daughters of the villain.

Take your pick. Koo Yu Tong all the way! While "Goon Ga Jai" is sweet, he lacks layers. His character couldn't be any more simple, and was rather boring. In fact, Goon Ga Jai was so 'good' he was unrealistic (in the way Hor Ma also is). Meanwhile, Koo Yu Tong is intelligent despite his lack of education, clever, funny, and so much more. His character is complex and written well. He's entertaining and so much more lovable. Kenneth also had a lot more to work with than Raymond did, resulting in a fantastic performance, especially when it came down to his emotional scenes.

Natalie Tong's "Ying Ngan Ming" vs. Tavia Yeung's "Suen Ho Yuet"

The similarity is just too obvious. Ah Ngan and Ah Yuet were both adopted at a young age by kind mothers so they grew up with large families. In addition, both fell in love with their non-blood related elder brother.

Take your pick. Tie, I loved both. It's hard to come to a decision because while Ah Yuet and Ah Ngan come from the same background as well as love issues, their personalities are very contrasting. Ah Yuet is outspoken, righteous, but impulsive. Ah Ngan is more vulnerable and shy. The character of Ah Yuet was a bit overrated but Tavia is a fine actress and portrayed her very well. Meanwhile, Natalie continues to improve and I found her so lovable and sweet as the naive Ah Ngan.

Selena Li's "Wing Chi Ching" vs. Linda Chung's "Yue So Chau"

Chi Ching and Yue So Chau, despite having good hearts, struggle with having a parent that have done countless bad deeds. They find it hard to deal with their villain parent. Not only that, both fall for the son of the family their parent hate.

Take your pick. Wing Chi Ching! Let's not even relive the horrible, weak, and annoying Yue So Chau. I think most people share the same view of her (though some are more harsh than others).

Dominic Lam's Wing Tak vs. Michelle Yim's "Yan Hung"

It is inevitable that all the things Wing Tak did (murder three people) were much, much worse than what Yan Hung did. However, both share the characteristic where they are not satisfied until they completely ruin the family they hate. In both cases, the reason why they hate that specific family so much is never justified, making it come off as ridiculous. I lost track of how many times I mentally yelled to Wing Tak "Hey, you're the one who killed three of the Koo's family members. They should be the ones carrying all that unhealthy hate, not you."

Take your pick. None. Wait, maybe I should say Yan Hung just because she wasn't as 'evil.' Then again, it is easier to make a villain more evil in ancient and premodern series. Oh, whatever. Both characters are perfectly hate able.

Lee Sing Cheung's "Au Yeung Cheung" vs. Susanna Kwan's "Chung Siu Sa"

Both get excited at the sight of money. It's that simple. They're greedy and selfish. However, Ah Cheung is just a background character to make the Koo household a bit more noiser and fun. While Chung Siu Sa proved to be incredibly annoying at times, she was one of the main characters who was greatly developed.

Take your pick. Chung Siu Sa of course. Yes, she was annoying at times, but I loved the change she underwent. She had multiple layers and you could sympathize with the character. Of course, the character wouldn't be nearly as entertaining and easy to love if it weren't for the talented Susanna.

Nancy Wu's "Chow Bing Bing" vs. Kate Tsui's "Lo Ka Mei"

Chow Bing Bing is practically a complete copy of Lo Ka Mei. They both give off the impression that they are 'sweet and innocent' when they are truthfully conniving with a heart full of...envy? They have a past of messy relationships. One is an adulteress and gold digger while the other became pregnant as a teen and cruelly put her son into an orphanage (and may I add was so stupid as to get pregnant accidentally again with the same guy). As they both fall for a man, they quickly realize that the man's non blood related sister is in love with them. Even though both women don't do anything to pursue the relationship further, Chow Bing Bing and Lo Ka Mei were keen on ruining their love rival's lives.

Take your pick. Chow Bing Bing. Don't get the wrong idea, I hate both. Chow Bing Bing barely made an impact on the overall plot and merely served the purpose of coming between Koo Yu Cheung and Ah Ngan. Ka Mei however makes Moonlight Resonance go downhill with plenty of screen time and ridiculous schemes. Also, Nancy is a much better actress than Kate.

It's amusing how despite all the similarities between the characters of A Fistful of Stances have to Moonlight Resonance, I liked all the characters of Fistful more (except Au Yeung Cheung vs. Chung Siu Sa). Hey, A Fistful of Stances may have borrowed quite a bit from Moonlight Resonance, but at least they made it better!