"Will Power" Review

After skipping the series when it aired in 2013, I recently went back to watch "Will Power" after reading some good reviews.

I originally didn't have an interest in watching "Will Power" because of leads Wayne Lai and Moses Chan, which sounds silly since they are TV Kings. I was tired of seeing Wayne in his usual yelling roles at the time and was never a fan of Moses save for a few enjoyable performances here and there. However, they both deliver superb performances here and anchor the series.

Wayne Lai was finally able to play a character here where he doesn't have to constantly be screaming since being promoted to leading actor. Wilson Yu is a very smart, sharp, and confident lawyer who can command attention in the courtroom while still overall being someone who is calm and mild-mannered (except when it comes to Sheila sometimes anyway), allowing Wayne to be much more at ease here. His personal life, particularly his health, is somewhat of a hot mess in the first third of the series, and he plays a convincing stroke victim before Wilson is able to move past his psychological obstacles and get back into the courtroom.

In pure comedies, Moses Chan easily becomes over the top and annoying (though I do suspect it is mostly under the command of the director and people behind the scenes), and in dramas, he can become boring. However, he excels at roles such as "Morris Lee" where his character gets to be comical, charming, light, and playful, while still showing that he's serious and can get the job done.

However, Wayne and Moses are better together than apart and play off each other very well. They will make you laugh out loud, particularly in the early scenes they share together with their rivalry, even if they do act childish. The banter they engage in later on remains hilarious, perhaps even more so because the audience knows these two lawyers have grown to greatly respect and even like each other despite what they may say. Although the ladies' characters here are a complete disappointment, the mens' behavior because of them or towards them could become pretty darn funny, showing how Wilson and Morris are serious lawyers, but silly and jealous little boys at heart when it comes to the women they love.

Unfortunately, similar praise cannot be said for the female leads. Christine Ng gets to sit and act all judge-like, and Fala Chen gets to box a little, but other than that, they are there mostly to serve as the love interests of our leading men. As a result, they perform adequately but simply do not have much material to work with. There was potential for us to witness Fala's "Eugene" become a better lawyer, but she was later moved to the sidelines. Wayne and Christine look compatible as husband and wife, while I enjoyed Fala and Moses much more as close friends, and thought they looked more like brother and sister when they became a couple.

Jason Chan's acting here remains rather unnatural, but he is helped by having a relatively likable character. Sire Ma does quite well in her street-smart role, but her performance becomes more unstable when "Nana" is raped, going from being strangely calm to overly hysterical from scene to scene.

The MVP award goes to Vincent Wong, whose "Gilbert Sung" may not be the main character, but certainly a central one that moves the story along. In his early days, Vincent always appeared incredibly unnatural when portraying characters who are pompous rich guys, perhaps because it is far away from his real-life personality. Yet, although he slightly overacts at times, Vincent is able to really step into the shoes of Gilbert, an arrogant, immature, pill-popping rapist who got by on his daddy's money. By the end of the series, I became convinced that Vincent was a jerk in real life like his character. Also, kudos to him for yet again taking so many slaps from a veteran like a pro.

The veterans in the series get the job done, as always. Chung King-Fai is convincing in his scenes as a much more manipulative character than he usually plays. However, I couldn't help but notice and be annoyed by scenes where he is watching trials in the background of the courtroom, and how he always wears an angry facial expression that makes him look like he's sucking on a sour lemon. Power Chan is endearing and sympathetic as the autistic but kindhearted "Sung Ka Cheung," but unfortunately does not have too much to do.

As a law drama, "Will Power" fares much better than TVB's last few efforts, and this is despite the fact that Christine, for whatever reason, is the judge on all the cases shown in the series despite being Wayne's ex-wife and Moses' ex-girlfriend. Conflict of interest may not exist in the universe of this series, but the probate cases are surprisingly quite interesting, and I was relieved that while the series incorporates a lot of humorous moments, the courtroom scenes were kept serious.

Overall, "Will Power" is a much more mature series than TVB's usual offerings these days. There's plenty of laughs and chuckles to go around, but there's no fooling around when these lawyers get to work, and thankfully, no overly messy relationships. The main characters here, for the most part, actually act like adults. For once, the scriptwriters decided to avoid a love triangle between the two leads, and the only "love triangle" in the series involves Wayne and Patrick Tang pining over Christine, but the handling of this situation is done decently with no immature fighting.

The series is appropriately paced, funny, and interesting, making this 32-episode drama an entertaining one that takes little effort to finish. The female leads leave much to be desired, but are mostly balanced out by our dynamic male leads. Not bad, TVB. Not bad at all.

Rating: 4 stars

"Forensic Heroes 3" Review

Watch with low expectations and an open mind.  By doing so, this reboot of the beloved franchise can actually be very enjoyable and relaxing to watch.  While not extraordinary by any means, "Forensic Heroes 3" is one of the standouts of 2011 for its decent entertainment value and great cast.

Characters and Cast Performances


A reboot of such a loved series with a new cast and characters could've been a disaster.  However, TVB was able to assemble a great cast that worked extremely well together.  Nevertheless, I wish they had just given it a different name.  By carrying the "Forensic Heroes" name, it angered and turned away (close minded) fans of the first two and ended chances of another installment with the original cast.

Wayne Lai - Pro Sir
Good actor, solid performance, but flat character with not much substance.  Pro Sir was likable, but more could've been done with him.  However, I enjoyed the scenes with his family (played by Yuen Wah and talented child actress Moon Chan).

Maggie Cheung - Mandy Chung
Finally, a character and performance from Maggie I can actually consider a good comeback!  Having been the original choice to play Yoyo Mung's character in the first "Forensic Heroes", it was nice to TVB to invite her to replace Charmaine Sheh.  This worked out well, as Maggie did a solid job portraying Mandy's professional as well as off-work side.

Kate Tsui - Ada Ling
Is it unrealistic for a senior inspector to curl her hair every morning?  Yes.  But you have to cut Kate some slack as it is TVB's wardrobe and hair and make up department that dictates artiste's look for the series.  For whatever reason, they always make Kate look most feminine when she's playing a cop.  How contradicting.  I can't deny that she looks very pretty and stylish here.  Loved her hair and clothes!  In the time where the young people are taking over TVB, I was able to overlook how oddly young Kate and Ron were to be senior inspectors.

Appearance and casting decisions aside, Kate was cute and fierce as a tough and smart cop.  Her reactions to Ko Sir's pursuit of her were too hilarious and adorable.  Her acting has become a lot more convincing and gradually becoming more natural.

Ron Ng - Wind
"Wind" is Ron's worst role in years.  The character was boring, undeveloped, and had very little screen time.  Even Edwin had more to do than him!  Ron has improved so much as an actor, but hasn't been able to show it for a while.

Edwin Siu - Ken Ho
I know Edwin's acting has vastly improved since his return to TVB, but his performance as "Ken" justifies it.  He is cute, lively, and extremely likable.  However, it was his acting in the finale that blew me away.  His emotional and crying scenes were superb and he definitely should've been nominated for Best Supporting Actor and Most Improved.  Happy to see TVB is promoting him and am looking forward to seeing him in more major roles.

Aimee Chan - Angel Chiang
Her accent is still strong but it was funny how everybody poked fun at her for being an "ABC".

Ruco Chan - Jim Fong
A huge step down from "Keith" as "Jim" lacked substance, but he was still likable and charming as always.

Nancy Wu - Eva Chow
What a refreshing and different role for Nancy!  She was superb as the driven and capable lawyer.  Although she had a strong desire to win cases at all costs, she was proven to still be human.

Character Dynamics


Wayne and Maggie's relationship was subtle and sweet.  It was too obvious how compatible they were from the beginning.

Despite the age differences and appearance incompatibility, Wayne&Nancy and Maggie&Ruco's relationship as well as Maggie and Kate's friendship were all convincing and enjoyable to watch.  Wayne, Nancy, and their family were fun to watch.   The family's subsequent struggle was sad.

Maggie and Ruco's short lived relationship was sweet.  It was refreshing to see that both consistently acted like the mature and logical adults they were, right down to their break up.  This made it very easy to watch them.

Kate and Maggie were a great representation of modern career women who are best friends.  They look so incompatible appearance wise, but Maggie's professionalism and Kate's ability to get along with her co-stars makes it work well.

Kate and Ron's "brothers to lovers" love story was disappointing. They were cute together and Ron's confession to her on the rooftop was sweet.  Due to Wind's flat characterization, the two's relationship was mostly unfulfilled potential.

Finding the Balance


In the first half of the series, case after case is thrown at you.  There was barely any focus on the characters themselves.  The dominance of the cases in the storyline made me worry it'd go down the road of wasted character potential.  Luckily, it started to slow down and balance cases and relationships in the second half.

The Cases


Decent yet forgettable, and most of them predictable.  As I'm writing this, I've already forgotten most of them.  The first one was extremely predictable, most likely to throw us off that the rest would be as equally predictable.  The cases could've been better, but could've been a lot worse.  The forensics here were less impressive and not as focused on as in the original.

Conclusion


"Forensic Heroes 3" isn't outstanding, but addictive, entertaining, and enjoyable.  Unlike the first two, it branches beyond the field of forensics and has a more diverse cast.  With low expectations, I was able to enjoy FH3 more than almost any other series this year.

Rating: 4 stars