One Smile is Very Alluring (2016)

I watched the drama a few years back and today I decided to watch the movie - the best decision ever. Watching it before the drama is not recommended because things might be a bit confusing. Watching it right after finishing the drama might feel lacking because you have already grown attached to the actors in the drama and the movie is waaaaayy shorter. If you have just finished the drama and can't get enough of it so you decided to come here - patience is the key. I really enjoyed the movie because of two things - I get the flow of the story even though there were a lot of things happening at once and I did not compare the actors between the drama and the movie. Overall, I enjoyed it and I realized how much I loved the drama before.

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I watched the drama first, this movie could have been better but it lacked proper execution.

First things first, this is my first time watching Angelababy act and I must say she did a much better job at portraying Bei Wei Wei compared to the actress in the drama. I'm sure Bei Wei Wei's character was written that way in the drama and it made it boring to watch despite the chemistry between the two. Now, in the movie, Bei Wei Wei, was as she should be, full of life and gamer with much more than an ounce of personality.

Both Jing Bo Ran's & Yang Yang's Xiao Nai were pretty similar to met. They were both nice to the FL and it is a quality that appreciate in the MLs of the romance dramas I prefer to watch.

And I was so surprised to see three stars of dramaworld as secondary character with very little contribution to the movie. Li Xian, Tan Song Yun, and Janice Wu. There story arcs were such that they almost disappeared in the background. Only their memorable faces made me remember them.

Now, coming to the story, the drama did a much better job. While we understand the time limit and how compression works, the movie was not executed well. It lacked flow, the scenes changed abruptly. The romance developed suddenly. I have seen many dramas where 1 single episode showcased so many different scenes but the transition between them was perfect.

But was it worth the time spent watching it? Yes, not bad for a one time watch.

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Don't recommend watching if you are watching due to the TV series Love O2O

DON'T WATCH AND WASTE YOUR TIME
The story is similar to the TV series Love O2O. To be more precise, it's a combination of good/popular scenes from the series. It's not in a flow, more like they have enacted scenes and pieced them together. The male and female lead personalities have changed and have gotten rid of many characters and lack of character development. That 1hr 40min was a complete waste of my time, don't recommend watching even if you are super bored. If you want to watch Love O2O then the TV series is the one to go to.
Whoever is able to watch this movie more than once I bow down to you. I was suffering through the entire movie and barely finished watching it.

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I enjoyed the drama, but thought it ran way too long so I was very curious to see a movie version. As expected, it’s a bit skimpy on the character development due to time constraints.

My biggest problem is the cast. Angelababy is slightly better than her drama counterpart, but WeiWei is still a giant set of eyes in tiny skirts that looks shy and wide-eyed as everything happens to her. As Xiao Nai, I prefer Yang Yang considerably more. Overall, they are not a very interesting couple and since the relationship must move quicker in a movie, they don’t develop the same kind of feels so the movie falls short.

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I have watched both this and the drama. You watch for almost an hour before the actors are interacting in the real world. For me too much time was used there and not enough at the end. This leads to their whole relationship being rushed and no development of any of their friends. Other than the leads the rest of the cast is not needed. They never talk about Xiao Nai's game company other than a tiny bit to end the show and you miss everything that Wei Wei dose there. Which for me is important to their relationship!
The game play is great and what I want to see. The acting is great too. Did I enjoy the movie? Heck ya 100% best kiss I'v seen this year. But the drama is better. Come at me xD

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My biggest issue with the movie is that the "real life" scenes were often merged with the game and as such, the lines between reality and the game were often blurred, making these "real life" scenes less realistic. I feel like the interaction between the leads is not as mesmerizing as the drama and certainly not as romantic. Their first encounter was very cliche and the meeting at the bridge was a let down. The acting was good and the kiss, oh my, 10/10.

The leads are very good looking but overall the other cast do not provide as much of an eye candy as the drama. Movie Wei Wei has a great bubbly personality, pretty much the same within and outside the game world. However, one of the reasons why I liked the dramas is because of the contrasting personalities of the leads- shy girl in real life with a totally different personality in the game world. The story gets a 7 because as many have mentioned, it was too fast paced- quite expected of a movie. I don't think I'll be re-watching this. I never really re-watch movies or dramas but I already watched the drama twice. I also wished that Xiao Nai's three friends were recognized and appreciated at the end, not just Wei Wei and Xiao Nai - it feels wrong.

Since this is a remake, it is inevitably going to be compared with the drama. If this was a standalone movie, I probably would have appreciated it more but alas nothing can be done for it is a remake.

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2nd review:

whaaaaaaaatttttt the special effects are just freaking marvelous! i watched the movie after i watched the series.. i was impressed with the movie as i was impressed with the series..both have its strong qualities and weak part... id rather compare the movie to the series for my review for a better outlook on what i mean...hmm.. as for the leads.. weiwei in movie has a strong disposition maybe because of how angelababy portrayed the role...she has a rather reserved personality compared to the series... she has a positive outlook in her life maybe because of the movie it wasn't detailed enough..more like a generalized personality compared to the series...hmm ok for Xiao Nai... Jing did a good job portraying XN..he has a rather cool attitude compared to the series wherein Yang2 has a mysterious vibe enveloping his personality... XN in the movie is rather more human compared to the series in the sense that he can be defeated and can stand up..while in the series,,not once was XN been put down... as for the friends..they weren't given their proper screen-time...they were shown less than a supporting role in the movie..because the focal point is the relationship between XN and WW...understandable...overall it was a great experience watching the movie..i was so drawn to the special effects wishing my country could do a little bit like that of an effort...hahaha story-wise i think series has the upper-hand and the movie have its general feeling...

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I haven't watched the drama series, and I supposed there was a novel about it. But I really love this movie. Even if it's simple, it feels very warm. It made me feel a fuzzy feeling.

There's not much conflict to the story so it's very alluring to me. No heartbreaks or whatnot. Just a love story for them to tell. It seems like their life is perfect. And I liked that compared to over dramatized poor girl rich man conflict. Simple, calming, and sweet.

I love her supporting his love for creating games, even coming to him so late at night just to celebrate new year's with him personally. Not to mention the elevator scene, but damn that kissing scenes was so sweet! I'm glad it's not awkward like I've seen in most Chinese dramas and movies.

I trust China with their CG and it always turned out so beautiful, as if the actors is actually looking at such scenery.

I liked Yang Yang more to be the lead, but that's okay. This version of Xiao Nai is okay too. As long as I get to see the visually pleasing Angela Baby. She portrayed such a cool, independent and cute character that I have no complains about it. She was never annoying, even if she panics sometimes she's always calm. I also liked the side characters, they never pushed too hard on the leads and that's very assuring.

Overall, I love it and would definitely watch again if I ran out of other dramas to watch. I would rate it higher if there was more conflict to it. But that wouldn't fit in an hour-or-so movie.

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I didn't really think I would like this movie as much as I did, since I really loved the drama version and thought it couldn't compare to it. Oh boy how I was wrong. I will continue this review without mentioning the drama, because it must be reviewed as a movie itself, not an adaptation. My comparison between the movie and drama will be at the end.

Story: The story is very cute and sweet. It perfectly mixes the in-game story and the real world story, making it both a fantasy and a coming-of-age movie. Some parts of the story where rushed because of the small time frame for the movie, but the most important parts where there. I really liked that they included a lot of gaming to the second part of the movie, showing how you can relate to the people you care about through games, too. I also liked that they showed the characters failing some times, that made it more relatable and realistic. One part that I didn't like was that they hid Xiao Nai's motives for the first part of the movie, which made it really hard to care for him or understand him; it would've served the character better if his motives and intentions were clear from the start.

Characters: I believe that this is what the movie sacrificed the more in service of the story. It had so much story to go through, that we were not able to get to know the characters as deeply as I would've liked. The character that really stood out was Bei Wei Wei. She was strong, temperamental, brave and deeply compassionate towards the people she cared about. For me she was the best part of the movie by far. Xiao Nai was a good character but we didn't really spend a lot of time getting to know him; he's your typical alfa-male. Because of this, the moment that I liked him the most was when he was going through a hard time, since it's the only time where I was truly able to see how he processed emotions and information. As for the supporting characters, they were basically non-existing since there was no time to develop them, which was truly a shame.

Actors: The standout for me was Angelababy. I had seen him in a drama before and I wasn't impressed, but here she shone through and gave a very emotional and nuanced performance. Jing Bo Ran did the best with what he was given, but as mentioned above, we really didn't get that much insight to him.

Comparisons with drama
I'm still going back and forth with wether the love story was better in the drama or the movie. The movie rushes through their romance, but once it's there it portrays it beautifully. Another thing that I really loved in the movie was that they were equals in their relationship, and collaborated and worked together. And the actor had great chemistry.
The pacing of the story was a lot better in the drama, since it had more time to breathe, but the movie is also able to remove fillers and concentrate on the main parts of the story.


Final Thoughts
This is a very light and sweet movie. It's not the best movie in the world but it is a vey good adaptation and can stand on its own. This is also a very good altenative if you're not willing to invest the time to watch the whole drama. You will especially enjoy it if you have ever been part of an online gaming community, or forums.

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Watch this after the series

Have to be honest, was hesitant to watch this after watching Love O2O series. Loved the series and its FL & ML so much that inner self rejected this to watch back in 2018. Which was a major regret. This movie is so good. The actors FL & ML both acted so well in this movie. Really want them to come together in any series!!!
The movie is basically realistic fast version of series. The acting, script, the setup was more towards realism. Not total fantasy like the series.
Would recommend to watch this after you watch the series.. Else you might think the series is more towards cringe side.
Enjoyed both of them so much.

Its a must watch if haven't yet.

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