The Untamed (2019)

Not a Masterpiece, but Worth A Watch

Chinese dramas are always very hit or miss for me. I will oftentimes start out liking a drama but then the plot severely lags in the middle and I lose interest and drop it. Not the case with The Untamed. While the beginning was a bit weak, once the story jumped to the past and became more linear, I found myself hooked.

And there is my first issue with this drama. I have never been a fan of dramas that start in the present and then jump to the past. It's messy and confusing. You don't know who anyone is or why you should care about them and the events that transpired previously. Inevitably you get to the end of the show and have to go back and watch those episodes to see what you missed. In the case of The Untamed, there's a lot missed simply because you don't know the backstory. I think the drama would have been stronger if they just started out sixteen years ago and then jumped to the present.

In terms of acting, it was very hit or miss. I don't think any of the actors gave a truly amazing performance, but there were some that were stronger than others. Xiao Zhan as Wei Wuxian and Wang Yi Bo Lan Wangji both deliver relatively strong performances. In Wang Yi Bo's case, I felt that he took a little longer to settle into his character but once he did, he was overall good. His use of micro expressions to give depth and emotion to his stone faced character was pleasant to see. Xiao Zhan was a little bit one note at times but overall I felt he gave a nuanced performance. Their chemistry together was on point and depending on personal preference, you really could take their relationship as just friendship or something more. Yu Bin was also quite good as Wen Ning and did a good job of vacillating between Wen Ning as a sweet, innocent man and as someone possessed/controlled. Also a shout out to Chen Zhuo Xuan as A-Qing. She had a small role but I really enjoyed her performance and thought she nailed it.
Of less note were Wang Zhuo Cheng as Jiang Cheng, Xuan Lu as Yan Li, and Meng Zi Yi as Wen Qing. Wang Zhuo Cheng had some good moments but overall his performance just wasn't particularly interesting and his expressions lacked the variation that I think the role required not to mention times where his expression just seemed completely wrong for what was going on. And don't get me started on how terribly fake his crying looked. Xuan Lu and Meng Zi Yi suffered from similar problems. Neither one had much variation in their expressions and while it worked better for Meng Zi Yi's character, it just made Xuan Lu's character seem boring. There just wasn't much depth to her so I can't say that I really felt anything despite all that happens to her. Meng Zi Yi had some strong moments, but she was almost too stoic and it didn't allow the audience to really get to know her or her character as well as if she'd been a bit more emotive. That being said, I did find her character to be more interesting than Yan Li's.

The OST was also a bit hit or miss. At times, I absolutely loved it, although it could be repetitive. But the combination of the string and woodwind instruments was quite beautiful and I did enjoy the cues with those in them. Other times, particularly during the battle at Nightless City, it just seemed so completely off. I truly don't know who decided that music fit the scene but it was awful and really pulled me out of the moment. There were a few other instances where the music just didn't work but that one was the worst.

In terms of the directing and visuals, I found them to be very repetitive. I don't know how many times we got shots of men gripping their swords or monsters throwing their heads back and roaring, for example, but it was a lot. For me, they were distracting and eventually just got annoying, especially when you got several of them almost back to back in one scene. Like, we get it, he's mad, moving on now. The special effects were also lacking, but that's not terribly unusual for these dramas. In particular though, there's a scene with a wolf that is just painful because its so incredibly fake. And, as with a fair number of other dramas I've watched, the plot twist wasn't so much of a plot twist because there were so many hints given beforehand. When the guy is smirking evilly behind everyone's back, its a pretty good guess that he's a bad guy and up to no good. It would have made the story so much stronger if they hadn't shown that, because it probably would have been an actual shock that he was the villain. But oh well. As with most fantasy/historical dramas, I did like the costuming, particularly Wei Wuxian and Lan Wanji's. The general color of their costumes remained the same throughout, but the use of different fabrics and embroidery and slight variations in color made them more interesting. The wigs, as with most dramas, were pretty fake looking, some were better than others, but I wouldn't call them great. Many of the props were also quite fake looking, the swords in particular caught my attention. Real swords do not bend and wobble like the ones in the drama do.

Overall, despite its flaws, this was an entertaining and engaging drama. This is not a drama that you should closely analyze. If you want to really enjoy it, just go with it, don't overanalyze any part of it or it does start to fall apart a bit and you notice various holes and inconsistencies and unanswered questions. Just enjoy it as is and its a great romp. I think the lack of a central romance did it a huge favor. Instead focusing on Wuxian and Wangji's growing respect for each other and friendship allowed the story to keep moving and remain more fluid than many other dramas I've watched. Again, as a side note, if you want to view it as a gay love story, you certainly can though there is nothing explicit, not even a hug, but there are lingering glances and facial expressions that you can absolutely read as expressing unspoken romantic feelings. However, all of that is more background and, again, not the central focus. The mystery of whodunnit was fun and interesting and overall well done. Again, definitely some flaws, but just go with it. While you can figure out most of it before the big reveal, there were a few aspects that were truly surprising. Is it a masterpiece? In my opinion, no. But it is one of the strongest Chinese dramas I've ever seen in a while and its one that I will absolutely watch again in the future.

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