Spy Game (2023)

Play spy games, win spy prizes

‒Overview‒

Spy Game is a riveting spy thriller that has many terrific aspects that makes it worth watching. The acting is excellent and features a star-studded lineup, with slick action sequences and a fantastic performance by Wang Likun. The plot is tightly-paced and features many well-executed twists and turns. The cinematography and production is considered and high quality. And the icing on the cake is the razor sharp dialogue that's subtle, intelligent, and evasive, delivering the immersive tension of witnessing the high stakes spy vs. spy maneuvers. That said, there are a few elements that may be off-putting to some viewers. The setup of the drama is based on a spy organization that recruits real-life agents through a virtual game. If you accept the setup and not fuss too much about the CGI in the virtual world, you will find a surprisingly engaging drama. On an additional note, I was initially weary of how much propaganda element there might be in the drama, but it actually turned out to be minimal and the bad guys were all depicted as intelligent and with reasonable motivations.

‒Review‒

This was actually my first full-length drama that I really enjoyed this year. At the time, I had suffered through 6 months worth of uninteresting releases and abandoned disappointments. I picked this up mostly as a masochistic for-science exercise to see how quickly brain-dead propaganda would force me to drop the show. This was produced with assistance from China's MSS (Ministry of State Security) after all, an agency similar to the CIA/FBI. To my surprise, after a few initial lukewarm episodes, I was captivated by the intelligent script and dialogue delivered by a terrific cast lineup. My only regret is that I wanted to write an in-depth review and hence delayed it and now I can only put down a fraction of my impression about the show.

The show starts out simple, and even a little cheesy with the virtual game world. It quickly becomes apparent that the virtual 'Spy Game' is actually a recruitment tool for a real spy ring working for some shadowy foreign organization. Two of our main leads, Huang Zicheng, played by Wei Daxun, and Yao Yao, played by Li Yitong are quickly caught up in their first mission and get entangled in a plot to steal cutting edge R&D. And luckily or unluckily for Huang Zicheng, his adoptive brother is an agent at the Ministry of State Security, China's counter-intelligence agency. Thereafter, the multi-layered plot unfolds to include a growing roster of players from the MSS, from the shadowy spy organization Night Fog, and innocent or not-so-innocent citizens. Soon you find yourself immersed in a thriller trying to figure who is friend or foe, who is involved in the conspiracy, and how the characters will protect their loved ones and catch the wily bad guys.

I was pretty satisfied with the plot throughout, including the ending. Writing an engaging plot for a spy drama is more demanding than for the average show. While Spy Game wouldn't belong to the top tier of spy dramas, it nonetheless achieves what I consider to be solid 'reel logic'. For the events that are shown on screen, the logic is solid and consistent with the world and characters. If you want to get super picky and start extrapolating to what's not shown, then it would require such tight world-building that few TV shows ever achieve. And the story was told with enough sophistication that a few twists were unexpected and the foreshadowed twists were engaging and well-executed. I was especially pleased that the show ended on a high note. It's so easy to entice the viewer along with smart intrigue that never get wrapped up. The ending here was logical, impactful, and climatic.

The acting from the large ensemble cast was excellent. For comparison, Li Yitong is generally a very solid actress and one of the better ones in idol dramas. And Wei Daxun went from an unknown to a rising star after thoroughly outclassing Yang Yang as the SML in Fireworks of My Heart. While they were solid in this show, they were probably the weaker actors in comparison. Everyone just embodied their role so well and Wang Likun absolutely slayed. The only acting sore spot was Zhang Haowei in his minor role. Whether in JoL, Ripe Town, or here, Zhang Haowei has never delivered a character that felt completely sincere. This doesn't bode well for him as he's trying to exonerate himself from some pretty shady scandals, as he's incapable of convincingly portraying sincerity even when he's not playing a shady character.

For some final thoughts, the dialogue was terrific. I especially enjoyed the cat and mouse verbal sparring between Han Geng and Wang Likun's characters, so normal, yet so layered. I'm also glad the villains were three dimensional and sympathetic, which made the show much more intriguing. I hope other shows take note, especially spy and Republican dramas. When you flatten and dumb down the bad guys, you are also in effect insulting the intelligence of protagonists and viewers.

This was a solid 8.1 ‒> 8.5 MDL and a top 10% Cdrama of 2023.

--Category Ratings--

- Overall - 8.1
- Plot - 8
- Theme / Concept / Impact - 8
- Acting - 8.5
- Visuals - 8.5
- Audio / Music - 7.5
- Rewatch - 8
- Cultural/Topical Accessibility - 7
- Subtitle quality - 8

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