Love 020

I thought I'd try something different while at the gym today. I'd been interested in possibly seeing Love 020 (a Chinese drama) for a while as the premise sounded interesting -- gamer girl + computer-y guy. But some of the clips I'd seen of it looked interesting and some...well, not so interesting.  But then Netflix got the movie version (also Chinese) and I thought, hey, less than 2 hours vs. 22 hours (30 episodes!!). So I gave it a go.

Well, I'm glad I went for the movie version over the drama version. I read this comparison afterwards and it's pretty much what I suspected (from the clips I'd seen of the drama).

First, the pros: the movie is visually stunning. They did a very nice job with the CGI both in the real world vs. the game world. It wasn't clunky at all, which is something I was worried about. In fact, it was fairly seamless. Cheesy, perhaps, at times, but nicely done.

The lead actors... Xiao Nai, the male lead, is played by Jing Boran and he did a nice job with it; subtle but sweet. Given my track record with Chinese/Taiwanese dramas, I appreciated his acting chops. It was understated but had a lot of warmth. Yang Yang, the actor in the drama, is more classically handsome but in an almost too-perfect, kinda smarmy way in the bits I'd seen. Jing Boran's version is the one I'd rather know personally.

Then there's Angelababy (?? apparently that's her name??) as WeiWei was really lovely and animated. She's a believable gamer girl and super adorable. The drama's actress, Zheng Shuang, has more of an unapproachable, slightly wooden beauty about her from the bits I'd seen. So, all in all, I'd say I prefer the actors in the movie version. I wouldn't even mind trying out a drama with either one of them in it...though I've had such bad luck with Chinese language dramas I dunno if I will. Maybe. We'll see. I often feel guilty that I prefer the Korean ones when I am half-Chinese...

But there are cons...the drama (probably, since I haven't seen the whole thing) did a better job at character development and plot. I would hope, anyway. The movie version is far too rushed and there's no real conflict (that isn't solved within 5 minutes). So, as a story, it's merely so-so. Though I'm guessing that the drama would probably have driven me nuts...at 30 (!) episodes, that's just TOO much. That said, the movie is definitely a purely feel-good romance with very little angst. It's a confection. Sweet and light and not filling.

So, am I glad I watched it? Yeah. It was very sweet and satisfying, in a light beer kind of way. I might even watch it again with Little Dude because he'd love all the game sequences and it's age appropriate for him. And it's short. There's no way he'd make it through the drama.

I haven't even talked about the story, have I? Well, there's not much to say. Girl meets boy. They fall in love. Boy defends girl (though she also defends herself, yay). Boy has a hiccup in his professional life. Girl helps him out and is useful. They live happily ever after. It was enough. Too easy, maybe, but enough. Wait, pleasant. That's the word I'm looking for. It's a very pleasant movie.

Edit: Little dude liked it, especially the in-game sequences. I knew he would.