‘The Ringmaster’ (拳王) is a 25-episode TVB drama that is themed on boxing and starred Wayne Lai, Owen Cheung, Brian Chu, Elaine Yiu, Winki Lai, Shaun Tam, Huge Wong, Timothy Cheng, etc. It is one of the 4 anniversary series in conjunction with TVB’s 54th anniversary celebration this year. It is my 15th watched TVB series of the year and is also the last.
I couldn’t avoid but to be quite harsh on my review to this drama. The storyline is boring. I couldn’t get myself engaged to the dramas the characters are going through in the series. I hate that they kept on putting in intense powerful background score to lift up intensity of many scenes that aren’t really climactic or dramatic at all. It doesn’t work that way and it puts me off every time.
Owen Cheung put in a lot of effort to bulk up his body for this role. I am amazed by his effort and dedication but I think that has taken a toll on his acting. I find that his acting is a bit expressionless, stiff and bland in here. Wayne Lai is still a very solid actor but he alone cannot save the boredom of the storyline. And I can’t stand the fact that Owen defeated Wayne for this drama to be placed in top 5 in running for best actor next weekend. Wayne’s acting is much more refined and layered as compared to Owen’s bland performance here. Owen’s dedication in bodybuilding for this drama is not equal to his acting performance! Certainly poor judgement by these Hong Kong voters. And now I keep seeing Owen and Brian Chu in many recent TVB series. It is very obvious that TVB is heavily promoting them…and their muscular body. Brian especially…I knew it is not his choice but in both ‘Take Two’ and ‘The Ringmaster’ (back to back series), he has to purposely take off his shirt in some scenes. He has to show and prove his acting, not his body. TVB, please take note!
Although Shaun Tam only plays minor role in this series (as the deceased elder brother of Owen Cheung), but his storyline is actually the most engaging one. Elaine Yiu is the first female lead here but I don’t really see her presence as the lead. There is a huge group of friends of Owen in the boxing circle in the drama and each of them has their fair share of story arcs too but I couldn’t care less. By the way, Jacky Cai is the most annoying of all. I couldn’t stand her character. She has to magnify her voice and expression every time she act in this drama and that is very disturbing. I have not seen her before in any previous series too.
Out of 10 points, I rate ‘The Ringmaster’ 6.6. Features quite a number of award-winning actors and actresses but felt flat due to its boring and unappealing plot. Quite disappointed. Even the final episode contained very draggy and unnecessary long scenes of closures for each characters. They should have aired ‘Barrack O’Karma 2’ (expecting it to be good as its predecessor) instead of this series to end the year with a great finale.
(Images in this post are from various online sources)