The Living Dead (2019)

Lan Sizhui and Wen Ning from The Untamed!!!

The Untamed Spinoff : The Living Dead is a great spinoff for continuing the story for Wen Ning and Lan Sizhui!
Definitely worth to watch movie for anyone who has watched The Untamed, but especially to those who just love Wenning or Lan Sizhui.

THE STORY:
Wen Ning arrives to FuFeng, a town where people do not light candles at night as there is a ghost killing people with a light on. Wenning plans to capture the ghost, when in the middle of the fight, he meets with Lan Sizhui, (Wen Yuan, his cousin's son, who is now adopted into the Lan Clan). Together they decide to investigate the matter on hand.

MY OPINION:
I am maybe biased for liking this movie to the point i will give it a 9,5. The characters Sizhui and Wenning are one of my favorites, and the cameo of Wei Wuxian makes it even more emotional for me. As someone whose favorite drama of all time is The Untamed, naturally I am happy to see continuation of their stories. The GCI wasn't that bad, but naturally it's on the low budget side. I personally loved the investigation of these two, seeing how much Wen Ning has matured and how he has gotten more independent. It shows how Wenning is still struggling with his identity of being a puppet and Wei Wuxian reminding him that he is more than that.

ACTING:
Yu Bin as Wenning and Zheng Fanxing as Lan Sizhui, as always they bring out the best of these two characters, and I was so happy to see them for a longer time in this movie.
Gao Han as Xiao Yi, a new character in this universe, acting as a demonic cultivator who killed the Xiao household. Amazing performance from him as a bad guy of the story!

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Continuing story

The most interesting character from Untamed from me is Wen Ning (WN). That's why I decided to watch this movie.

The story is much more make sense than the untamed for me. But the ending quite disappointed for me. Why when Xiao Yi (XY) already got 'forgiveness' from Xiao Qing, must Lan Si Zhui (SZ) slam him again, that makes WN give him such punishment. The punishment itself maybe quite make sense, I just don't like the way SZ put XY down like that....

Quite like to see the interaction between Wen Ning & Lan Si Zhui, feel they kinda grow up from the untamed time, not so childish or naive again... But however we still can see they still our beloved character form the untamed

Overall this just another adventure for Wen Ning & Lan Si Zhui

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i'm kinda disappointed.... almost everything was predictable (including the plot twist). the scene where xiaoqing died in the fire was really really reallyyyy poorly made. it reminds me of journey to the west editing, that show is from the 1980's... thats how bad it is. her acting also wasnt the best, it lowkey looked like she was smiling while getting burned.. i also feel like wen ning has matured a lot.. didnt really like that either. why does this review have to be 500 characters. ig ill say some nonrelated stuff. if youve watched the blood of youth pls bmf begging i need someone hear me say all the things i love about wuxin and actually understand

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Enjoyable

I watched the movie first before checking the reviews. I did not want my judgment to be clouded or influenced by other factors. One of my favorite Chinese series is The Untamed, so when I found out that there was a separate movie that showcased one of my favorite Untamed characters, I excitedly went ahead and watched it. Here's my take on this movie:

STORY: 10/10 I loved the mystery feel to it. The way the whole story was unraveled, some would have said that it was predictable but, I think it's because we're already making our brains work too much. If we go with the flow and let the story divulge itself, you would feel the charm. The good versus evil and the acceptance of your true nature is what made me like this movie even more. The appearance of Wei Wu Xian gave the support that Wen Ning needed.

ACTING/CAST: 10/10 Although Wen Ning's innocence and funny side in The Untamed were not visible, you could see the character's growth that made it endearing. Paul Yu's acting is commendable. The facial expression, the actions, even the emotions are all on point for me. The rest of the cast did well. Lan Si Zhui is Lan Si Zhui. If there is one thing that I didn't like, it would be the little girl at the beginning of the movie. The actions were forced, which made it look awkward.

MUSIC: 10/10 Very familiar with the music, so it's a perfect score for me.

REWATCH VALUE: 10/10 I'd watch it over and over again because, simply put, I love Wen Ning.

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Omg luv the fact The Untamed made way for The Living Dead. Paul Yu or the Ghost Gen. wasnt the shining star in the Untamed however there was enough spark due to his emotionless blank face he walked around with making him stand out enough and making such a cute ghost gen. His acting, appearance ,good looks, even though it was expressionless, carried an ora. To follow watching him in The Living Dead and because i enjoy his acting, his looks, the storyline picks up were The Untamed left off. Continuing to eliminate evil along w his nephew Lan Yuan who toward the end of the Untamed found out his true identiy. Yes the Untamed was full of anxiety 4 me because so much was happening but knowing now what their path in life is its less stressful but still filled w high energy. Both dramas r WONDERFUL with both having very handsome looking men or Flower boys as is used in the Asian culture. Actors r always chosen 2 play the right part. If u havent seen either of these 2 dramas they r certainly a MUST WATCH DRAMA. If u enjoy action suspense romance greed power evil/demonizing these 2 r the right dramas for u.

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Menurutku pribadi ini film yang bagus, meski tidak seluar biasa dramanya, ceritanya tidak bisa ditebak dan seru. Bener-bener menikmati cerita ini. Apalagi kepolosan Wen Ning masih seperti dulu, meski dia lebih keren di sini. Makhlum, pemeran utama dia di sini.
Mungkin aku bakal koprol sambil bilang wow kalau ada movie lagi yang diperankan sama Xiao Zhan lagi, sangat ngarep. Salah satu adegan yang membuat saya merasa merinding disko, ketika kemunculan Wei Wuxian dengan diiringi musik Wuji, astaga dragon, mengkorooook... meski hanya keliatan punggungnya saja haha... meski pun aku nggak yakin itu Xiao Zhan, tapi rasanya jadi pengobat rindu wkwkwk
Yah semoga aja kelak ada movie-nya lagi, atau season 2 gitu, hahahahahahahahahahahhahahahahaha

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Overall, it was an enjoyable experience to watch!

The story was interesting, and keeps you on your toes. The overall tone of the film is very different from Chen Qing Ling. There is a bit more of a horror-mystery feel to it, with a dash of buddy-cop kinda partnership. Although it gives some more insight into Wen Ning and Lan Sizhui's characters, and expands on some more personal details about them, their own personal stories are somewhat overshadowed by the actual plot (which is fair, but may not be what people are expecting going into it). This is very much still a Wen Ning story, with Lan Sizhui more of a side kick (though he has chances to shine, of course!), and gives some great insight into Wen Ning's personal thoughts and insecurities. The plot felt a little rushed at the latter half, with events happening very quickly.

However, from a continuity stand point, I found it was a little strange in some parts. For example, Wen Ning now dons his Jin-imprisonment chains and uses them much more efficiently as weapons, rather than fighting with his hands as he previously had. In addition, he seems to have gained some spiritual abilities, which were previously not present. Although I'm not opposed to him having them, I'm thoroughly confused as to where he got them, and that discontinuity was a little disengaging for me. It can be assumed that some years have passed since the events of CQL, and it was interesting to see how Wen Ning had grown since those experiences.

Overall, the music was great, but definitely not in the same vein as CQL. There's an electric guitar riff that plays during the larger fight scene, which was kinda of disengaging. I felt it didn't really fit with the era, or with any of the other pieces played. My other (kind of spoiled) complaint was the visuals - they had a much higher reliance on CGI in this film (probably due to having a much tighter budget, I'm guessing), which felt out of place at times. There was much more 'magic whisps' when the characters were using their abilities, as well as just general things that felt weirdly out of place.

That being said! Yu Bin and Zheng Fanxing did a fantastic job with their characters - Wen Ning and Lan Sizhui really shined in this piece, and I absolutely adored them. Anyone who is a fan of them should definitely check this film out, because their acting was superb. Gao Han, as well, was fantastic - what an incredible shift between the clumsy, frantic mutterings of Xiao Yi to the cunning smirks and instability of Zhao Yi. They all did such a fantastic job with this piece.

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Yes, Wen Ning's personality changed a little from The Untamed, but to be honest, it wasn't so dramatic that I didn't know who Wen Ning was anymore. It's almost like Wen Ning has just matured, which is expected. I still recognized his character.
As for the story, wow! Blown away! Just like the drama, this spin-off movie had a really good supernatural story to go with it. There was even a huge twist that I didn't see coming! My attention was kept throughout the whole movie. I really liked it. And the acting was amazing!
You should watch The Untamed or read Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation before watching this, so that you know Wen Ning and Lan Shizui's background. Their characters are not further developed in this movie. You just have to know who they are.

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A spinoff with two of my favorite characters?! Oh hunny.... you KNEW I would fly to this movie as soon as possible and devour it. Lol

I loved absolutely everything about it.
Usually when it comes to spinoffs, I somewhat panic in thinking they'll somehow ruin the original storyline or ruin the characters for me in some way but props to the writer/directors and everyone else. This is what all spin offs should be like! Like a tree, you have the main story going big and strong, but then you have branches that offer to the main story and I admit there was some information in this movie that I don't remember seeing in the show which kinda left me like O_O
I mean if it was there, I must have blinked and missed it, but that is besides the point.

I loved seeing Wen Ning and Sizhui together! This is what I needed in my life! I loved the storyline and how they stayed with the original story but made it their own, if that makes sense? I love stories that are like this.

All of the characters were amazing and well played, in my eyes, no one else could have done better.

That plot twist threw me though, lol usually I'd like to think I'm pretty good at guessing what was going to happen or who the bad guy is but I don't know if it was because I was just so excited or if the movie just really blew me away that when the plot twist hit, I got whiplash. XD

You know I had to give this a 10/10. If I could give it more, I would!!

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Aw man, this was just too short... so this is what Wen Ning and his nephew did after they left Wei Wu Xian and Lan Wang Ji. Does that mean they will do a short extension of Wei Wu Xian and Lan Wang Ji in another short movie? I hope they bring back Wen Ning played by Paul Yu. I loved the way they utilize the chains as weapons for Wen Ning. Paul Yu did a fantastic job and hope to see an actual full drama following the same storyline! The visuals were dynamic, those chains though... I am also looking forward to seeing more of Zheng Fan Xing, he makes me smile with his smile. Oh my gosh, this was a great storyline still can't get over it!

Just letting y'all know that I don't like to watch anything that brings back the dead, vampires, or zombies. This was different.

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