If you like high fantasy, special effects, and all the magical powers, fantastic creatures and morally ambiguous characters that are rife in the genre, there may be no better choice than the Chinese xianxia dramas, which take all that to the extreme. I haven't watched a lot of it, but when I heard Yang Yang (You Are My Glory; Love O2O) ended a two-year hiatus to direct and star in The Immortal Ascension I decided to try a few episodes. It turned out to be interesting enough for me to watch all thirty (note upfront: this is just part one. They're hoping to make two more installments over the next ten years.)
Premise: Han Li, a poor and somewhat clueless boy from a no-name family who tries to break into the lofty world of magic-wielding cultivators. Along the way must endure constant trials, attacks by good and bad cultivators, go on quests and pretty much run himself ragged as he tries to learn the powers, spells and techniques that will allow him to attain immortality. Along the way not one but three women fall for him, including a 300 year-old grandmaster of an important good sect. Then all the bad sects decide to go to war with the good, and chaos ensues.
It's a big, epic, beautifully crafted production. The special effects, while leaning a toward the video gamer side, are neat. I am not a fan of dragons, but thankfully they're used more like vehicles (there is one exception in an evil version.) All the actors did a fine job with their roles. Yang Yang toned himself down quite a bit for this series, and is mostly pretty to look at, but I liked his subtler approach to the character.
Problems: A few. The plot becomes quite convoluted and drawn out in spots, and could have used a bit more judicious editing. From the beginning Han Li is a bit too cold-blooded and hard-headed for a poor/clueless village boy, and I never got a proper read on why he's willing to go through all this crap to live forever. Immortality without purpose has no point, at least in my opinion. Available to watch on Viki.com.
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