Yay! My one-week long Chinese New Year break officially begins now after having finished my work few hours ago on the last day before the holiday. Tomorrow is already the CNY’s eve. I managed to catch the last few episodes of ‘Armed Reaction 2021’ (陀槍師姐2021) just now, a TVB series that I have been watching recently. So here comes my quick review to the second TVB series that I have watched so far this year.
‘Armed Reaction 2021’ actually does not have any link to the first 4 series in its franchise besides than retaining the character of Chan Sam Yuen, portrayed by Joyce Tang. For me, it is unjust to name this series as part of the franchise which was once very popular back in late 1990s to early 2000s. It was just a tactic to attract more viewers who once loved the earlier series in this particular franchise. This series should be treated as an independent police comedy drama, which sounds more right.
The 30-episode series starred Moses Chan, Jessica Hsuan, Him Law, Joyce Tang, Benz Hui, Tony Hung, Gloria Tang, Toby Chan, Fred Cheng, etc. It has quite a remarkable line-up of cast for both the main and supporting roles. Moses is the main male lead but I find that his role is too ordinary here. There is nothing wrong to his performance but this role is simply too lackluster. It was Jessica who steals the show with a more interesting character and she nailed every scenes from hilarious, to intense or emotional ones. Her effort here deserves a compliment.
Joyce appeared in first few episodes and then disappeared for most of the series before returning back in the last few episodes. What kind of arrangement is this? I thought she is one of the female leads too since she is the main part of the original ‘Armed Reaction’ franchise. Now, she has been relegated to more like a supporting role here. What a pity…By the way, special mention to Gloria and Toby who improved significantly in their performances here.
The plot for this series is very predictable. TVB fails to offer new twist or surprises again. From the beginning, I already knew who would be the main villain and where the story will lead and end to. There isn’t any originality especially after you have watched so many past police dramas by TVB with similar formulas. Anyway, the series is still quite entertaining at times and I do enjoy the chemistry between Moses and Jessica. Things do get draggy and boring in the middle and I felt the series would be more enjoyable if it is squeezed into 25 episodes. Out of 10 points, I rate ‘Armed Reaction 2021’ a total of 6.8. There are also a number of cameos to look out for throughout the series although they were pointless.
(Images in this post are from various online sources)