The iron triangle is here again, Pan Yueming successfully lost weight, Zhang Yuqi is beautiful and sassy, can this drama still be popular?

As a well-known IP in China, "Ghost Blowing Lights" sung by the world has been remade into countless film and television works.

The most prominent online drama is the series starring Pan Yueming, Zhang Yuqi and Jiang Chao of "Iron Triangle".

In 2019, the three signed a contract for 5 parts of "Ghost Blowing Lights" in one go.

They are "Longling Labyrinth", "Yunnan Worm Valley", "Kunlun Divine Palace", "South China Sea Return to the Ruins" and "Wuxia Coffin Mountain".

Chasing a "Ghost Blowing Lamp" every year has become a reserved repertoire for many people.

The first three have been broadcast, and the reputation is mixed.

Among them, "Dragon Ridge Labyrinth" is the most recognized by the audience.

The Douban score is 8.1, and the number of scores exceeds 350,000, which is the highest rated film and television drama adapted from the "Ghost Blowing Lamp" series of novels.

"Yunnan Worm Valley" is the most inadequate, with a barely passing reputation and a Douban score of 6.1.

Although there are signs of "opening high and going low", based on the iron triangle composed of Pan Yueming and others, as well as the excitement of the original work itself, netizens are still looking forward to the latter two.

This year, the audience will be met with the fourth "Return of the South China Sea".

In the recently released Goose Factory 2023 drama list, this drama, together with "Qing Yu Nian 2" and "Son-in-law 2", has become the most eye-catching ace IP sequel.

So this one, will it be a slump or the return of the king?

Let's take a look at it in combination with the latest teaser information.

01, Iron Triangle has surprises, Pan Yueming has a good state of successful slimming, Zhang Yuqi's short hair is beautiful and sassy

The play was completed in November last year, continuing the production team and cast of the previous "Kunlun Divine Palace".

That is, director Cai Yuexun, three starring Pan Yueming, Zhang Yuqi and Jiang Chao.

Plus this "Return to the South China Sea", they have already collaborated on 4 ghost blowing lamp IPs.

After so many times of cooperation and training, Panban Audio-Technica's tacit understanding is getting higher and higher.

The fourth joint appearance is both familiar and unexpectedly fresh.

First, let's talk about Hu Bayi played by Pan Yueming.

When it was first announced that the starring role was Pan Yueming, there was a lot of doubt.

One is that he is slightly older, 15 years different from the character.

The second is that his body size is too fat, his double chin and belly are obvious, which is far from the lean and capable Hu Bayi.

In terms of acting skills and temperament, Pan Yueming and Hu Bayi are close, but they are complained that they are the "fat version" Hu Bayi because of image problems.

Unexpectedly, after a year, he came to an image subversion in "Return to the South China Sea".

Judging from the finishing stills, Pan Yueming changed the long hair style that had been retained in the previous films and appeared with short hair that was more spiritual.

Looking to the left front, he seemed to sense the danger coming, and he felt a sense of substitution.

In the latest trailer, his whole body is smaller, obviously slimming successfully, without the greasy and depressed he complained about before, and he is thin back to the peak of his appearance.

The action scenes in the trailer are also much sharper than before, and they are not so strenuous.

Immediately after, it was Shirley Yang played by Zhang Yuqi.

From the beginning of the questioning, to the later gradually getting better, Zhang Yuqi's version of Shirley Yang has gradually been recognized by the audience.

Like Pan Yueming, Zhang Yuqi also changed her hairstyle this time.

Judging from the finishing stills, her style is particularly eye-catching, with short hair neat and capable, and the four words beautiful and sassy are perfectly interpreted.

In the trailer, Staff Officer Yang appeared in a cool outfit, and he was absolutely responsible.

Next, there is Fatty Wang played by Jiang Chao.

Jiang Chao plays Wang Fatty is already hand-to-hand, and he has both appearance and acting skills, and he is definitely the version that is most in line with the original by many people.

In "Return to the South China Sea", his image has not changed much, and he is still a flattering and fat appearance.

In the stills, the appearance of holding a pan in one hand and a flashlight in the other hand is very funny, and the scene of avoiding monsters on the boat must contribute a lot of laughs.

02. The familiar supporting role returns, and new characters appear

Every "Ghost Blowing Lights" will have supporting roles that are very "stealing the scene", some are very surprised, and some are very crotch-pulling.

In the previous "Yunnan Worm Valley", netizens commented that they wanted to fast forward as soon as they arrived at the villagers.

In last year's "Kunlun Divine Palace", the new characters of Uncle Ming, Ake, and Chuyi were impressive.

In addition to the return of the supporting roles familiar to the audience, two new characters have been added to this one.

Judging from the trailer, the old acquaintance who returned is Uncle Ming, a Hong Kong businessman played by Tang Zhenye.

In "Kunlun Divine Palace", this veteran actor in the Hong Kong circle played the role of a rich businessman who is scheming, calculating, and even a little black-bellied.

In "Return to the South China Sea", he will continue to play Uncle Ming, who has the experience of running boats in the South China Sea, walking with Iron Triangle.

In the trailer, a purple suit is particularly eye-catching, and a few eye movements reveal the shrewdness of a businessman, which makes people look forward to his performance.

In addition, the two original actors, Shu Yaoxuan and Tong Lei, will also continue to play Professor Chen and Big Golden Tooth.

In terms of characters, new forces have also joined.

Wang Yiquan, who played Brother Biao in "More Than End", this time played the ship boss Ruan Hei.

Due to his rich sailing experience and insight into the topography of the seabed, he was hired by Audio-Technica to go to the South China Sea.

Judging by the trailer, he personally steered and piloted the Trident.

Ruan Hei's apprentice, Gu Chai, is a descendant of the ancient Gang people.

He is super combative, comes and goes freely in the sea, and is good at pearl diving.

From the perspective of character setting, it is a divine assist for the South China Sea exploration of the Iron Triangle.

This role is played by Chen Muchi, which is quite different from the perspective of age and image.

First, the original Guchai is fifteen or sixteen years old, and Chen Muchi is ten years different from the character.

Second, the original Guchai looks black and thin, and his appearance and figure do not fit well.

As a retired soldier, Chen Muchi should be reassuring in terms of action scenes, and the water play tidbits posted can also be seen to be in good shape.

Ruan Hei's apprentice Duo Ling, a Vietnamese and French mixed race, followed his master to accompany the Iron Triangle through the adventures of the South China Sea.

The role is played by newcomer actor Zhou Yangyang, and the trailer has not yet appeared.

Her appearance is a little exotic, and she is not very dramatic in Duo Ling, just look at the overall performance after the main film is broadcast.

In addition, the show also added two original characters.

Hong Kong golden supporting role Cheng Dong played by Vigorous, Zhu Ziyu played by Ah Hao.

How they will join the plot has also sparked speculation.

03. Continuing the series of treacherous painting styles, underwater tomb exploration shooting is difficult

There are new faces, and there are new stories.

This plot is extended to "Kunlun Divine Palace".

The finale of the previous work pointed out that Hu Bayi prepared a golden basin to wash his hands and went to live in the United States with Shirley Yang.

But the adventure of the Iron Triangle is far from over, and in "Return to the South China Sea", they accept Professor Chen's invitation to go to the South China Sea to find the national treasure King Qin Bone Mirror.

Their destination is the Coral Spiral of the South China Sea, known as a shipwreck graveyard with constant storms and frequent shipwrecks.

While exploring the Land of Lost (there was a Heaven-hating Land with a highly developed bronze civilization in the coral spiral), Audio-Technica encountered natural dangers such as storms at sea and waterspouts, and also withstood the attacks of strange creatures in the deep sea.

How they will eventually escape and break the ruins is undoubtedly a major attraction of this show.

Judging from the trailer, the deep-sea adventure journey of Audio-Technica has experienced various dangerous encounters.

There are sudden storms, the sea is rough, and you are in danger of capsizing at any time.

There are ruins under the sea of monstrous waves, full of unknowns, mysteries and dangers.

All kinds of deep-sea strange creatures bombard in turn, and the thrill is even higher.

There is the deep-sea monster king squid.

The power can support the sinking of ships, and the tentacles are fast and flexible.

There are the fierce black-scaled mackerels.

The picture of swarming towards the protagonist gives people a strong sense of oppression and suffocation.

What exactly does the black-scaled mackerel look like, it is also curious.

There is a large sea snake with a body like a python, scales and horns, and the picture when he appears is shocking.

The passage of the Iron Triangle vs. the Great Serpent must be the high flashpoint of the main film at that time.

In addition to monsters, the scenes that appear in the novel are also shown in the trailer.

Such as, ghost ship, coral spiral, sea eye of the ruin, coral temple and so on.

In the current materials, I have not seen the strange world depicted in the novels such as the dragon on the water, the floating coffin on the sea, the mussel spirit, and the severed head of the Heaven-hating Ruins.

If "Kunlun Divine Palace" constantly transitions to high-altitude snowy mountains, then "Return to the South China Sea" needs to face a lot of water drama.

There are many scenes in the play that were filmed underwater, which not only increased the difficulty of shooting, but also required the actors higher than before.

Compared with the previous creation of exploration scenes in the desert ancient city, Shaanxi Longling, Yunnan Worm Valley and Kunlun Snow Land, the special effects production of the scene of the South China Sea Return this time is far more than before.

I don't know if it's limited funding or limited technology, but judging from the presentation effect of the trailer, some special effects are slightly rough.

For example, the scene of the ghost ship burning the sea and the ghost ship appearing, the picture is too dark, and there is a "sense of net".

The scene of Audio-Technica on the ship is also a clear sense of cutout.

The details of the appearance of the deep-sea monster, because the trailer appeared too short to see clearly, can only wait for the main film to be broadcast.

It's still early for the show to air, so I hope I can improve my special effects.

In addition to the hidden danger of special effects, there is also the hidden danger of the plot.

"Yunnan Worm Valley" has planted a big heel on this issue, and the villager line with too many scenes has become a point for many audiences to complain.

This "Return to the South Sea" also adds two original characters, adding a little uncertainty to the plot.

Overall, aside from these hidden dangers, whether it is the cast or trailer information, "Return to the South China Sea" is full of highlights.

Can it return to the level of "Dragon Ridge Labyrinth" this time? And wait and see.

Bluestone Movies | Mei Liqing

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