The Four

Well, summer is quickly coming to an end and I still didn't have the time to watch the Four, so I decided to convert it into an audiobook and play it on my iPod during work. I finished listening to the series in about 2.5 days and it is time to rate it.

The Cast/Characters - 4/5

The Constables ---- Raymond Lam, Kenneth Ma, Ron Ng, Sammul Chan
Other notable cast members ----- Selena Li, Kate Tsui, Dominic Lam

Of course I knew which actors played the four constables but I was surprised that I was able to make out even the voices of the supporting and small roles as well. The only two voices I didn't recognize was Kenneth's Sister and the daughter of the 'evil' martial artist who was killed by his own son. I can't comment too much on the acting, as almost everything was based on just vocals.

Each constable had his own unique character and I thought they pretty well played/casted and complemented each other way. The four made up for each others short comings. They went from being strangers to buddies, although the focus of the transition was written into Raymond's Character. That didn't bother me too much because I'm a fan of him. After Raymond, I would say Kenneth's character was the next biggest, in terms of character development. Sammul and Ron's roles were somewhat boring in comparison. I adored Selena's character and Kate had played a bitter-sweet character. It was definitely better than her character in Moonlight Resonance. I don't hate her but compared to Selena, I prefer Selena. I watched some parts in video format and the ladies outfits were good looking and made even Kate (who hasn't always been the prettiest Miss HK) beautiful. As a side note, there were no TRIANGLE relationships in this series!

The Story - 3.75/5

The series is an ancient series which I'm not that big of a fan of, however, this series was better written than I expected. The pace was just right, though the story did sort of see-saw back and forth near the end. The tone was neither too serious to the point of boredom and it wasn't too goofy or superstitious. The comedy came out of the character and not out of the dialogue. It was nothing too outstanding but it kept me entertained at work. On the other hand, there were really no surprises. I wasn't shocked when Kate was the spy, it was leaked and I knew it was coming. The storyline was fairly predictable.

The Ending - 2.5/5

First of all, the fight scene was fairly short lived and ended without too much excitement. It also lacked the grandeur of say War and Beauty. The antagonist was dead not even half way into the last episode. The remaining time was spent tying in the loose ends of the relationships which could've been a good thing. It would've just meant that they wanted to emphasize romance over slaughtering. However, I was very displeased with the way everything ended, NO BODY ended up with the one they loved. Selena finally regained her vision but decided to return to head the martial arts academy rather than marrying Kenneth. Kenneth's sister left to go somewhere to learn a craft or something and left Sammul who never liked to marry and be bound but I think he was just 'saying that'. Ron's admirer became a nun when it was clear that Ron had developed feelings for her but was reluctant to say something to stop her. Raymond finally found Kate, and she was still alive but just let her leave him without anything else. If they wanted to emphasize the importance of relationships and romance, I think the constables should have given up their jobs and live as ordinary citizens for the rest of their lives with their loved ones. The very last scene implies that the four constables die in the fight against the Mongols in attempt to protect Southern Sung. This ending makes the series feel like it was all for nothing, nobody gets a happily ever after and the constables die, the only thing they did right somewhat was to stay true to history...

Overall - 3.4/5