For some complexed reasons, the movie does not receive many nice comments from most of the Chinese websites. I have anticipated this movie for long, yet the venomous comments on this movie nearly dissuaded me from watching it. I am glad I did though. Is the movie as perfect as I wished? No. But is the movie worth a try? My answer is yes.

Before I discuss my thoughts about the movie, I need to get two basic facts straight. First, about the movie and the drama I know many people have watched. They are both adaptions based on the same novel. I am not sure if you can say the movie is a remake of the drama. Although you saw the drama first, the movie was filmed first, if not completed before the drama. Only it was released later. Second, about the issue of plagiarism. The film producer bought the copyright in about 2012, but in about 2015 the original novel was publicly suspected of plagiarism. I do feel pity about this situation and think plagiarism should be condoned, yet since the plagiarism is never legally sued, and the movie staff seems the wronged side, I see no reason to further detest the movie. And because of this plagiarism crisis, the movie director once said they had the script greatly modified. Therefore, it is no surprise that the story the movie tells is not exactly the same as the drama one.

Aspect I like most about the movie:
1. The cast. Yang Yang and Liu Yifei played in the movie because they were voted online to be most appropriate actor and actress. I still think they are after watching the movie. Though some of the lines are ludicrous (they are the original words in the book, but I do hope they were deleted in the script), and some scenes are absurd and unnecessary, like the cooking scene, on the whole Yang and Yifei understand the characters deeply and conveyed the emotions very well, especially in the second half of the movie. Besides, I want to applaud for Su Jin. Her character is successfully enhanced. She becomes much more vindictive, polarized, deadly and beautiful. These traits allow the Su Jin to push the storyline more reasonably.

2. The CGI animation. Needless to say it must have costed a lot, but it also shows imagination and innovation. It has design, taste, and the courage to make a breakthrough. I am deeply moved and want to rewatch it.

Aspects I disagree with the movie:
1. I found the pace of the movie okay(the pace of the drama is too slow in my eyes. Just couldn't bear it.), but the editing could be unfavorable to some viewers. The story should have been told in a clearer way. The length of the movie did not help. How I wish it was a 2.5 hr. movie. In China, people who never had access to the original novel as well as the drama could understand the movie, but people who watched the drama only found the movie confusing. This is understandable, for the story in the movie was different in many places. I advise you to treat the movie and the drama as separate ones.

2. The lines should be rewritten! Often made me feel awkward when I sat in the cinema.

My conclusion:
With or with plagiarism, the story itself is far from a masterpiece, merely a just so-so romance. If you like the actors or actresses, or if you enjoy beautiful scenes and creative special effects, just go watch it. If you are picky at editing or you quest for something more serious, this is not a movie for you.

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