All right, I have actually finished watching this quite some time ago, and only blogged about this now. First of all, some general views. I’ve always been fascinated by jinyong’s novel, so this was a show I had to watch. The good thing was the stellar cast here, which of course adds weight to this wonderful plot. Actually most Chinese-speaking people should know about the story already, me included. But somehow the passion and drive is still there to keep me interested and watch it.

Well, what is interesting is this serious yet enjoyable wuxia story is a semi-idol drama in disguise! At least that is the feeling I got. But at least it is not that soapy and overly unrealistic portrayal of romantica you find in many taiwan idol dramas nowadays. (Supporters of those please don’t flame me) Lets do a bit of mini analysis of the major characters.

郭靖 – 胡歌 饰
A suave guo jing, hahaha… now that’s different. And kudos to hu ge for being able to make himself look really retarded at times, to the erm, intelligence level of our protagonist. Secondly, guo jing is the ultimate portrayal of the virtues you need to find in a hero. Unwavering faith, indomitable spirit, filial piety, loyalty, compassion and almost all the good things you want to find. You find an example of such utmost justice when you watch 神雕侠侣 and witness how he wanna punish guo fu for the deed on yang guo, hahaha. But of course, one has to compliment his selfless spirit shown on many ocassions, and the noble deed of patriotism that he exercised until the end of his life. Now now, hu ge can give me that kind of image, because of the various roles he played over the years.

黄蓉 – 林依晨 饰
Now for the person guo jing cannot do without for the rest of his life. It is amazing how fate brings the two of them together, and in fact, it was all down to the good upbringing of guo jing that enable huang rong to see just how good of a person guo jing is. Otherwise, it is rather impossible to imagine how this mischievious little spoilt little mistress of Peach Blossom Island will fancy such a dim-witted dude. It is worth noting that for all the 海誓山盟 pledged throughout so many relationships, this is actually one genuine one. For all the hardships that the 2 protagonists endure together, it will turn out that in 神雕侠侣 they actually fulfilled the vow of 同生共死. Regarding the casting, I actually thought Ariel Lin wasn’t a bad choice. At least she looks adorable, and sometimes deviously scheming and can actually make you detest her for the not so pleasant deeds huang rong does in the earlier part of the novel.

杨康 – 袁弘 饰
Sworn brother at birth to guo jing, a destiny weaved between the two before they were even born. But fate often makes a mockery out of such things. Turns out that they are worlds apart in terms of upbringing and personality. There is alot of room for this character to express himself, and yuan hong did it brilliantly. I do feel more empathy towards this yang kang than other versions. You could almost feel the inner conflicts and agony that this guy goes through, like transparent strings tugging at your heart. No matter how… even though this guy landed himself in a sorry plight, its partly down to forced circumstances, but also his own wrong choices. Anyway, this version editted the ending of this character, so its not jinyong canon in that sense, but it gives him abit more honor, and finally bring him back onto the path of light

穆念慈 – 刘诗诗 饰
The devoted, selfless wife of the above-mentioned. Good gracious we have her to thank for not giving up. (otherwise there won’t be the all-conquering yang guo later on) Liu shi shi gives me the impression of a soft-spoken demure lady. And that is exactly a strong point in this casting! The supportive trusting spouse of a traitor, hah. As it turns out, she begins to have doubts over the character of her husband, and half-heartedly trying to convince herself, to much grief, that yang kang is still equipped with the original purpose and mindset of being a spy behind enemy lines. So once again, the union didn’t turn out to be as happy as hoped for, a tragedy in fact. What you can enjoy though is her pretty face, and her dancing background actually enabled nice fluid martial arts move in the show.

Those above are of course the 4 major characters in the novel. Otherwise, the supporting casts are also great. I’m particular fond of 黄秋生 as 黄药师. He has abit of that 怪癖 look, and exudes the kind of cold aura, befitting of 东邪. 徐锦江 as 欧阳峰 is yet another brilliant casting. He gives the impression of a focused personality, very straightforward, and I somehow feel his look meshes friggin’ well with the 武痴 feel of 西毒. 梁家仁 as 洪七公 is also marvelous. He completely acted out the carefree attitude and heroic nobility of the 北丐. These are 3 very experienced actors, and you can see I like them. 2 other good ones are 李解 as 欧阳克  and 郭亮 as 完颜洪烈, though I feel this is partly attributable to the script giving them more depth.

All in all, a very good adaptation (from my viewpoint) of the novel. If you don’t know the story, its a chance to watch it. Even if you do, relive the memories