Definitely one of the most disappointing asian drama I have watched. I waited and waited for it to pick up but it kept dragging and instead, it became ridiculous. The story went all over the place and every single character turns out to be the worst version of themselves. I didn't like how they turned into cry babies. It felt like I was watching a mexican telenovela where there's a crying scene for every two minutes. Too much victim mentality and wallowing in self pity. The two lead actors did have chemistry but the writers build tension with so much teasing and bantering that when they finally got together, it felt really underwhelming. Now, one of the few good things of this show is the actor playing emperor. He was outstanding! His facial expressions, his hand gestures, his voice - all of it was on point. Everything is what I imagined an emperor would be like. That is some top notch acting right there! Ning Qi is also good. He was a really effective villain. Ning Yi had his moments but some scenes seemed a bit over done. Feng Zhiwei could be played by any other actress and I couldn't care less. Nothing remarkable about the actor. The set is well-produced. Cinematography is good. Poor writing ruined it. It was quite obvious that the writers were in a hurry towards the end. They kept dragging the story only to rush it towards the last 10 episodes. I usually like sad films and shows (Ruyi and Mr. Sunshine) but this one is such a letdown.
Review of The Rise of Phoenixes
