Ming Dynasty sucks you in at the beginning but lets you down in the end. This period of history from Imperial China alone provides enough drama to keep you interested, and there are some excellent performances, but there are also some terrible performances, some bad writing, and a slew of bad production issues that keep you scratching your head throughout. It's one of those series that you will probably finish and then ask yourself, "Why did I watch all of that?"
The show does a great job of setting the stage for some really good storylines and bookends fairly well, but the middle of the show really loses its way. Many of the best actors in the show bow out early, and their departure is sorely missed. As a generational epic, Ming asks its actors to play different stages of their characters' lives and, aided by some bad writing, this proves to be too tall of an order.
One major flaw that bogs the show down is the complete lack of chemistry between the lead actor and actress. They are the focal point of much of the show and once they get past their initial meet cute and strange courtship, they never show enough of a spark together to keep you interested in what happens between them. What initially seems like a complicated love story has to revert more to a show of political intrigue and military battles-which is great if you can pull it off. Ming Dynasty flashes some polish occasionally, but shows too many production snafus-like laugh out loud CGI-to be completely taken seriously.
The show tips back and forth between realistic and somber to campy and fantastic, which kind of keeps you entertained simply out of a sense of wonder at the show's lack of consistency. One thing that is consistent, though, is the soundtrack. Ming uses about 5-6 different musical excerpts over and over and over and over. AND, they are clearly boosted from other shows. I would be shocked to find out that somebody composed original music for this show and if they claim it, I don't believe it. This series probably had the most noticeably bad soundtrack I've ever heard-not just in the quality of content, but when they chose to use it. The music was very rarely the right composition for the scene, which further hamstrung some of the bad performances.
Despite its flaws, though, I couldn't stop watching. This is probably due to an utter fascination with Imperial China more than the merits of the series, but there is enough humor, sorrow, shock, intrigue, excitement, and humanity in this show to pull you through 62 episodes. The stakes are high, the villains need dealing with, you need to know what happens next, and you genuinely care for most of the characters-if not necessarily the leads.
