Someday or One Day

I absolutely loved the 2019 Someday or One days that predates this movie. It was prefect in it's plot, character development and acting. I watched it twice because of the complexity of the time travel element. With that, I was also very saddened when the series ended and wanted more. When this 2022 movie was announced, I was full of anticipation, thirsting for more of these characters and possible endings-sadly, and as I sensed, this movie was not at par with that of the series.

Here are elements that I feel that made the movie subpar and disappointment: The series was a perfect story that meticulously weaved itself through time and came to a very good conclusion. As you watch the series, you become extremely invested in each of these characters and their story in through dimensions. The issue lies here in this: we want more because it's as such a well told story. At same time, due to it it being a completed storyline, it is hard to continue the story onwards without potholes being formed. The movie created a lot of plot holes and became so confusing that it became hard to follow.

All in all, I did enjoy the movie but it is disappointing in comparison to the series.

I saw this last week in a packed cinema that positively sighed when Greg Han Su ("Li Tsu-Wei") came onto the screen. A handsome youth, he and his childhood sweetheart "Huang Yuxuan" (Ko Chia-yen) fall in love and move in together. All seems idyllic until she has to go and work in Shanghai. Can they make a go of their long distance relationship? Well that doesn't really matter because somewhere along the line, we discover that a tragedy has interrupted their dream life. Something that (now I didn't quite get this bit) involved them both half way up a building under construction. Anyway, it seems that there may be redemption - a way of altering this devastating solution - and that all revolves around a tape-recording of a song. Thing is, any alternative permutations this may deliver just seem to further complicate matters. It seems that re-writing history is no simple matter! Soon friends - whom possibly haven't even met, or might meet, or did once - are drawn into this enjoyably crafted time shift mystery. You do need to concentrate on it, and some of the story does stretch the imagination just a little - but the performances from these young actors is remarkably assured and the romantic element doesn't overwhelm the quirkiness of the thing. It's not without some humour too, especially as some people take quite a bit of convincing that everyone here is not just delusional. It is well paced, and has a charm to it. Doesn't need a cinema screen - unless you are the sighing sort - but is certainly worth a watch, I'd say.

Xiang Jian Ni was one of my favourite drama series in recent years. I was excited and intrigued when the movie was announced. I assumed that the leads signing on to the project meant some form of quality assurance.

In the end I was let down. The writers could not decide whether to write this for fans of the drama series or for new fans, and they settled for some kind of in between. It involves the same characters, same mechanism for time travel and same mystery involving someone falling off a building, but otherwise it is sort of a new story not connected with the original story.

A few glaring plot holes aside, I vaguely get this new-ish story, but it wasn't well executed. While I was rooting for the main couple to succeed in the series, here they just exist to service the plot lines. The script felt rushed, some explanations were left out, and one who have never watched the series would probably be quite lost midway with the jumping timelines and the multiple characters played by the same actors.

What saved the day would probably the actors, who are still charming to watch and really made the best out of this script that probably needed a few more drafts. Ultimately they should have just left the drama series alone.

This movie should be viewed only after completing the TV series of the same name. You still may not find the narrative satisfactory unless you have invested much time and thought in the TV series to understand its message and plot, including the time travel mechanics, to a degree that you accept to be sufficiently rational for a dramatic fiction. Such method of viewing is only practical with modern network streaming services.

I left this review after watching the original TV series a 3rd time, before binging the Korean remake (A Time Called You), and then watching this movie for a 2nd time, while pausing and rewinding frequently during the latter half to think through what was being shown. I agree that the production deliberately avoided making it a sequel to the TV series. There were probably many decisions driven by commercial and marketing concerns. But I must rate this film highly because it showed an elegant way to eliminate the possibly only flaw in the TV series that had prevented it from becoming a piece of art - the deus ex machina that gave an excuse for blaming the characters' misfortunes on "evil". Note that the scriptwriter of this movie is different from the pair of scriptwriters for the TV series.

Also note that my understanding benefited from the many discussions and interviews about the original TV series and this movie that were available in Chinese. Viewers who do not read Chinese may have to spend more effort.

The solution offered by this film can be incorporated into a modification of the entire story originated in the TV series to make it into a long form (TV) drama that might be rated 10/10 in my opinion. On top of this, the movie in its current form stayed true to the spirit, message, style and mood of the original TV series, and they were just right for the story. If you have already invested time and thought in the TV series and taken its message to heart, you must not miss this movie!

Coming from how well thought out the tv series' plot is, and how the tv series is one of the best Asian TV series of the year, the movie is such a disappointment. To a point when I walk out from the theater, I couldn't help but feel the movie is all but a half effort cash grab leeching off the success of the original tv series.

From the get go the movie is obviously caught in a awkward dilemma of deciding whether it wants to be a standalone movie, or some sort of sequel / extension of the tv series. And I really don't know which one it is at the end of the movie, and it's a shame regardless which angle you're coming from, the movie is still a serious letdown.

The biggest culprit here is the story. The plot is extremely messy. Without spoiling the story, I'll say Act I is fine. It even has some nice fan moments. But in Act II and Act III the plot has created such a messy scenario that 1. Nobody can really tell what's going on anymore and 2. It's an impossible puzzle to solve. And finally in Act IV, without a real reasonable way to wrap up the story, the movie just makes up the most ridiculous and illogical ending. On a scale of 10 where 10 is a complete WTF, this rates fairly close to a 10 imo. While watching at the theater, I overheard the audience behind me saying 'if this is how the story ends im going to explode.'.... Unfortunately that's exactly how it 'ended'.

The pacing of the movie is fine. It feels dragged and slow in Act II, but it's mainly due to the weak and convoluted storyline. Acting is actually great IMO. Alice Ko especially stands out where if you're ever confused which character she's playing, it's because there's a plot twist. And there's no weak acting in this movie. And all this is such a shame. The actors do their best to make the characters believable, but there's no saving of this disastrous plot.

The only reason I gave it a 5 is there are a handful of nice fan moments to reward the fans of the tv series. Unfortunately those are all you will get out of this disappointing movie.