The Exorcist's Meter 降魔的 // Review

Overview:

The Exorcist’s Meter is a part of the anniversary series for the 50th year anniversary of TVB. Produced by TVB, The Exorcist’s Meter belongs in the rarely-touched-genres of fantasy and horror. The Exorcist’s Meter stars Kenneth Ma, Hubert Wu, Mandy Wong, Moon Lau and Ram Chiang. This series is also TVB’s first series to have a web series/sidequel named 《The Taxorcists Sidequel - Chapter One》on Big Big Channel which has been produced with a relatively low budget of $1million.

Main Cast:

Kenneth Ma as Ma-Kwai (马季)

Hubert Wu as Shek Gam Dong (石敢当)  

Mandy Wong as Dr.Chong/Felicity (莊芷若) and Salvia (魔)

Moon Lau as Bella (贝贝娜/啤啤 )

Ram Chiang as Yau Wai (莫有为)

Hugo Wong as Guo Zhin Ming (展明)

Kayee Tam as  Li-li (莉莉)

Plot:

This series talks about a taxi driver, Ma-Kwai who was on the night-shift and managed to unintentionally awake a spirit/stone-god, Shek Gam Dong. As a way of thanking Ma-Kwai for waking him, Shek Gam Dong decides to grant Ma-Kwai a wish - only one that he finds reasonable. Since Shek Gam Dong is a spirit, Ma-Kwai decides to get his help to find the spirit of his friend, Hou-Zai. Along the way, they discover Ma-Kwai’s ability to slay demons and as Shek Gam Dong and Ma-Kwai gets closer and closer together as ‘brothers’, Ma-Kwai is subconsciously inheriting more and more of Shek Gam Dong ‘energy’/power since spirits are just a large amount of energy, causing Shek Gam Dong to get weaker and weaker by the day and Ma-Kwai to get stronger and stronger, Ma-Kwai’s third eye has also been opened with the help of Shek Gam Dong, allowing him to see demons and ghosts. Soon they discover the existence of a ‘devil’ which is controlling people to commit extremists level of crimes with the help of supernatural abilities, all of which have a similar feature, their eyes turn red when committing the crime or when trying to exert their power. Shek Gam Dong and Ma-Kwai are then on a quest to hunt the devil down and demolish her.

Song Thoughts:

Theme Song 主题曲 － 《到此一游》胡鸿钧 Hubert Wu

Interlude 插曲 － 《泣血蔷薇》吴若希 Jinny Ng

Ending Theme 尾片曲 － 《遥不可及》胡鸿钧 Hubert Wu

These songs are a few of my favourites right now! Between the three of them, they have some which is fast paced, slow paced all of which shows a part of the series behind it. The theme song of this series is really catchy, at the same time gives a very brief summary of the plot which I think is absolutely perfect to be the theme! The lyrics are really meaningful and gives a new meaning and/or dimension to the song and series. This song has also been crowned ‘Most Popular Drama Theme Song’ which is a sort of recognition for him and would hope to see him on screen! The ending theme is also sung by the singer of the theme song which is also one of the main lead of this series! Hubert Wu is rising and he is RISING FAST! What can he not do! The ending song is amazing, the lyrics are so poetic to a certain extent and since this song is also used as an interlude, it allows the song to be so much more than an ending theme and incorporates a story with the song. The interlude of this series, by Jinny Ng was quite something, it was slow paced, calming but the chorus is the part where it gets more complexed and slightly more fast paced but generally this song was really good, this is the second song from Jinny Ng that I’ve heard, the first being the song from Line Walker which was extremely commendable, so this song has a name to live up to and it did not let me down.

Review + Opinion

First of all, I’M BEYOND amazed by this series, the only reason that I started to watch this series was because of the results from TVB Anniversary Awards 2017 where Kenneth Ma won ‘Most Popular Male Character’ and as mentioned previously, Hubert Wu won the ‘Most Popular Drama Theme Song’ both for this series, in addition to the buzz from the internet about this series I was then intrigued because the ensemble of cast, to be honest, wasn’t the most mind-blowing casts that are out there but I have to say that they did absolutely amazing in this series and the way there communicate with each other on screen was nice to see. I’ll have to apologize as I didn’t have high hopes for this series as all because I just thought that this was a fill-in drama between the ‘blockbusters’ of the anniversary line-up but I really liked it. It wasn’t your run-out-of-the-mill horror dramas, it was so much more than that, it has an extremely moving storylines and some unique relationship going on there, warmth and friendship was also one of the main theme running through this series. Despite the amazing storyline and song, the CGI in this series really CMI (cannot make it), as astounded as I was with some of them such as Shek Gam Dong’s bow and arrow etc. and Li-Li’s battle effect but there were some of them where it was so obvious and so badly done where I just can’t 😂 . Nonetheless, this was one of the dramas that had truly touched my heart and has a touching storyline. Let’s jump into character reviews!

Kenneth Ma → Ma-Kwai/ 小马／马季

Kenneth Ma did freaking amazing in this series, his character was very nicely portrayed by him and every facial expression that he does contributes to the flawless ways that he delivered his lines and he is extremely amazing with using his eyes to communicate with the audience and his fellow actors and actress in the series. I think after ‘The Hippocratic Crush’ series where he played Dr. Cheung and gained a lot of recognition, this series is the next one where he received such good response from the audiences. To be honest, during the TVB Anniversary Awards 2017 where he posed as a HUGE threat to Vincent Wong for TV King, I was really triggered hence refused to watch this series despite the buzz it gained online but now that I’ve watched it, I regret not watching it earlier. (but I still would’ve hoped for Vincent Wong to win 😉  )

Hubert Wu → Shek Gam Dong/ 石敢当／神石

I think that for this drama to be part of his first 5 series and for him to be a leading role is like absolutely LIT! In addition to the fact that he did amazing in this series for being the ancient and wise spirit that he was acting in goes to show how talented he is, I think that he is great in acting and would be really successful if he chooses to do acting. But after all, he started out as a singer and is amazing at singing as well, so I think that this series is a great representation of him since it showcases both of his acting and singing skills. I really liked his character in this series as well as his personality since he is so wise and the language that he uses is very ‘ancient’ which I sometimes find really funny, and his only weakness of 啤啤 is so cute and to think that a 1000-years-old spirit being a fan of a 21st century paranormal variety show!

Mandy Wong → Dr Cheung /莊芷若／魔／Salvia

Mandy Wong, dual role in this series, female lead… it was quite disappointing. Let’s talk about her role as Dr. Cheung, a beautiful and kind doctor who regularly goes home by Ma-Kwai’s taxi. Mandy Wong was able to pull this role off and her looks was made for this role being the innocent young lady who is the crush of many and the way she talks to Ma-Kwai was really nice and occasionally from the tone that she speaks in you would be able to tell her feeling which I thought was great. On the other hand, there is Salvia, the evil devil who is the mastermind of most of the crimes committed and encouraging others to become devil-like too. Mandy Wong is way too pure for this role which is why I don’t think that her acting for this role is a slight let down, personally, I think that Salvia should be someone that is evil, flirtatious and someone who is a master of mind games. In her defense, Mandy Wong has portrayed Salvia with such qualities but it’s extremely toned down and not that extreme. I personally have such a strong opinion on this character is because I think that Salvia is a character with a lot of potential is pulled off correctly but unfortunately it hasn’t. To be fair, there is only a handful of actress who would be able to pull off both character of a pure, kind doctor as well as a scheming, flirty devil.

Moon Lau → Belle/贝贝娜／啤啤

I think Moon Lau has gained quite a lot of fame for her works in 2016 such as ‘A Fist Within Four Walls’ and ‘Two Steps from Heaven’. She did really well in this series for being the bubbly, cheerful host of the paranormal show as well as being a really loyal friend of Shek Gam Dong and Ma-Kwai. She is really fit for the role of Belle and delivers her lines really well. Her emotional scenes are also really well acted out as you can really tell when she is crying that her tears are filled with emotions and when she liked Ma-Kwai and finds out that he liked someone else, instead of giving up on him and hating her, she quietly hopes that the person she likes would be able to find happiness and it's really nice to see the small actions that she does to care for Ma-Kwai. Overall, I think that Moon Lau did really well for this drama and the best amongst all of the female character.

Hugo Wong → Guo Zhin Ming / 郭展明

Hugo Wong played one of the main antagonists of this series and I have to say that he did really well, despite having a role which has an unpleasant personality. Nonetheless, he portrayed Chin Ming perfectly especially with his evil side as well as the times where he is extremely at the people around him whether it be his ‘girlfriend’, Ling or his own father, you would really be able to tell the hate or the anger that are present in his eyes even when they aren’t red which I think is quite impressive.

Partners:

Kenneth Ma & Hubert Wu → 马季 & 石敢当

I think that these 2 actors share a great chemistry between them and their scenes together are really natural. When they are in front of the camera together, they are comfortable around each other which results in them enhancing each other’s performances. Both of their characters in this series ends up to be ‘brother-like’ level of friendship and they trust each other when faced with obstacles as well as the fact that they would be willing to risk their lives in order  to protect each other. I would love to see these two on-screen together again. In the last few episodes where Shek Gam Dong was willing to sacrifice his life so that Ma-Kwai would be able to use his energy to kill the devil and to save the world. Bearing in mind that contained in that crystal is the energy that he has derived from himself after thousands of years, personally I found that scene to be the best scene of the entire series and shows how noble he is. This scene got me tearing up and is extremely impressed by both the producers and the actos as to how touching they have managed to make that scene.

Moon Lau & Kayee Tam → 啤啤 & 莉莉

I think that both of them has a really special friendship between them that I find really sweet and I also really like the bond between them. Kayee Tam’s role in this series as a doll was something that I find quite cool, even though there are times where I find Moon Lau’s face to look slightly more like a doll but both of them did suit the role that they had in this series. I liked how Li-Li’s personality really suited a doll and the feeling that Belle was so much more than an owner to her, they were more like best friends who they would like to share practically everything with, where you can see being presented throughout certain scenes in this series.

Kenneth Ma & Mandy Wong → 马季 & 莊芷若／魔

Whenever I see this pair, they just bring back so much The Hippocratic Crush’s (On Call 36 小时) memories. Anyways, I am sort of on the fence for this pair as I’m not a huge fan of them but I don’t hate them either. Their scenes together sometimes appear to be quite awkward and I just can’t picture them together in any way. Don’t get me wrong, both of these actor/actress did really well for their roles but I just can’t see these two characters being together. They look okay as friends, but as a couple, I think there’s just something off about it.

Kenneth Ma, Hubert Wu, Kayee Tam & Moon Lau → 马季 ，石敢当，莉莉 & 啤啤

These quartet ruled the series and I enjoyed seeing these four on screen so much and would hope to see more of them in the future. Even though there seems to be a love triangle-ish situation going on in this situation, I think that the characters in this series might be too conserved or safe(?) to confess to who they like and would rather their crushes to be happy even if that means that they wouldn’t be together, I feel that the producers did not focus on this aspect much as romance isn’t one of the main genres of this series. Back onto this quartet, it’s really nice to see when they work together towards a common goal such as defeating the devil. This quartet was definitely something that I didn’t see coming but I ended up liking them a lot.