Lu Han and Leo Wu Transcend Time in “Cross Fire”
The world of e-sports gaming is at an all-time peak in China. And to catch up with the rest of the industry, another TV series is in order.
Starring Lu Han (鹿晗) and Nirvana in Fire’s <琅琊榜> Leo Wu (吴磊), the web drama series Cross Fire <穿越火线> premiered in mainland China on July 20, 2020 on Tencent Video. Sitting at a solid 7.8 rating on Douban out of over 53,000 reviews, Cross Fire is here for a solid run.
The comedy sci-fi series follows two e-sports players living in different time lines. In the year 2008, downcast e-sports captain Xiao Fei (Lu Han) is struggling to keep his team and reputation together in a time when e-sports has barely made its mark in history. By chance, he comes across another player of a different team, Lu Xiaobei (Leo Wu)—but this player is from the year 2019, a time when the e-sports industry is at its peak. They overcome their differences to work together in providing the best strategies and tactics to help their teams.
Cross Fire succeeded in a way that its predecessors haven’t. It isn’t to say that past e-sports dramas—such as The King’s Avatar <全职高手>, were failures, but Cross Fire was able to set aside past stereotypes of e-sports dramas into becoming its own kind. E-sports dramas are largely regarded as idol dramas packaged into an e-sports genre. As a drama featuring just e-sports is too niche, television producers had to sugarcoat various elements and add in other dramas to fill up the void. Cross Fire sets itself apart by adding time traveling, suspense, and comedy, drawing viewers who aren’t into e-sports to enjoy the series.
Cross Fire premiered on July 20 and will run for 36 episodes.
Source: Xinhuanet
This article is written by Addy for JayneStars.com.
I am baffled why anyone would think a drama series about esport/people playing video games is compelling, it’s the equivalent of watching someone play video games, lmao. There is no plot who tf cares.
I love this drama so far (up to episode 19 today)! Fingers crossed it’ll continue to be good to the end.
It is more than an e-sports themed drama. There’s mystery, sci-fi, growing pains, friendship, family and romance. It has so much heart. The family bond, friendships, and romance are done very well. I’ve lost count the number of times I laughed out loud, teared up or outright cried.
The in-game live action scenes with the actors are exciting and so much fun to watch. The drama has been very innovative with how they show the kills and action sequences.
Luhan and Leo Wu are both great and same for the rest of the cast. The HK director has only worked on films previously and you can see how his style is different from the standard C-drama. The 2 timelines (2008 vs. 2019) are done so well, with a great nostalgic feel for 2008.
There are no fillers! The long recap at the beginning of each episode is annoying, but easy to skip. I think that this drama has one of the best product placements I’ve seen. They are actually incorporated into the plot (Aston Martin, Adidas, etc.) and not just randomly inserted and forced in your face. Hopefully no one in the drama feels the urgent need for a mask =P
And I am so happy that this drama introduced me to the band GALA. The song they used at the end of episode 18 for the montage to mark the halfway point of the drama was both poignant and yet inspiring.