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A review by carleeiigh
Beijing Payback by Daniel Nieh
3.0
Not really Beijing Payback as Victor gets manipulated throughout the whole thing and is really sad about it.
Really wanted this to be an action packed gang adventure - when it was more a meandering, fumbling young man constantly over his head and he never really gets a real resolution or a really cool moment. Sun was a much more interesting character and while I liked the reveal of him being the killer, I didn't feel like it was necessary. I feel like a really smart writer could have made this from his perspective, knowing everything that we know in the end, and make it work.
I did appreciate the conflicted feeling Victor had throughout the story, but it does take way too long for the actual story in Beijing to begin! It's halfway through before he gives in and goes to avenge his father! And even then its not very interesting, they just want to pay off some guy for information and then leave - obviously it gets messed up, but Sun is the one who figures out how to get them all out of the situation.
And the issue of stereotypes a lot of people are complaining about - and yeah they're pretty bad. The sister and Wei are the only female characters who get any focus; and Julie is sort of relegated to the worrying, annoying sister, and Wei is kind of just there as a support for Victor and give him a handjob near the end. And steal his money? Because? I mean good for her but it doesn't really teach him anything or have any affect on the plot. Every other girl is completely a prop. The black friend is also just that, a black friend who plays basketball and Victor is confused when he "talks black" around his black friends "because that's not who he is" and it made me roll my eyes. Also a Jewish friend who's good with money and computers and doesn't actually believe in any Judaism - because THATS a subtle message /s
Ultimately its not the worst, and I did enjoy the emotional toll everything takes on Victor, but I wanted more action.
Really wanted this to be an action packed gang adventure - when it was more a meandering, fumbling young man constantly over his head and he never really gets a real resolution or a really cool moment. Sun was a much more interesting character and while I liked the reveal of him being the killer, I didn't feel like it was necessary. I feel like a really smart writer could have made this from his perspective, knowing everything that we know in the end, and make it work.
I did appreciate the conflicted feeling Victor had throughout the story, but it does take way too long for the actual story in Beijing to begin! It's halfway through before he gives in and goes to avenge his father! And even then its not very interesting, they just want to pay off some guy for information and then leave - obviously it gets messed up, but Sun is the one who figures out how to get them all out of the situation.
And the issue of stereotypes a lot of people are complaining about - and yeah they're pretty bad. The sister and Wei are the only female characters who get any focus; and Julie is sort of relegated to the worrying, annoying sister, and Wei is kind of just there as a support for Victor and give him a handjob near the end. And steal his money? Because? I mean good for her but it doesn't really teach him anything or have any affect on the plot. Every other girl is completely a prop. The black friend is also just that, a black friend who plays basketball and Victor is confused when he "talks black" around his black friends "because that's not who he is" and it made me roll my eyes. Also a Jewish friend who's good with money and computers and doesn't actually believe in any Judaism - because THATS a subtle message /s
Ultimately its not the worst, and I did enjoy the emotional toll everything takes on Victor, but I wanted more action.