CSIC: I Hero

I have only seen a small fraction of the hundreds of episodes of the four American "CSI" television series, so I am neither an expert of how the Americans did the shows, nor a big fan of the shows themselves. Still, when I came across this particular Taiwanese television series on Netflix, I was interested, because the idea of a foreign take on the formula intrigued me. After watching several episodes, I can say that it's an extremely uneven series. It's a slower take on the formula, with a lot of filler that gives very little to nothing to the characters or the stories. Also, there is a significant amount of goofball humor that really seems out of place in an otherwise serious show. And the production values are very uneven; sometimes it is Hollywood slick, but other times the look and feel of the entire enterprise resemble a lower budgeted soap opera.

At the same time, I can't say that the show is particularly terrible. Although there is a lot of filler and a slower pace, I admit that at any moment I wasn't actually bored. The Taiwanese backdrop also gives the whole crime scene investigation genre some freshness an interest as well. So I would say that it's worth watching at least two or three episodes. However, I can't say for sure that afterwards you'll be interested enough to watch all 13 episodes.

Having watched numerous shows of the American CIS, I watched this just to see how it compares. The production is good, but quite upto the standard of the American version, but I suppose it depends on the budget and on how popular it becomes. The acting is very good though. Have seen Janet in other Taiwanese productions and really enjoy watching her. The only thing that really irks me is the background music, initially it was okay, I can understand the need to use it toemphasise some of the scenes to dramatise the effect of the crime, but after a few episodes, found it really annoying and interfering with my viewing. I know I'm nitpicking, but otherwise am enjoying the series so far