Cam Nguyet Nhu Ca: the peak of absurdity, boycotted by Chinese netizens, using AI as a surrogate

Not only was Cam Nguyet Nhu Ca criticized for ruining the original work, it was also boycotted by many viewers because the film crew used AI to replace actor Ly Minh Duc, which ruined the viewers' emotions. One viewer commented that the film was the pinnacle of absurdity.

According to Sohu, before airing, Cam Nguyet Nhu Ca was full of excitement, lacking only the sound of drums and flags. Adapted from the best-selling novel Trong Sinh Chi Nu Tuong Tinh by Thien Son Tra Khach, the film is expected to follow in the footsteps of "dark horses" such as Mac Vu Van Gian or Nhan Hoi Thoi.

The show started off with a bang, with a peak of over 23,000 on Tencent Video and a stable TV rating. But after just a few episodes, its reputation plummeted, with viewers criticizing it for being similar to a web drama and for its script not being consistent with the original novel.

The original story is about a female protagonist standing in the center: Female general He Yan is reincarnated, joins the Ye Zhou Wei military camp, joins forces with other generals to destroy traitors, and protect the country. Just hearing it makes you feel the fiery spirit.

But the movie version turned into a drama about the male lead taking revenge. The female lead's revenge plot was pushed to the male lead, "reincarnation" turned into "fake death", and the past of her marriage with her previous husband was also erased.

Not only that, because of this edit, the film's logic also falls apart: The female lead was raised as a boy since childhood, to hide her identity she had to wear a mask in the military camp, achieved countless feats and became General Phi Hong. But when she returned home, she was harmed by her father and brother, blinded so that a brother who "fell from the sky" could impersonate her and enter the palace to receive a reward.

"Excuse me... the female lead is petite, the brother is tall and strong, wearing a mask can cover everything? The voice is also different? Do you think the audience is "blind and open-eyed"?

The climax of the absurdity is the scene where the female lead is chased, falls into a cliff, and sinks into the water - cut the scene, and her eyes are clear again as if she had never been blind. "The medical world must rewrite its textbooks" - Yule 360 commented.

Actor replaced by AI

If the controversial script was just an "appetizer", the biggest shock was that the supporting male character Trinh Ly To was replaced by AI. This role was originally played by actor Ly Minh Duc - an important character with a clear development journey.

But because Ly Minh Duc was involved in a car vandalism scandal, he was sentenced to 6 months in prison and had to pay 200,000 yuan in compensation, forcing the film crew to cut scenes and use technology to replace his face with that of actor Ly Khanh.

But unfortunately, the face-swapping technique is too weak. Ly Khanh and Ly Minh Duc are both "handsome scholars", but after switching their faces, the audience still sees no difference, only the facial proportions look strange.

In close-up shots, the skin color of the face and neck are off-tone, the light on the bridge of the nose is in the opposite direction, a true CGI disaster.

The combination of Ly Minh Duc's height of 1m83 and Ly Khanh's small stature makes the character "big head - small body" very clear, especially in ancient costumes.

Many scenes even create the illusion of "two characters in one frame", making it seem like you're watching Sun Wukong split into two. Some dialogues are also out of sync with the sound and image, making the viewer's emotions go down.

The audience requested that Ly Khanh re-shoot the entire scene, because he is a handsome face born in 2000, who made his mark in Hoa Luu Ly Dat Van, Ai Tinh Nhi Di, Nghenh Phong Chi Thanh... and has a good impression on the audience. But to keep up with the schedule, the film crew agreed to spend millions of yuan for AI to act on his behalf. Fans also felt it was unfair for Ly Khanh, because his real face was much more beautiful, but was mercilessly "drowned" by special effects.

In the past two years, movies have increasingly used AI to change faces. For characters with little screen time, changing faces has less impact, but for actors playing important roles, it can completely ruin the viewing experience. After all, actors still have to know how to protect themselves, and the film crew also needs to be careful when selecting, lest "one bad apple spoils the barrel".

Ly Minh Duc's story is a typical example: he was a good actor and loved by the audience, but because he lost control of his emotions, he crashed his car, put himself in jail, and affected a series of unreleased films.

Cam Nguyet Nhu Ca: criticized by fans for "bombing, over-editing, Chau Da acted badly? Hoàng Anh10:32:27 09/08/2025Cam Nguyet Nhu Ca was once expected to follow the success of 2 films with the original mother, Mo Vu Van Gian and Quy Nu. However, after only the first few episodes, the film disappointed the audience because of the quality from the script to the acting.