After 2 weeks of airing, the film "Pho Son Hai" starring Thanh Nghi was turned away by Chinese and international media because of its poor quality.
The news site of Shanghai Television and Shanghai People's Radio said that the failure of "Squatting Sea" was a warning sign of the general collapse of the historical drama production line. Despite having unique script ideas and huge investments, the works failed due to the implementation process being unprecedented, lacking meticulousness and seriousness.
Guangming Daily page criticized Thanh Nghi for his disrespectful statements to the audience, poor speaking and understanding of the role, and continuously holding on to the script even after entering the official filming stage.
In addition, Observer - a Chinese online news review website - questioned Douban's failure to announce the score of "Squatter of Sea" even though the show has reached its final episodes. This raises suspicions that online film review platforms have interfered with the data and achievements of the work.
In particular, "Fox Sports" is an S+ level film co-produced by two "big guys" Tencent and iQIYI. If it ends with too poor results, both filming platforms will face many disadvantages.
Not only domestically, "Pho Son Hai" is also not popular with international fans. The film reached 3.1 points on IMDb, becoming the lowest-rated Chinese drama ever on the website.
The French newspaper Le Monde called it "the most disappointing Chinese historical drama of 2025", making Chinese fans frustrated.
Right from the first episodes aired, "Squatting Sea" received many controversial opinions because it had huge investment costs but was not commensurate with quality. "Sea paint paint" has a series of problems with makeup, special effects, overuse of green screen, and post-production editing through speakers. Thanh Nghi's acting is also inferior to his previous work, "Lien Hoa Lau", with a poor voice.
At the end of this year, he still has two films planned to air, "The Red Lady's Lake: The Power of heaven" and "Truong An 24-0". If he continues to fail, the actor will have to face the biggest crisis of his career.
"Fox Sports" is adapted from the novel Than Chau Ky Hiep by On Thuy An. The film tells the story of Tieu Minh Minh (Thanh Nghi), a young man who was once passionate about martial arts novels but was enthusiastically transformed by reality. Xiao Mingming accidentally transfers to become the great chess player Xiao Thu Thuy, thereby having the opportunity to experience the world of boxing.
From a youthful, greedy, and martial arts student, he gradually matured into a true captain, ready to protect his family and the country. Returning to modern times, Tieu Minh Minh continued to compose in his free time, pinning his trust in the spirit of friendship in each page of the book.
