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An underwhelming tale of Park Min Young and the mysterious demise of her lovers
A K-drama starring Park Min Young hardly ever misses and is always the latest buzz. So how can a mystery thriller with her and Wi Ha Joon end up failing to live up to its expectations?
Siren’s Kiss is based on the J-drama Ice World aired in 1999. The Korean remake revolves around chief auctioneer Han Seol Ah (Park Min Young) who has a dark secret – all her lovers have died. Upon receiving a tip call, insurance investigator Cha Woo Seok (Wi Ha Joon) unexpectedly meets Seol Ah. His suspicions about her grew stronger once he starts digging into the deaths of Seol Ah’s lovers. The burning question is whether Seol Ah is a murderer or if she is also a mere victim of these unfortunate events.
Park Min Young made Seol Ah distinct with her inscrutable face and composed personality. Her eyes look empty and shallow as if life had sucked out of her. After all, it’s not that long when her fiancé died in a tragic accident which only her closest friends know about. Snapping back at a colleague might be the closest she comes to displaying emotion. She is very hard to read but aside from that the idea that she lures men to death does not seem convincing.
The narrative only framed her to be mysterious so viewers can join the agenda of blaming her for her lovers’ demises. She is enigmatic because she rarely opens up and maintains a high emotional wall. Her beauty is comparable to that of an ice princess but is that all she has to captivate men? Later on, we learned the reason why men throw themselves to her but I still can’t shake the feeling that Seol Ah is an empty shell and discovering her secrets made it a lot more anticlimactic.
Honestly, I expected a lot from Wi Ha Joon as the leading man in a mystery-thriller. It should be pretty easy for him to showcase his manly charm and sharp wit as a detective. Unfortunately, the script did not do him justice and undervalued his talent. He looks old and matured here when he could have been a hella sexy detective while searching for evidence and solving the case. Instead, he is an ace investigator here who constantly stalks and baits you in his traps.
While Woo Seok falling in love with Seol Ah is rooted in their shared misery and regrets, their romance seems contrived and lacks the electrifying tension. I need stolen glances and fleeting touches which will be our only source of skinship and make us crave more.
The biggest weakness of the show is how obvious from the get-go that the writer is purposely distracting us from the real culprit by injecting a lot of fillers. Perhaps, the show tried to stay faithful to the original story that the conflicts ended up feeling outdated and unimaginative. With all the clues laid out in the open, I guessed the real culprit early on. I realized early on that there is not much going on here than what I expected it to be.
The story keeps on circling around framing up a successful antisocial sexy pretty girl. She is labelled as dangerous because she is intimidating and people are jealous of what she has. We see her as a mind-twisting, vicious woman because that’s what the story wants us to believe. The first portion of the show kept me on my toes while the second half took its sweet time revealing the criminal, drawing out every episode and making every character a suspect.
With how simple and straightforward the conflict is, this would have been better off as a movie instead of a series. The ending also pulled a full 180 and was plagued by mawkishness and syrupy sentiments, an unfitting theme for a thriller.
I must commend how the villains are consistently scary, psychotic and eerily creepy. I also appreciate the parallel narratives between the authenticity of the art pieces and the credibility of Seol Ah’s alibis. If it weren’t for these two aspects, I would have already dropped watching.
Fair enough, this is easy to watch with its fast pacing but that doesn't mean it's worth your time. A mystery-thriller in which all the men who loved Park Min Young die should intrigue viewers, yet the execution falls flat. It lacks the mind-boggling twists and rollercoaster of emotions I was hoping for. After all, there is nothing to look forward to here, not Wi Ha Joon’s protective nature nor Park Min Young ice-goddess beauty.
Siren’s Kiss is based on the J-drama Ice World aired in 1999. The Korean remake revolves around chief auctioneer Han Seol Ah (Park Min Young) who has a dark secret – all her lovers have died. Upon receiving a tip call, insurance investigator Cha Woo Seok (Wi Ha Joon) unexpectedly meets Seol Ah. His suspicions about her grew stronger once he starts digging into the deaths of Seol Ah’s lovers. The burning question is whether Seol Ah is a murderer or if she is also a mere victim of these unfortunate events.
Park Min Young made Seol Ah distinct with her inscrutable face and composed personality. Her eyes look empty and shallow as if life had sucked out of her. After all, it’s not that long when her fiancé died in a tragic accident which only her closest friends know about. Snapping back at a colleague might be the closest she comes to displaying emotion. She is very hard to read but aside from that the idea that she lures men to death does not seem convincing.
The narrative only framed her to be mysterious so viewers can join the agenda of blaming her for her lovers’ demises. She is enigmatic because she rarely opens up and maintains a high emotional wall. Her beauty is comparable to that of an ice princess but is that all she has to captivate men? Later on, we learned the reason why men throw themselves to her but I still can’t shake the feeling that Seol Ah is an empty shell and discovering her secrets made it a lot more anticlimactic.
Honestly, I expected a lot from Wi Ha Joon as the leading man in a mystery-thriller. It should be pretty easy for him to showcase his manly charm and sharp wit as a detective. Unfortunately, the script did not do him justice and undervalued his talent. He looks old and matured here when he could have been a hella sexy detective while searching for evidence and solving the case. Instead, he is an ace investigator here who constantly stalks and baits you in his traps.
While Woo Seok falling in love with Seol Ah is rooted in their shared misery and regrets, their romance seems contrived and lacks the electrifying tension. I need stolen glances and fleeting touches which will be our only source of skinship and make us crave more.
The biggest weakness of the show is how obvious from the get-go that the writer is purposely distracting us from the real culprit by injecting a lot of fillers. Perhaps, the show tried to stay faithful to the original story that the conflicts ended up feeling outdated and unimaginative. With all the clues laid out in the open, I guessed the real culprit early on. I realized early on that there is not much going on here than what I expected it to be.
The story keeps on circling around framing up a successful antisocial sexy pretty girl. She is labelled as dangerous because she is intimidating and people are jealous of what she has. We see her as a mind-twisting, vicious woman because that’s what the story wants us to believe. The first portion of the show kept me on my toes while the second half took its sweet time revealing the criminal, drawing out every episode and making every character a suspect.
With how simple and straightforward the conflict is, this would have been better off as a movie instead of a series. The ending also pulled a full 180 and was plagued by mawkishness and syrupy sentiments, an unfitting theme for a thriller.
I must commend how the villains are consistently scary, psychotic and eerily creepy. I also appreciate the parallel narratives between the authenticity of the art pieces and the credibility of Seol Ah’s alibis. If it weren’t for these two aspects, I would have already dropped watching.
Fair enough, this is easy to watch with its fast pacing but that doesn't mean it's worth your time. A mystery-thriller in which all the men who loved Park Min Young die should intrigue viewers, yet the execution falls flat. It lacks the mind-boggling twists and rollercoaster of emotions I was hoping for. After all, there is nothing to look forward to here, not Wi Ha Joon’s protective nature nor Park Min Young ice-goddess beauty.
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