Honestly, everything else in this movie is tolerable but the core premise is just... weird, if not disturbing. If the world ends, the only way to let the human race live on is to create artificial humans powered by AI, and let them find a way to survive elsewhere in space? Are we sure that preserving a technical replication of human consciousness is really letting us live on? In some ways, the ending is kind of horrifying. Who knows if the FL's AI clone has developed a separate consciousness of its own? And if it did, you bet the first thing it might do is to kill the other humans in space for putting it through such torture.
I'd say if the world ends, we should accept our fate and let nature take its course. We have done enough damage to this world lol.
In all seriousness, I think the movie tried to be something different and was overly ambitious, but ended up falling flat on its face. This is yet another science fiction work from SK that suffers from the same old mistakes from its predecessors: over-reliance on sentimentality, a poorly laid out scientific foundation and nonsensical events that defy logic.
I can't be the only one who thinks the way the case in eps 3 to 4 unfolded was a huge mess that barely made any sense? There was a clear and important case to be made on the hospital neglecting the mother's medical needs and consent. Instead, they focused on something completely different, which just made me scratch my head. Is this a court case or a moral / philosophical debate? And suddenly the whole thing is "resolved" with the chairman's noblesse oblige. No one was condemned despite the clear signs of problems in the hospital. That was completely unsatisfactory no matter how emotional they were trying to portray the adoption scene, because none of the main problem was actually resolved...
In fact, the adoption felt out of nowhere and even inappropriate. I don't think what the mother needs is a random rich stranger offering to be her parent, she actually needs financial and emotional help, plus access to treatment for her deteriorating mental health. However, since the adoption is the only decent option she has, she is essentially being forced to take it regardless of whether she actually wants it. That just doesn't sit right with me.
This is definitely better than your average mystery thriller, it keeps your attention throughout with some twists and turns, but some parts were a little excessive and contrived. Which is expected in any thriller, but these parts somewhat diminished my appreciation of the show as a whole. Nevertheless, one of the things I liked was that the show conveyed and acknowledged how bias and prejudice can have brutal effects. I think the cast all pulled off the layered characters that had different sides to them under the surface. The show also managed to intertwine two separate cases together well without becoming convoluted.
This synopsis sounds like 2 different dramas. The main arc seems like the leads will uncover internal financial cases like embezzlement or fraud (I'm assuming that's what internal auditors do mainly), which sounds very work-oriented and... unromantic. Meanwhile the second leads sound like the most typical office romcom leads ever, lol.
This show really started out good but became average a few episodes in. Now, it's kinda going off the rails. But what I'm most disappointed about is the lack of growth portrayed. And I'm not just talking about the business itself. Taepoong has his strengths for sure, but he is still the same impulsive guy who makes some insanely risky decisions (that involve sacrificing some part of himself), without discussing them with Miseon or the rest of the employees first. Miseon used to berate and criticize him for this, but now that she's dating him, she just brushes it off. What happened to separating personal feelings from your work? Not the greatest character development for a 16 episode show, I would say. In fact, I'm just sad that Miseon has taken a backseat compared to the start of the show.
On the other hand, we see more growth for the supporting characters -- Taepoong's mom has changed so much since the start, for instance.
Dude, she started getting popular and winning awards since her very first movie. And she was the FL in Goblin…
Nah, you've got it wrong. A Muse was her official debut, was a considerable success and already got her prestigious awards. She was a monster rookie since the start and one of the few young actresses who had success in movies. She played alongside many A-listers and never had to do any supporting roles her whole career. Goblin further solidified her into an A-list drama star as well. I didn't even start watching kdramas in 2016 but I could recognize her face then. That's how popular she was/is.
Dude, she started getting popular and winning awards since her very first movie. And she was the FL in Goblin (the most popular drama on this site) which aired almost 10 years ago. If that isn't hitting it big...
I remember this being the production that switched leads/production crew several times. It looks better than I expected. And I can't imagine seeing Han Sohee or Kim Jiwon in this haircut, so I get why it went to KGE instead lol.
There were always countless articles and mediaplay when it came to his dramas getting top ratings, his long-lasting hallyu influence, him being the "highest paid actor" (which isn't even verified). Of course until people began criticizing his inflated salary and the gender pay gap, then articles would get published about how he was generous enough to lower his salary by a fraction.
But when a gigantic scandal with extremely horrifying allegations and damning evidence of him being a groomer and predator erupts? It's crickets on korean new outlets. Official news mostly only publish his denial statements and give vague descriptions of him "dating" the victim. Even this website is doing the same, where are the articles on this issue???
I am utterly disgusted. This man is a fucking menace to society.
I rather like it, it made me feel there are two different version of a same woman, facing the same situation,…
I would prefer it if they treated mother and daughter as two distinct people (which they are), facing similar struggles in different ways. Having the same actor play 2 separate characters makes it look like some reincarnation fantasy story. There is no more subtlety in the message they're bringing across.
This had a good start. The storytelling is quite fast-paced, and the FL's mother and the whirlwind romance were very impactful. I sometimes wished it would slow down, but I get that it is meant to be a generational story.
However, I am never a fan of the same actor playing both the parent and child. I just think it is SO unconvincing and it always takes me out of the story. As much as I liked IU in the mother role, I think they made her play dual roles because of her star power. I would have much preferred for someone else to be cast as her daughter.
The whole crew from the director, cinematographer to editors seem to be top-notch talent. The leads are great actors who suit their characters here to a T. Now the only problem is the writer seems to be unknown/a complete newbie. We all know it's actually the writer that determines the quality of the show. So I certainly hope this isn't yet another case of a Netflix dud that trades in substance for pretentiousness...
Writernim (a woman): I just want to write this Romcom set in spacePdnims (Boomer men): Ok. But you will insert…
I won't be surprised if something like that actually happened. I haven't seen the writer's other dramas but people are saying this is a huge downgrade from her past works. I believe the investors have much bigger control over the script for such big scale projects, and often that's what causes the downfall of the script. But such insertion of propaganda in a kdrama is a first to me. I dropped this at ep 2 and I'm glad I did so. From the comments here it sounds absolutely horrendous.
Early domestic reviews are average to mixed and seem to imply that The Priests was better. Good news is the breakeven point is 1.6 million viewers after selling the overseas rights, which isn't too high.
Wow, almost nothing in this is working for me. Everything is just so jarring. From the insertion of chaebol tropes into a sci-fi drama, to LMH's out-of-place lines, to the experimental tone and transitions that are coming off as whacky/poorly executed. Even the fact that he seems to be falling for her feels forced. I'm just scratching my head, because what is this even supposed to be?
Unfortunate since I missed GHJ and this is supposedly a huge blockbuster, but I'll pass.
The biggest mistake the creators made was forgetting to write interesting characters.
Gi-hun, despite being the "good-hearted" protagonist, has always been a bit of a bumbling idiot. In season 2, he doesn't have a smart friend to help him. We simply watch the bumbling idiot be played by 001 AGAIN. He never learns from his mistakes and is just frustrating to follow. Sang-woo from season 1 was a morally grey character but rational and level-headed, and was undoubtedly a competent leader for most of the show. His character was the perfect contrast to Gi-hun. This season lacked someone like that -- Lee Byung-hun's character is predictable and wasn't as interesting as he was.
The "villains" like the thug and annoying lady from S1 were despicable yet entertaining and somehow likeable. That was not easy to pull off. But Big Bang's TOP and other antagonistic characters here were just annoying himbos that I wanted off my screen. Meanwhile, almost all other characters are remarkably un-memorable. It's funny how characters played by actors that are usually main leads were underwhelming and didn't need to be in this show. I probably would have preferred seeing fresh faces.
It was deeply disappointing how S2 slowed down the pace but had much less depth and emotion. S1 touched on issues like exploitation of foreign workers, North Korean defectors, gambling addiction, etc. S2 settled with young people who invested in the wrong cryptocurrencies (too bad for them), influencers (ughh), or pregnant young moms (generic female character found in too many shows). Some were almost like a re-hashes of S1's characters. Also, there were not enough games and too many voting sessions. Did no one in the production feel that it was getting repetitive?? Overall, I give season 2 a mediocre 6/10. (Season 1 was an 8.5/10 for me.)
I'd say if the world ends, we should accept our fate and let nature take its course. We have done enough damage to this world lol.
In all seriousness, I think the movie tried to be something different and was overly ambitious, but ended up falling flat on its face. This is yet another science fiction work from SK that suffers from the same old mistakes from its predecessors: over-reliance on sentimentality, a poorly laid out scientific foundation and nonsensical events that defy logic.
In fact, the adoption felt out of nowhere and even inappropriate. I don't think what the mother needs is a random rich stranger offering to be her parent, she actually needs financial and emotional help, plus access to treatment for her deteriorating mental health. However, since the adoption is the only decent option she has, she is essentially being forced to take it regardless of whether she actually wants it. That just doesn't sit right with me.
On the other hand, we see more growth for the supporting characters -- Taepoong's mom has changed so much since the start, for instance.
But when a gigantic scandal with extremely horrifying allegations and damning evidence of him being a groomer and predator erupts? It's crickets on korean new outlets. Official news mostly only publish his denial statements and give vague descriptions of him "dating" the victim. Even this website is doing the same, where are the articles on this issue???
I am utterly disgusted. This man is a fucking menace to society.
However, I am never a fan of the same actor playing both the parent and child. I just think it is SO unconvincing and it always takes me out of the story. As much as I liked IU in the mother role, I think they made her play dual roles because of her star power. I would have much preferred for someone else to be cast as her daughter.
Unfortunate since I missed GHJ and this is supposedly a huge blockbuster, but I'll pass.
Gi-hun, despite being the "good-hearted" protagonist, has always been a bit of a bumbling idiot. In season 2, he doesn't have a smart friend to help him. We simply watch the bumbling idiot be played by 001 AGAIN. He never learns from his mistakes and is just frustrating to follow. Sang-woo from season 1 was a morally grey character but rational and level-headed, and was undoubtedly a competent leader for most of the show. His character was the perfect contrast to Gi-hun. This season lacked someone like that -- Lee Byung-hun's character is predictable and wasn't as interesting as he was.
The "villains" like the thug and annoying lady from S1 were despicable yet entertaining and somehow likeable. That was not easy to pull off. But Big Bang's TOP and other antagonistic characters here were just annoying himbos that I wanted off my screen. Meanwhile, almost all other characters are remarkably un-memorable. It's funny how characters played by actors that are usually main leads were underwhelming and didn't need to be in this show. I probably would have preferred seeing fresh faces.
It was deeply disappointing how S2 slowed down the pace but had much less depth and emotion. S1 touched on issues like exploitation of foreign workers, North Korean defectors, gambling addiction, etc. S2 settled with young people who invested in the wrong cryptocurrencies (too bad for them), influencers (ughh), or pregnant young moms (generic female character found in too many shows). Some were almost like a re-hashes of S1's characters. Also, there were not enough games and too many voting sessions. Did no one in the production feel that it was getting repetitive?? Overall, I give season 2 a mediocre 6/10. (Season 1 was an 8.5/10 for me.)