Unfortunately since I live in America, it took a while for it to be released over here. I finally watched it on AsiaFlix, but the English translation was most likely done by Google or A.I. I understood maybe 30% of the dialogue and maybe 20% of what I was watching.
I waited a few more months for it to be released on DramaCool and it was worth the wait. This was a good movie! It was faithful to the book/author. The characters were brought to life really well.
Lee Hye Young did a fantastic job of portraying Hornclaw. She looked EXACTLY how I pictured the character in my imagination while reading the book. Kim Sung Cheol was excellent as Bullfight. His hatred of Hornclaw was thoroughly fleshed out. I had more sympathy for movie Bullfight than I did for the book version. So Kim and the directors did a fantastic job, imho.
The fight scenes were top notch. I saw a YouTube video of how badly Lee got injured while shooting this movie. For an actor/actress to go through that to to entertain is awe-inspiring and a little bit scary. I hope she has fully recovered.
Overall, a great movie to watch for Korean Movie Night.
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Had so much potential.
I didn't hate it, but I'll never re-watch it. It's just like every other "past life/present life lovers" C-drama you've ever seen. There were at least three "mystery" plotlines that held my interest. The last one with General Wen made my jaw drop. I did NOT see that coming.The characters were distinct, but only Bai Shi Qi had an arc. The rest were the same person at the end of the drama that they were in the beginning. I knew the main leads were going to end up together, it was just a matter of which episode it would happen. The two characters Li Qin played were world's apart in personality and I found that very enjoyable and well-written. Lu Yan's brooding, over-protective, almost stalker-ish personality got boring fast. Emote, damn you! Even after he felt love for DengDeng, he stayed stoic and standoffish. He also kept his hands in his pocket so much I was starting to wonder if he had topical drugs in there.
Did anyone else notice that these two characters never kissed? Can you believe that? The MAIN LEADS never had a kissing scene. How'd that happen?
The villain was your basic bad guy, that's all. He was good-looking, though; he had an awesome costume, and the actor did a great job portraying him.
There were two characters that I wished had more substance than just "man-servants": Peng Da Hai and Xin. I would have loved to see those two in a quirky, but adorable romantic plotline. Da Hai maybe falling in love with a "spirit" person and giving up the mountain homestead he loves to be with her. Xin could have fallen in love with a human that LuYan didn't approve of, causing conflict between them. Still, these were good support characters and the actors gave 100% to their respective roles.
The last episode was a big letdown after DengDeng defeated the female villain. I don't understand why storytellers keep writing characters that don't work together to defeat obstacles and enemies. Instead they make the main leads lie to their partners about their true intentions, then have them go off and do their own thing, where they die. That's not true love, that's stupidity. And what was that scene at the end where DengDeng and Da Hai interrupt a business to re-state motivations and story beats? Talk about wasting screen time that could have been put to better use, you know...like FINDING YOUR TRUE LOVE! What a dumb and boring ending to a show that was already one-step above mediocre.
For me, this drama was a 6/10. It had the potential to be a 9, but it was just too close to average.
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Good start, but got boring real quick.
If you've seen ANY other K-Drama rom-com, you've seen Beautiful Gong Shim. Same cringe worthy tropes; same unrelatable conflicts and misunderstandings that could be cleared up with a simple conversation; same mind-numbingly boring filler episodes that drag the drama out WAAAAAY too long. Not to mention that Ahn Dan Tae has a "super power" that disappears after episode 4/5.The most interesting part of the series was the kidnapping plot, but even then the audience knew who the little boy was from the first episode. If the same present is going to be wrapped up in a different package, don't torture your audience with 20 episodes of mind-numbingly bad rom-com troupes that we've seen a million times.
I'm giving the series 4 stars instead of 1 since all of the actors are bringing their A-Game and they deserve praise. The production staff and everyone else working behind the camera deserve recognition as well. Good job.
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A great "turn your brain off" action movie.
I know we shouldn't like Mahiro and Chisato, but across the trilogy I somehow find myself rooting for them to win. Got me wondering if there's something wrong with me. The duo are funny, quirky, and oddly believable as fictional characters. And their love for one another- despite the fact that they don't always get along- is clear as day.Mahiro and Chisato even have character arcs, which- in a movie like this- is a shocking and pleasant surprise.
I have nothing bad to say about any of the Baby Assassin movies. It is a very unique premise on the assassin genre. I can't give it a higher rating because... well...Mahiro and Chisato are assassins.
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Could have been better
This drama started off good. The fight scenes were awesome and there were a lot of laugh out loud moments. But some where after the mid-season climax, the writing and plot got real sloppy. It's like the show runners got tired of their own creation. Some of the decisions the characters made didn't make sense. In the last episode, the main leads got bored with each other, so I was unsure if they were together or not. I was disappointed because this series had such potential, but someone dropped the ball.Was this review helpful to you?
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Too long!
Like I said in my review of Part 1, I liked that this show centered on a male mer-person and "human" female. And a lot of the characters were really enjoyable. It was different and unique seeing The King of Heaven (?) being a child.The second lead love story between the "moth" and the "spiritual leader" was more interesting than the merman and "human". At least it was as realistic as it could be in a fantasy drama.
And, as the daughter and granddaughter of seamstresses, 10 stars to the costume designs and jewelry.
BUT THE STORY! OMG, JUST END!
How many times could the same characters have the same conversation in the same CGI room? Dozens!
How many times can characters be abducted and rescued or escape from some kind of prison or villain? Multiple times!
How many times can a betrayal plot be revealed and executed? I stopped counting.
This drama should not have had a Part 2. It should have had a 25 episode run and ended.
I gave it a 6 because the actors and production crew deserve a lot of credit for what they were given to work with.
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I was NOT disappointed!
This was a PHENOMENAL follow-up to season 1. This season did NOT pull it's punches. I loved that "Seong" went toe-to-toe with The Recruiter. I loved all of the plot twists, especially with #011! I wondered how and why our male lead wound up back in The Game, and thought that the way he did was believable. I even correctly guessed some of the decisions of the characters, not because the series is predictable- it's DEFINITELY NOT- but because I picked up on a few subliminal clues. T.O.P. was GREAT! I really enjoyed watching him "eat up the screen" in a GOOD way.I was literally on the edge of my seat watching this season, just like the previous one. Good job cast and crew!
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Could have been better.
It was great watching a mermaid story where the mer-person was a man and the "human" was a woman. The costumes and jewelry were beautiful and the soundtrack went straight into my MP3 and is still there.The PLOT, however, was all over the place with way too many characters, side quests, individual motivations, and plot lines that dragged the story out WAY too long. If the show runners had condensed the storyline, I wouldn't have gotten bored with the series in the first half of Part 1 when Chang Yi sacrificed his "other life". Why take the mer-person out of a mermaid story?
I gave it a 6 because the actors and production crew deserve a lot of credit for what they were given to work with.
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