This review may contain spoilers
Wasted potential
Let me preface by saying that I love the zombie genre so I will pretty much watch anything with zombies in it. I think it's the thrill of the chase and the simple survival theme that makes it fun and exciting which is why this show was so disappointing. It felt too contrived and scripted and the stupid mission games disrupted the sense of urgency that comes with the zombie genre. I had mixed reactions with Season 1 too, but this season was far worse. I wish they had made this show more like the zombie episodes in The Great Escape which was done so well. In the Great Escape, you can feel the cast member's fear and urgency to survive. There was a narrative and clues that helped them figure out what to do on their own so it felt more genuine. I get that this is more of a scripted show, but there's a way to do it more naturally. The script was so obvious and jarring like a slap in the face. I don't mind that the acting is bad and the cast are laughing at the silly acting as it is funny at times, but to make every scenario predictable and forced just dulls things. Where's the thrill and fun in that?DISLIKES:
1) The stupid mission games - if you are going to go in this direction, at least make the games exciting. Most of them were so lame esp the curling game. so boring and felt so out of place.
2) Too many cast members. S1 had it's issues, but the cast chemistry was good. You should have capitalized on that esp with fan favorites like Dex and Siyoung. But in S2, by introducing too many new members, less time is given to each so nobody can really show anything.
3) Too much screen time given to the Extras. I really didn't need to watch the twin athletes showing their stunt moves or the annoying ajumma trying desperately to get the cast to do what the staff wanted for the script.
4) The lack of urgency. There were too many times where it felt like the zombies or even the cast members were just "waiting" for their turn. Like you knew the zombies wouldn't bite key members and were just "waiting" for the extras or the less popular members or waiting for their cue from the staff to kill or be killed. Like the whole ending bit on the bridge was so dumb. They were basically waiting for their cue to "fall" off the bridge.
5) The split teams - by having the teams split up, the story didn't feel cohesive
LIKES:
1) DEX - I just love this guy. Huge fan. I find him so entertaining, but he did not get to showcase his coolness in this season although his hurtle jumps were impressive lol
2) Si Young - I love her. I love how tough she is. I love her bulldozer ways. and I love her relationship with hong chul
3) Din Din and Hong Chul - I think both of them are needed in this show. Both are quick witted, sly, and have leadership that helps move the story forward.
4) Sae Ho - I normally don't find him funny, but his bad acting was hilarious here
5) Sung Jae and Code Kunst - I liked the hint of Sungjae's bromance with Dex and I liked Kunst's surprising athleticism at the end, but don't think it was enough
I hope the PDs rethink their direction for this show because it could be really great. I think if they can capture what the Great Escape did with their zombie episodes, they'd have a hit show on their hands. Sorely disappointed the potential was wasted.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Anti hero action drama for an entertaining ride
Likes: The dark anti-hero theme, the growth of the female lead, the fun fight scenes, the distinct characters, the pace of the storytelling (for the most part)Dislikes: The weird fade to black transitions in editing, the repeat of scenes we've already seen, MinHye's slowness with her action scenes
I think it's fitting that this aired on Disney+, as this reminds me of all the young adult fantasy books that I read where the female protagonist goes through a series of hardships when she was young that prepares her into becoming a kick ass force to be reckoned with as she approaches adulthood. I loved those kinds of stories and I really enjoyed this one too. While Jian is not Katniss or Rose Hathaway, I do see that similar thread of growth and sacrifice that is often reflected in young adult novels and it makes me really excited to see what will happen in the next season (which I assume there will be as the ending made it seem so). Hye Joon did an amazing job playing Jian.
The whole mercenary killer theme was cool and I liked all the high tech gadgets and gunfight scenes. Were some of the characters cliche? Yes, but it didn't really bother me that much because for some reason, the whole story, look, and theme felt refreshing to me. I think it's because these types of stories usually only get depicted with American actors so to see this kind of story with this kind of high quality and with Asian actors made this all the more enjoyable for me.
Lee Dong Wook was great as Jian's uncle and teacher. Jo Han Sun also did a good job playing the psychopath (His eyes creeped the F out of me and that usually never happens). I thought everyone played their role well. I was however a bit disappointed with the character of MinHye and this is no reflection on the actress. While I loved that they showcased a female character as an ultimate threat, I'm afraid the execution didn't follow through. The way the scenes were shot made her physical fight scenes look very slow and a bit weak which makes her character a bit unbelievable as a "high threat" as claimed. This is more a fault with the direction and camera work imo. But this is a minor complaint as I did enjoy most of the series and I think anyone who likes YA female lead stories and action might enjoy this drama as well.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Anyone who understands Life's struggles should watch this
My mom raved about this drama and normally we don't have the same tastes, but I think what makes this show so great is that every generation will be able to appreciate the messages. This show doesn't shy away from exposing the ugly truths of human nature, but it also shows the touching side as well. We follow the lives of a close knit community in Jeju as they navigate through the struggles of life and their own emotional baggage.Likes: With a star studded cast, the acting from everyone felt very natural and heartfelt, but it was the less famous character actors such as Lee Jung Eun, Park Ji Hwan, and Choi Young Joon who really stood out in my eyes. They felt like the glue that made the community feel alive and real. What made this show stand out is that it was unapologetic about exposing the flaws of each character. It didn't try to glamorize or label a person as evil or nice. It just showed that no one is perfect and we do what we need to do in order to survive according to our experiences. This show knows how to poke those hidden truths, stir up emotions, and make us feel as if the character's emotions are our own. It was funny, sad, touching, and healing.
I have to mention one scene that made an impact on me. That emotional fight scene between Ji Hwan and his son.....I think anyone who has immigrant parents or parents who struggled to get by financially will be able to relate to the emotions in that scene. Ji Hwan's acting was amazing. He truly made it unforgettable in my mind due to his raw emotion.
Dislikes: Ok so I may have a little bias in this one since I'm not a huge fan of Lee Byung Hun so take it with a grain of salt, but I found his story line with Shin Mina really boring. This was the only storyline where I wanted to skip. I just couldn't connect and wasn't feelin the loveline. Also, I found having Woobin and Shin Mina in the same drama, but with different lovers distracting. It felt weird seeing LBH kiss SM, but then WB being all chummy with LBH in another scene. I know it's acting, but my mind would wander into that whole, dude that man just kissed your pregnant wife, etc...and I couldn't help notice the lack of a kiss in the WB loveline when I felt like there should have been. It's easier to forget someone has a real like significant other when they are not in the same drama, but having them in the same show was like a little reminder that kept distracting me from the story. But all in all, these are very small dislikes compared to the enjoyment overall.
Highly recommend checking this out if you like family dramas and are ready for some emotional ups and downs.
Was this review helpful to you?
Only stayed for the smokin hot bad boy
Likes: Tsao Yu Ning is smokin hot as the bad boy bodyguard Li Teng. There's a reason girls flock towards bad boys and he captured all of those reasons. The skinship was swoony and the desire was hot.Dislikes: All was fine until around episode 10 where everything just got incredibly cheesy. It became like a low budget soap opera. The greasy confessions had me running for the exit.
I honestly would have dropped this drama had it not been for Tsao Yu Ning's bad boy intensity. The tension was hot, but it wasn't enough to save the lameness of the story after ep9. And while I liked that the FL was believable in her self defense moves, overall I just found her meh.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Delightfully funny!
If you are looking for a light easy watch that will make you laugh, I would suggest giving this short romcom a shot. It did take me about 2 episodes to get into it, but once I did, I swear I was grinning every episode in anticipation of what wacky antics Yeon Seo would show and the funny reactions Jung Woo would display in response.IMO, I think Jung Woo stole the show here. He made me crack up so much! His expressions are priceless! Like you can just tell what he's thinking inside. lol. I just loved the way he played his character. He brought such heart along with the laughs. Yeon Seo did a good job at keeping up at the same energy, but I do think her character suffered more from poor writing/development than Jung Woo's character. There were a few moments that I thought her actions were out of character and didn't match the emotional state of the character, but I didn't mind it that much because the chemistry was just so fun and cute!
The script does suffer from some weak writing esp at the end, but overall, I still really enjoyed this light off kilter romcom! I think this is a good example of how much an amazing cast can bring such life into a somewhat mediocre script.
Was this review helpful to you?
Awesome action sword scenes from a female heroine! No stunt doubles
Jihye Ahn is a gymnast turned action star who kicked butt in this film! She did all her own stunt work and did it so freakin well. You gotta respect that! Unfortunately the story itself was weak, so I can't say it was the greatest movie, but the many awesome sword fighting scenes made it entertaining for me. It seems this is a low budget film, but the entire cast delivered so I didn't really notice.If you're in the mood to watch some cool action scenes, especially from a female heroine, then I'd suggest giving this movie a try. I really hope Hollywood takes notice of Jihye because not only do we need more female action stars, we need more Asian ones and ones that do their own stunts. It makes a difference.
Was this review helpful to you?
All female celebrity soccer match
I'm absolutely LOVING this soccer reality show! I am so not a sports person, but the passion that all these female celebrities and non celebrities bring to the game makes this so much fun to watch! Most of them are newbies to soccer so they are still learning the rules and training, which actually makes the games more exciting because it's so unpredictable. I think it also helps that the soccer field is smaller so it's more fast paced than a regular game. But even if they are desperate to win against each other, there's still this underlying form of female support that I just love seeing. There are not enough Korean variety/reality shows that feature women, so seeing this type of female comradery is inspiring and touching. I can't wait to see who will come out on top in the tournament!My fav players so far:
Team Gavengers (comedian team): Kim Min Kyung, Ahn Young mi, Oh Nami, , Cho Hye Ryun
Team Fire Moth: Park Seon Young - she is awesome!
Team Gucheok Tall (models): Hyun Lee, Han Hye jin, Cha Soo min
Team World Class (foreigners): Elodie, Saori
Team Actionista (Action actresses) - can't wait to watch them play
Team National - don't remember seeing them play yet
The only thing I find a little annoying are the repetitive replay clips. Replaying once is good, but sometimes they replay it like 3 times. A lot of variety shows are guilty of this. I wish they'd cut that down some.
Was this review helpful to you?
It lived up to the hype. Intense suspense!
Likes: Right from the start, the intense suspense will grip you.Dislikes: Maybe because the suspense was so high that in the middle, it felt a little draggy. I was like "Get to the point!" Admittedly, maybe it's just my impatience to find out what's happened, but I felt the scenes could have been edited down a bit in the middle.
Normally suspenseful thrillers are not my thing, but I decided to check this out due to the overwhelming reviews on MDL. I jumped in without knowing much about the story and was hooked from the first scene. It's gripping and sad and touching...keeping it vague as I don't want to unintentionally give out any spoilers.
The cast did a great job esp Lee Joon Gi. These are difficult characters to portray and have multitudes of emotional layers that I think the leads did well in showing. There were moments where things felt a little too theatrical, but it didn't bother me too much. I was actually surprised at how much I enjoyed this. Glad I checked this out!
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Short easy watch to pass the time filled with kisses
Likes: That HOT kiss in the first episode. It's short and to the point without any draggy parts.Dislikes: It's rookie acting 101. A lot of the girls looked so similar that it was hard to tell them apart
I needed something to watch to pass the time and just really want something mindless and short. I found this youtube recommendation for this short web series so I thought I'd check it out. So glad I did! Super easy to watch. A handsome goblin needs to kiss 10 girls to become a human. And that's exactly it. It's short, to the point without draggy side stories or overly dramatic plots. While it's rookie surface acting, I didn't really mind it that much because each episode was so short so you're not overly invested. It's just a silly entertaining mindless watch to pass the time which was exactly what I was looking for.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
More Action than Zombie
Likes: Suspenseful thrill ride. The acting from the two young girls was greatDislikes: It felt more like Fast & Furious than Train to Busan. As in most Korean films/dramas, the white people can't act.
So if you compare this to Train to Busan, you will be sorely disappointed. But if you look at it as a standalone movie, it's pretty entertaining if not generic. Instead of this mainly being a survival against zombies, it was more a battle between the bad guys and the good guys and a race to get off the zombie infested country. A blockbuster action movie with flashy car chase scenes, gun fights, and a side of zombies.
While the action scenes were thrilling, the characters felt too one note and weren't developed enough so you don't really build an affinity to them like I did with Train to Busan. Overall entertaining, but somewhat forgettable.
Was this review helpful to you?
Adorable mini romcom!
Likes: No matter how many times I've watched this (which is an embarrassing amount), it continues to make me laugh. It's utterly adorable due to Kim Seulgi and swoony due to Yoon Doo Joon's gazes.Dislikes: None
This 2 episode mini romcom is fun, funny, and so cute! Whenever I'm not in the mood to get invested in a new long drama and I just want something that's lighthearted, funny, and mindless entertainment, I turn to this mini kdrama. Kim Seulgi plays a high school senior who time travels back to the Joseon era and becomes a cross dressing eunuch to survive and Yoon Doo Joon plays the King who gradually falls for her.
KSG is such an underrated actress that deserves leading roles like this. She's great at acting, is so funny, and has this quality that makes you root for her right off the bat. She's adorable. Yoon Doo Joon is charismatic as the King and sometimes his gazes would just make me melt. The two together create many comical and fun situations where the chemistry is just awesome. This drama is silly so you can't watch it with a serious heart so if you are just looking for something short and sweet with logic thrown away, then I highly recommend checking this out!
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Mr Honesty - call me
Likes: Mimics all the usual kdrama scenarios, but in a more realistic way. The ML is an honest guy who never lies...so basically a myth.Dislikes: I could only find the dubbed version. It's too long. The FL's relatives made me wish I had a super power that could fry people to a crisp. What?
This is your typical workplace romcom: rich self made CEO with difficult parents, the poor but kind orphan girl who always tries her best. A foe who wants revenge and winds up creating a love triangle. You can tell they borrowed quite a few of the kdrama milestones, but they approached it all in a more realistic way that I appreciated.
Even just the typical arm yank looked natural and had a reason so it didn't feel so in your face like Heeeey, gotta yank the arm in a dramatic fashion now because well...no reason...just every drama needs to have an arm yank. There was a natural progression and reaction to the skinship that made it feel like a real couple and not so pointed.
I also really liked that the ML was an honest guy who "never" lies. This opens up the discussion about honesty. Is honesty always the best policy? And you see this drama explore that with the OTP's relationship. I enjoyed that aspect.
The drama was way too long though and I did wind up skipping some of the side lines, but overall I thought it was cute,
Was this review helpful to you?
Cute and Funny!
Likes: Jun Ji Hyun...the woman had me burst out laughing in so many parts. Jun Ji Hyun and Kim Soo Hyun's amazing chemistry.Dislikes: Don't really have any
I just rewatched this as I'm watching another Kim Soo Hyun drama that's currently airing and wanted some more KSH and romcom funny to tide me over until the next episode airs. I had forgotten how funny this drama was, even the 2nd time around.
This drama caused such a sensation all across Asia that literally anything Jun Ji Hyun touched would sell out in seconds. And with good reason...not only is JJH stunningly beautiful, but she's also hilarious in this role. She's not afraid to let her hair down and be wacky and her unique way of speaking just cracked me up. There is no other actress that could have played this character better. GIRL CRUSH!
Oh, Kim Soo Hyun... He's just SO cute! And a good actor. And he plays a super strong alien which means he's got the power to kick some butt EXCEPT he's got a major weakness that will lend itself to some pretty hilarious situations with JJH. This is a great opposites attract romcom that I highly recommend! I mean, I've watched it twice!
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Bridget Jones like Noona romcom
Likes: The fun and fiery chemistry between Kim Sun Ah and Hyun Bin hands down! Even with the outdated hairstyle and clothes, Hyun Bin is still so darn cute.Dislikes: This is an older drama so the quality is on the lower end, but the chemistry between the OTP is fast and immediate so I think it's worth overlooking
This is my very favorite kdrama of all time and one that I always return to when I'm in a kdrama rut. It checks all the boxes in a romcom that I'm looking for. The story is similar to Bridget Jones so it's very light and easy to watch. Kim Sun Ah is so funny and relatable as the single older noona who is just trying to get through life when she meets Hyun Bin, the rich hotelier who does nothing but tease and antagonize her. The chemistry and banter is so fun and fiery and right off the bat that it just sucks you in! It's a great enemies to lover romcom.
Was this review helpful to you?
How far are you willing to go in order to stay alive?
Tension packed 8 episode netflix drama featuring Kento Yamazaki and his friends trying to survive in deadly games in an alternate abandoned Tokyo. Each survival game will test the characters...how far are you willing to go to stay alive?Man...there were so many moments where I forgot to breathe. Every episode is intense, bloody and brutal. It was shot well. The acting was good. It was nice to see Kento and Tao paired up yet again in their what...maybe 3rd or 4th time? The editing for the most part was fast paced and kept the tension throughout. The format sometimes reminded me of the Walking Dead where we see flashbacks and glimpses of the character's previous life before the change.
Overall this series was really good. However, you will be left with quite a few questions which makes me think there will be a S2. At least I'm really hoping for one. I watched this for Kento, but came out liking the series as a whole. Would def recommend!
Was this review helpful to you?
