Entertaining if nothing else...
I'm a little late to the party, but here's my 2 cents. To skip reading it all: it works, especially if you're watching dramas for romance and stuff, and not caring for logic or the art of making movies.Basically, all the weak parts are exactly the parts that supposedly is the hook: the dreams. Also, the dreams are the plot devices. SO, putting it all together, that means that the whole show is screwed if the dreams aspect is sht. And it is. Giving an example from a movie: imagine if a energy-bar wrapper got dropped on the floor of a high-tech, very sterile, experimental, scientific building, and that said wrapper gets sucked in the suction mechanism of a door (why even having one??), that produces a short-circuit, that gives a computer error, that makes the system reboot, that has the DEFAULT setting of opening all doors and release all the dangerous, genetically modified creatures you've been experimenting with (and you know they are dangerous), thus the whole movie can be made possible.... In lesser words, if your whole movie happens because you're giving a sht motive, that also means that the movie is going to be sht.
Back to our drama. Like mentioned before, is not all bad. The visuals are good, lots of good cinematography, the colour palette is in tone with the scene, very nice, inventive shots while the "dreams" occur.
Audio. Good I guess. The tracks are on par with the scene, the mixing is done ok. I don't remember the OP theme, but thats ok.
The pacing is ok-ish for this kind of drama. The world-building is a bit clunky, but its ok for this kind of drama. The acting is mostly good (apart the usual cringe acting when "bad guys are trying to sound evil"), if not amazing, with excellent chemistry all around. Also, very important, while weak for the main people, amazing character development with the supporting cast. If I keep singing its praises, Very good moral subjects.
And now the meh parts. The dialogue is meh. Mostly ok-ish, but dumb when the plot requires it. Evidently so when the scene is supposed to be "tense", the character suddenly becoming re****ed and incapable of saying in a normal way things to save a person's life, using the cliches of babbling and half sentences, because speaking like a normal human being would resolve the plot part and we can't have that yet....
The judicial aspect is a joke. The characters are made to be dumb or smart, or introducing some weird plot device, depending on the scene. I know I know,its because they need to drag the story. But thats the main problem, isn't it? If you can't make the story flow naturally, then you're ot doing a good job.
If I'm talking about bad logic, the dreams. Precognition, supernatural, blah blah. Yeah, Yeah, I don't care about that, as in I'm ok with those. The bad part comes from not being explained well enough. The rules are not applied equally, thus: plot contrivances and plot holes. How the fk can you make "dreams" that contradict one another, but also the "real-time" goes in a whole new direction, but not always... Why having them at all if can get the options: A, or B, or C, or all the above. How the tf does that even work? If you wanna go that route, why not introduce some "punishment" aspect? Having powers with just positive aspects and no drawbacks, thats boring. And if you're saying that its supposed to be like that, then the story becomes sht. Why? Because then every fking problem the characters are in can, and should, be resolved "because it can" and, again, that makes for a boring story if no stakes are offered.
So, it gets a rating of 7. It should be lower, because the whole drama is based on the broken "dreams" aspect, but the show was entertaining enough, the acting and character development did all the heavy-lifting. Re-watching value? Hmm, I don't know... I guess, if you're the kind that likes to watch dramas mainly for the "cute people on screen" aspect.
Have a lovely day.
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Low IQ mystery thriller drama about how useless the Korean NIS is
For those who don't wanna read it all and just wanna know: don't bother with this drama. Unless you were dropped on your head as a kid. Then, you might enjoy it. How much? It depends on how many times you were dropped.It has a feel of a nowadays tv show. They are assuming people are watching it on a 2nd monitor, or playing on their phone so the characters must tell you what happens and why. You will get flashbacks over flashbacks, meant as "remember this scene? See? Its about that thing. See, it all makes sense". Basically, they also assume you were dropped on your head...
Everything is full of plot devices. I'm not trying to make it bigger than it is. Every fking action is: people staring at each other instead of moving, ducking, doing something, anything; low IQ special agents; plot devices, it just so happens that people do this or that, it just so happens that events take place just at the right moment, it just so happens that a new piece of the puzzle drops from the sky; and so on and so on. Basically, you must ask yourself "what it'd be the worst possible action to take?" and thats exactly what it is going to happen. Why? because any other way would mean the drama would've ended. And we can't have that now, right?
The acting is sht. Or more exactly, there is no acting going on. People yelling, people dropping exposition dialogue, people trying to look smart, people trying to look evil? Sure. Acting? No. Ok, there are a couple (maybe 5, mostly involving the kid or about him) of scenes when acting does take place, but that a drop of water into the sea, so its easier to say there isn't.
Next. The cinematography is meh. Apart from a couple of super good shots, everything else is meh. The fight-choreography is bad. In a drama where ML knows taekwondo.... He mostly spins and he pushes his opponents. Oh, opponents with guns that miss him btw... Any "action" scene is filmed as "shaky cam" scene. Also, a lot of deceiving film editing, trying to make you believe one thing, only to reveal the "truth" in a flashback. So, visually nothing is good.
Audio. Decent enough. The mixing and selection of tracks is made accordingly to the scene occurring. The OST is ok, might even say thats on theme with this drama.
And now the "good" parts. Everything is sht. As mentioned earlier, plot devices everywhere. You need something to happen so that the next scene can occur? Don't worry, it will, no matter how dumb or unbelievable it should be. The ML will deduce things he's not supposed to, based on one general thing, "I've saved your like then". How? Why? Which time? *insert flashback of a specific scene, the character had no idea of, because he wasn't there yet, but the viewers know it* Now, the ML also knows. How? Don't know, don't care. Then red herring all around. Characters talking by themselves, aloud, so other people can hear their "thoughts". Then, "every" piece of dialogue is mostly a expo dump for the viewers. "So we can't do X cause Y will happens? Ah, I see." Even though all the people involved in said discussion already know (or should know) all of that. Also, the "evil guy speech"... Geez...
What else? Character development. Yeah, right... World-building, pff. Oh, the pacing. Right, right, the pacing. Well, the pacing is... Just is. I mean the drama is supposed to be a non-stop action thing, so it is supposed to have a high pacing. But nothing important happens, also its empty calories, so basically it just makes you dizzy.
Yeah, I should stop here. I can't say more without spoilers and I don't wanna. Maybe someone really really wants to see it. Why? Don't know. I wanted to binge it and quickly be done with it, but I started a game of taking a shot for every right guessing of "the bad person escapes now, this person is evil, he'll foil their plans, this is a red herring, she'll turn around, they'll talk nonsense for 3 minutes, its a trap" etc. Needless to say, I got hammered pretty quickly. Also, the next day I had to rewatch it..... *Sigh*
Its a weak drama, with low IQ events. From the synopsis we learn that an accident happens, blah blah. Well, I was bored when watching said accident. And after, too. I know it was supposed to be sad, but after all that bad acting and dialogue I was just bored and waiting for it to end already. A feeling that was applied to every following episode.
So, it gets a rating of 3. Mostly for the audio and some tiny bits and pieces of other good/meh stuff. No rewatch value, obviously. If you're here for the actors, watch some of their other work. Luckily I've watched this drama later than when it aired, so I can say it never got a second season. Btw the 1st season ends in whats supposed to be a cliffhanger. They hoped this sht would get a new season :)))))
Have a lovely evening.
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Its a trap!
Well, well. For those who don't wanna read it all: it starts strong, then it gets bad and then it becomes sht, and then it gets even worse... And no, media making you cry doesn't mean it is "good" by default. Also, "enjoying" isn't the same as "good". I'm just putting these out there. No reason.So. I started watching it based on the poster. I gave it a go and after the first 10 minutes I thought "Oh, God. Its gonna be one of those dumb things, full of tropes and plot contrivances, isn't it?". But actually, the actions are logical, no matter how silly it seems. In other words, in this fictional world, the events taking place have the minimum requirements to feel "real". So, I continued watching and after a few more episodes I said "ok, it works". Silly me...
The story is interesting, maybe the romantic angle is a bit boring. It might felt like that because of FL's acting. She needs to be sad and crying a lot, but she can't act it, it felt fake. Back to the topic, Interesting story, decent enough execution.
Actually, no. I'm gonna review this drama in a different way. I usually go: visuals, audio, char development, world building etc but I think I have a better idea for this case. So. For the whole drama, the audio is by far excellent. The mixing of tracks is well done, the songs used for the whole OST are amazing, they even used different versions of the same track based on the scene. Its not my genre, I'll never listen to those songs again, but it was amazing.
And now the juicy parts. This drama can get split into seasons. The first "10" episodes (might be 9, I won't check, I don't care that much) are the best part of it. How the characters meet, how they interact etc. Good stuff. You'll enjoy it. Even some good character development that I wasn't expecting (and dreading that it might go to something shtty). Then the "2nd season", aka the next "10" episodes, it is mostly about character development, more intense accent on the drama etc. For the most part, decent enough. Not really enjoying it, but the execution was ok. Except, while approaching the end of this "season" it gets bad. Characters start acting in a weird way, aka the story needs to go in a specific way and so the characters start taking dumb decisions. I was about to let it go but the writer tried to explain it that it might be because of pills etc. Silly and weak, but ok, I'll allow it.
And then, the last part is sht. No sense in trying to be polite. It felt rushed and it had all kinds of setups that I didn't like, because it was clear that the writer wanted to make the people "feel" and not paying attention to the logic behind the story. And the "funny" part? The last.... 4-5 episodes are even worse. Pure sht. Oh, man. Full of plot devices and plot holes, bad acting, cheap payoffs etc. Like I said earlier, the audio remained excellent. But other than that..... oof. With the cherry on top being the last 5(?) minutes.
Funny story. After the first "10" episodes, when I noticed some interesting character development, I wanted to skip until the last 2 episodes, just to make sure the ending will be ok. Yes, I was ok with spoilers, because that thing mattered more. But I stayed strong. And it was a good thing because the end would've left me baffled as to "how" and "why". I would've gone "wtf happened??" every 5 minutes :)))
Yes, this drama is based on a book. I don't know the sauce, I don't care about the sauce. Probably it has the same ending. I don't know how (why) it got and adaptation... Anyway.
Long story short, it gets a rating of 6. No matter how good the starting was, failing to deliver means you shouldn't start to begin with. The high rating is mostly for the excellent audio, mostly good acting (excellent by some supporting cast), and a couple of good character development.
Having said that, no rewatch value. Why the fk would anyone wanna watch just the first"10" episodes and leave after? You can't even watch 10 episodes, skip all, watch the last episode. Heck, you can't even watch the last 10 minutes.... *sigh*
Have a lovely evening.
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Don't bother
Wow, this is even worse than the first part... Its a spin-off or something. Or you could say its a sequel but the main character is someone else. Don't know, don't care. I tried watching it sober, I tried while buzzed, nothing worked. Barely 30 minutes in and I felt like hitting people.So: sht script, sht dialogue, no cinematography, bad acting, cringe, plot-driven everything, low production value, cheap vfx, bad fight choreography, sht action taking decisions, sht physics, no soundtrack (i've noticed it for the 1st time 30 min in, it was trying to convey something), one-dimensional characters (and no real development, obviously), the pacing is all over the place. Maybe the only thing ok is the fact that they've used decent cameras and lens, it is filmed at a good quality (weird flex, I know). Oh, and some (very few) good tactical decisions while fighting, from trained special ops kinda guys.
Zero re-watching value. I wouldn't do it even if the chicks were naked. If someone tells you nice things about this one, they are trolling you or they have sht taste in movies. Don't bother. Watch or re-watch something else.
Have a lovely day.
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Keep clear
I'll keep it very short. This drama is sht. I don't know why it has such a high score....Plot-driven story. Everything happens because the writer intended for it to go exactly that way. And in order for it to happen, the characters do dumb things, act in strange way, otherwise the next step in the story wouldn't be possible. And even more weird, new plot elements are introduced and dropped later without any real reason. So basically the story is dumb and it gets cluttered with extra stuff, for no real reason. Beside that, cringefest. Lots and lots of cringe moments. Probably that was supposed to be comedy. Well, it missed.
Next, character development. Too few and not where it should've been. The chemistry is ok, mostly because of the ML. The FL tries too hard. Even her acting is a little bit off (and the "sexy" scenes are cringe and used only to boost the viewing numbers). I've seen her in other series and she wasn't this "bad". Of course, a lot of it can be blamed on the script and maybe even the director, but still.
What else? Annoying soundtrack. The production value is decent. The pacing is awful. Well, you get the idea. Give it a wide pass. The ML made all the heavy-lifting ( I even suspect some improvs from him, to make the scenes a little bit sweeter), coupled with some of the supporting cast. But not even the cast should make you curious about this one. Clearly the people who gave this drama a high rating did it only because "Omg I like X actor/actress. I'm so happy I got to see them again" or something like that.
Have a lovely evening.
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Try to avoid
After watching this, I came here to see what others think. And after reading some reviews I felt the need to write something. And yes, I know this drama is old and Im late to the party. And yet....From the start: this drama is sh*t. The writing is really horrible, full of plot holes, with things happening the way they do because it was needed to push the "story". There is nothing resembling logic. Next, the acting. Omg! It gives you headaches. The directing, lousy. The cinematography, really bad. From the bad mixing (there is one scene where someone is turning and leaving, they change the angle and he's still sitting face to face, only to turn and leave in the next second) and the bad soundtrack trying to "tell" you how to feel ("look, its a funny scene, you need to laugh. Now its a sad scene, you need to feel for the character"), to the bad way it looks visually. And I mean it really looks like a soap opera. The lighting, the angles, the low quality of the filming... It looks and feels like something from the '80s, maybe '90s.
And now lets start digging. I don't know why I wanted to watch this... this "drama". Might have read somewhere, on some other drama, that its amazing, that the chemistry of that main couple was on par with the ones from here. And I dont know how, but I managed to find this and I've remembered that comment. So lets start full power, shall we? The film synopsis at the top is wrong. The thing with "the grandson is put in charge with educating" starts from ep 6 (or is it 7) and lasts until ep 10 I think. From a total of 16 episodes.... I've paused in the 1st 15 min, i guess, and I thought "Wtf is this?!?! Am I being trolled?" And to fast-forward this review a bit, I've paused and paused all 16 episodes. It took me 6 days to finish it. I've watched 2 episodes first day and the next day another 2, and then I kinda wished to just get over with it and forced myself to keep watching. But I still paused and sighted pretty often.
i dont know who the screenwriter is but she shouldnt be allowed to write ever again. And Im assuming its a "she" because the whole story is about a princess. A dumb and stupid princess who has moments of clarity and wittiness (is that a real word). And that you wont see in real life and it is clearly a projection of the writer's frustrations. I'll continue. The FL cant act. And thats not the worst of it. I dont know how or why ppl think shes a beauty. To me she looks like a frog. The shape of the mouth, always with the corners down, the neck, the eyes... Always yelling, looking sideways, the mouth semi opened... Thats no beauty. And the acting is one emotion. The kid playing her younger version is a better actress. Im sorry, I should phrase it better: its not fair to compare these two, because the kid is a really good actress. Lets make it even more obvious why the FL is bad. You want beauty and acting skills? Then I'll say watch "Crash Landing On You". Saying both are actresses is like you're making fun of that one (I dont know her name, sorry).
Next, the ML. A bit better. Not much, just a bit. And the chemistry is not there. Or not the chemistry that ppl think about when using that word. And if we're here, a good actor, looks and charisma: the professor. Ofc I cant say if he's a really good actor or his skills were displayed more obviously by being next to his colleagues on set. And along the way the "story" makes him a loser, cause things need to happen. But for the few first episodes (at least), it was a joy when he was in the scene. The other female actress, the Museum Director, another lousy one. She has only one face in all the scenes: constipated, mouth tight shut, teary eyes and a lil bit looking cross. She looks like a chimp. Even if the acting wasnt that much better, at least the support actresses were better looking.
So, in short, terrible story, bad acting (apart from the professor and the young princess, where again I must say "wow"), no chemistry, bad directing (oh yes, I'll get back to that), bad soundtrack (the theme might've been good but I dont remember it , so that good huh), terrible story ( yes, I had to say it twice). Then why do some ppl say its a good drama? Who tf knows. Im assuming those persons have no idea what makes or breaks a good film. And if you still need more proof....
A dumb and always yelling stupid girl is told that she's a princess. You'd expect her to be a little clumsy, to make some mistakes, to have some hidden talents, some sparks with the ML and in the end, happy happy joy joy. A pretty simple, straightforward story. Right? He he heh, you little innocent one... Ofc not! The "writer" went for the snooze fest story. Things happening because it needed to happen that way. The MF (the frog face one) taking all the wrong decisions because she's a simple common girl and a orphan (im not joking they use that motive. a lot). Both ML trying to help her, while both of them letting the other FL, Museum Director, (the chimp face one, come on, keep up) doing all sorts of bad sht until the end. Thats the main road, if you will. I wont delve on questions like "why the fk would the Chairman (grandpa) keep a wimp and incompetent such as the Museum Director's father as his right hand?". And ofc the story is full of things from Korean culture: reporters, badmouthing, sheep-like mentality etc. I mean if you are watching k-drama you know that and you will not be bothered by it. What can I say? I just hope this writer wont work again.
And now, before I forget again, the director. Even if the script isnt stellar (yeah, im trying to be funny), a decent director should at least be decent at directing. Hence the name. Actors who cant act for sht? Make them do something that at least lessens the blows. Change the angles. Try a different look. Use the lighting, the decors... Something. Anything. Or while mixing, try doing a decent job. And Im talking about the flow. Putting in the same scene, shots from two different cameras without some kind of flawless transition (and by that I mean not repeating itself) should be basic stuff. How hard can it be? You put two cuts together, you hit play and you see that second cut starts with the last 2 seconds of the previous cut. You hit pause and you crop more from one segment, the end of 1st or the beginning of the second one. That simple. I mean it feels like basic stuff. But then again, we also have scenes ending with headshots of all the chars, no one talks, the camera changes every second from one to the next, three times. 15 seconds of nothing. No one talks, all looking "intense", 2-3 times on a loop. Thats the director trying to tell you that something important is happening. I guess I should also mention the flashbacks. Especially the one where something happens in a scene with the princess, the next scene is with someone else and it goes for one minute maybe, then the next scene is with the princess who is having a flashback of what happened 1 minute ago. I kid you not!
So: bad directing and mixing, bad story, 98% bad acting. Forgettable soundtrack. And yet some ppl gave this drama a 10..... I guess my recommendation would be to watch the 1st episode (if you really want to try it). You will get an idea about how bad it is really quick. Just dont get hooked in by the professor. And forget about "maybe later it will...". Nope. It wont get better. But hey, if you like it, what can I say? Im so sorry for you. The life is long. Im sure one day you will learn what good cinema is. Eventually. Maybe. And even if you do like it, pls dont compare it with some other works. Even if you cant judge it correctly, by saying it reminds you of x and y, you're just making fun of an supposedly good drama. Its like saying Hitler and Mother Teresa are both good ppl. Do you get it now? Thats the simplest way I can put it for you. So, pls dont.
Re-watching value? Oh please... Only if the definition of that is fast-forwarding through the scenes and finishing all the drama in one hour. And not even then.
Thank you for reading this.
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Decent at best and not for their reasons
I'll try and keep it short. A barely decent k-drama (without the last episodes), but not for the reasons they wanted it to be.The story is a bit Korean-like, aka everything is related, aka fate. It doesn't make it bad but it does make you roll your eyes, cause you can predict some plot points. The script is decent, or mostly not bad. Yet, weird. Some cringe moments. I wont talk about the last episodes, those are pure sht. They wanted something to happen so the writing was done poorly and forced things to go how they wanted, no matter if it made sense or not.
The production wants to make the headhunting a legit, good-hearted business and you can see it in every episode. If you agree or not with it, thats a subjective matter. So I wont mention it again.
The acting is decent. Nothing mind-blowing, but still very enjoyable. The chemistry between leads is not there. Not in the conventional way. The FL is not the greatest actress or charming, but I'd say she was good for this role. The script made all the heavy-lifting. Also, the script has a lot of plotholes exactly because of that. Although its not that bad as per the usual k-drama, the script for this one is plain, linear, and because of that all the bad stuff tends to be noticed more easily. Lots of questions or weird decisions. A simple example, what about his ex-wife? I wont spoil more, but if you'll watch this drama, you'll understand what I mean.
Anyway, back to the main stuff. The chemistry is not there. ML and FL make it work, barely, but there's no chemistry. I'll even say that the second FL has more chemistry with everyone around, or the chemistry (not romantic) between colleagues, or the kids. Anyone but those two :))) The character development is ok for some of the cast and very non-existent. yet heavy-pushed forward for others. And by that I mean they tell/show us: "look, she got better, don't ask, get over it". The story presses a lot of "social injustice" (dunno how else to name it) upon us, a cheap trick to make the viewer sympathetic. yet, I've felt more in some other scenes. Like I said, a weird script. Good, but not for their reasons. The supporting cast did ok. The soundtrack is meh at best. Forgettable. Lots and lots of whispered, soft-breath mumbling. Sorry, I meant singing. The production value is mid. The cinematography is mid, with some few moments of "good". And lastly, dunno about the pacing. A bit slower, sure, but thats the right way for this script. It helps with the development. And yet, it goes too slow sometimes, and next it gets to a normal (our normal) pacing for no real reason. And yes, every episode will feel like it took forever, so be patient.
And I guess I'll stop here. You could give it a try, but don't mind the synopsis, because what makes it decent is not it. It gets a rating of 6, barely. Mostly because some character arcs, some nice acting from the supporting cast and things like that. Return value? No, not really.
PS: Oh, I just remembered another thing that makes no sense. I'll write it here. In the first episodes she is shown like a "klutz", always bumping into stuff, forgetting stuff. Guess what? She gets magically cured. Nice char development. Yeey. *sigh* Yeah, definitely not a 10 rating :)))
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