This review may contain spoilers
This show is just a excuse to show Joss shirtless
Maybe it's a bit of a pickle on my part, since I love vampire stories, but the lack of creativity and originality from whoever wrote, adapted and directed this series is noticeable.
The Golden Blood is unfortunately a generic, poorly produced and extremely repetitive series. The narrative had great potential and it's true that the main couple has excellent chemistry but nothing here works.
It's a fun and easy-to-watch series but it's also a series with an obvious script that follows the same old paths. The performances are mostly pretty bad - I believe due to the script and direction - and at no point does it manage to create that sense of danger, suspense and sensuality that they try so hard to evoke with the countless scenes of Mark in his underwear, which is one of the best aspects of this series.
The photography is, without a doubt, one of the worst parts here. It looks like the series was recorded on a iPhone Pocket in 2019 and they forgot how to colorize the images. Everything is bland, lifeless, with overexposed lighting and a really boring shoots.
There is nothing vampiric about the narrative. If you change the word "vampire" to "immortal being" the story is the same.
None of the symbols and mythologies seen in vampire stories appear here. They don't burn when walking in the sun - they even go to the beach in swim trunks -, they don't sleep in a coffin, they don't need an invitation to enter a house, they are not repelled with crucifixes, garlic or holy water. Silver or a wooden stake through the heart are not even mentioned.
The situation is so critical that you can count on the fingers of one hand how many scenes there are of a vampire drinking blood from a human's neck.
Nothing, absolutely nothing here is suitable for a vampire story. What we have are undefined characters who spend the episodes doing the same thing - Thara grumbling about a danger that doesn't exist and talking about protecting the golden blood; Tonkla being forgettable and Nakan repeating the same lines in every episode and doing nothing manacing.
The whole final revelation just destroys the entire narrative. If Nakan wanted to defeat Thara, why didn't he kill Tong when he kidnapped him? If Thara needs the power of the Golden Blood to destroy other vampires and she's already captured several others in the past, why does she need more? All of this just makes this Golden Blood nonsense ridiculous. In the end, the blood isn't that powerful if she's already taken it before and still need more all the time. And why does she want to defeat other vampires? The series doesn't even talk about other vampires or any conflicts between them.
The ending is pure embarrassment and it seems like they simply gave up trying. It's Nakan dying for "his special someone" that we never even saw. It's Tong giving in and then crying for Thara to free him. It's Thara repeating the same speech about wanting to defeat vampires that we never saw. It's the terrible CGI and fight scenes. It's the fact that these are the weakest and easiest vampires to kill that I've ever seen. It's the serum with the golden blood. It's Tong becoming a vampire at the end and NOTHING changing in his life.
One of the few good things here are the kissing scenes and Tonkla's death, which is really moving.
But it lacks all the magic and enchantment that vampire stories carry and the impossible love between two different beings. It lacks the threat, the fear, the difficulties and limitations of being a vampire. It lacks a more interesting and daring aesthetic, an imagery that suits this vampire narrative. It lacks a world construction that shows the conflicts, how these vampires live, how they organize themselves, the role of the corporation in this society. It lacks interest in creating a narrative that escapes this commonplace.
Unfortunately, it is a very flawed and lazy story.
The Golden Blood is unfortunately a generic, poorly produced and extremely repetitive series. The narrative had great potential and it's true that the main couple has excellent chemistry but nothing here works.
It's a fun and easy-to-watch series but it's also a series with an obvious script that follows the same old paths. The performances are mostly pretty bad - I believe due to the script and direction - and at no point does it manage to create that sense of danger, suspense and sensuality that they try so hard to evoke with the countless scenes of Mark in his underwear, which is one of the best aspects of this series.
The photography is, without a doubt, one of the worst parts here. It looks like the series was recorded on a iPhone Pocket in 2019 and they forgot how to colorize the images. Everything is bland, lifeless, with overexposed lighting and a really boring shoots.
There is nothing vampiric about the narrative. If you change the word "vampire" to "immortal being" the story is the same.
None of the symbols and mythologies seen in vampire stories appear here. They don't burn when walking in the sun - they even go to the beach in swim trunks -, they don't sleep in a coffin, they don't need an invitation to enter a house, they are not repelled with crucifixes, garlic or holy water. Silver or a wooden stake through the heart are not even mentioned.
The situation is so critical that you can count on the fingers of one hand how many scenes there are of a vampire drinking blood from a human's neck.
Nothing, absolutely nothing here is suitable for a vampire story. What we have are undefined characters who spend the episodes doing the same thing - Thara grumbling about a danger that doesn't exist and talking about protecting the golden blood; Tonkla being forgettable and Nakan repeating the same lines in every episode and doing nothing manacing.
The whole final revelation just destroys the entire narrative. If Nakan wanted to defeat Thara, why didn't he kill Tong when he kidnapped him? If Thara needs the power of the Golden Blood to destroy other vampires and she's already captured several others in the past, why does she need more? All of this just makes this Golden Blood nonsense ridiculous. In the end, the blood isn't that powerful if she's already taken it before and still need more all the time. And why does she want to defeat other vampires? The series doesn't even talk about other vampires or any conflicts between them.
The ending is pure embarrassment and it seems like they simply gave up trying. It's Nakan dying for "his special someone" that we never even saw. It's Tong giving in and then crying for Thara to free him. It's Thara repeating the same speech about wanting to defeat vampires that we never saw. It's the terrible CGI and fight scenes. It's the fact that these are the weakest and easiest vampires to kill that I've ever seen. It's the serum with the golden blood. It's Tong becoming a vampire at the end and NOTHING changing in his life.
One of the few good things here are the kissing scenes and Tonkla's death, which is really moving.
But it lacks all the magic and enchantment that vampire stories carry and the impossible love between two different beings. It lacks the threat, the fear, the difficulties and limitations of being a vampire. It lacks a more interesting and daring aesthetic, an imagery that suits this vampire narrative. It lacks a world construction that shows the conflicts, how these vampires live, how they organize themselves, the role of the corporation in this society. It lacks interest in creating a narrative that escapes this commonplace.
Unfortunately, it is a very flawed and lazy story.
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