An absolute mockery and insult to the original webnovel
If you are interested in such a trope, I’d advise you to actually read the ongoing manwha or webnovel instead, because this movie absolutely butchered it. From completely discarding the initial literature work to subtracting the complexity of the characters, this media could be considered basically trash — or much worse.Starting by the main character, Kim Dokja, originally a morally grey protagonist equipped with a highly abusive past who navigates through the apocalyptic world with carefully thought-out (for years) plans, has been reduced to a mainstream apocalypse survivor who dreams of saving the world through the power of the bonds he’s made along the way. Him, who has proved to be selfish, manipulative but extremely deprecating of his own life many times in the webnovel, has become not only the complete opposite, but his own abuse has been crumpled like paper and thrown in a metaphorical bin! Gone now the unhealthy family bonds and harassment he was forced to face, and now face the one-dimensional ambitious mc who is supposed to have the past of a bully?? Because TWSA’s protagonist Yoo Joonghyuk ‘told’ him to??? What in the deepest pits of hell is this? Not only does it show completely illogical morals from the supposed saviour of this world, but it also becomes a personal insult to the original Kim Dokja, because never in this lifetime would ORV’s protagonist inflict the abuse that has been thrown at him to endure.
Then comes Yoo Joonghyuk, the once 2nd MOST IMPORTANT character in the whole webnovel who shares an extremely deep, complex emotional bond with Kim Dokja, who has been turned into your average random sidekick who is somehow very skilled in.. shooting?? Proficient in a sort of weapon that proved itself to be meaninglessly useless in the original work? Which is why they should all be wielding swords, but instead you see all the characters equipped with a variety of guns??? And not only does Yoo Joonghyuk become an easily forgettable character in the shadow of the main character, but his relation to the latter became oversimplified and overlooked?! His complicated personality forced to fit the one-dimensional model of a stoic, repressed and asocial clown; everything that was interesting about him has been thrown in said metaphorical bin, all that just to highlight Kim Dokja even more. Instead of making them complementary with one of the most gut-wrenching relationships I have ever read, Kim Dokja instead takes Yoo Joonghyuk like an all-brawn no-brained idiot and just tells him “Yoo Joonghyuk! I’m literally the prophet!!”. That would have made NO sense in the novel (YJH has a skill detecting lies!!!) but, of course, because this is a half-assed remake, that blatant lie worked.
Then we move on to Yoo Sangah, a character who once embodied a woman’s struggles with misogyny in a society but also has a lot of cultural, historical knowledge along with communicating skills, has become.. a simple soft hearted healer. Dumbing her down to this mainstream trope is not only extremely misleading and misogynistic, but is also ironic, considering this was exactly what she was initially fighting against: the real reason why she was on the subway was modified, for example. She was supposed to be on it because her bike was stolen by Han Myungoh, who, in a twisted way of courtship, intended on forcing her to let him ride her home (in some Mercedes, if my memory is good). Obviously, Sangah refused and went on the subway instead. And, like adding salt to a wound, not only has this part of her lore been removed but also her fierceness that balanced her empathy, her fighting skills (Ariadne’s wires!!), and vast knowledge; all of it thrown, again, in a metaphorical bin to make way for a one-dimensional soft healer.
There is much, much more to criticise about this mess of a cinematic work (example: more misogyny by purposeful omission of Jung Heewon’s SA, removing the horror parts of the webnovel by making the dokkaebi Bihyung like a colourful labubu doll, bad CGI, Lee Gilhyeong becoming a whiny cockroach-manipulating kid, etc.), but I will stop here, and just add these final words: even without knowledge of Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint, the movie is just very confusing — due to not explaining key points of the lore (example: constellations, skills), pretty boring and appears to the audience as a tragic replica of a popular trope (apocalypse). As such, I again recommend reading the book instead.. even if you’d be in for a long, melancholic and emotional road.
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