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Like a Hollywood production in Soutk Korea
This drama is like a Hollywood production that, due to political correctness and several anti-government theories, was transferred to Korea without any concern for cultural or political realities. The drama is shot with a lot of panache and splendor - too much for my taste. It's nice that the action takes place in different places in the world, but it's a pity that the creators treated really different cultures very neglectfully. The idea for the story and ML - funny. Really, South Korea is not the US and moving Hollywood production to the other hemisphere without any adjustment is not for me. I watched this drama as an experiment, besides, I have a weakness for actors playing the main roles, and this drama made me feel bad. The scene when the Korean SWAT in downtown Seoul on a magically empty street starts shooting Korean citizens in broad daylight was the decisive moment for me, when I couldn't stand the drama's quirks anymore.Was this review helpful to you?
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Honest rant. It could have been good, it's awful.
This is a rant. If you like this drama, spare yourself the annoyance and don't read this review.This drama is clearly not for me, and yet I made it through, albeit with pain, 9.5 episodes. The idea was interesting, yes, some of the characters too, at the beginning, but it all pales in comparison to the stupidity and awkwardness of the main character, who should be a big, powerful and terrifying demon from hell, meanwhile she is an infantile, empty shopaholic addicted to expensive brands and even in the most bad ass scenes is just pathetic and ridiculous. Her romance with the policeman and the policeman himself (HDO) are conducted as if they came out of a textbook for authors on how to write cloying, empty romances with unrealistic stakes building (and I don't mean fantasy, just plain reason). I know, because I write such. It works, as you can see from the high ratings, so if you're only interested in the melodramatic aspect of “bad women with golden heart” and “good men with darkness,” you'll definitely like this drama. Oh yeah, and poor special effects, with which the director slaps the viewer in the face shouting: “look how cool this is.” Well, it's not cool. “Supernatural” 20 years ago showed demons and supernatural phenomena better. Up to about episode 6-7 I rated this drama as average, but after what they are doing now, I feel sorry to watch. Schema and cliché. In fact, the scene at the funeral of the policewoman was the pinnacle of cringe filmmaking for me. Every word, every shot was a copy from the playbook of “how to move the audience with ML's suffering.” I myself don't know what's the worst thing about this drama, the hopeless plot, the annoying, flat characters or the brazen preying on the emotions of supernatural romance fans. In any case, I give it 2/10, because I laughed several times, although rather not at what the creators intended as funny. I feel that if I watch even one more minute, I will give this drama 0/10.
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"We Are Blazing" is a program recorded without an audience, with precautions due to covid-19. For this reason, its form is different than the one we are used to and the program seems a bit sad. However, we can see great young artists in it, full of determination to survive in the music industry as a group. For them it is a chance to show themselves to the viewers and learn something new, for the viewer - to meet great groups who, due to bad advertising, went unnoticed. These people really do their best, so their performances are really good.
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I've seen almost every episode available three times :) (od more)
Fantasy accompanies me all my life, so for me the plot is banal, characters like from a textbook for authors titled "How a Fantasy Hero Should Look" and dialogues are beautiful, white propaganda forging young minds into an ideal citizen, but ...I really love this drama. Douluo Dalu puts a smile on my lips and I look forward to every new episode. Naive elements are sweet and sweet elements are naive, which gives me a feeling of lightness and fun. The music is appropriate because its Western style makes the world portrayed exotic, which is not Chinese after all and it would be strange to hear Chinese instruments and Chinese music. The costumes give the drama a modern twist and I'm just waiting to see the zipper, but that has its charm too. The special effects are ok.
I like acting the most. The young actors did their best and really felt into their characters, the older actors look as if they took it easy on the drama and created a really great effect.
For China, DC is something really fresh and interesting. Is this drama worth watching again? I've seen almost every episode available three times :) I just spend my free time with her very well.
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Another Generic Xianxia Romance - Mid-Season Review
As an FL-centric drama, TLP meets the criteria of the genre perfectly. FL has 50% of the screen time, the story unfolds around her goals, her development and her love story. ZY is not a combination of a spoiled princess and a feminist who not only fights for the right of equality, but also constantly rescues our ML, who despite being one of the most powerful cultivators in history can't handle three assassins. Fortunately, Ren Min is a talented actress and plays her role superbly. She is 100% believable. My impression is spoiled by the dubbing, but ZY is played great.Even better is Priest SY, where Xiao Zhan again proves that he can bring history and realism to any character he plays. His eyes, as usual, are so vivid, able to bring joy to watching his character. Unfortunately, the script is not in favor of his character. His plot is completely focused on a love conflict. True, it's mentioned that he should come down from the Mountain and save the kingdom, which is in crisis, but the drama didn't show us a single scene of suffering citizens or any real threat to them (the epidemic scene doesn't count, it's a generic local incident serving only to strengthen the ties between FL and ML). This brings us to two interconnected points.
"Show, don't tell" and "stakes." Drama is a visual medium in which we should learn about events not from the characters telling us about it but from the scenes shown on the screen. We constantly hear that the kingdom is in danger, but we don't see it, making it have virtually no stakes, no real internal conflict for ML. Why would he come down from the Mountain and rescue people who don't need help? There are no refugees from war-torn regions. There are no pogroms of civilians. There is nothing. The existence of the prince, who committed the crime of lying to the emperor and hiding his identity for about 7 years, is suddenly revealed to the world and... nothing. No one wants to bring him to justice. The father does not crave revenge nor is he moved to see his son. His reaction is simply bland. So what was the point of hiding? Why was there a need to expose SY identity when exposure changed nothing? There were no stakes, no point that could engage the viewer in the ML story. All we got was solely his dilemmas about the love affair.
Visually, the drama makes a very good impression. You can see that adequate funds and efforts went into it. The music, however, is dull, flat, bland. It fails to raise the adrenaline in a fight scene. It doesn't support the touching aspect in tragic scenes. It does not portray anything that is not a sweet romance. Thus, it fails to fulfill its primary function.
In conclusion, this drama perfectly fulfills the requirements of a generic xianxia romance and nothing else. It beautifully depicts romantic scenes and nothing more. Good visuals are offset by painfully bland music. The excellent pair of actors Xiao Zhan and Ren Min clearly stand apart from the insipid plot and the utterly ordinary, downright bland acting of the rest of the cast. After six episodes, my rating was 7.5, and after every two episodes watched, where absolutely nothing happened but sugarcoating the romance, my rating dropped. After 20 episodes, it ranks at 3.5. More of this drama cannot be saved by the pair of main actors.
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I watched. It was awful. A story about sex and violence. Soft porn. Soft on the principle that they don't show everything, because there is nothing soft in the behavior of the characters. Disgusting. I feel sorry for the good actors who had nothing to play, they just had to f***To tell the truth, I approached this film because of the actor, whose talent I like and respect, but after what I saw here.... Well, maybe the script wasn't so bad, maybe it was the director who was at fault, because it just so happens that after a negative review of his drama, I checked what he had made and remembered this film, which I had managed to forget before. In any case, I don't recommend it, unless you like mindless sex and violence without a clear plot.
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The plot revolves around a young thug from Jeju who is trying to grab a chance at a better life. Only it's not so easy. A series of unpleasant events litter his world, and meanwhile in his heart is the painful realization that his birth was the cause of sadness, not joy.
The script is written really well. It allows you to get involved in the turbulent fate of the protagonist. Ji Sung perfectly portrayed ML making him completely natural, as if we were really watching not a drama but a slice of someone's life. Great music from before the era of ubiquitous k-pop, so it may be too retro for young viewers, but it holds the atmosphere perfectly. Add to that the fact that the drama was filmed on Jeju, in the States and in Africa, which even now doesn't happen often and gives it an unusual character. It's a story told on a grand scale but with attention to the characters and the coherence of the plot. I'm just watching it for the fifth or sixth time, and I heartily recommend it to those who like well-blown action, romance and revenge
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Good cast, music ok.
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Great drama to watch again
Great drama to watch again and again, and again...I come back to this drama on average once a year, because it has a well-written story, nice characters, it is very well played and the music perfectly reflects the nature of the scenes. This drama has elements of comedy and tragedy, romance and sensation - so it is a typical good k-drama, but also has a lot of warmth and positive energy, so even if a sensitive viewer sheds a tear or two at times, the overall impression is very positive. I give 9.5 not 10 because this drama is great, but not absolutely brilliant. There were some annoying elements that subtracted 0.5 points. But only 0.5 points.
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History, although it has traces of banality, is not. The drama was created in 2014, when the topic of serial killers and psychopaths was not yet so widespread. Of course, a criminologist or psychologist would have some charges against this drama, but this is an entertainment series, fiction, not a documentary series.
Finally, I must say that the music is great. It really gives the right dark mood and lets you feel the atmosphere of the presented reality.
I have seen "Gab Dong" three or four times so far. I already know who the killer is and how the fate of the characters went, but the atmosphere of this story is really unique and can absorb the viewer.
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ML i FL are the worst in this drama
I watched this drama a year ago and it's still difficult for me to judge it. Interesting plot, great acting, visually really good, interesting, original music, but - horribly irritating ML, totally unremarkable FL. It's not the actors' fault, it's the story. The heroes of the second and third plan are wonderful, each has its own interesting story and I want to know as much as possible about each of them, but I wanted to murder ML around the tenth episode and FL - as soon as she appeared. They are boring. She is bland, he has too much opinion of himself and everything comes too easy for him. I would like to throw them both out of the whole story and give it only to the characters of the second and further plans.I have good memories of the humor. I had a lot of fun in places. When it comes to acting - daring in the performance of every actor, even for five minutes. Superb little Fan Xien. Is it worth watching again? Sure, even a few times, although I rewind some scenes. Unfortunately I rewind those with ML and FL.
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The sci-fi idea is great, but ...
The initial idea, L.U.C.A, is brilliant. I was intrigued by ML, which perfectly depicts the animal instincts instilled in it. The character is intriguing and I was interested in how it could actually exist in the human world and if it could exist at all? In the world we have now? If it had survived, would it have spawned a new species? I would give 10/10 for that, but:FL is terrible. From the very first scene, she acts as if she was some kind of mutent herself (maybe she is, I haven't seen the ending). I understand childhood trauma can really turn a person into something strange, but at least she pretends to be a normal human being, a policewoman, and I can't like her in any way, even tolerate her.
What put me off was a crazy nun and a religious sect. Does it really have to be a sect in almost every drama I watch in recent times? It was interesting for the first three times, but it's the tenth time!
And really FL and ML must have a childhood bad destiny between them?
I really don't like this thread of the ex-soldier and the hand of one of them makes me sick. Besides, his whole character has such an influence on me.
The sci-fi thread is very interesting, but putting it in a standard k-drama with all standard schemes does not give me a sense of freshness or lack of creativity on the part of the creators.
I survived 6 episodes and I really don't want more.
I don't even remember the music, so it probably didn't bother me much.
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The Uncanny Counter Season 2: Counter Punch
15 people found this review helpful
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Review in response to the hype of the 2 first episodes - no, it's not so great
After watching four episodes with very mixed feelings, I saw three 10/10 reviews (written after watching 1-2 episodes or 12 when only 4 were shown) and decided, for contrast and balance, to add my own unfavorable ones.The first season was ok, and what I liked most was the conflict of the young protagonist, where we had his goal and the difficulties standing in his way. We had good team building, and interpersonal relationships, the character of a caring mother, a strong but protective father, a strong, trustworthy older sister and an eccentric uncle. The characters were diverse, interesting and multi-faceted. We also had a strongly constructed main plot and equally interesting side plots that complemented each other neatly. In season two we have none of the above. Instead, we have a flattening of the characters and making them into overpowering buffoons who are not funny, they are instead pathetic. We have cheap visual effects straight out of She Hulk. We have overpower villains, generic to the point of being more so, and sh*tty humor, literally, since the four episodes so far revolve around a cow sh*t guy who can't talk about anything but sh*t.
Is the comedy funny? A matter of taste. Personally, I don't like it when serious characters are made into buffoons and talk about sh*t all the time. Are the stakes high? No. The stakes are artificially high. Am I still interested in the fate of the heroes? Not a bitt. How is the acting? It's like the actors got checks and just played their badly written roles. The second season doesn't stand a chance at all compared to the first, it's idiotic, empty, embarrassing, generic to the point of pain. It is simply weak.
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Where did the mystery and exiting events go?
Being halfway through the season, I cannot rate this series higher than “average”. While the costumes, set design, and visual are excellent, there are clear shortcomings in the story but perhaps most importantly in the running of the story. My primary complaint is that the drama is purely “talking heads”. Interesting events are not shown on screen, we learn about them when someone reports on them to someone else. As if that wasn't enough, we hear about the same events several times. This is really a money-saving way, but also unfortunately boring. Before someone accuses me that I don't seem to understand that this series is about plotting, not action, I'll reply, “are you kidding me?”References to the first season are inevitable since we have a continuation, and in my opinion there was more plotting, intrigue and mystery there, but they were shown in an interesting, dynamic way and the viewer had time to think about how the situation would be resolved. This is what is simply missing in season two. We don't get the pieces of the puzzle that we can solve, the series gives us everything one by one and completes it with something obvious.
Now let's move on to the stakes. Seemingly, these stakes are important and the fate of the characters and the nation count, but are they really? Doesn't the viewer know from beginning to end that no price will be paid in this season by Fan Xien? That no one important will pay it? Even if someone dies, these are characters who have not managed to win the viewer's sympathy, so the viewer does not care about their fate.
In conclusion, in my opinion, in JoL 2 we have a clear excess of form over substance. The drama is shot very well technically, and I can even forgive it for the intrusive yogurt advertising. Unfortunately, in terms of plot, all the solutions are presented in a boring way. There are no exciting events. There are no unexpected twists and turns. There are walking heads who talk for hours about morality and state repair. And I would really like to watch a fun, adventure drama, just like season one, and not moral treatises. Sorry, 5/10 and only because the drama looks good visually.
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