One of the best sci-fi
Science fiction is not an easy genre to write or show. Some filmmakers tend to flatten the topics covered in order to entertain the masses who don't want to think. "Three Bodies" does not do that. Brilliantly handling images and sound, it creates a somewhat dark and very mysterious atmosphere combining the solving of a great mystery with a story about the human condition and humanity. It does this in an intriguing and interesting way. From the very first episode, the viewer is made curious about the story and the fate of the main character - a somewhat cowardly, shy middle-aged scientist through no fault of his own embroiled in a great mystery that threatens his life and that of all humanity. Wang Miao was brilliantly played. His character does not have great emotional scenes, nevertheless Edward Zhang's acting artistry is evident. The series builds tension brilliantly and keeps it where it belongs, but also gives moments of respite. The Panama Canal scene, although I had seen it before in the American version and knew what it was about, sent shivers down my spine. One of the best sci-fi I've seen, and I've seen a lot of them, because I love the genre. Definitely 10/10.Was this review helpful to you?
Tak właśnie poznajemy głównego bohatera, Ning Que, któremu daleko do wszystkich przypominających wróżki nieśmiertelnych. Mamy tu człowieka z krwi i kości, który od lat boryka się z trudnościami życia. Chen Feiyu wcielił się w niego znakomicie dając widzom niezapomnianą kreację. Zresztą „Ever Night” obfituje we wspaniałe postaci wykreowane przez znakomitych aktorów starszego i młodszego pokolenia.
Drama jest pełna akcji i humoru. Znajda tutaj coś dla siebie miłośnicy przygody, wielkiej polityki, romansu i magii. Sceny walk trzymają w napięciu, prywatne wątki głównych bohaterów wzruszają a dialogi śmieszą. Mija drugi rok, a ja wciąż nie widziałam dramy, która mogłaby równać się z „Ever Night” tak fabułą, jak wykonaniem.
Nie mogę też zapomnieć o muzyce, która w absolutnie cudowny sposób nadaje nastrój dramie. Szczególnie piękne są piosenki, gdzie melodia walczy o lepsze z tekstem. Są one cudownym dopełnieniem znakomitej dramy.
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Legends of the Condor Heroes: The Gallants
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Where the hell is the storytelling in this film?
I hesitated whether to write this review, but since I invested my time and made it to the very end, I decided to do it anyway.The film started off quite nicely in terms of visuals. The opening scenes caught my interest, but soon after that came a major disappointment. First and foremost, the overuse of very artificial CGI and green screen was impossible to ignore. The film was advertised as showcasing breathtaking landscapes, yet there were only a few such scenes; most of the “outdoor” settings were clearly shot in a studio. There was far too much music, and for the most part it completely failed to match the atmosphere—rather than immersing me in the world, it constantly pulled me out of it. Unfortunately, these are not the most painful issues this film suffers from.
The two most serious flaws are the problems with the plot and the poor acting.
Where the hell is the storytelling in this film? The film fails to establish any overarching stakes. It does not build its characters. The viewer is told that they are supposed to care about the characters’ fate, but is never given a real chance to root for any of them—we never see how their relationship develops, how it grows, how feelings are born between them. Instead, we are simply informed: “these two love each other, you should root for them.” There is no chemistry between the main characters. Every scene is constructed according to the “tell, don’t show” principle, which in a medium like film is frankly insulting to the audience. Perhaps Tsui Hark assumed that absolutely every viewer had read the books, and that it was enough to say “this is the Venom of the West, he is their enemy,” without ever showing the audience why that is the case. But that assumption is a fundamental mistake. A film must stand on its own as a complete work—and this one does not.
I move on with pain to the acting, which I found shockingly disappointing. I consider Xiao Zhan to be a good actor with a natural style of performance. In his earlier works, he was like a breath of fresh air—sincere, genuine, full of emotion. Here, he was a pathetically wooden presence. There was no subtlety whatsoever. The performance hits the viewer over the head with stupidity and pathos. Yes, this may have been the direction chosen by the director for the character, but that only means the actor’s potential was completely wasted. If I had not known Xiao Zhan from his other roles and had seen this film as my first exposure to him, I would have assumed he wasn’t an actor at all, just a wooden log dressed in a costume.
Do I know what kind of personality any of the characters in this film actually has? No. Do I remember any specific scene from this film three days after watching it? Only vaguely, and not in full. Did this film have any positive aspects at all? Both female actors were beautiful and clearly tried their best, but with material like this, they had nothing to work with.
My positive points go exclusively to the costumes, the horses, Khan, and both female actors. And yes—even though his role was poorly written, Bayaertu truly showed class.
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Interesting
The story is really interesting and really drew me in. Yes, it is a bit naive in places, but at least it is engaging. The characters are also interesting personalities. I'm not a fan of Lee Joon Gi, but for me this was his best role, really played brilliantly. I come back to this drama every year on average, and I usually have the same interesting time with it.The criteria for rating given on MDL suggest that I give a rating of 9/10, but the criteria not included bring my rating down. FL is woefully stupid. She doesn't understand basic truths. Her selfish "I'm FL so I'm allowed" behavior with which she endangers the safety and lives of other people is outrageously stupid. FL gets 0/10 from me, which lowers the value of the whole series.
I recommend the series. This is the good old school of drama making, where caring about entertaining the viewer without making him a total idiot. Good action scenes - car chases, fights, even shootouts, which may not be very realistic, but are entertaining. It's worth spending time for this drama, as each episode is quite good
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Pros: interesting concept, interesting characters headed by ML and the General, great secondary characters (ghosts) and a really funny sense of humor (at times). This is currently the only drama that piques my interest and I look forward to each episode with excitement. I have real fun watching it.
Cons: The reincarnation theme (watching it I feel like I'm listening to a broken record), scenes that just have to be in every k-drama (I'm really sick of them), a villain that doesn't smell like danger or horror at all despite doing very bad things. You just don't feel the atmosphere.
But overall this drama is great fun just sometimes boring :)
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Some fun dialogues and boredom
I had heard a lot of good things about this drama, so I approached it expecting something cool. Unnecessarily. Production level - cheap webdrama. Plot level - cheap entertainment. The heroes are so typical and so exaggerated that it can't be more.However, I have to admit that a few of the dialogue and scenes were a whole lot of fun and that kept me on this drama until about the 30th episode. I couldn't watch the next episodes, overwhelmed by the idiotic plot and boredom. In general, I like light costumed comedies about young adventurers, but I don't like cliche after banality and smart heroes who know absolutely everything from their own premises. Even the enthusiasm of the young actors could not cover the hundreds of shortcomings in this production.
But the actress playing FL - beautiful and quite talented.
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Potential lost through boredom and lack of directing skills
Watching this drama is a great lesson for me on how not to write a story. Or how not to work with Chat. I explain why. The idea behind the story is a very good one: a doctor, due to double trauma (mental and physical), cannot remember the events of the day his fiancée died. The trauma changes his personality and he lives for 7 years in the belief that the murderer has been convicted. Only, one day, evidence begins to emerge that what he was told about the day of the accident/murder is a lie and he is somehow implicated in the case. So far so great, a really great idea from which to make a really fascinating piece of drama that will be a classic for years to come. It's just that the idea is over. Someone let the crew work with Chat.Let's start with the characters, who are one-dimensional, uninteresting, played like wooden pegs - all of them. Since I know some of the actors, I can't demand too much, but I know they can do better, I blame the director for their pathetic acting. And I blame the screenwriter, who couldn't turn an interesting premise into interesting scenes and dialogues that made sense. At first, the drama is rather episodic and focuses on the patients' problems, but it does so pathetically that it completely wastes all its potential. I understand that the drama had huge financial constraints, this is evident in the production, but it didn't take a lot of money to write good dialogue, as there are plenty of capable, aspiring screenwriters. So I wonder if the scriptwriter got the job by acquaintance, or maybe he actually used Chat, because sometimes when I get bored and play around with Chat, the same boredom and nonsense comes out. The music is bland. The drama doesn't hold any atmosphere or tension. In fact, I have no idea what genre it wants to fall under, since it doesn't fit into any. Maybe it wanted to be an ambitious hybrid, but what came out was a bland mush, where a talentless cook threw what he had into the pot. I give this drama all of one star solely for the idea. Nine stars I take away for the nightmarishly bland execution.
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Wasted potential
I quit this drama around episode 10. I pondered this decision for a long time, because in terms of cinematography, costumes and, most importantly, set design, the drama looks far above average. I abandoned this drama because of the plot, which literally and figuratively is torture.You know, I have nothing against violence, suffering, good torture scenes, but what's too much is unhealthy. Tormenting someone for the sake of tormenting someone is just boring and unpalatable. I think by the third episode I was already fed up with how the creators non-stop emphasize how miserable and tragic FL is. That's the only theme of this drama - she is unhappy, lonely, betrayed. Instead of a healthy relationship between the four main characters, we have BDS&M. Literally. I tried to like any of the 4 main characters, but I can't, because there are more negative traits in any of them than positive ones. In the first episodes I got curious about Little 17, in the next episode they show that he's an asshole. You know, showing the hero's journey from bad to good is cool, but not when all 4 main characters are bad from the beginning. I can accept that I haven't learned the motivations of each of the 3 men so far, but not that I still don't know the motivations of FL.
There are no dynamics here. Every scene is shot at exactly the same pace. It doesn't matter if they are fighting each other or talking at a table, if she is running away through the woods or he is erotically sucking the blood out of her - everything is devoid of dynamics, as if in slow motion, which is tedious and annoying. The pace should change, give the viewer some adrenaline, then a moment to calm down to attack again with something dynamic. Monotony kills interest.
In conclusion - technically the drama is nicely done. I very much appreciate the open air (but the green screen is bad). The plot could have been interesting if it wasn't so monotonous, depressing, beating around the head with the idea of "you're supposed to love FL because she's had a hard life and is so weak that she couldn't even save the cat" (save the cat is the motive). If the pace and characters of this story were varied, more dynamic instead of torturously pathetic, this drama would really be excellent. But it isn't. It is boring. On top of that, the music, which is average and of which there is simply too much, is terribly tiresome. I've watched 10 episodes and can't recall a single pleasant scene. I don't see any point in torturing myself further.
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This is not Our Song
Season two has many changes to the rules of the program. These changes are supposed to make the show more spectacular, but when perfection is improved, you can only spoil something.I do not see an exchange of knowledge and experience between generations here. I get the impression that this season no longer serves to teach young singers something, but only to satisfy the audience and gain viewership. This program has become a commercial money hunter rather than a sweet program to educate young artists and the audience. For example, I do not understand why some people found themselves in the Youth group when they have achieved such high achievements.
I am very dissatisfied with practically everything. The changes the production has made are too big and it's just not my beloved Our Song anymore, so they should give it a different title. I drop this show at the end of episode 4.
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Having said that, I must say that for me this drama was a wonderful entertainment almost to the end. I have some objections to the last two episodes, which is why I hesitated and delayed with my review. They are not episodes so bad as to heavily lower the final rating, it's just that for me personally they were far from providing me with satisfaction. On the other hand, both in terms of acting, plot, character driving, character development, relationships between characters, cinematography, action, sense of humor and enjoyment, the first 8 episodes are a fun, energetic 10/10. The last two are 8/10, so the average has slipped. Oh, and the music, so strange in places, and so well suited to the scenes, I couldn't help but love it :) The drama also has plenty of scenes-gems, even the last two episodes I didn't like. So I wholeheartedly recommend it if you like dramas about prosecutors, or just about intelligent people. For me, this is the best drama of 2024 (and the last few years :) )
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A very good crime j-drama.
The series is interesting, moving, intriguingly depicts criminal cases clearly reflecting the atmosphere and problems of Japan. Sometimes the criminal can be "sniffed out" immediately, sometimes he is discovered late, which adds detective charm to the drama. A big plus are the interesting characters and their personal life threads very delicately portrayed against the background of the criminal cases. Good camera work. Atmospheric music. Great selection of songs. One minus - a green filter that distorts the world and is annoying. All the rest of the production makes up for this shortcoming. A very good crime j-drama.Was this review helpful to you?
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It would be perfect, but ...
Charming! Visually beautiful! It delighted me from the very first scenes and kept me in love and admiration for several episodes. The action was a bit slow, sometimes very boring, somehow I was not interested in the problem of creating water channels, discussed for seven minutes by two men sitting opposite each other, but I was still in the binds of the beauty of this story. Unfortunately, one single element disqualified the whole drama in my eyes and I just couldn't look at it anymore. An actor tall as an oak, 40 years old plays a 12-year-old child - forgive me, my imagination and sense of aesthetics cannot bear when a mature man falls on his knees in front of a woman who looks 30 years old (his screen mother) and calls out like a small, clumsy child " Mommy! ". And this is not any child who needs special care, he is the first king of a mighty empire.Despite my interest in the history of China and its beautiful portrayal in this drama, this scene haunted me too much for me to watch the drama to the end. I really regret it that the producers decided that in such an important production of such an important character a real child cannot play.
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feel-good drama
The first episode was exhausting for me. About three times I was tempted to stop watching altogether. And that’s where the half-point deduction comes from. I stayed for Jung Kyung Ho, and already by the second episode I didn’t regret it. Granted, when I saw the lawyers from the Pro Bono Team, I had the worst possible premonitions. Seriously—a case about who owns a dog? And yet the case was handled so brilliantly, so humorously, so cleverly that I had an absolute blast watching it.This drama is above all about intelligent dialogue and intelligent people. The entire Pro Bono team may be a bit ideologically eccentric, but the drama takes care to show their backstories and explain where their idealism comes from. It doesn’t do this in a heavy-handed way—sometimes just a few sentences from one character, a single scene, explains exactly “why.” As a result, I grew fond of them quite quickly, especially since their cases are not about any kind of “woke” ideology, but about fighting for a specific person with a specific problem, and only occasionally placing that fight in a broader social context.
But this is where something truly great appears—Kang Da-Wit. Intelligent, cunning, able to make use of all the small arrangements and leverage points in the judicial world, shining there like the biggest stage star—showing respect for people, for the office, and for institutions, but also with a huge wink of the eye. Against the background of this whole ideological bunch, he feels like a breath of reason and freshness.
And perhaps most importantly—this drama gives a sense of satisfaction. Every character is three-dimensional, capable of change, and every case, even if it doesn’t unfold perfectly, at some point provides a feeling of fulfillment. For me, this is a total feel-good drama. Apart from the first episode, not a single second is wasted.
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