its a funny movie, but it wouldve been better if it was a kdrama instead, because the plot feels super rushed and also full of cliches. often parts that should be important for a consistent story are skipped over just to fit it in the 1 and a half hour time frame. decent for a background movie when youre doing something, because even if you watch it focused you probably still wont get the plot enough except for predicting obvious twists.
decent horror aspect and idea, i liked the creepiness instead of cheap jumpscares. but how would a supernatural horror progress if the characters dont fall for dumb tricks? almost all of them are stupid and annoying for the sake of the plot, they cant come up with the simplest solutions. the movie throughout is genuinely so frustrating because of grown up characters making the dumbest decisions, i quite literally was cursing at the screen almost all the time after the first half, because so much problems couldve been easily prevented if the characters just used their brains a little tiny bit more. even the plot twists are predictable. when you notice the idiocy of the characters once while watching, you will notice it all the time instead of being scared or interested. atleast the all actors did a good job, especially yada.
boring, not scary, the only interesting thing are the interactions between the 2 mls. also producer park is for some reason listed as an officer in the cast list and you cant file an edit on it, funny.
uninteresting story, weirdly overpowered demon, predictable and boring ending, where the said overpowered demon dies almost instantly, and nobody cared that someone literally got incinerated. actors did good at least.
you can divide it in 2 parts; first part is decently horror, but the second part is genuinely comedy, i dont want to put spoilers, but the cgi was so funny, for me at least. i liked how folklore heavy it is, overall not bad of a watch, though im kind of disappointed in the lack of the horror aspect. the movie is bad, but in a funny way.
it started good, but the ending was so terrible, genuinely, i was almost yelling at the screen. It built up nicely, even though certain characters, no, rather just a character, was really annoying, it was bearable to some point. the concept of a ghost needing for the person to open the door to kill them is amazing, i love this type of horror, and its the only reason i finished watching- (next comes a vague spoiler of the ending, but its vague enough. in reply)
a scene in about the half of the first episode cracked me up so much that i already was thinking of leaving it,…
the scene where jin pyo's underlings (he is the leader of a big drug ring based in southeast asia) bring a guy that was selling their drugs in south korea, jin pyo then proceeds to say in a so very serious tone "we dont sell in south korea" and shoots him. like okay mr hypocrisy, throw shit anywhere but your home, and he acts like he has a moral highground over the people who betrayed him. i could make a list of how much times jin pyo contradicted himself and his "morals" in episode 1.
a scene in about the half of the first episode cracked me up so much that i already was thinking of leaving it, like seriously, i laughed for a solid few minutes, and i still snicker when i remember it. i ended up dropping it after 1 episode. (ill write the scene in the reply)
the cover is a lie, the only way he 'drinks' blood is through a tiny inhalator, and honestly, i dont even remember the characters saying the word "vampire" between each other once, its like speaking about it is taboo to them for some reason, even though its supposed to be the main theme of this k-drama. at some point i think i even forgot i was watching a show about vampires.
The first 3 quarters were good, but in the end the plot becomes boring, and as the comment below says, stretched.…
At first the show was good, mystery with twists and turns, the music is great - its honestly the only thing i ended up liking wholly in this k-drama, and it was going for a fight with corruption in the NIS, you anticipate revenge even, but theres none. The viewers are treated as idiots, and the last episodes were just disappointment, but i will try to not spoil in this part. They show terrible people as "not that bad because they work with or in the NIS", . And then these said people dont even get shown being in prison, or even just being fired, nothing happens to them, more like their deeds are forgotten. Sometimes it felt like i was watching a weird tv show about the CIA instead, where the government can do no wrong and only terrorists are bad. Even the traitor part, thats supposed to be the main theme of this story doesnt get explored properly and gets almost completely sidelined. So if you want a fight with corruption, or at some point even logic - this isnt for you, youll only get frustrated.
-
Lee In Hwan, literally sold out and killed nis agents to lessen the power of his colleague, Do Jin Suk, and is the reason that Baek Mo Sa, the terrorist, became like that. But near the end, after he said something along the lines of; "in these times we need to unite to fight the enemy" and then got almost killed by Mo Sa, everyone just forgets about him, he just disappears from the story, the viewers are supposed to forget everything he has done, we dont even see him get punishment, maybe because he was played by Lee Kyung Young? I mean- it checks out. Or an another example, Shin Su Young, a guy that literally collects and sells peoples personal information on a mass level, he owns a company that basically specializes in that, is a "goofy funny guy, he also helps the NIS by letting them use the huge amounts of personal data he collects, and hes also a victim of this bad evil organization, he was pressured by Lee In Hwan too, be nice to him or something".
There was also a part where a guy from the NIS, that developed a citizen tracking system got killed to cover it up, in which Lee In Hwan was also involved, and we see the nis use the said tracking system freely, not on a mass level, but its apparently okay to install it on your colleague's phones. Also that theme is barely mentioned, and everyone treats it like its normal. (not surprising)
Sanmuhoe, that was pointed as at least a major antagonistic organization consisting of north korean military defectors, and is tied to higher positions in the government. But it doesnt get explored properly, we only get information about a bunch of idiots that were tied to it, but of course theyre barely connected to the government, and if they are, theyre either long dead or are already considered traitors! Its told that NIS is quite connected to this organization, but we arent told whos connected, its hinted that its probably Lee In Hwan, but then its maybe not, but then that guy, but then could be, but then- until you start forgetting the point of it. The viewer either needs to figure out alone, or consider themselves stupid and that they just dont get it. Its written in a way that makes the viewer forget that the NIS are involved, and that they dont actually need to know who is leading Sanmuhoe, or who in the NIS is involved in it, it doesnt matter apparently. Its fiction, and yet, the truth is still hidden like it would be in reality.
Throughout the show it is told that there is a traitor in the nis, and that the traitor is the root of Ji Hyuks problems right now. But the traitor part doesnt even get explored properly either, id say even almost completely sidelined by the end. All attention switches to Baek Mo Sa, the terrorist, because it turns out that he was the villain all along! Both Ji Hyuks teammates died because of the very very evil terrorist, not because of the corruption in the NIS!
Baek Mo Sa was a good NIS agent at first, of course, then he was betrayed by Lee In Hwan to weaken Do Jin Suks influence, and given over to North Korea where he and his teammates were tortured and he was the only one who came out alive, heavily traumatised though. So then he eventually came to rule the underworld and became a terrible guy. So as i just said, in the end all focus shifts on him. We forget what Lee In Hwan did, literally, and everyone else. And even after Baek Mo Sa gets very emotionally taken down and killed, while also being revealed as not that bad because he has feelings obviously, nothing happens. but like seriosly the ending, Mo Sa's daughter trying to soften her father by playing his favourite song and putting herself in danger? The attention switches from the whole complicated and dark plot to this weird emotional ending. We are supposed forget about literally all corruption and evil that was shown until now and be happy that the very bad terrorist is now dead, and its all the fault of the crazy terrorist of course! It cant possibly be that any government agencies are involved!
The only person that we see in prison in the end, Kang Pil Ho, is a guy thats ACTUALLY not that bad, he wanted to account for his actions that resulted in alot of things that shouldnt have happened, including the death of a person he cared about, Seo Soo Yeon. But why is he the only one? What about the others? Wheres Lee In Hwan? The Planet CEO? Do Jin Suk? (well shes free) Literally most of the nis directors? Its not that i expect all of them to go to prison or get fired, no, i expected for their wrongdoings to at least be acknowledged, but every single one of them is redeemed even if they were shown as corrupt at first.
Also, you can just say that "oh well thats just how the world works, nothing is that idealistic, thats the point of the show" and i'll answer; they didnt even do a corrupt system good enough, nor was that system even shown as something that shouldnt be accepted as much as it is. You cant even call it gray morals because, like in alot of american shows about the government, you can faintly see the message that theyre trying to show, if you watched it attentively, youll probably understand what im talking about. I hoped it would be different, but it wasnt.
After some point you can predict everything, and it turns out to be not so interesting as it was anticipated. Reminiscing how in the first episode a promise could be felt, a promise for a strong wind named Han Ji Hyuk, that will deliver proper revenge, or atleast change something, and yet, this is what we get. Its disappointing.
Of course, if you liked it wholly, good for you i guess?
I know that i probably should have written this in the reviews instead, but it feels more like a rant rather than a review to me.
The first 3 quarters were good, but in the end the plot becomes boring, and as the comment below says, stretched. ill explain more in the reply. (huge spoilers for the entire show, you can just read the first part for a summary of this rant with very vague spoilers.)
i could make a list of how much times jin pyo contradicted himself and his "morals" in episode 1.
They show terrible people as "not that bad because they work with or in the NIS", .
And then these said people dont even get shown being in prison, or even just being fired, nothing happens to them, more like their deeds are forgotten. Sometimes it felt like i was watching a weird tv show about the CIA instead, where the government can do no wrong and only terrorists are bad.
Even the traitor part, thats supposed to be the main theme of this story doesnt get explored properly and gets almost completely sidelined.
So if you want a fight with corruption, or at some point even logic - this isnt for you, youll only get frustrated.
-
Lee In Hwan, literally sold out and killed nis agents to lessen the power of his colleague, Do Jin Suk, and is the reason that Baek Mo Sa, the terrorist, became like that. But near the end, after he said something along the lines of; "in these times we need to unite to fight the enemy" and then got almost killed by Mo Sa, everyone just forgets about him, he just disappears from the story, the viewers are supposed to forget everything he has done, we dont even see him get punishment, maybe because he was played by Lee Kyung Young? I mean- it checks out. Or an another example, Shin Su Young, a guy that literally collects and sells peoples personal information on a mass level, he owns a company that basically specializes in that, is a "goofy funny guy, he also helps the NIS by letting them use the huge amounts of personal data he collects, and hes also a victim of this bad evil organization, he was pressured by Lee In Hwan too, be nice to him or something".
There was also a part where a guy from the NIS, that developed a citizen tracking system got killed to cover it up, in which Lee In Hwan was also involved, and we see the nis use the said tracking system freely, not on a mass level, but its apparently okay to install it on your colleague's phones. Also that theme is barely mentioned, and everyone treats it like its normal. (not surprising)
Sanmuhoe, that was pointed as at least a major antagonistic organization consisting of north korean military defectors, and is tied to higher positions in the government. But it doesnt get explored properly, we only get information about a bunch of idiots that were tied to it, but of course theyre barely connected to the government, and if they are, theyre either long dead or are already considered traitors! Its told that NIS is quite connected to this organization, but we arent told whos connected, its hinted that its probably Lee In Hwan, but then its maybe not, but then that guy, but then could be, but then- until you start forgetting the point of it. The viewer either needs to figure out alone, or consider themselves stupid and that they just dont get it. Its written in a way that makes the viewer forget that the NIS are involved, and that they dont actually need to know who is leading Sanmuhoe, or who in the NIS is involved in it, it doesnt matter apparently. Its fiction, and yet, the truth is still hidden like it would be in reality.
Throughout the show it is told that there is a traitor in the nis, and that the traitor is the root of Ji Hyuks problems right now. But the traitor part doesnt even get explored properly either, id say even almost completely sidelined by the end. All attention switches to Baek Mo Sa, the terrorist, because it turns out that he was the villain all along! Both Ji Hyuks teammates died because of the very very evil terrorist, not because of the corruption in the NIS!
Baek Mo Sa was a good NIS agent at first, of course, then he was betrayed by Lee In Hwan to weaken Do Jin Suks influence, and given over to North Korea where he and his teammates were tortured and he was the only one who came out alive, heavily traumatised though. So then he eventually came to rule the underworld and became a terrible guy. So as i just said, in the end all focus shifts on him. We forget what Lee In Hwan did, literally, and everyone else. And even after Baek Mo Sa gets very emotionally taken down and killed, while also being revealed as not that bad because he has feelings obviously, nothing happens. but like seriosly the ending, Mo Sa's daughter trying to soften her father by playing his favourite song and putting herself in danger? The attention switches from the whole complicated and dark plot to this weird emotional ending. We are supposed forget about literally all corruption and evil that was shown until now and be happy that the very bad terrorist is now dead, and its all the fault of the crazy terrorist of course! It cant possibly be that any government agencies are involved!
The only person that we see in prison in the end, Kang Pil Ho, is a guy thats ACTUALLY not that bad, he wanted to account for his actions that resulted in alot of things that shouldnt have happened, including the death of a person he cared about, Seo Soo Yeon. But why is he the only one? What about the others? Wheres Lee In Hwan? The Planet CEO? Do Jin Suk? (well shes free) Literally most of the nis directors? Its not that i expect all of them to go to prison or get fired, no, i expected for their wrongdoings to at least be acknowledged, but every single one of them is redeemed even if they were shown as corrupt at first.
Also, you can just say that "oh well thats just how the world works, nothing is that idealistic, thats the point of the show" and i'll answer; they didnt even do a corrupt system good enough, nor was that system even shown as something that shouldnt be accepted as much as it is. You cant even call it gray morals because, like in alot of american shows about the government, you can faintly see the message that theyre trying to show, if you watched it attentively, youll probably understand what im talking about. I hoped it would be different, but it wasnt.
After some point you can predict everything, and it turns out to be not so interesting as it was anticipated. Reminiscing how in the first episode a promise could be felt, a promise for a strong wind named Han Ji Hyuk, that will deliver proper revenge, or atleast change something, and yet, this is what we get. Its disappointing.
Of course, if you liked it wholly, good for you i guess?
I know that i probably should have written this in the reviews instead, but it feels more like a rant rather than a review to me.