This review may contain spoilers
Thank You Kim Byung Woo For This Anti-Fan Fiction!
[THE MAIN REVIEW HAS BEEN WRITTEN]
==> WHO IS THIS REVIEW SUPPOSED TO BE FOR?
For that one reader who is willing to read it, and also because of my desire to get my thoughts about this films out there.
==> MY EXPECTATIONS FROM IT
Let me preface this by saying that my expectations for this film were honestly at rock bottom, so I thought that I might actually like some aspects of it because of having zero expectations from it, but in all honesty I really don't have a lot of good things to say about it.
==> MY FAMILIARITY WITH ORV
As for my history with ORV, I've read the manhwa up to the Dark Castle Arc and recently even started reading the webnovel, but I'm currently only in the starting parts of it. As it's been some time since I read the manhwa, honestly I don't remember everything in exact detail, but I do remember the very basic details of events and I obviously won't be dissecting every deviation they did just because of how often it has been prefaced.
==> ADAPTATIONS AND THEIR NEED TO BE FAITHFUL
Some people have stated that an adaptation doesn't need to be a 1:1 copy of the source material. In all honesty, I totally agree with you on this point, it doesn't need to be one. But it shouldn't have as many creative liberties as to the point that it becomes a completely different entity from its source material. It should have an identity of its own while still being a mouthpiece of its source material. If we had actually wanted to see a variation in it, believe me there's a ton of fan-fiction for ORV out there, and you can obviously count on our amazing ability to read.
==> WHY THIS FILM WOULD'VE WORKED AS A LOOSE ADAPTATION?
There's a thing called loose adaptations, and in those adaptations, the creators of them actually take an already established IP and put their own twist on it to the point it becomes unrecognizable from the original, and they most of the time even change the title and character names for the adaptation. If Kim Byung Woo had actually done it, I might have honestly maybe liked it a bit. He literally took every single thing that makes ORV so beloved out of the film.
==> WHY DIRECTORS OF ADAPTATIONS OF AN ESTABLISHED IP NEED TO CATER TO ORIGINAL FANS?
If we were to take ORV as an example, the only reason it got so popular to the point of it even getting a live-adaptation is because of the original fans. Their love for the story, the themes, the characters, and just about every thing this story stood for made the IP that much popular to the point that producers were willing to invest that much money into this being made, even going as far as to casting A-list actors for it. And their priority should be to cater to them, the original fans and I honestly don't even know who this adaptation is supposed to be for, the original fans or your average fantasy flick watchers because it even fails to amuse most of the later ones.
==> THE NEED TO INCLUDE ORIGINAL CREATORS OF AN ESTABLISHED IP IN THE MAKING OF ADAPTATIONS BASED ON THEIR WORKS
From the interview, the author of ORV (Sing Shong), it's already clear that they only visited the filming site once, and he had no such say as far as to the production of the film and had put all of their trust in Kim Byung Woo. the amazing director of this film. If we were to look at the Live-Action Adaptation of One Piece, one of the major reason that got so much popular is that they were willing to give the reins of the production in the hands of the original creator of it and every decision had to be approved before being incorporated in the series. Had they maybe done the same for this film, we honestly might've seen a different product altogether. I'm not saying to let them decide everything, but they should at the very least have a say on what goes in the film and what doesn't. And the director should also look at the original and try to please both the author and the fans of it.
==> THOUGHTS ON THE STORY ITSELF
As for the actual story itself, the changes honestly bothered me a lot, but the thing that bothered me the most is the lack of any such crucial information that actually explains the world building of this story. It ended up being more of an action fantasy flick that you watch first, maybe it might intrigue you very mildly, but you'll eventually forget about it.
==> CHANGES I DIDN'T LIKE
There has been one thing that has been said before, but I honestly want to say it myself too. Who exactly is Kim Dokja? In the original, he's supposed to be a reader. Then I honestly really want to know where's the most crucial part of the story? In the original, Dokja gets extremely OP skills because of him being a reader. Where is the FOURTH WALL, BOOKMARK, & the most important of all OMNISCIENT READER'S VIEWPOINT??? Like please someone explain this to me, I can maybe understand every single change the director made but why this, like that's the whole point of this story to begin with, and they took that away. Also, maybe a smaller change in comparison, but Junghyeok dies now instead of Dokja, are the memes now supposed to get reversed lol. And the King of No Killing is a revival skill, that's the second most important part of the story, and you went ahead and changed that one too. I'm honestly astonished at the choices or creative liberties this director took.
==> A GOOD STORY DOESN'T NEED KNOWN FACES
Now, on to the actors, this is just a point of mine that I do want to convey that when you actually believe in the story and your ability to create something good, you honestly don't need big names to do the promotion for it. If you want to take an example, let's look at the Live-Action Adaptation of One Piece, none of the actors were big names or had much fame, but they all embodied the original characters so well and the story was written perfectly that the adaptation spoke for itself.
==> WHAT I THOUGHT ABOUT THE ACTING
I don't mean to actually disregard the efforts of the actors because they actually seemed to have worked really hard on it, especially Lee Min Ho, that guy nailed the character of Yu Junghyeok. Yes, there were changes to his character's writing too, but in all honesty, he exceeded my expectations. The only reason I decided to up the rating to 2 stars instead of 1 was because of him. I was honestly expecting Shin Seung Ho to do some good, but I definitely wasn't expecting myself to be impressed by Lee Min Ho. All the others did some decent work, they were alright and sometimes bearable in my opinion, but still pretty decent.
==> TERRIBLE VISUAL EFFECTS
Now, let's talk about the visual effects, and calling them lackluster would be an understatement. This film was supposed to a decently high budget for as far as I am aware of, and this is what they came up with. The monsters were laughable for how horrendous they looked, especially the grasshopper. Since I had already seen clips of Dokkaebi's ddesign, I was already expecting it, but I'm still going to say that it was a downgrade from its original design.
==> THE ENDING
They decided to do an original ending for the film since rather than going to the Theatre Dungeon, they decided to introduce a Flame Dragon that Kim Dokja and Co. will fight together and emerge victorious due to the "MOST BEAUTIFUL POWER OF FRIENDSHIP". Seriously, I would've rather watched a shounen anime or read a shounen manga if this was going to the end theme for this film. Also, them doing a big bad villain for the finale of the film does solidify its position as just another average action fantasy flick.
==> CHANGING THE OVERALL THEMES
Honestly, I might've been content with every change had they not changed what ORV stood for. Even if they wanted to do this theme for the film, there were much better ways to do this rather than saying it to the face of the audience, subtle gestures are sometimes much better reflected in fictions like these rather than direct ones. And the ending scene with Kim Dokja saying that line looking at the camera smiling:
"I, who was nothing, lived this story and met new companions. Together with my companions, we will write a new ending to this story."
I honestly almost vomited at this line for how cringy and badly written this was.
==> OVERALL THOUGHTS
This in my opinion is a disgustingly horrible adaptation and maybe a somewhat decent below average standalone film. If you want to watch it, you can go ahead and do that. These are just my thoughts, people seem to have a very subjective taste regarding things like these, so you can obviously have your own opinion after watching this, but I honestly don't think you'll like it all that much either.
If you have zero expectations from it and know nothing about the original, you might actually end up liking it a lot and my personal recommendation at that point would be to go read either the webnovel or the manhwa but then again just do whatever you like.
==> WHO IS THIS REVIEW SUPPOSED TO BE FOR?
For that one reader who is willing to read it, and also because of my desire to get my thoughts about this films out there.
==> MY EXPECTATIONS FROM IT
Let me preface this by saying that my expectations for this film were honestly at rock bottom, so I thought that I might actually like some aspects of it because of having zero expectations from it, but in all honesty I really don't have a lot of good things to say about it.
==> MY FAMILIARITY WITH ORV
As for my history with ORV, I've read the manhwa up to the Dark Castle Arc and recently even started reading the webnovel, but I'm currently only in the starting parts of it. As it's been some time since I read the manhwa, honestly I don't remember everything in exact detail, but I do remember the very basic details of events and I obviously won't be dissecting every deviation they did just because of how often it has been prefaced.
==> ADAPTATIONS AND THEIR NEED TO BE FAITHFUL
Some people have stated that an adaptation doesn't need to be a 1:1 copy of the source material. In all honesty, I totally agree with you on this point, it doesn't need to be one. But it shouldn't have as many creative liberties as to the point that it becomes a completely different entity from its source material. It should have an identity of its own while still being a mouthpiece of its source material. If we had actually wanted to see a variation in it, believe me there's a ton of fan-fiction for ORV out there, and you can obviously count on our amazing ability to read.
==> WHY THIS FILM WOULD'VE WORKED AS A LOOSE ADAPTATION?
There's a thing called loose adaptations, and in those adaptations, the creators of them actually take an already established IP and put their own twist on it to the point it becomes unrecognizable from the original, and they most of the time even change the title and character names for the adaptation. If Kim Byung Woo had actually done it, I might have honestly maybe liked it a bit. He literally took every single thing that makes ORV so beloved out of the film.
==> WHY DIRECTORS OF ADAPTATIONS OF AN ESTABLISHED IP NEED TO CATER TO ORIGINAL FANS?
If we were to take ORV as an example, the only reason it got so popular to the point of it even getting a live-adaptation is because of the original fans. Their love for the story, the themes, the characters, and just about every thing this story stood for made the IP that much popular to the point that producers were willing to invest that much money into this being made, even going as far as to casting A-list actors for it. And their priority should be to cater to them, the original fans and I honestly don't even know who this adaptation is supposed to be for, the original fans or your average fantasy flick watchers because it even fails to amuse most of the later ones.
==> THE NEED TO INCLUDE ORIGINAL CREATORS OF AN ESTABLISHED IP IN THE MAKING OF ADAPTATIONS BASED ON THEIR WORKS
From the interview, the author of ORV (Sing Shong), it's already clear that they only visited the filming site once, and he had no such say as far as to the production of the film and had put all of their trust in Kim Byung Woo. the amazing director of this film. If we were to look at the Live-Action Adaptation of One Piece, one of the major reason that got so much popular is that they were willing to give the reins of the production in the hands of the original creator of it and every decision had to be approved before being incorporated in the series. Had they maybe done the same for this film, we honestly might've seen a different product altogether. I'm not saying to let them decide everything, but they should at the very least have a say on what goes in the film and what doesn't. And the director should also look at the original and try to please both the author and the fans of it.
==> THOUGHTS ON THE STORY ITSELF
As for the actual story itself, the changes honestly bothered me a lot, but the thing that bothered me the most is the lack of any such crucial information that actually explains the world building of this story. It ended up being more of an action fantasy flick that you watch first, maybe it might intrigue you very mildly, but you'll eventually forget about it.
==> CHANGES I DIDN'T LIKE
There has been one thing that has been said before, but I honestly want to say it myself too. Who exactly is Kim Dokja? In the original, he's supposed to be a reader. Then I honestly really want to know where's the most crucial part of the story? In the original, Dokja gets extremely OP skills because of him being a reader. Where is the FOURTH WALL, BOOKMARK, & the most important of all OMNISCIENT READER'S VIEWPOINT??? Like please someone explain this to me, I can maybe understand every single change the director made but why this, like that's the whole point of this story to begin with, and they took that away. Also, maybe a smaller change in comparison, but Junghyeok dies now instead of Dokja, are the memes now supposed to get reversed lol. And the King of No Killing is a revival skill, that's the second most important part of the story, and you went ahead and changed that one too. I'm honestly astonished at the choices or creative liberties this director took.
==> A GOOD STORY DOESN'T NEED KNOWN FACES
Now, on to the actors, this is just a point of mine that I do want to convey that when you actually believe in the story and your ability to create something good, you honestly don't need big names to do the promotion for it. If you want to take an example, let's look at the Live-Action Adaptation of One Piece, none of the actors were big names or had much fame, but they all embodied the original characters so well and the story was written perfectly that the adaptation spoke for itself.
==> WHAT I THOUGHT ABOUT THE ACTING
I don't mean to actually disregard the efforts of the actors because they actually seemed to have worked really hard on it, especially Lee Min Ho, that guy nailed the character of Yu Junghyeok. Yes, there were changes to his character's writing too, but in all honesty, he exceeded my expectations. The only reason I decided to up the rating to 2 stars instead of 1 was because of him. I was honestly expecting Shin Seung Ho to do some good, but I definitely wasn't expecting myself to be impressed by Lee Min Ho. All the others did some decent work, they were alright and sometimes bearable in my opinion, but still pretty decent.
==> TERRIBLE VISUAL EFFECTS
Now, let's talk about the visual effects, and calling them lackluster would be an understatement. This film was supposed to a decently high budget for as far as I am aware of, and this is what they came up with. The monsters were laughable for how horrendous they looked, especially the grasshopper. Since I had already seen clips of Dokkaebi's ddesign, I was already expecting it, but I'm still going to say that it was a downgrade from its original design.
==> THE ENDING
They decided to do an original ending for the film since rather than going to the Theatre Dungeon, they decided to introduce a Flame Dragon that Kim Dokja and Co. will fight together and emerge victorious due to the "MOST BEAUTIFUL POWER OF FRIENDSHIP". Seriously, I would've rather watched a shounen anime or read a shounen manga if this was going to the end theme for this film. Also, them doing a big bad villain for the finale of the film does solidify its position as just another average action fantasy flick.
==> CHANGING THE OVERALL THEMES
Honestly, I might've been content with every change had they not changed what ORV stood for. Even if they wanted to do this theme for the film, there were much better ways to do this rather than saying it to the face of the audience, subtle gestures are sometimes much better reflected in fictions like these rather than direct ones. And the ending scene with Kim Dokja saying that line looking at the camera smiling:
"I, who was nothing, lived this story and met new companions. Together with my companions, we will write a new ending to this story."
I honestly almost vomited at this line for how cringy and badly written this was.
==> OVERALL THOUGHTS
This in my opinion is a disgustingly horrible adaptation and maybe a somewhat decent below average standalone film. If you want to watch it, you can go ahead and do that. These are just my thoughts, people seem to have a very subjective taste regarding things like these, so you can obviously have your own opinion after watching this, but I honestly don't think you'll like it all that much either.
If you have zero expectations from it and know nothing about the original, you might actually end up liking it a lot and my personal recommendation at that point would be to go read either the webnovel or the manhwa but then again just do whatever you like.
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