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Painful lack of direction and vision.
Here’s the thing - I actually enjoyed it quite a bit at the beginning, up till they introduced the last group of characters. And that last group completely ruined the experience for me. I just did not understand what this movie wanted to be.It tried to be a fun action, survival, drama, dumb blockbuster… and it ended up being nothing truly worth watching. The emotional scenes were flat and unearned, the action was decent, but the car chase scenes were laughable with full CGI cars, one whole side plot was useless and brought exactly nothing to the story except getting my brain boil from the stupidity.
I truly wanted to like it. I waited long enough to be able to separate it from Train to Busan, and see it as a stand alone movie. Sadly, it’s an awful sequel, and mediocre at best stand alone.
The movie lacked focus - too many characters, too many groups with their own individual motivations, too many plots to make it a well written and presented story. The more they added, the worse it got.
Some scenery shots were beautiful, some had such a strong game quality because of the editing and CGI, it ruined the scenes. Even the zombies were worse than in the Train to Busan. One would think they would improve over the years… It’s not like the special effects industry got worse in the 4 years gap between the two titles.
The acting was good, but the characters were so boring and had close to zero personality, it was not exactly a hard job to deliver a decent performance. Kids did the best. Loved their scenes the most.
Overall, skippable. All the driving in the dark got me thinking I'm watching the Fast & Furious Zombie edition. The movie ended and I went - that’s it? It lacked the impact - be it action and entertainment or emotional delivery like the first movie had.
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This review may contain spoilers
The complexity and trauma hidden behind that stoic persona.
If only the show was shorter. It was such a good story, with a rather good message, extremely well delivered closure in all areas, so why don't I feel much when I think about it? Maybe, because it was all diluted too much in these 32 episodes.Wen Yi Fan is one of the more refreshing and real female characters I have seen in quite some time. The detailed presentation of all the layers of the complexity and trauma hidden behind that stoic persona that was Yi Fan was truly stunning. The way we slowly learned how much of an impact her past has on her current self. How hard it is to heal. How hard it is to believe in yourself and believe you are worth being loved and cared for. It’s a whole journey filled with reflection and development, building up strength and character. Learning how to protect yourself and people around you, how to set boundaries. How to move on. How to start anew.
What’s more, I loved how the romance was not its own separate thing - it was an integral part connected to other plotlines. It felt like a cohesive picture - a situation happening in one area affected other areas of Yi Fan’s life: be it friendship, work, relationship. If I were to name the love story presented here, rather than slow paced, I’d call it patient. Was it a bit one sided plot wise? Yes. I’m not saying Yi Fan did not love Sang Yan. It was extremely clear she did. Considering the story though - it was all about how Sang Yan can help her, protect her, keep her safe, and support her. Did I mind? Not really. Relationships are almost never 50-50. Sometimes they are 20-80, sometimes 70-30. It changes as the life situation changes. Relationships should not be about keeping a score, but wanting to thrive as a unit.
For the conclusions - huge props for the story for not trying to fix the family relationships. Not even give a vague “maybe in the future”. The ties were cut as they should. There was no redemption arc for anyone. The aunt was awful till the end, the uncle was just a criminal who deserved the punishment he got, and the mother was selfish till the last moment they showed her up on screen. Finally we are not fed the bullshit idea that no matter how abused and neglected you are, you need to forgive and forget because “it’s family”.
I loved the last conversation Yi Fan had with her mother. I loved how she was not fooled by the tears. I loved how she understood she is worth the love. The mother was selfish, always prioritizing herself. Yi Fan did nothing wrong and that message was loud and clear.
Random thing I truly loved is the number of hugs we’ve got. Hugs are honestly so underrated in dramas. While kissing scenes might be the highlight of the romance, hugs are for me the highlight of the love - the way Yi Fan literally melted in Sang Yan’s arm, the way it showed how safe she felt being with him.
What’s more to appreciate? The acting. Zhang Ruo Nan aced the role. She embodied Wen Yi Fan. It’s so hard to play a character that feels a lot of strong feelings, but also hides them from others. The emotions have to be obvious to the audience, but also subtle enough that we as viewers understand she does not want to show them, and other characters might miss them. The balance of how much to show is a skill not that many actors and actresses possess.
Big props to all the villains too - strong performances that made me hate them with passion.
All that said, I had mixed feelings about the “trauma” aspect. On one hand they did a perfect job at showing how trauma can and usually does impact every part of someone’s life, because it can literally change one’s personality, sense of self-worth. It’s not just about “reacting to triggering events” - it literally influences any and all decision making. On the other hand, why exactly did they add all the sexual assaults and harassment to the show? From what I heard from people who read the novel, some assault/harassment scenes did not even take place in the source material… and I fail to see why they were added. Was her being harassed and assaulted twice not enough?
To the things I disliked - the show should have been shorter. I’d cut around 8 episodes if I had any say. There was quite a lot of repetition. Some plotlines were not only too long, but quite honestly completely not needed (grandpa's story was cute, until it was just boring and ill fitting - why so much focus on it?) Stalker actor? Why was he there? Just to annoy the audience, since his presence brought close to nothing in terms of progression of the plot.
And now I will say something truly controversial - I think there was too much Sang Yan. Wild take, I know, but hear me out. This is by all means one woman story - Wen Yi Fan. She is the only one with real depth and development. The one who faces both external and internal struggles. The heart of the whole drama. Sang Yan was there, stagnant. He did not need development, because his existence centers around Yi Fan. Where he lives, what he does, where he works, how he behaves - all dictated by Yi Fan’s existence. I had no issue with that. I don’t think in every romance drama both main characters need to be equally developed. I just think their screen time should then be adequate of how much they bring to the drama. Sang Yan was not an interesting character and I never truly cared that much for him because of that. He is hot and a perfect boyfriend, and then what?
The production and editing was hit and miss for me at the same time. You know how at the end of the episodes of dramas they always add highly edited screenshots from the episode with 87545865406 filters on them? This is kind of how the whole drama felt. The screenshots came out amazing, but some scenes just felt exhausting for me to watch. There were moments when the distorted reflections and lens flares literally blurred the faces so much, I could not see them. I wish they were more selective when they want to turn up the aesthetic shots.
The soundtrack was perfect for the drama, but music wise not my style. Still, the songs are supposed to fit the show, not my own personal preferences, hence high score from me.
Overall, maybe I just expected more. Something about this drama just did not click well with me, even though I should love it. I still enjoyed it, but there were times when I played the episode out of obligation of wanting to finish the drama, rather than excitement or seeing what will happen next.
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They honestly could not decide if they wanted to be a low budget silly horror or a deep social commentary about the overworked hospital staff and dealing with grief. At the end, everything was just cheap and meaningless and not one plot line was explored nor explained.
Saying the movie is based on a true story is a stretch of its own. Xinglin Hospital did not close down because of an unexplained surge in suicides and people setting themselves on fire. Fraudulent records, medical malpractice, and allegations of wrongful death - typical case of poorly run hospital with overworked staff. They could not deal with legal issues with fragmented ownership over the place, hence they closed it down. Not as frightening as what we saw in the movie.
The plot was sadly not the only weak part of the movie. I always say: if you can’t make good special effects, give up and try to work around it. I’m truly tired of seeing ghost creepy snapchat filters in horror movies.
What’s good? All the scenes that did not have any special effects in them were truly pretty, shot in a nice way, with nicely balanced colors. The acting was also decent. Nothing to be amazed by, but also nothing to complain about.
Overall, it’s just not worth it.
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It’s a quite fast paced thrill that will keep you engaged till the last episode. Perfect for a binge watch. The writer plays the differences between characters and their relationship in the two parallel universes well, making me interested in their future encounters and the results of them.
While in most cases I complain that the shows are too long and drag, here I would not mind additional 2 episodes, that could be used to ease me into the story and who the characters are. They hit you with some emotional dialogues and scenes at the beginning, but it’s hard to feel anything, when you don’t yet know and connect to the characters.
What’s more, I do believe the writer and director did not use this unique idea to its full potential. At the end of the day, it felt a bit too much like a normal crime show, where the investigation is tough, because they cannot find all the bodies. The parallel universes idea was not as prominent as I wish it could have been.
It’s hard for me to comment on the acting, since I believe many of the characters were simply miscast. While I adore Yoon Shi Yoon in many of his roles, I did not buy his portrayal of Do Won. Same goes for Kyung Soo Jin and Lee Hang Na. Both talented actresses, for me they just did not fit the roles in this show.
Overall, it’s an interesting plot driven story that escalates quickly and does not slow down till the end. While the show is not a groundbreaking masterpiece, it’s for sure a solid form of entertainment. It builds on the idea of the butterfly effect, where one choice can greatly affect not only your future, but also people around you.
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As someone who hates math, this scenario truly felt like a nightmare. Don't know what was scarier - the dead bodies or the numbers on the paper. It also serves as a good representation of the emotional and psychological pressure Korean students need to face in terms of their education - each score might seem like a life or death situation.
The quality of the practical effects was amazing. We see so much poorly done CGI in horror movies in recent years, it's refreshing to see a well done gore in A Function.
It's definitely one of the best short horror movies I have seen. Highly recommend to everyone, as long as you can handle some gore.
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Production mess.
They have overdone it on an impressive level. From ever-changing concept and format to constantly changing rules and games - we had it all, and we had nothing.Being perfectly honest, there was only one episode I truly enjoyed from the beginning till the end - episode 9. All the rest felt extremely messy and not well planned. At some point I started skipping scenes, and just watching the games I was interested in.
The biggest flaw of the show was the lack of strong MCs. While both Lee Soo Geun and Jun Hyun Moo are amazing at leading the shows and games, I feel like they were not given the chance to shine. Most of the time they just felt like regular cast members, and with that there was no one to even try to control the chaos.
The idea behind the show was amazing - mixing psychological war with fun games to find the angel and not let the demons win the reward. For me, they did not dig deep enough into the mind games. Instead of allowing the players to walk around randomly talking to each other, there should have been some rules - exact time and place where you can meet the players to convince them, the chance given for the winning team etc. Sadly, it ended up with everyone just saying “I am an angel” and a guessing game.
Overall, skip this one. The physical games you will get from Running Man, the mind games were not explored and utilized to their full potential. I’d recommend watching episode 9 and, with that, saying goodbye to the show overall.
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Basic procedural drama.
I would be lying if I said this drama aged well. It’s nothing less, nothing more than a mix of CSI, Criminal Minds and Dr House - one case by episode with little complexity to the story.The ideas behind the cases were rather interesting, maybe I just prefer a bit more realistic approach. How many crimes related to rare diseases in such a short period of time happen in a small country like Korea?
While the acting was good, the characters themselves were rather poorly written - there wasn’t much to them. Till the end of the show I knew little about a few team members. Even the main characters had not much to offer. Not to mention the weird out of a blue romantic twist at the end - the chemistry was not that throughout the show.
The editing and camera work are dated. It’s truly all done in the style of the old crime shows, but that was given, taking into consideration the drama aired in 2010. I did not mind the old style production aspect, they had a sentimental value for me.
Since the show focuses on rare diseases, it’s inevitable to include some medical jargon. In more modern shows, all the essential information is usually presented in small text boxes - here, they were part of the dialogues - I am not the biggest fan of that approach. The scenes did not flow well when I kept getting Wikipedia quotes all the time.
Overall, I watched the last few episodes at 1.5x and 2x speed. If the show was longer, I would probably drop it. It might have been a masterpiece in 2010, but it does not hold up for 2021 standards.
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Gold quality of tropes and clichés.
Many of us like to say we are done with cold misunderstood male leads and naive and nice female leads, but that’s all a big fat lie. We all just hate when it’s done in a trash way. Koi wa Tsuzuku yo Doko Made mo brings us the best that rom-coms can offer, and I gladly, without any complaints, binge watched the whole show in one day.Yes, Sakura is loud, all over the place and naive. She is also hardworking, pays attention to details and her patients and knows how to fight for what’s important to her.
Yes, Tendo is cold, mean and stoic. He also cares for his patients, is empathetic and driven. Both leads fit into the stereotypical rom-com characters, but represent more than that.
The chemistry between them was amazing. I enjoyed each and every scene they had together, and wished for more. 10 episodes are just not enough!
While the romance is the leading plot, I appreciated how they incorporated different stories in the mix. Yes, everyone gets paired up by the end, and the good old rule of “no one can stay single” exists here too, but I was not mad about it. I watched it for romance, so the more romance I’ve got, the happier I was.
Now, let's be shallow for a second - Sato Takeru is HOT. I mean damn. Could they get anyone better for the role? No. I died. Few times. My poor heart ain’t strong enough to handle him.
The acting was great. It’s truly hard to pull off a role like Sakura and not seem annoying - Kamishiraishi Mone made it happen. I loved the female lead and I was rooting for her during the whole show. I excused every dumb decision and embarrassing moment coz she was impossible for me to dislike and get annoyed or angry at.
The soundtrack is also a bop. All the songs. I wish they turned up the volume a bit though, coz at times I could barely hear the music in the background...
Any complaints? Not really. There are things that others might dislike, like: it’s over the top and amazingly unrealistic. Some rather serious scenes made me laugh a lot with how dramatically they were filmed and edited. There are some characters added ONLY to create some additional conflict, and bring nothing more to the table. And somehow, I liked these aspects too.
Overall, really good rom-com with great chemistry, likeable characters and a perfect amount of 2nd hand embarrassment.
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And with that, I would definitely recommend it to people who love shows and movies with comedy as their leading genre - it was funny even for someone like me, who is not exactly a comedy fan. The jokes were rather silly, and did not need much brain power to understand, but that’s exactly what we sometimes need.
Plot wise, I was slightly disappointed about the sandwich structure. The show opens with one plot, then the majority of the episodes focus on the crime mystery, to get back to the beginning plotline at the end. I would appreciate a bit more continuity - if they let Moo Young and Sun Ji investigate Moo Young's past more, as they try to solve other cases. Showing me a board with missing posters is not exactly enough. When I finally got the answers about Moo Young's story, it just did not feel connected to the previous episodes.
Big props to Choi Jin Hyuk for taking a risk and picking Zombie Detective as his project. Overexaggerated and slapstick comedy were not exactly themes anyone would associate with him, and it was hard to imagine him portraying a character like Moo Young. And yet, he truly did this role justice.
Sadly, while the acting was on point from the whole cast, some characters just felt redundant - the whole Sun Ji’s family could not exist and it would not change the plot much. Sung Rok and Wang Wey had any significance to the story only in the last act. Most of the characters outside of the mains and police were there just for the “empty” comedy bits.
Overall, I still had quite a good time, laughed a lot and do not regret watching it. The ending might have been a bit anticlimactic, but the journey made up for it.
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A short and fun piece that jabs at BL genre without going too deep into it.
The show is an easy watch - there is no meaningful message nor constructive criticism towards BLs. What we get are 2 hours of jokes based on the well known clichés. And it's honestly all we needed. Not every show needs to be this complex masterpiece - sometimes we need silly comedy to make our day better.The characters are rather one dimensional, though that's kind of the point. Most are supposed to represent stereotypical BL characters we usually see. Only our main lead acts outside of this BL norm, which brings lots of hilarious scenes on the screen.
The simplicity is actually the charm here. The characters are simple, the plot is simple, the jokes are simple - and it all fits well. I laughed quite a lot of times - Mob's reactions to his surroundings were just too funny to keep a straight face.
Overall, as long as you don't expect anything more than a silly comedy with funny jokes, you will like it. Granted, this is a show dedicated to BL fans - the jokes will fall flat for people who know little about this genre.
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Koreans truly mastered mixing comedy with a discussion of serious topics. The hilarious duo of Gi Joon and Hee Yeol made it easier to digest all the unjust and frustrating police procedures that valued following the outdated system over human lives.
The chemistry between Ha Neul and Seo Joon was out of this world. The progression from rivals, to friends, to partners in (catching) crime was perfect, and each and every interaction they had made me laugh like an idiot. Not only that, the whole supporting cast sells the comedy well too. While some jokes might feel extremely silly, they never felt dumb and cringy. It just fitted the presented scenario and who the characters were.
I loved the use of wide shots in the movie. For a buddy cop production, it was quite an aesthetically pleasing movie. I could see that every part of production was well thought through. From writing, directing, set design to audio editing.
Overall, I would recommend it to everyone. It's a fun, entertaining and simple take on the larger issue that is the failed police system and fixation on set procedures in any given situation.
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It tried to be dark and Scooby Doo at the same time...
...and I'm not sure it worked out well.The thing is, the plot is quite interesting. I was curious about what will happen and where the events are leading me. The way it was presented though, was quite questionable. They switched from fun Sherlock Holmes with bits of Scooby Doo, to dark, gruesome and disturbing in between scenes. In the end, it was neither a light, fun and entertaining crime story, nor a psychological thriller with fantasy elements. Not to mention the pacing, with the first half of the show being just a long exposition, and the second half not having enough time to truly dive into the main villain's plan and the interesting interactions between him and the leads.
The best aspects of the show are the characters and the aesthetics. All four of the main cast did an amazing job portraying their given characters. The relationships between them were formed in a natural and gradual way. I truly believed that they became close friends by the end. That said, saying this show has a bromance is an overstatement. Not every male friendship would be a bromance, and here it did not feel like what I would usually call one.
Gu Ying was for me the star of the show. I liked her from episode one till the last second. She was strong and vulnerable at the same time. She was loyal, brave and driven. She was a bit of a busybody, but that made her character more realistic and adorable.
As I mentioned, the drama is extremely aesthetically pleasing. The whole folder of the screenshots I took proves it. The set design was amazing, and the cinematography was quite nice, taking into consideration the whole plot takes place in one city.
So, what were my problems? As I have already mentioned, the weird mix of fun, light detective work and the dark and disturbing plots/scenes and the pacing were the main flaws. I have to add the police chief, who was more or less useless, and yet was given more screen time than Lan Lan, who was one of the main characters.
While the songs and instrumentals used in the show were good, the placement of them was unfitting at times, which ruined the emotional aspects of quite a few scenes.
Overall, I kind of had fun? I liked the first and second half for different reasons. The first one focused more on the main characters and their detective/investigations, seconds went full craze and entertaining. They sadly did not match well together. With the ending presented, I am going to pretend the second season does not exist and put that story to rest.
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Taking away the supernatural elements, this could have been quite a strong social commentary. Focused more on the psychological thriller genre, I would say it's disturbing, but interesting. Yet, with the ghost showing up randomly here and there, and the plot being said in a messy, non-linear manner, I just couldn't get into whatever was currently happening on the screen.
Depending on the character, we get completely different movies. Most teachers get the typical ghost flick as they die, the students get psychological drama full of abuse and injustice, and the main female teacher gets a melodrama about her past regrets. And it all just does not fit well with each other.
It's a 90' movie and it feels like one: from the directing, editing, up till style of acting. It's not for everyone. Some would say the acting was not the best, but I would argue it was quite strong. The style is just vastly different from new productions.
Overall... It was neither good horror, nor a compelling and complex psychological thriller. It was kind of there, trying to give a bitter-sweet ending and a set up for sequels. It wasn't boring, but I wasn't that excited while watching it either. The only thing I felt was rage because of all the abuse I was witnessing.
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Rollercoaster of emotions till the last 3 seconds of the show.
The Ghost Bride is a show full of amazing visuals, interesting and engaging characters, curious relationships and entertaining plotlines.We follow Pan Li Lan, as she tries to deal with all the obstacles life throws at her. She has to work through not only the mortal problems, but gets dragged into the immortal issues as well. She is a strong, curious and positive girl, who strives to find her own happiness and define her own life and goals. She uses her wits to her advantage , but even with all the brain power, she still makes mistakes that make her realistic and relatable character.
Er Lang was the cutest and most loyal boy. He had natural and well paced character development that made me adore him more and more with each episode I've watched. His playful nature and bickering tendencies made his scenes that much more fun and entertaining to watch.
Snape, aka Lim Tian Ching, even though extremely "fancy" and over the top, was still weirdly fun to watch. He wasn't scary or domineering, but with the hints of madness presented, felt quite unpredictable.
Li Lan's first meetings with a lot of the characters were quite telling about who she is, what she can expect from them, and how staying with them would shape her life and her future (more about it in the comment under spoiler). All the characters had some significance to the plot. They make you suspect everyone, but at the same time twist the perspective in the next few scenes, and you are still left in the dark about who is behind it all.
The plot had many twists and turns. Characters I hated, I ended up liking. The ones I kind of enjoyed at first, I wanted to kill. Each new scene and clue about the plot could completely change my perspective and view. It was a story about fighting for others, but also for yourself and your dreams. About surviving, but also sacrificing the things you love and strive for, for the people you care about. It got me invested, I cared about the characters deeply. Some scenes I had to pause because I was scared of what's coming. To put it simply: it had an emotional impact on me.
One thing that surprised me was the comedic parts, which were well placed and truly hilarious. They fitted my sense of humor perfectly, to the point of me rewatching some scenes over and over again as I was laughing with tears in my eyes.
The only problem I had with the show was the last 15 minutes of it. It felt rushed. With how the relationships between all the characters developed and changed, some choices made by few felt just random and unfitting, taking into consideration past events.
The soundtrack, audio mixing, editing, scenography and cinematography were truly top quality. There is nothing to complain about. I took way too many screenshots and it still feels like not enough. The songs had such a surreal and magical feel to them.
Overall, for only 6 episodes, they did an amazing job presenting a fairly complex story with quite a lore behind it. The characters were well written, had amazing on screen chemistry and played off of each other's strengths and weaknesses well. Would definitely recommend it to everyone.
+ additional thoughts with spoilers in the comment under the review.
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A good movie that wanted to cover too many plotlines and topics.
At first it starts with an interesting topic of religious freedom and how loose laws can support the creation of various cults, which will pray on people's beliefs and convictions. Sadly, as the plot progresses and the supernatural aspects are being introduced, the initial meaning and message about the fake religious beliefs in cults makes no sense, since the investigated by the Park Woong Jae events do involve a "higher power".Plot wise, it was just too much. Crime investigation, cults research, demonic twins, Deer Mount cult, immortality and the whole lore and background surrounding Buddhism - at least half of it should be cut out. The movie would be far better if it either was psychological thriller without supernatural elements, where Park Woong Jae works with police to uncover the truth behind the cult OR movie focused only on supernatural, without any crime connection, with Park Woong Jae,as a person with much doubt, being challenged about his beliefs as he dives into the Deer Mount cult case.
One thing that the show did extremely well was the visual aspects and (except for one scene) special effects, make up and set design. Chun Na Han's dream sequences were truly well done and beautifully shot. Even though the scenes were quite simple, they did carry the meaning behind them well - the guilt and mental struggle of Na Han.
Overall, I wasn't bored, but I did question some choices that were made. While the plot is not that hard to understand, the message is not so clear. Would recommend it as a group watch, since the movie has a few plot twists that would be entertaining to try to predict while watching with others.
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