274
656
137
12
13
14
12
3
10
32
6
14
1
2
17
25
2
8
5
2
4
3
2
5
7
1
2
4
7
21
19
36
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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It's hard to review this show, as there is close to no valuable content in it. There are two massive plot twists close to the end that make the majority of the plot redundant or have the plot have no effect on most of the characters. The stakes were non existing. There was quite literally no character development, not only for the mains, but also for all the supporting characters.
Maybe, if the finale was stronger and had a nice conclusion, it could make the show decent, but the last 4 episodes were painfully bad and rushed. They tried to connect all the dots (there weren't really that many dots to begin with if I must be honest) in the last 15 minutes, so when the show ended I just sat there and asked myself: that's it?
Soo Min was an amazingly annoying character who made mistakes and had to be saved right till the end of the show and, with how the plot was written and structured, it was impossible to actually give him the development needed. He was the center part of the plot and the only one who truly was affected by everything that was going on.
The supporting cast was quite nice, but yet again, all the characters were more or less ruined by that one unfortunate plot twist.
The good? Most special effects and possession scenes were nicely done. The visual aspects of the show were truly good and I enjoyed the soundtrack, especially just the instrumental parts.
Overall, I quite honestly would not recommend it to anyone.
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The Story aka The Show's Concept
I always enjoyed the survival shows that focus on less popular idols, because there is truly no disadvantage for said idols. Their debut does not depend on the show. They can only gain popularity, so the risks are truly minimal (except for emotional distress, but then they will be in the same emotional state if they won't gain the fans anyway...). I don't believe the voting was fair, but I also don't believe it's possible to make it fair, so it never bothers me in shows like that. It makes the watch less stressful and I can truly focus on enjoying the performances
The Acting/Cast aka The Contestants
I enjoyed all the groups. Before the show I was already a fan of Oneus and Pentagon, but seeing how fun the rest of the boys were, it did make me want to check them out too. The best part of the whole show were the interactions between teams and how they were hyping and supporting each other. Sadly, we barely saw it in the last episode, and with that I must say the finale was a let down. While the performances were amazing, I wished to see some reactions from other teams and listen to more of their opinions. Can we also appreciate how crazy witty Jang Jun from Golden Child is? The phone call in episode 1 was one of the most entertaining things I have seen in the past few months.
The Music aka The Performances
I cried. Twice. If anyone likes to be an emotional mess I would recommend watching Pentagon's Shine + Spring Snow performance and The Boyz/Oneus' Heroine one (which also shows how close and supportive the boys are). Other stages that amazed me were: Oneus' Warrior's Descendant and Lit, ONF's It's Raining, The Boyz's Sword of Victory.
The teams that impressed me were Oneus with their storytelling and messages, Pentagon and ONF with the music arrangements and The Boyz with innovative ideas and stunts.
Overall, I think it's a good show that does a great job actually presenting the groups and their strong points both in terms of music, but also their unique personality.
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I saw quite a few people praise the movie for the realistic approach to such an unrealistic scenario and I would agree if we look at the big picture. Focusing on one character and how they are trapped in their own home, the lack of dialogues and music, which made the smallest sounds made by zombies that much more noticeable, BUT the devil is in the details and that's what they messed up.
First, there was not enough exposition about his relationship with the family, so when they tried to bring the emotional scenes related to it, I couldn't care less.
Second, they try to make us believe someone can not eat for a good ten days and still have the energy to do anything at all. He didn't even look physically exhausted.
Third, the ending did not fit the overall mood of the movie. It showed all the tragic, gruesome and questionable aspects of humanity, but then they followed it with a Disney ending, why? I think that was the most disappointing part of the movie. Amazingly anticlimactic.
What about the good? As I mentioned earlier, they did a good job in creating this "isolation that slowly drives you mad" feel to it. While the lack of sounds and dialogues annoyed me at first, I started to appreciate it more and more as the plot progressed. The zombies were done in extremely good style, we got a few "gross", but fun scenes, especially between the zombie and Shin Hye's character. That would be it though.
Overall, it was painfully "meh". It had its moments, but overall I almost fell asleep while watching. I did not connect with the characters so the whole movie did not evoke any type of emotions in me, except for frustration.
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For a movie, where a lot of the plot happened in the past, it kept me excited and curious about the events, even though I knew what result we would be getting from the start. As exciting as it was, it also left me in a state of relaxation. This warm feeling that is hard to describe - maybe comparing it to sitting under a blanket with a hot tea in your hands looking out of the window on a snowy morning.
I fell in love with all the characters. Each and every one of them had such a unique color, I just sat in wonder, seeing how small events and situations brought them together and connected one way or another, at present or in the past.
The plot might feel bittersweet, especially with such an ending. For me, it was perfect. It shows that life keeps going, even when we are faced with loss, missed opportunities, regret or struggles. The same plot presented in a different way would have left me feeling frustrated and annoyed. After Love Letter, I was left with just one thought: what a wonderful movie.
What's more, it's simply beautiful. Maybe it just fits my taste and aesthetics, but I did hold my breath a few times, simply because I enjoyed the visual feast I was witnessing. Even though it was filmed 25 years ago, it could be easily played in cinemas now. The quality was just that good.
I cannot regret not watching it earlier. I'm sure my younger self would not appreciate it as much as I did today. I am still amazed how a movie could make me feel excited, curious, anxious, but also calm, relaxed and warm at the same time.
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Did I like the movie? Yes. At first it was hard to get into, but as more and more people died, and all the explanations given or guessed by me turned out to be false, I started to enjoy it more. Why are people dying around Ga In? Why is everyone trying to kill her? The movie presents few answers, but at the same time dismantles them with new information. Plot wise, even though fairly simple, will keep you interested. It dives into the dark topic of who and for what reasons could kill and how much of the external factors are needed to convince them to murder.
The best performance award in the movie goes to Lee Kan Hee for playing Ga In's mother. That once kitchen scene truly impressed me.
What else did I like? Some pictures created were amazing and shocking. Especially two scenes: the hospital scene from the beginning and Ga In's dream with the ceiling involved (once you watch it, you will know).
Any warnings? Some scenes are graphic, blood is more than present more than once. It's also an older movie, so expecting extremely high production quality would be a mistake.
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Along with the Gods 2: The Last 49 Days
3 people found this review helpful
We've got explanations for some plot lines introduced in the first movie, and in their place new questions have been asked. The progression of the story makes sense and the connection between the two installments truly makes them feel like two pieces of a larger story. While The Two Worlds focused more on the humans, The Last 49 Days explained the background of the gods' realm and the three main reapers.
Duk Choon yet again won me over with her personality and goodness, but this time I actually got drawn to Won Maek more. The story of their past life was extremely well presented and written. Sadly, while the first movie centered around one character and his life, it was easier for me to connect to the story and feel the emotional impact they tried to deliver. Here we’ve got the storytelling split among few characters... Which for me made a huge difference and I was not as emotionally connected as I wished I could.
That said, we can clearly see that the history told in both movies was carefully planned, before the first movie became a success. It's obvious that The Last 49 Days is not a cheap way of just making more money with a random script loosely connected to the original movie.
The acting, cinematography, music, costumes and special effects were amazing, there is nothing to complain about. They aced the job with visual storytelling. With that, I cannot wait for the next movie to come out.
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Let's start with my favorite character that bought me completely - Duk Choon. Brave, emphatic, strong, cheerful, driven, just, cute. She was the glue for the group, but also the one that saved the situation more than one time.
I adored how Kim Ja Hong was externally painted as a good man, close to a hero. But internally he was a guilt driven, flawed human being.
The movie explains the main story well, but branches some plot lines, giving the perfect space for the future installments to tackle. After finishing watching I wanted both - to rewatch right away and watch The Last 49 Days.
It's a fun adventure story with some unique characters, great visuals and HUGE HEART. The emotional impact this movie had on me as I was watching it is hard to describe. I stopped counting how many times I cried. I empathize with the message - you don't have to be perfect, you can make mistakes, you can hurt people and still be a good person.
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Starting this drama, I had no idea what to expect. The poster makes it look like a crime show, the synopsis breaks your heart suggesting a painful tragedy, but users opinion makes it look like a nice drama that can make you emotionally attached to the characters without totally ruining you.
While the romance is ever present and easily felt, it's not shoved in your face with every scene. We not only get to know about the forming relationship between Mes and Thun, but also about them as separate characters.
The supporting cast did an amazing job showing realistic reactions to a situation presented to them. They have some back story of their own, that is used as a driving force making them take action.
The best part of the show was definitely the emotional impact it has on you as you watch it. It has this nostalgic feeling that slowly draws you in and makes you feel like you are part of the story. Singto did an amazing job portraying his character and I must admit, I did tear up with him a few times.
That said, some things were a let down for me. Ohm overall did a stunning job, yet there were few instances where his emotional scenes felt… forced? I was holding back a sarcastic comment like: yes, squeeze these tears (That said, the rooftop scene was amazing). Some plot twists and the answer to the questions presented at the beginning were… questionable at best. And the ending… oh boi I was not crazy about it. Without giving any spoilers, I just feel like they wanted to have and eat the cake and it just did not work out for me.
Overall, a truly nice drama with amazing pace (one of the strongest points), realistic characters with flaws, simple yet well executed conflict and lots of emotional depth. You don’t need to be scared by the fact it’s a ghost love story, it will not ruin you emotionally :)
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