Reviews

ALL CHARACTERS CLEARLY WERE SHARING THE SAME BRAIN CELL!

I had such high hopes for this movie and even watched it with my sister as a movie night movie, but let me be clear, this movie absolutely sucked. The best part of the movie was that the two male leads were good-looking, and the acting was pretty decent. However, those things do not cover the horrific idiocy of all the characters. I mean, I lost count of how many misunderstandings happened in this 2-hour movie, and it wasn't like actual misunderstandings. The misunderstanding was from the characters not using their brains. I got so frustrated at every character because it appeared as if they were trying to help the villain kill them and escape.

They could have stopped the serial killer within the first 30-45 minutes of the movie, but NO. It was frustrating because he did not escape time after time based on his smarts, but rather as a result of the idiocy of the other characters. ALSO, those police officers need to be fired because they have zero awareness of their environment and ability to assess situations properly. Like, what were they even doing the entire movie?

NOW we can discuss the brother because he just made really dumb choices. I mean, I get that he wanted to save his sister and was not in the best state of mind at that moment, but why did he trust the PYSCHOPATHIC SERIAL KILLER WHO IS TRYING TO KILL HIM AND THE OTHER CHARACTERS? He was just like, "Let me abandon the person that probably could lead me straight to my sister to go run around the back alleys." Did honestly believe that the serial killer was going to tell him the truth about the location of his sister when the whole mess started because of her? I mean, seriously!

Anyways, I was very disappointed in this movie!

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A quiet surprise in a loud house

I went in with no expectations, but in the end, I left with a sense of warmth.

When I first clicked on this movie, I thought it wouldn’t be that serious but it was the complete opposite.

The writers really did a great job with the characters. They weren’t perfect, and they had their flaws, but that’s exactly why I loved them. They felt human.

If you want a movie that’s funny but also handles serious topics, I would definitely recommend this. If you like slice-of-life stories with a little mess, a little warmth, and a lot of heart this might surprise you.

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This movie reinforced how tired zombies are

Though zombies had their heyday over a decade ago, entertainment with this theme can still be great if done right. Unfortunately, this movie couldn't rise to the occasion. I didn't care about the leads and their love, and that he was willing to risk life and limb to save her. The situation with the zombies was uninteresting too. Moreover, the fact that ML was mostly taking down zombies with his bare hands was ridiculous. The FL was annoying, but not as annoying as the kid whose only lines were "get away from me. Stop." to the mindless zombies who was determined to kill him. Carl Grimes he was not. Lol. I ended up turning this off about halfway through because it just wasn't good. I didn't care about any of the characters. Or how they'd get out of the mess they were in.

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Great premise, but would've worked better as a drama series

The leads had really nice chemistry and the story had a lot of potential. Unfortunately, being that it was a movie, it missed several beats and thus wasn’t as good as it could’ve been. Also, it was weird how the characters kept switching between speaking Filipino and English. I wish they’d stuck to speaking one or the other. It could get to be a bit too much when several characters would be talking at the same time. This happened frequently throughout, which again, could be annoying. Overall, this was alright. As stated in the review headline, I think this would make for a great drama series if done right.

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Confused, but has the spirit.

This is one of the few things coming out of Asia that dares look at their fixation on women's bodies, even in the year 2025. For that, it gets some merit. Does it to it particularly well? Ehh.

This is a passionate project that feels very strongly about its issues, but it also fails to commit itself to carrying through, and it flubs the landing.

200 Pounds Beauty raises the question of women's bodily standards, sexism in the entertainment business, systemic shaming, pretty privilege and plastic surgery...while fat shaming and affirming those same things. It makes for a confused viewing experience.

The story line about Kang Ha Na's career resolves itself, the situation with Han Sang Jun does not. The relationship is the more poignant through line of the movie, Ha Na's love for this man who is kind to her face, but sees her as lesser. At no point is Han Sang Jun ever called upon to radically change his thinking, or to accept culpability for his attitudes and actions which have played across this woman's body like a warzone. He is a wholly undeserving partner for Ha Na, and the series shows its age and bias in the notion that she doesn't totally abandon him as a romantic prospect. He voices the same tired opinions as every other man- a woman must be beautiful to date him, but she can't have had plastic surgery to make herself into a beautiful object.

While this is an upbeat and often funny movie to watch, the undercurrent about female exploitation is quite dark, as is the production's inability to fully condemn it. Ha Na is surrounded by beautiful, untalented women; her talent only becomes worthy of attention and respect once she is beautiful; it is then which she is also no longer subject to being exploited by men around her, which is patently untrue. Beautiful women are at risk of more exploitation, beauty does not solve these problems. This lack of a critical eye and heart fundamentally cripple this movie, through it remains an interesting showcase in mid 2000's attitudes. For that reason, it is worth a watch.

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One might think “they should’ve done better”, there was a lot of miscommunication, unironically being deaf and mute isn’t just about the ability to hear and talk

The world is big, and people are privileged in health, education, love and family
But others aren’t, having something that becomes a burden a drawback, people with “disabilities” can lose their footing in life
Xiaoma felt unseen and unheard, so mumu was his everything especially after his wife left them and found another family
He was flawed because he was never given the same benefits as others
Just like how Xiao Jing felt unseen between her husband and daughter
Starting a family is a huge privilege and responsibility
It was like this in twinkling watermelon too, parents relay too much on their kids, they lose sight of their own behavior and it becomes a burden to those around them


This was really sad and heartwarming

I do have a problem with this tho
idk if the insurance scams happen that widely so that part felt a bit underwhelming with some of the conflicts
The bad guys purposely used “disadvantaged” people so I get them lying to him, tho his friend should've warned him
The friend wanted easy money and he had no guilt but xiaoma had too much to lose and no one to guide him, then he got caught up in the thrill of being able to make money for his kid, he lost sight of the most important thing, she was happy with him no matter what


I kinda assumed he was falsely accused for theft or something before starting this

The little girl was too precious ;( I also liked how they used real deaf people it made the movie feel more real and normal

And ofc my zhang yixing did such a great job, he’s neither a dad or deaf, but he learned sign language and used it even after this movie, and he was such a loving protective dad ;) he was so disheveled and raw and so emotionally expressive ;(

I do think most of the conflict would’ve been avoided if his ex talked to him instead of that aunt, She could’ve easily told him she wasn’t gonna take him to court

but it was also important to show how ppl easily take advantage and fool disadvantaged people
And honestly being poor is also a disadvantage in life, he had no connections to help, he got fooled by everyone and dragged in too deep

If amei didn’t talk, he’d have been falsely accused for life, tho I also think again his friend should’ve also backed her up


I also liked the aesthetics, the blue was like sadness and not belonging while they shined yellow to highlight how they were each others happiness
Idk shouldn’t he also get less time for “good behavior”? Honestly I was scared they’d kill him in prison
So I kinda wish they showed him in the future, it’s sad to think his daughter stayed in Netherlands(?) until she graduated college to come back home, so he didn’t see her for 15 years? I’d also assume he’d always be there when she got off work cuz he’d want to be around her all the time
So I felt that was a shame, both the long separation and not showing him in her future
The wife tbh stayed selfish, going to another country was beneficial for mumu but just like how she selfishly took herself out of mumu’s life, she continued to force mumu to be without her dad ;(

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A Fun and Heartfelt Surprise

The movie starts off a bit cheesy, but it quickly proves itself. It’s full of humor, exciting action scenes, charismatic characters, and—above all—a beautiful message about acceptance. A story that will make you laugh, get emotional, and leave you with a warm heart.

It's so refreshing to see a queer supernatural action-comedy film. Here's to more movies like this!

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"You always think you are different, but who doesn’t?"

No Major Spoilers, but I have tagged it as so anyway.

The spin-off doesn’t have a lot to offer as plot — we see a “comic relief” character’s point of view of the same world and characters, as he constantly believes the world owes him more. While ‘No One Like Me’ isn’t especially deep, it isn’t superficial either. I was forced to think, throughout the movie, of the amount of times I have felt the same, the feeling of deserving more and/or better than what I have. This drives the main conflict of the movie, along with asking the question of every “chosen one” fantasy — is fate already written or do we write it?

Surprisingly, this story treats the main character with a lot of respect. (minor spoiler) While we are made to believe the characters did him wrong, Xu Qian becomes the character who doesn’t deserve to “show” his face in this spin-off. The narration ofcourse is not fully reliable, as the main character himself admits near the end, since his worldview is tainted by his own grudges towards the world, (spoiler end) he still is not made out to be a joke. His view is potrayed with respect and care. Hence, you still relate with him, you root for him.

The original GoTD also dealt with the theme of “where does bravery end, and stupidity begin?”. This spin-off makes you question the same even more. It doesn’t debate at either side of the argument though, the takeaway and lesson learnt is fully yours to decide.

Liu Guan Lin fully, and easily, carries the movie on his shoulders. I’d imagine it’s hard to convince an audience to empathasize with you, for till now it has only considered you a joke. Yet he easily does it, from the very first scene. While He Hua didn’t have much to work with, her performance was enough to support the story move along.

Having talked of the things I liked, let me try and point some things that didn’t work for me.

1. The CGI remains mediocre, but that is true for almost all Chinese costume dramas, so I wouldn’t put it against this web movie which I imagine was done in an even smaller budget.
2. The pacing at times felt slow to *me* for a movie, but that could be my own lack of attention span.
3. This too could be a personal issue, but it took me quite a while into the movie to place the timeline for this plot happening in respect to GOTD.

All in all, a good GoTD nicotine patch that stands on its own legs, but I am not sure how memorable it is, or whether I’d ever feel the want to rewatch it.

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not your usual Thai GL drama

I wasn’t expecting anything different when I saw the poster, thinking it was another Thai GL drama with one of my favourite couple combinations but I was wrong.

I understand the creators wanted to add in the idea of multiverse but it was confusing (at least to me). the timeline jumps all over the place and I had a hard time following. I gave up trying to understand the storyline and just concentrate on the love stories between Kath and Lin in different timeline in the middle of the movie. Tearing at every timeline because I know something bad is going to happen at the end. I love tragedy romance ending and this does not disappoint. If you are like me, give this movie a try.

On the acting part, since I just finished GAP the series which is aired in 2022. comparing to then, I am happy to see the acting improvement in both Becky and Freen. more natural, and their chemistry is way beyond the sky.

but I am puzzled why they have to make Kath and her mom speak English in the show when they are in the states? I understand Lin had to since she’s with her space crew but Becky and her mom came from Thailand… so this part is slightly off to me imo.

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