Reviews

Treasure hunting

Pirates: The Last Royal Treasure (2022)

I've been waiting for this since last year!

Likes
1. The overall mood is light with some comedy, esp when you have Kang Haneul and Lee Kwang Soo in the cast.
2. The ensemble cast isn't as impressive as the first movie but they were still a great team. Kang Haneul and Han Hyo Joo were okay as the main leads.
3. I enjoyed the second half where there were fighting, more than the first, which focused on the team dynamics and wlthe legend of the treasure.
4. I liked the penguin scene, absurd but still funny. You know this movie really isn't taking itself too seriously. Little disappointed with the dragons coz we didnt see them, just the fire.
5. Lee Kwang Soo has a major part in this movie and he never fails to bring thr laughter.
6. I like the snazzy ending track that sounds like 'Billie Jean'
7. I liked the ending where the crew would rather have love than treasure 🤣 after seeing the 2 couples together.

Dislikes
1. I wish they gave more scenes for Kwon Sang Woo. He looked badass as the bad guy but he didnt really get to do much and wasn't that scary.
2. Chae Soo Bin's character seemed out of place and was there for comic relief and a side romance for brooding Sehun.

Rating: 8/10

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"What A Nuisance.." "Are You Talking About Her or Me?" "Both"

This was a delightful short drama-comedy...until about 26 minutes into the film...I was glued to the screen throughout!

Pam (Aom Sushar Manaying), is a fun-loving single woman who spends her free time partying with friends and enjoying life to the fullest, or at least that's what she wants you to think!

However, Pee, her sister (uncredited on MDL) comes calling with an immediate need: sister Pam has to babysit her naughty "niece" UK ( Ongsritragul Natthaya) while Pee goes overseas on a business trip; no other relatives available!

"Naughty" isn't the best word to describe her "niece"; I prefer "mischievous" instead!

Anyway, shall we say Pam is not too good at first taking car of the little one, but quickly learns about how to take care of a young "mischievous" girl. My heart stopped when I thought both her and the little girl were in danger, but fortunately it was just the next-door neighbor , Best (Best Anavil Charttong) who just may be as "mischievous" as Pam's charge is!

Pam goes through a maturing process over the 8-9 days that she is with her 'niece"; a maturing process that should have happened long ago. Even though she had never been with UK before, Pam grows to the be a perfect 'aunt' as the days progress.

However, just as things seem to be going right, an old 'flame' Tum (Yuan Nithichai Yotamornsunthornre)-appears, one that hurt Pam in the past. Pam is forced to face a long-overdue reality, which almost tears her apart. It's now UK who tries to comfort her "aunt" Pam.

I am going to have to try to watch more Nattawut Poonpiriy's films, as a last-minute "twist", the kind that only a director like Ang Lee or Kim Ki Duk are capable of, changed the whole perspective of this short but great movie! I had to rewind the film to see that it was a flashback rather than a linear scene in this film.

What started out as a simple family member helping out her sister with her "niece" became so more complicated but sad in the last 10 minutes or so!

The cinematography, music and overall effects for this short film were fantastic!

The main cast were great at portraying themselves as a "family" and the support cast also did a fabulous job playing their roles and supporting the main cast in their telling of the main story. I first laughed then wept all the way through and was shocked after the director's final "twist" on this short film.

A movie that will take you from laughter to shock, in less than 45 minutes!

A special kudo to Pompam Niti Chaichitathorn, who incidentally played a librarian here as he did in The Library (2013). His brief scenes were bubbly as in the other movies I have seen him play.

My only wish is that Poonpiriy had shown another 5 to 10 more minutes on the main cast together.

This is a full box of Kleenex movie, even though it is a short one!

WARNING: Although she is young, Ongsritragul Natthaya steals the movie from the adults in just a few scenes!

RE-WATCH VALUE: Definitely!

Charge (def):
the responsibility of taking care or control of someone or something. "the people in her charge are pupils and not experimental subjects"

a person or thing entrusted to the care of someone: "the babysitter watched over her charges"

a responsibility or onerous duty assigned to someone.

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Unpolished gem

I watched this not knowing the two main leads (and I don’t think my opinion would have changed).
The story is not bad really, the problem is that these two went from haters to friends supposed to be lovers, without any moments that showed them truly have a close relationship.
So basically the producers didn’t manage to convey their closeness in the scenes (they really look like at most acquaintances/friends until the end of the movie).
I don’t think I’ll watch this again, the beginning was okay and then I lost more and more interest throughout the movie.
Maybe with some more time they could have done something better out of this.

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Somewhat disappointing

I've been waiting for this movie since it was announced. I'm a big fan of pirates (blame Robert Louis Stevenson). I love a great swashbuckling adventure. I'm still waiting.

The story was nothing new. In movies and TV pirates seek treasure. That's what they do, so I wasn't expecting much on that front. It's in the telling and what happens from point A to point B that makes the story worthwhile. Given the period, they attempted to bring in something(s) about Goryeo, but I didn't find it particularly interesting or believable. The special effects are great. I can't complain about the production at all. It's the lacklustre script, recycled lines, and all around poor writing that I have an issue with.

The cast was good. Lee Kwang Soo (and to some extinct Kim Sung Oh) may have been cast for comic relief, but Kang Ha Neul was laugh out loud funny. I have much love and respect for Lee, Kim and Kang, but this movie did them no favors. I think all 3 are phenomenal actors, however, LKS and KSO's talents were wasted. It seems to me they only cast LKS due to his betrayer character from Running Man. I wouldn't have blinked had Yoo Jae Suk made some kind of cameo. LKS does really well branching out and getting different roles in movies. My fear is that this one will set him back. KSO was just underutilized from start to finish. The rest of the cast including the female lead was fine.

The music was actually pretty good. It led to the suspense. The rewatch is maybe a 4. I'm not a rewatcher, but this is also had English dubs and I may check it out.

Overall, I would only recommend this to someone looking to pass 2 hours. Or just looking at something they truly don't have to think about. Like I said the effects are very good. And it is an adventure (and a comedy). If I had to compare it to another movie, I'd say Pirates of Penzance minus the singing rather than Pirates of the Caribbean (and it's definitely not Treasure Island). I'd say watch it if you love someone(s) in the cast. Watch it if you're just wanting to watch something. Do not watch it if you're looking for a grand adventure with pirates that look more likely to break out into a jaunty ditty than stab and steal your gold.

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Story
Mom/Daughter body swap? Seems like a funny story. But as I'm watching the story turns out to be a bit emotional.

Acting/Cast
I'm not familiar with any of the actors, but they all did a great job portraying their characters

Music
There's a dance part, but they put some random music on it, probably to avoid copyright. It's a bit annoying, but i could just skipped it. But the ending song was pretty good.

Overall
It has a good cinematography, but the editing was kinda bad in last scenes.
It's short and packed, not much fillers. A perfect movie for watch to pass time.

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The Pirates: The Last Royal Treasure; A Tumultuous High-Seas Adventure?

The journey from screenplay to production has admittedly been a circuitous journey for ‘ The Pirates: The Last Treasure’. Originally intended as a sequel production for screenwriter Chun Sung Il ( ‘ Your Honor’, ‘ All Of Us Are Dead’)’s original screenplay ‘ The Pirates’ (2014), the severe impact of production problems were certainly evident onscreen.

Naturally to understand the root cause of some of the problems with ‘ The Pirates: The Last Treasure’ it is important to elucidate that the movie suffered a lot throughout its production.

A notable change of director from Lee Seok-hoon ( ‘ Dancing Queen’, ‘ The Himalayas’ ) to Kim Jung Hoon ( ‘ Petty Romance’, ‘ The Accidental Detective), original stars Son Ye-jin (‘ Crash Landing On You’, ‘ Personal Taste’ and ‘ Something In The Rain’) and Kim Nam-gil ( ‘ Bad Guy’, ‘ Live Up To Your Name’ and ‘ Fiery Priest’) abandoning ship alongside pandemic-induced delays did spell-out a lot of problems for Sung II’s production.

As a consequence of these contributions, ‘The Pirates: The Last Royal Treasure’ focused upon an entirely different setup from the first movie. Set in the late 14th century in the early Joseon period, the narrative focuses upon female pirate captain Hae-rang (Han Hyo-joo- ‘ Iljimae’, ‘ W’ and ‘ Happiness’).

After coming into possession of a mysterious treasure map, Hae-rang becomes fixated upon the notion that the hidden treasure was gold sourced from the royal palace and then lost at sea. However Hae-rang is not the only one obsessed over the promise of luxurious valuables . On board her ship is a cadre of bandits, led by ringleader Wu Mu-chi (Kang Ha-neul- ‘ Monstar’, ‘ Misaeng: Incomplete Life’ and ‘ When The Camellia Blooms’).

The self-proclaimed “ Greatest Swordsman in Goryeo”, Mu-Chi begins his schemes in order to launch a coup and take over the ship.

Nevertheless when unwelcome rival Boo Heung Soo ( Kwon Sang Woo- ‘ My Tutor Friend’, ‘ Stairway To Heaven’ and ‘ Queen Of Mystery’) arrives on the scene with a keen interest in competing for the treasure, Mu-Chi and Hae-rang may just be forced into an allegiance of sorts, as betrayals and twists soon come their way…

One of the most problems with ‘The Pirates: The Last Treasure’ came through its script. As mentioned previously, the production was naturally caught in a rut after Chung Sung II was forced to rewrite parts, recast and subvert the storyline in a very short space of time.

However whilst certain excuses can be given for the film’s troubling filming and writing schedule , it’s hard to truly justify the film’s unmodified and particularly cataclysmic opening act. A barrage of rushed character introductions, predictable betrayals, sudden flashbacks and dream sequences are crammed forcefully into a very short space of time .

Indeed, instead of spreading out the narrative and allowing the structure of the film to feel circumstantial and well-paced, ‘ The Pirates: The Last Treasure’ admittedly felt somewhat disorientating and chaotic in its first half.
The second-act admittedly was less anarchic and did allow some opportunities in order to tie together a form of coherent plot, but still due to the poor buildup and structure of the movie, the final act of ‘ The Pirates: The Last Treasure’ was somewhat risible.

Of course it’s wrong it’s wrong to entirely suggest that ‘ ‘The Pirates: The Last Treasure’ wasn’t an enjoyable movie at times. Whilst it’s gnawing inconsistencies of pacing and writing were evident, ‘The Pirates: The Last Treasure’ was still fast-paced, entertaining and adrenal-infused with its swashbuckling bravado and overindulgent CGI.

Then of course there’s our main cast. Aside from some inconsistent acting moments at times in ‘ The Pirates: The Last Treasure’, Han Hyo-joo was fairly solid as main female lead Hae-rang, whilst costars Kang Ha-Neul and Kwon Sang Woo were fairly decent also.

On the other amongst the jam-packed action of ‘ The Pirates: The Last Treasure’, the array of characters onscreen felt often vacuous. Absent opportunities in order to explore or flesh out characters, in particular how a young woman became a pirate captain, was rarely developed beyond its surface level plot hook.

As for the cinematography, ‘ The Pirates: The Last Royal Treasure’ offered viewers with a high-budget bonanza under the directing reigns of Kim Jung Hoon. The overall product glossy but often heavily indulging upon CGI en masse without a greater focus on shots or the art of capturing the characters in more subtle detail. The OST is an odd accumulation of tremendous scores, alongside upbeat modern bops; a surreal mixture which whilst working effectively in parts, could feel somewhat out of place in other scenes.

‘The Pirates: The Last Royal Treasure’ attempted to offer viewers with a fun and action-engaged plot throughout its 126-minute duration. Nevertheless, despite some engaging performances by our main cast and some fast-paced action sequences , ‘ The Pirates: The Last Royal Treasure: often felt as though it was a chaotic bricolage of poor-pacing, story direction and enforced tropes .

For those willing to overlook the flaws of ‘ The Pirates: The Last Royal Treasure’, the movie offered viewers with a disorderly swashbuckling adventure filled with daring laughs and fight scenes as well as hare-brained escapades along the way…

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Kamen Riders vs. Super Sentai. And really, truly, honestly a fantastic movie! Not only did it showcase great battle moments - like between Fourze & Meteor (Kamen Rider Fourze) - it also featured storylines between Tsukasa & Kaitou (Kamen Rider Decade) and Marvelous & Joe (Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger) that carried the whole thing. It also introduced me to so many teams that I didn't know but now I want to!

My favorite thing was, of course, the storyline that focused on Joe and his bond with Marvelous. Joe's grief, his trust in Marvelous and then his despair when Marvelous betrayed that trust, that was so... wow. I did miss some fallout of that, true, but this is a kids movie, after all.

My favorite moments?

When Tsukasa's henchmen almost killed Joe and Marvelous stepped in at the very last moment and saved his life. It didn't exactly fall into Marvelous' plan but he couldn't just let them kill Joe, after all.

When Marvelous betrayed Joe and Kaitou - Kaitou!!! - stepped in and protected Joe from him. Kaitou's "He's been hurt enough!" made me squee on the inside!

And then, when Kaitou was leaving and his last goodbye was for Joe - and Joe returned it. That was simply perfect, the cherry on top.

Also, the combined robot creature? It was actually scary O.O Wow!

This movie made me very, very happy!

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Lee Kwang soo

Korean Pirate of Caribic, but better. Story was originál for Korea movie industry. If there will be more story why pirates are pirates and thielf are thielfs, it would be great, but even without it the story was great. All main charakter did great job and bring great act skill, laught and also good fight. Lee Kwang so is the best of the best! This type of roles are the best for our Asian Prince, I am will be his forever fan. But others main actor was also great and even some of them dont have Big lines they was important. I really enjoy this movie! I looking forward If there will be part 3.

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Not A Bad Drama

The movie seemed rushed as the main character was impulsive and unreliable. As an assassinate, I expected her to be patient and competent, as it was said that the reason she was in her periodic career choice was because she was talented. The bond between her and the emperor's concubine could have been more developed. There was quite a hostility between them in the beginning, but as a viewer I was confused by how it changed into such closeness in that short period of time. One could argue that the reason for that quick change was due to the fact that both had been allies and victims of Yuwen Hu's tyranny, but I digress.

Honestly, this show was not bad, although it was very difficult to find a site to watch it on. In order to fully understand the story, one must either know about the history or at least watch The Legend of Dugu (another drama that could have been watched is Queen Dugu). I liked that although the plot of how Yuwen Hu was killed was different from the parent story, it still held a lot of parts and scenes from it. Also, seeing familiar faces made it worthwhile.

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The FL was amazing, the ml cute enough though I hated his and kwangsoos type casting
Sehun had so little scenes. Though I could proudly tell my mom that's our baby.

I don't like the other fl as an actress and I was meh about it but in the end it was cute especially sehunie's character being the cold chic dude softening up with her
The penguins were THE BEST. When the little dude slapped kwangsoo? Comedy GOLD❣
there were a couple of great Comedy scenes like when ML told kwangsoo to grab his neck amd kwangsoo strangled him🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Tbh the graphics were cheap looking. Like pirates of the Caribbeans look better.. it just felt like they were on sets and in one scene the filter for the sky made a weird circle around fls head..

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Wasn't planning to watch this remake to be honest, but I guess things just happened. I mean I just happened to find this remake movie so I might as well watch it. I have to say that of the two remakes of Blind, this version followed the original much more closely compared to the Japanese one. Not just in the base plotline but also in the way certain scenes were filmed. But I guess it's inevitable to see how similar the movie was directed, considering this film was directed by the same person who directed the original Blind.

That said, even as this remake was very similar to the original and not as loosely adapted as it had been with the Japanese version, there were still some details that were written differently. As the screenwriter for this movie would've added or changed certain elements of the plot to appeal to the Chinese audience. And for people who have seen the original and the Japanese remake, noticing the different details have to be one of the things that will stood out to you.

For one, the dead brother in this movie was written to be an aspiring singer instead of a b-boy. The way the brother died was similar to the original except the part where instead of a handcuff, the brother was tied to the car with a chain. The motive for the killer also slightly changed and written to have a bit more connection to Xiaoxing. As with the latter Japanese remake, this movie also incorporated the use of social medias and dating apps. Which wasn't in the original. In a way, this Chinese remake was like a cross between the Korean original and the Japanese remake, even when the latter was made much later than this version.

Lin Zhong was written to be a young skater, and I guess that's what influenced the Japanese remake to have Haruma being a skateboarder. And rather than the orphanage being that place of memories for our main witness and her late brother, this movie changed it into an old villa.

It was interesting to see what kind of details were presented differently in this remake compared to the original. The obvious ones being Xiaoxing and Lin Zhong's initial report on what they noticed and saw during the hit-and-run case. Like a lot of the details that originally was revealed and found out much later ended up being laid out from the very start, which kind of removing a bit of the mystery from the original movie. Other than that would be the subway chase from the original being changed into a chase inside an empty mall in this remake. Unlike the original and the Japanese remake, this Chinese version didn't reveal whether or not Xiaoxing did decide to resume her police training nor have Lin Zhong aspire to follow her same footstep. And the casualties in both Korean and Japanese version met different fates in this movie, in which while in itself shouldn't be bad, it makes me wonder what's the point of the killer still being referred to as a serial killer when his part was changed so much that he didn't really kill most of his victims.

Overall, watching this remake was interesting. It was nice to pick up on the different details and similar visual cues and compare how the different remakes recreate the scenes from the original movie. On its own, the movie was fine as it is. But if you love and enjoyed the original Blind, then you may end up finding this movie a bit lacking. Compared to this remake, the original was portrayed to be much more mysterious. There were parts in the original that were written to be very vague while this remake revealed some details much more clearly.

Though, having said that... I'm not sure why this remake decide to change the killer's motivation... as well as the fact that he hadn't end up killing any of his victims but people who ended up caught in his action and trying to create more connection to the blind witness, which did not exist in the original. But that aside, the movie was fine on its own. There's quite an overuse of a certain song that I first heard from the movie Storm Riders but that's it.

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perfect example of how a movie ages poorly

Obviously this movie was going to be fat-shaming but that wasn't even the worst thing about this movie.

It was made in 2006, so I know that I cannot hold it up to today's standards but this movie was
really sexist(featuring the male gaze), unfunny and made me uncomfortable while watching.

The "romance" scenes were borderline assault in my opinion. I cannot believe they wanted us to think that the kissing scene on the couch was supposed to be romantic. The way he looked at her legs and then forcefully kissed her, was the straw that broke the camels back - and how he dismissed her when she was obviously uncomfortable... ugh it still makes me angry!
...don't even get me started on the countless times he dismissed her, telling her to be quiet when they were talking business. That wasn't even ML jerk-behavior. Just sexism.
And the typical "overheard-you-talking-bs-about-me-in-the-bathroom" trope was never resolved, so I guess he actually thought about her that way.

ANYWAYS, I did not like this movie one bit. For a long time I could not watch the ML actor in dramas because of that couch-scene. I felt so opposed by his male gaze.

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