misnevus
This review may contain spoilers
Done with Squid Game and to be honest I was really disappointed.
Watched too many films/dramas until I can guess almost all plot points/twists most of the time now... Could see plot twists coming from a long way out and character motivations were not convincing at all either from the get-go. Even the amount of prize money at stake was not convincing to me. The westernized scenes were really unnecessary. Objectively speaking, the religious references were also highly unnecessary? We really do not need such references to flesh out humans' self-righteousness. Satire throughout the drama could have been done much more tastefully but everything just felt like they were afterthoughts.
Many Korean stylistic elements that I enjoy which make up great Korean productions' scripts so far were sadly missing from Squid Games' script which I am also disappointed about. Character motivations and development are so important for such survival games genre so this was really shocking for me since most of the time Korean dramas do not fail in this aspect... Especially shocking for a K-drama this hyped about.
Performances by Park Hae Soo and Heo Sung Tae and the production value were the only redeeming points. Lee Jung Jae was good as usual but his character was not as distinctive as Park's and sometimes felt sidelined in comparison even though he was the main character? His character was really a wasted opportunity in the script. I also felt the series could have been shortened by 2 episodes.
The final plot twist was bad too in my opinion. Trying to pull a Christopher Nolan Joker world view but again it did not work for me or even felt convincing.
Minor spoiler - And also, what is with the lack of diversity among the VIPs?
Expected much more from the critically acclaimed Korean writer/director Hwang Dong-hyuk who directed and wrote the impactful and disturbing film Silenced (2011). Netflix probably had some influence over the creative work here I feel... But I did enjoy the cameos though.
Beyond Evil is really so so much better in comparison. The Hunger Games films too.
Squid Game - 6.5/10
Many Korean stylistic elements that I enjoy which make up great Korean productions' scripts so far were sadly missing from Squid Games' script which I am also disappointed about. Character motivations and development are so important for such survival games genre so this was really shocking for me since most of the time Korean dramas do not fail in this aspect... Especially shocking for a K-drama this hyped about.
Performances by Park Hae Soo and Heo Sung Tae and the production value were the only redeeming points. Lee Jung Jae was good as usual but his character was not as distinctive as Park's and sometimes felt sidelined in comparison even though he was the main character? His character was really a wasted opportunity in the script. I also felt the series could have been shortened by 2 episodes.
The final plot twist was bad too in my opinion. Trying to pull a Christopher Nolan Joker world view but again it did not work for me or even felt convincing.
Minor spoiler - And also, what is with the lack of diversity among the VIPs?
Expected much more from the critically acclaimed Korean writer/director Hwang Dong-hyuk who directed and wrote the impactful and disturbing film Silenced (2011). Netflix probably had some influence over the creative work here I feel... But I did enjoy the cameos though.
Beyond Evil is really so so much better in comparison. The Hunger Games films too.
Squid Game - 6.5/10
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