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The King: Eternal Monarch korean drama review
Completed
The King: Eternal Monarch
23 people found this review helpful
by Poia
Jun 13, 2020
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed
Overall 5.0
Story 5.0
Acting/Cast 8.0
Music 5.0
Rewatch Value 1.0

When sci-fi leads to a mess

TKEM is a title that has undergone the exact same fate as Hotel del Luna. The drama has been hyped and declared a possible masterpiece even before airing, due to the combination of cast-screenwriter plus romance-fantasy. But as HDL, the plot didn't live up to the hype.

The author wanted to propose an ambitious sci-fi fantasy that tells us the story of two parallel worlds, where each member of the cast has a double role and is involved in a "save-conquer two world plot-line". The main concept may be brilliant, but the script is not well written and definitely it is badly executed (editing and direction).

The author was unable to manage the amount of information she wanted to offer, failing on multiple fronts. Between plot holes, errors on space-time theories, which casually favor the hero while disadvantaging the villain, bad characterization of characters and useless characters who steal precious screen time, penalizing both the main plot and the main couple, who also lack chemistry due to a hasty and forced romance.

The director wanted to tell the story in a non-linear way, jumping between sub-plot, often using flashbacks. All this has unnecessarily complicated a plot that was already complex of his own due to the number of characters and plot-line, plus the space-time theory, and two different worlds that looked almost the same.

Add the bad CGI, an OST that lack of impact, the controversy over product placement and japan style building and what positive aspects are left? The great cast, some acting, the scenography & costume. Definitely not enough to save a drama. Overall TKEM is an ambitious project with great potential, which unfortunately has turned into a giant mess because both the author and the director wanted to overdo it.
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