One of the best sci-fi

Science fiction is not an easy genre to write or show. Some filmmakers tend to flatten the topics covered in order to entertain the masses who don't want to think. "Three Bodies" does not do that. Brilliantly handling images and sound, it creates a somewhat dark and very mysterious atmosphere combining the solving of a great mystery with a story about the human condition and humanity. It does this in an intriguing and interesting way. From the very first episode, the viewer is made curious about the story and the fate of the main character - a somewhat cowardly, shy middle-aged scientist through no fault of his own embroiled in a great mystery that threatens his life and that of all humanity. Wang Miao was brilliantly played. His character does not have great emotional scenes, nevertheless Edward Zhang's acting artistry is evident. The series builds tension brilliantly and keeps it where it belongs, but also gives moments of respite. The Panama Canal scene, although I had seen it before in the American version and knew what it was about, sent shivers down my spine. One of the best sci-fi I've seen, and I've seen a lot of them, because I love the genre. Definitely 10/10.

Read More

A very good crime j-drama.

The series is interesting, moving, intriguingly depicts criminal cases clearly reflecting the atmosphere and problems of Japan. Sometimes the criminal can be "sniffed out" immediately, sometimes he is discovered late, which adds detective charm to the drama. A big plus are the interesting characters and their personal life threads very delicately portrayed against the background of the criminal cases. Good camera work. Atmospheric music. Great selection of songs. One minus - a green filter that distorts the world and is annoying. All the rest of the production makes up for this shortcoming. A very good crime j-drama.

Read More

Review in response to the hype of the 2 first episodes - no, it's not so great

After watching four episodes with very mixed feelings, I saw three 10/10 reviews (written after watching 1-2 episodes or 12 when only 4 were shown) and decided, for contrast and balance, to add my own unfavorable ones.

The first season was ok, and what I liked most was the conflict of the young protagonist, where we had his goal and the difficulties standing in his way. We had good team building, and interpersonal relationships, the character of a caring mother, a strong but protective father, a strong, trustworthy older sister and an eccentric uncle. The characters were diverse, interesting and multi-faceted. We also had a strongly constructed main plot and equally interesting side plots that complemented each other neatly. In season two we have none of the above. Instead, we have a flattening of the characters and making them into overpowering buffoons who are not funny, they are instead pathetic. We have cheap visual effects straight out of She Hulk. We have overpower villains, generic to the point of being more so, and sh*tty humor, literally, since the four episodes so far revolve around a cow sh*t guy who can't talk about anything but sh*t.

Is the comedy funny? A matter of taste. Personally, I don't like it when serious characters are made into buffoons and talk about sh*t all the time. Are the stakes high? No. The stakes are artificially high. Am I still interested in the fate of the heroes? Not a bitt. How is the acting? It's like the actors got checks and just played their badly written roles. The second season doesn't stand a chance at all compared to the first, it's idiotic, empty, embarrassing, generic to the point of pain. It is simply weak.

Read More

Wasted potential

I quit this drama around episode 10. I pondered this decision for a long time, because in terms of cinematography, costumes and, most importantly, set design, the drama looks far above average. I abandoned this drama because of the plot, which literally and figuratively is torture.

You know, I have nothing against violence, suffering, good torture scenes, but what's too much is unhealthy. Tormenting someone for the sake of tormenting someone is just boring and unpalatable. I think by the third episode I was already fed up with how the creators non-stop emphasize how miserable and tragic FL is. That's the only theme of this drama - she is unhappy, lonely, betrayed. Instead of a healthy relationship between the four main characters, we have BDS&M. Literally. I tried to like any of the 4 main characters, but I can't, because there are more negative traits in any of them than positive ones. In the first episodes I got curious about Little 17, in the next episode they show that he's an asshole. You know, showing the hero's journey from bad to good is cool, but not when all 4 main characters are bad from the beginning. I can accept that I haven't learned the motivations of each of the 3 men so far, but not that I still don't know the motivations of FL.

There are no dynamics here. Every scene is shot at exactly the same pace. It doesn't matter if they are fighting each other or talking at a table, if she is running away through the woods or he is erotically sucking the blood out of her - everything is devoid of dynamics, as if in slow motion, which is tedious and annoying. The pace should change, give the viewer some adrenaline, then a moment to calm down to attack again with something dynamic. Monotony kills interest.

In conclusion - technically the drama is nicely done. I very much appreciate the open air (but the green screen is bad). The plot could have been interesting if it wasn't so monotonous, depressing, beating around the head with the idea of "you're supposed to love FL because she's had a hard life and is so weak that she couldn't even save the cat" (save the cat is the motive). If the pace and characters of this story were varied, more dynamic instead of torturously pathetic, this drama would really be excellent. But it isn't. It is boring. On top of that, the music, which is average and of which there is simply too much, is terribly tiresome. I've watched 10 episodes and can't recall a single pleasant scene. I don't see any point in torturing myself further.

Read More

Another Generic Xianxia Romance - Mid-Season Review

As an FL-centric drama, TLP meets the criteria of the genre perfectly. FL has 50% of the screen time, the story unfolds around her goals, her development and her love story. ZY is not a combination of a spoiled princess and a feminist who not only fights for the right of equality, but also constantly rescues our ML, who despite being one of the most powerful cultivators in history can't handle three assassins. Fortunately, Ren Min is a talented actress and plays her role superbly. She is 100% believable. My impression is spoiled by the dubbing, but ZY is played great.

Even better is Priest SY, where Xiao Zhan again proves that he can bring history and realism to any character he plays. His eyes, as usual, are so vivid, able to bring joy to watching his character. Unfortunately, the script is not in favor of his character. His plot is completely focused on a love conflict. True, it's mentioned that he should come down from the Mountain and save the kingdom, which is in crisis, but the drama didn't show us a single scene of suffering citizens or any real threat to them (the epidemic scene doesn't count, it's a generic local incident serving only to strengthen the ties between FL and ML). This brings us to two interconnected points.

"Show, don't tell" and "stakes." Drama is a visual medium in which we should learn about events not from the characters telling us about it but from the scenes shown on the screen. We constantly hear that the kingdom is in danger, but we don't see it, making it have virtually no stakes, no real internal conflict for ML. Why would he come down from the Mountain and rescue people who don't need help? There are no refugees from war-torn regions. There are no pogroms of civilians. There is nothing. The existence of the prince, who committed the crime of lying to the emperor and hiding his identity for about 7 years, is suddenly revealed to the world and... nothing. No one wants to bring him to justice. The father does not crave revenge nor is he moved to see his son. His reaction is simply bland. So what was the point of hiding? Why was there a need to expose SY identity when exposure changed nothing? There were no stakes, no point that could engage the viewer in the ML story. All we got was solely his dilemmas about the love affair.

Visually, the drama makes a very good impression. You can see that adequate funds and efforts went into it. The music, however, is dull, flat, bland. It fails to raise the adrenaline in a fight scene. It doesn't support the touching aspect in tragic scenes. It does not portray anything that is not a sweet romance. Thus, it fails to fulfill its primary function.

In conclusion, this drama perfectly fulfills the requirements of a generic xianxia romance and nothing else. It beautifully depicts romantic scenes and nothing more. Good visuals are offset by painfully bland music. The excellent pair of actors Xiao Zhan and Ren Min clearly stand apart from the insipid plot and the utterly ordinary, downright bland acting of the rest of the cast. After six episodes, my rating was 7.5, and after every two episodes watched, where absolutely nothing happened but sugarcoating the romance, my rating dropped. After 20 episodes, it ranks at 3.5. More of this drama cannot be saved by the pair of main actors.

Read More

Interesting

The story is really interesting and really drew me in. Yes, it is a bit naive in places, but at least it is engaging. The characters are also interesting personalities. I'm not a fan of Lee Joon Gi, but for me this was his best role, really played brilliantly. I come back to this drama every year on average, and I usually have the same interesting time with it.
The criteria for rating given on MDL suggest that I give a rating of 9/10, but the criteria not included bring my rating down. FL is woefully stupid. She doesn't understand basic truths. Her selfish "I'm FL so I'm allowed" behavior with which she endangers the safety and lives of other people is outrageously stupid. FL gets 0/10 from me, which lowers the value of the whole series.
I recommend the series. This is the good old school of drama making, where caring about entertaining the viewer without making him a total idiot. Good action scenes - car chases, fights, even shootouts, which may not be very realistic, but are entertaining. It's worth spending time for this drama, as each episode is quite good

Read More

Do you know the feeling when someone recommends a movie or book to you as something excellent that you are sure to like, and meanwhile you are bored throughout the "consumption" of this "outstanding" work? I had that while watching this film. The film was recommended to me as one of the best erotic thrillers of recent years, meanwhile I found nothing of thriller or erotica here.

The film is aesthetically shot and the actors acted well, but that was the end of it. There was no tension building here, no involvement in the fate of the characters. It was as if it were a 19th-century story of a boarding school girl who had heard that there was a forbidden fruit somewhere, but had no idea where to look for what it looked like, let alone what it tasted like. The lesbian scenes were simply hilarious. The unexpected twists and turns had no suspense in them. Maybe my expectations were too high, but every time I recall a scene from this film, I snort with laughter or roll my eyes, and I guess that's not what an erotic thriller is about.

Read More

With one episode to go, I'm giving this drama a 10/10. It's not a full 10 but I'm leveling up because, for me, this is the best drama of this year.

For starters, the plot is very good. The affairs are interesting but not outlandish like in some modern dramas that want to shock the viewer. The cases that happen here could even happen in real life. They also don't take up too much time, so the plot's pace is appropriate. During the investigation there is room for emotion, for something funny, touching - just human, and that's exactly what the characters are - human. They have their qualities and their flaws. They are pleased by small joys and annoyed by some trifles. They struggle with their private problems and I can believe in the existence of each of them.

The downside (for me) is the moralistic message of this drama in some scenes. Propaganda smells a mile away. But all in all, I prefer propaganda to believe that there are good people working in the emergency services than forcing me to believe in someone else's ideology. So it can be endured, especially because when we get to know the characters more closely, we begin to believe that they are just such modern heroes who want to help. They are flawed so sometimes they make mistakes, but they want to do well and try their best. So this downside isn't so big either.

The drama is light and pleasant to watch. I think it will be one of my favorites not only of 2022, but in general, and I am glad that there will be a season two.

Read More

100% Sweet Romantic Drama

The first thing that struck me about this drama is the lighting. The creators used a very bright, sweet, romantic and luminous filter that makes your eyes hurt to look at. The whole drama is kept in a sweet style, infused with teenage romance. The shame is that the characters are adult, supposedly intelligent lawyers, who nevertheless behave like teenage children. Even the gruesome scene where we have a brutally murdered animal has been turned into a "fainting damsel in distress" romance here. The romantic music, the slowed down pace as she falls into his arms and the FL's infatuated eyes fit this scene like vanilla ice cream on a blood steak - not my taste.

Another issue is FL and Lee Se Young, who plays her. FL is an insult to me as a woman. Her behavior is unbalanced, even childishly hysterical, as if I were seeing a sulky five-year-old who didn't get a lollipop. However, I had no complaint with the actress, although her character was annoying and unconvincing. The crying scenes in episode 9, however, were so artificial in Lee Se Young's performance that I was unable to continue with the drama.

The drama tries to address some important social issues, but any meaningful themes are lost in the over-sweetened aesthetics of this production. This drama is purely a cute teenage romance, with characters on the emotional level of middle-schoolers. Potentially dark and disturbing legal themes are completely stripped of their dignity and aesthetics in this drama.

If one likes a drama heavy on romance, sweetness and established tropes, one will definitely not be disappointed. However, for me, lawyers who are almost forty years old acting as if they have no life experience and live only their love problems and behave like frisky children is a bit too much. Vanilla ice cream on blood steak.

Read More

Too Slow and Too Boring

This drama is incredibly slow. Just when the viewer expects to finally see action around the main couple because the threads of uncles and aunts have ended and in season one ML finally proposed to FL (Hallelujah!) the threads of princesses and princes begin.
I dared to write a negative comment after episode three because I saw rave reviews after episode one. If they are allowed, I am also allowed. I can't write a review after episode ten because my patience for this drama has already run out. Those interesting scenes shown in the trailer will probably be there three episodes before the end, but I really don't want to waste another hour learning about the stories of the secondary and tertiary characters. On top of that, the funny scenes are over. At this point, for me, there is nothing left in this drama except boredom. Music that has been in other dramas, young actors who are becoming more annoying than convincing on and, of course, a slower pace than in Sloth. Sorry, the boredom overshadows everything for me. In the second season there is nothing more interesting.

Read More

I Feel Cheated by the Production

I am writing three episodes before the end of the season.
Yesterday I watched the trailer again, which is full of suspense, action, fighting, emotional suspense and gives the impression that the viewer is in for something exciting, full of dangerous adventures. The trailer depicts an ML gripped by a lust for revenge and a wise FL who supports him intellectually and emotionally. The trailer is badass. Meanwhile, what we received in the first season....
I haven't read the book and I'm not interested in whether the drama is faithful to it. I have the drama itself before my eyes and it was a huge disappointment. The trailer promised me something juicy, and what I got was a boring story about second and third plan characters. Do I really have to watch the problems of FL's aunts and uncles instead of the story between ML and FL? After such an excellent trailer, I just feel cheated. I feel as if someone promised me a ride on the world's biggest roller coaster, and after three hours of waiting, took me on a steam train ride.
The drama is played well. I have no complaints about the visual side. There are some very funny situations and intriguing characters. An average of five minutes per episode is really great, but the other 35-40 are nightmarishly boring. Instead of these almost 20 episodes of introductions, it would have been better to give three juicy ones. The proportions between the main plot and side plots are just very badly distributed.
As for the music, unfortunately, it clearly lacks originality.
Since the trailer fooled me into thinking that this would be a drama where something would happen, I feel cheated by the producers. If they had not lied, if they had said from the outset that this drama would simply be about the problems of growing up as a teenager, my rating would have been higher.

Read More

When I feel like watching a well-directed drama with interesting action and a gripping protagonist, I return to Swallow the Sun.

The plot revolves around a young thug from Jeju who is trying to grab a chance at a better life. Only it's not so easy. A series of unpleasant events litter his world, and meanwhile in his heart is the painful realization that his birth was the cause of sadness, not joy.

The script is written really well. It allows you to get involved in the turbulent fate of the protagonist. Ji Sung perfectly portrayed ML making him completely natural, as if we were really watching not a drama but a slice of someone's life. Great music from before the era of ubiquitous k-pop, so it may be too retro for young viewers, but it holds the atmosphere perfectly. Add to that the fact that the drama was filmed on Jeju, in the States and in Africa, which even now doesn't happen often and gives it an unusual character. It's a story told on a grand scale but with attention to the characters and the coherence of the plot. I'm just watching it for the fifth or sixth time, and I heartily recommend it to those who like well-blown action, romance and revenge

Read More

The Oath of Love is a drama that great popularity not only because of the huge fandom of the actors playing the main roles. The script is rather simple. It lacks great tension and sometimes even sense, but maybe that's the point, because once the viewer gets used to this very light convention he or she will actually start to feel a certain pleasant lightness.
I won't lie, I quit this drama twice so weak was the story. The relationship between FL and ML was artificial, forced and trite. But at some point this changed and something really sparked between the viewer and the drama.
I don't rate this drama very high because it had too many shortcomings. However, I rate it above average for the fact that at one point it really brought something light and enjoyable. If you're looking for thrilling action, an intriguing script and intelligent dialogues, you won't find them here, but you'll find plenty of warmth and smiles, so if it's raining outside the window, I recommend this drama to improve your mood.

Read More

I am writing this review two episodes before the end. I've read some criticisms about this drama and I'd like to answer them here.

I guess the main criticisms are too much talking and not showing some important duels/fights. For many, wuxia is mostly associated with fight scenes, but for me it was a big plus that not all problems in this drama are solved with the sword. This doesn't mean that there are no fights. On the contrary, there are and they are very well, very interestingly shot. However, the characters also try to use reason and heart, not just fists. As for the omission of certain fight scenes, specifically one, that fight certainly would have been spectacular, but not showing it was an aesthetically and emotionally graceful move. It also gave a bit of tension due to the uncertainty of the fate of the combatants. This is one of the elements that made this drama extraordinary.

Excellent set design, beautiful costumes, good camera work, shots that convey the atmosphere of the scenes and their tension, plus good filters, appropriate lighting and perfectly fitting music make this drama a good one to watch. The plot is okay. I personally wasn't particularly interested in it, but it's interesting and logical.

As for the acting of the main three characters, you can see that they're trying, but you can also see that they're still lacking in experience. They did a good job for their level and may become good actors sometime in the future.

My admiration and great respect went to Baron Chen as Su Meng Zhen. I have to say that the dignity, power, and prowess of his character really resonated in my perception of the drama. He was great at playing with his eyes. This actor deserves to come to the forefront because his Su Meng Zhen was absolutely perfect with all his weaknesses. Actually all the background actors were excellent, but Baron Chen was like a maestro.

Overall I have excellent impressions about this drama. It has some minor flaws but I easily forgive them. My rating grew from a 7 on the first episode to a 9. The drama is technically superbly done, beautifully aesthetically pleasing, has an interesting storyline, and a very good cast because although the main three were not perfect, they did their job. I will definitely return to this drama as it is one of the most beautiful, best shot and best acted dramas in recent years.

Read More

This drama has its advantages and disadvantages.
Pros: interesting concept, interesting characters headed by ML and the General, great secondary characters (ghosts) and a really funny sense of humor (at times). This is currently the only drama that piques my interest and I look forward to each episode with excitement. I have real fun watching it.
Cons: The reincarnation theme (watching it I feel like I'm listening to a broken record), scenes that just have to be in every k-drama (I'm really sick of them), a villain that doesn't smell like danger or horror at all despite doing very bad things. You just don't feel the atmosphere.
But overall this drama is great fun just sometimes boring :)

Read More