Reborn Rich (2022)

If Machiavelli knew the future, had a pack of abs and the world's baddest grandfather...

Listen to me. Before reading this review, I need to ask you a question:

Why do you want to watch this drama? Is it because you just want to be entertained by unbelievable but extremely exciting twists at every turn or you want a drama with solid writing, realistic and logical storyline with no plot holes whatsoever?

If your answer is the latter, then our conversation ends here and I would have to regretfully say my goodbyes but if your answer is the former? Then, please. By all means, stay.

Reborn Rich is pure adrenaline rushing, thrill inducing crack of a show that offers you absolute entertainment for all of its 16 episodes.

So let me explain what you’re going to like about this show:

☑️ Song Joong Ki kicking absolute ass:
Song Joong Ki’s character here is this brilliant edge lord who is out for revenge, equipped with the power of the future, an IQ of 600 and skin that’s as smooth as a baby’s butt. While he is not the most well layered character out there with incredible depth or substance, he does excellently deliver your quintessential hot, charismatic and conveniently overpowered oppa character that’s easy to root for and puts on a great show.

☑️ The baddest grandfather alive:
The biggest winning point for me was definitely Lee Sung Min’s grandpa. His character is as vicious as they come. A true anti-hero with the greatest business acumen, greed for expansion and corporate ruthlessness. For all intents and purposes, the grandfather is a character with flaws and yet the one that you will come to love the most. His relationship encompassing love, compassion, respect and at times rivalry with his grandson (Song Joong Ki) is easily the highlight of the entire drama.

☑️ Acting and Music:
The drama is complemented with an emotional and powerful soundtrack that beautifully underscores impactful scenes. Moreover, the acting is excellent across the board which is unsurprising considering the veteran cast. I am not the biggest fan of Song Joong Ki’s work and I do believe he tends to only play certain types of characters he is comfortable with but even I have to admit that he really shines in some of the scenes in Reborn Rich. Acting wise, for me this is his best work yet.

☑️ Storytelling, politics and the battle of wits:
As someone who is doing her MBA and is an Economic major, I absolutely ate up all the business politics and corporate talk. The main lead knows the events of the future and uses that knowledge to play with stocks and investments so it benefits him. His back and forth with his rivals is so entertaining to watch. The politics and scheming aspect is executed quite well and never gets boring or stagnant.

☑️ The controversially out of the box ending:
Ok, so this is something you might not like. The majority of the people hate the ending and I can see why. I, for one, absolutely loved that they attempted to go so out of the box with this one. I wouldn’t in my wildest dreams have been able to predict the way the drama ended. It’s a very brave and ambitious route to take and while it doesn’t have the best execution, it’s still a commendable attempt by the writer.
I loved the way the author was able to run the story of a brilliant, young potential heir of the powerful Sunyang group parallel to the poor, desperate employee working at the same Sunyang and let the two worlds coincide beautifully.

Now, let’s go over the drama’s weak points:

❌ Romance and the female lead:
This is an unfortunate pattern that most female leads in a Soong Joong Ki drama are mere props with not much contribution to the plot. The female lead is the same here and the actress who isn’t given much to work with in the first place, delivers a quite bland and unexciting performance. The couple lacks any substantial chemistry and the romance isn’t believable. This is why it has been a relief for me that throughout the drama the love story was just a sub plot and shelved to the back whenever it mattered.

❌ The Execution:
Like I said, while I understood what the writer was trying to do with this, the execution is choppy at best. You have your favorite truck of doom making quite a few appearances, you have extremely convenient plot devices trying haphazardly to fill up the writing loopholes.

If you consider the way the story flows, it just doesn’t have the best writing out there. Some characters aren’t given proper development, others are introduced just for plot procession, while others are taken out abruptly or change drastically for the same purpose: to move the story forward or fit a particular narrative. Ultimately, this drama is more focused on the next big thing rather than the nitty gritty's or the development of its characters.

✅ Ending Thoughts:
This is the drama that you watch if you just want a good time. It has its emotional moments (especially in the way it masterfully explores the relationship between a prickly grandfather and his overly intelligent grandson), its moments of laughter and lots of scheming and fun twists.

Right from the start, it's obvious that the show requires a lot of suspension of belief and logic because it's just not that deep.
So if you’re willing to take it as an easy entertaining journey, then there’s no reason you shouldn’t be immersing yourself in pure Sunyang madness and hatching your own plot to take over the world!

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An Insult to The Author.

I have created an account for the purpose of writing a review for this series, I haven't a clue, how this sorry excuse of an adaptation has a rating above 8. It is my sincere request to each and every one of you to go and read the Web Novel or for an even better experience, the Webtoon adaptation of the Webnovel, the author of the series and the characters he has written deserve better and I will explain why.

1. The Plot : The problem with the plot is that, in the novel, the MC dies and goes back in time as the son on the Chairman's estranged but his own son he has with his wife. In the drama, since it would be difficult to view the character as someone else, it is made so that this particular grandson had the same face which is Song Joong-ki. The ending is even more disastrous, it is a thorough insult to the author of the Webnovel.

2. Characters: Lee Sung-min as Jin Yang-cheol was perfect, his acting skills had me in awe, but the entire characters, regardless of the casting were no where near as deep as the original work. Jin Yang-cheol is a complete sociopath, he is an indomitable wall, the wall that has defended Soonyang and the general that spear headed it's growth, he is not a vulnerable person and his ability to think rationally and stay calm is what makes him a truly scary character, the essence of Jin Yang-cheol who I would argue is more important to the series than the MC was lost, he was a broken old man in the series. Jin Yang-cheol is feared by his children because they know he would rather take Soonyang to his grave than give it to his children, he wants them to steal it from him, yes 'steal' is the right word and that is how much of a sociopath he is.

The MC is actually a lot smarter, he does not get out maneuvered, he is always steps ahead of his enemies, to make the series feel like a thriller, unnecessary twists and turns were added. The characters in the original work have a deeper story and better development, they don't want Soonyang just because they think "I should be the rightful heir", it gets a lot more complex than that. The original work also has romance, they removed a good portion of it.

I do not claim to be an expert on K-Dramas, but this series, is a complete bastardization of the original work, the author and his hard work has been insulted in my opinion, I could write a lot more, but the more I write the angrier I get. I have nothing but absolute pity and contempt for those who gave this pathetic adaptation anything above a 2 star rating. I implore my fellow audience to look beyond the cast while deciding to rate a series.

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