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kobeno1
Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA
This review may contain spoilers
Moving is Riveting and Touching Story-Telling!
For anyone whose first time venturing into K-dramas, you’ve just unlocked a treasure-trove of some of the best shows in the world. As good as “Moving” is, there are a lot of “just as great” or even better shows out there. I’m speaking mostly to the Hulu/Disney subscribers rather than the Netflix ones.
Moving is a tremendous series about generational people with special abilities. This isn’t your typical “superhero” series, which is a good thing. In many ways, it’s much better than that.
Over the last 30-35 years, people with special abilities have been slowly cropping up. Lee Mi Hyun has heightened senses (much like Daredevil). Kim Doo Shik has the ability to fly. He’s also a master marksman, capable of placing a bullet anywhere he wants. And Jang Joo Won has the ability to regenerate, making him virtually impossible to kill, although we later find that he cannot regenerate lost organs, like an eye. However, much like “Wolverine” he can’t get drunk or sick, although it’s never mentioned if he has a slower aging process. These three represent the first generation of people with special abilities, and of course, what do you think happens when the government finds out? Yes, they want to use them for their own sinister plots.
We also find that North Korea also has people with special abilities, and it doesn’t take long before one government is trying to outdo the other. And just because it’s North Korea doesn’t necessarily mean that things are so black and white. In fact, there is a lot of gray when it comes to both countries. Min Yong Joon is the evil South Korean member of the NIS (National Intelligence Service) whose sole desire to find those with special abilities and bring them into the fold…by whatever means necessary. His North Korean counterpart is no less diabolical. And we even find that the CIA is also involved, trying to oversee things in both countries!
We learn that special abilities can be handed down, and that the “next generation” inherits the abilities of both parents, if they have them. Kim Bong Seok is a sweet high school boy with an infectious smile and personality to boot. His mother, Lee Mi Hyun, does her best to protect him from being discovered, as Bong Seok can fly AND he also has his mother’s heightened senses as well. He gets ready for school with his mother putting weights on him in order to keep him on the ground. Whenever Bong Seok experiences happiness or joy, he automatically begins to float. This leads to a few hilarious moments, especially when he’s around Jang Hee Soo, Jang Joo Won’s daughter, who also has regenerative abilities.
There is also Lee Kang Hoon, who has enhanced speed and strength, which he inherited from his father, a simple-minded but equally sweet father who jumps from rooftop to rooftop much like the Hulk.
The Koreans are masters at their craft when it comes to writing. This 20-episode story begins with the children and shifts to the adults and how they came into being as well as their initial roles with the South Korean government, and finally we get an epic battle at the high school between North and South Korean superhumans, waging an all-out battle for control of the information. The end might surprise many in the way it shifts back to the real villains of the story: the respective governments.
The series is very much grounded in reality. When the children engage in battle for the first time, it’s very clear that they’ve never been in a fight. While they have special abilities, they have no experience, especially against those who do. What we get is a very dominating victory by the North Korean operative, and that’s exactly what would happen. Bong Seok looks very much like “The Greatest American Hero” during his first attempts to fly. And while Jang Hee Soo is athletic, she has no fighting abilities.
You may be surprised to find out that the last battle takes place over the last four episodes, but there is a lot of backstories that is told to give us a clearer picture as to what has happened to Kim Doo Shik (if he’s alive or dead) as well as what is happening in the South and North Korean governments. Koreans are superb at always revealing just enough, but not giving the viewer the whole picture until later. Therefore, many of our assumptions and perceptions end up being skewed and incomplete. In short, nothing is as it appears to be, and you cannot automatically declare the North Korean operatives as “bad guys” because we don’t know the whole story.
Joo Won is probably my favorite. The man is selfless and a man with a big heart. His romance with his wife is touching and heartfelt, and when he loses her, we share his anguish and despair. He struggles to live a life away from the NIS, but despite his abilities, he’s always roped back in. Of course, his primary motivation is to protect his daughter, and Lee Mi Hyun is no less dedicated. While overprotective and overbearing, her heart is in the right place.
Performances are first-rate across the board, from the actors portraying the adults to the ones portraying the children. At first, I was upset that they cut away from the kids to cover the adults, but their story is equally riveting, and soon, I couldn’t get enough of them either. This was beautifully done, because by the time the final battle begins, we’re fully vested in the adults as well as the children. A good “superhero” story always puts the human element first, rather than the abilities. Those who do this end up with a masterpiece, such as we have here. Why? Because in the end, we still want characters we can relate to.
Things are certainly left open-ended for a sequel series. “Uncanny Counter” and “Strong Girl Bong Soon Do” are still among my favorite series about people with special abilities, but this one is equally good! And at 20 episodes, you will certainly get your fill!
Moving is a tremendous series about generational people with special abilities. This isn’t your typical “superhero” series, which is a good thing. In many ways, it’s much better than that.
Over the last 30-35 years, people with special abilities have been slowly cropping up. Lee Mi Hyun has heightened senses (much like Daredevil). Kim Doo Shik has the ability to fly. He’s also a master marksman, capable of placing a bullet anywhere he wants. And Jang Joo Won has the ability to regenerate, making him virtually impossible to kill, although we later find that he cannot regenerate lost organs, like an eye. However, much like “Wolverine” he can’t get drunk or sick, although it’s never mentioned if he has a slower aging process. These three represent the first generation of people with special abilities, and of course, what do you think happens when the government finds out? Yes, they want to use them for their own sinister plots.
We also find that North Korea also has people with special abilities, and it doesn’t take long before one government is trying to outdo the other. And just because it’s North Korea doesn’t necessarily mean that things are so black and white. In fact, there is a lot of gray when it comes to both countries. Min Yong Joon is the evil South Korean member of the NIS (National Intelligence Service) whose sole desire to find those with special abilities and bring them into the fold…by whatever means necessary. His North Korean counterpart is no less diabolical. And we even find that the CIA is also involved, trying to oversee things in both countries!
We learn that special abilities can be handed down, and that the “next generation” inherits the abilities of both parents, if they have them. Kim Bong Seok is a sweet high school boy with an infectious smile and personality to boot. His mother, Lee Mi Hyun, does her best to protect him from being discovered, as Bong Seok can fly AND he also has his mother’s heightened senses as well. He gets ready for school with his mother putting weights on him in order to keep him on the ground. Whenever Bong Seok experiences happiness or joy, he automatically begins to float. This leads to a few hilarious moments, especially when he’s around Jang Hee Soo, Jang Joo Won’s daughter, who also has regenerative abilities.
There is also Lee Kang Hoon, who has enhanced speed and strength, which he inherited from his father, a simple-minded but equally sweet father who jumps from rooftop to rooftop much like the Hulk.
The Koreans are masters at their craft when it comes to writing. This 20-episode story begins with the children and shifts to the adults and how they came into being as well as their initial roles with the South Korean government, and finally we get an epic battle at the high school between North and South Korean superhumans, waging an all-out battle for control of the information. The end might surprise many in the way it shifts back to the real villains of the story: the respective governments.
The series is very much grounded in reality. When the children engage in battle for the first time, it’s very clear that they’ve never been in a fight. While they have special abilities, they have no experience, especially against those who do. What we get is a very dominating victory by the North Korean operative, and that’s exactly what would happen. Bong Seok looks very much like “The Greatest American Hero” during his first attempts to fly. And while Jang Hee Soo is athletic, she has no fighting abilities.
You may be surprised to find out that the last battle takes place over the last four episodes, but there is a lot of backstories that is told to give us a clearer picture as to what has happened to Kim Doo Shik (if he’s alive or dead) as well as what is happening in the South and North Korean governments. Koreans are superb at always revealing just enough, but not giving the viewer the whole picture until later. Therefore, many of our assumptions and perceptions end up being skewed and incomplete. In short, nothing is as it appears to be, and you cannot automatically declare the North Korean operatives as “bad guys” because we don’t know the whole story.
Joo Won is probably my favorite. The man is selfless and a man with a big heart. His romance with his wife is touching and heartfelt, and when he loses her, we share his anguish and despair. He struggles to live a life away from the NIS, but despite his abilities, he’s always roped back in. Of course, his primary motivation is to protect his daughter, and Lee Mi Hyun is no less dedicated. While overprotective and overbearing, her heart is in the right place.
Performances are first-rate across the board, from the actors portraying the adults to the ones portraying the children. At first, I was upset that they cut away from the kids to cover the adults, but their story is equally riveting, and soon, I couldn’t get enough of them either. This was beautifully done, because by the time the final battle begins, we’re fully vested in the adults as well as the children. A good “superhero” story always puts the human element first, rather than the abilities. Those who do this end up with a masterpiece, such as we have here. Why? Because in the end, we still want characters we can relate to.
Things are certainly left open-ended for a sequel series. “Uncanny Counter” and “Strong Girl Bong Soon Do” are still among my favorite series about people with special abilities, but this one is equally good! And at 20 episodes, you will certainly get your fill!
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