1
Anthojay
The best modern political kdrama ever made
The whole production value is just too mindblowing, the depth of the storyline is incredibly insane and the level of scale is unimaginable, it's leaving you speechless over and over again literally after every plot twist. This will go down as the best modern political kdrama ever made in history and it's soaring past others by a very huge leap, almost monumental for any kdrama scene. The screenplay has extremely precise execution of political strategies and intelligence battles, every single threat design is carefully handled based on logical consideration that fits seamlessly into multiple environmental factors and connections, like a perfect art of war. Acting performances are needless to say, they're best in class and definitely the strongest hold of this drama, it's like watching real politicians strive against each other in reality, a total reflection of modern politics in today's world.Was this review helpful to you?
Tragic and brutal, but quite superficial
A great representation of the social ladder within a limited setting, it was able to fit in huge social commentaries that were remarkably brutal and precise. The plot however is slightly superficial for most of the time, even though it was psychotic enough to raise enormous emotions, it lacks the logical sense that could realistically reflect against the outside world, and the excessive use of abstract concepts can only serve that much for its artistic purpose.Was this review helpful to you?
Improved screenplay over previous installment
The major box office success of The Roundup series has brought us here to the fourth installment of the franchise, Punishment. Similar structure to the previous one, it had lesser action scenes and more towards story focus, but somehow this one is twice as much better than the lukewarm effort in No Way Out. All thanks to its improved screenplay and smoother flow of plot, it is much more cohesive than before, and the digital gambling case is interesting enough to provide a great hook for audiences. The cast is also much more favorable here, we have the return of Park Ji Hwan and his performance is simply too magnificent, till a point he almost carried the whole second half of the movie. Then we have new villains, Hyun Bong Sik is surprisingly underrated and his presence is massive even though he's just the villain sidekick, and finally needless to say, Kim Moo Yeol as the main villain is the ultimate right choice, he's freaking intimidating and quick at stunts too. Meanwhile the choice of ending is a little too weak because they've made the villain look thoughtless given how he ended up at the final fight location, but nonetheless they've regained their reputation this time around as the most prominent movie franchise in Korean action cinema.Was this review helpful to you?
So little has been done to its storyline
So much potential on the premise yet so little has been done to its storyline, let alone the style of shooting and overall structure of the drama. There's a mutant, a serial killer, bunch of thugs, and that's pretty much it, the story didn't really progress a lot despite having shorter runtime. The gore content also does look somewhat cartoonish where of course they're taking reference from that famous comicbook superhero production you know it. At least Jung Hae In and Go Kyung Pyo still did their best in their acting skills, which is the only thing appreciable in this drama.Was this review helpful to you?
Unfolds like fine makgeolli
The plot style is none other than classic kdrama formula but that's not the problem here because the execution was so good it's worth its production value. It works great mainly due to the fact of it being only 4 parts weighing at 180 mins of total runtime, it's super lightweight yet able to fully support the storyline while eliminating excess clichés. The chemistry between the leads is so distinctive it unfolds like fine makgeolli, fizzy and tangy at first, but warm and bittersweet afterwards.Was this review helpful to you?
Money Heist: Korea - Joint Economic Area - Part 1
0 people found this review helpful
It's tough to even live a simple life that we've all dreamed about
Great plot arrangements and good use of every character in this clash of political ideology not particularly suited only for korea but a phenomenon happening globally. The underlying problem of this society is straightforward, it's tough to even live a simple life that we've all dreamed about under such discriminatory economic distribution. A team of distressed people trying to form a new ideology by reaching extreme means because nothing really matters anyway, and in its course, it's apparent that "bad persons" are not always too bad, and "good persons" who rule the society with wealth and power are not too good either. To relate the tragic situation, the drama is beautifully shot in dystopian fashion, battle strategies and action scenes are cinematically crafted, can't wait for part 2 to release soon!Was this review helpful to you?
Gigantic and visionary
Having the main lead changed was a very huge loss to the production, yet they were able to make up for it with some extravaganza stuff that is completely out of this world. An ulimate world building of complex systems with a full blown religious war that spans across the far stretched political spectrum. All the buildups that lead to the action sequences were perfectly executed in great cinematic techniques and how it plays out with the plot is just extremely clever. It is truly a visionary production for Netflix Korea, unbelievably intense from the start to finish without a break, a complete madness that will leave everyone speechless for sure.Was this review helpful to you?
Most of its plot revolves around a closed setting
The movie seems to have a large scale resistance movement theme but actually most of its plot revolves around the interrogation of five suspects in a remote torture area at a seaside cliff, only until the ending the story expands into something bigger, but still the closing sequence is quite unsatisfying because at the end someone else becomes the alternate villain which is kinda weird for this kind of movie. Despite that, the cinematography and soundtrack is excellent enough to give it a somewhat artistic finish.Was this review helpful to you?
One of the best intimacy in any Korean movie ever
Strikingly hilarious right from the start till the end, and the great chemistry between Seohyun and Lee Junyoung, it has so much warmth in them and they're totally immerse with each other's acting, all of the scenes are also shot with really delicate touches like the color tone. The flow of the story works practically well which is relevant to the reality, peaked with an epic ending that's very lovely to see. Even without being explicitly sexual, the movie is able to achieve one of the best intimacy in any Korean movie ever.Was this review helpful to you?
A whole premium ballad music video
The concept is actually nothing new but it does have the ability to uphold a high production value, despite it being quite a typical kdrama for most of the time. The cinematography is amazing, which looks like some really premium ballad music video, the calm and soothing feel is the whole highlight of the drama. The storyline has good direction but basically the logical sense can be ignored for good, fortunately it was able to capture the essence of how a public figure has to sacrifice their private lives in order to maintain their image for business. The ending is so heartfelt and realistic for both of the leads, which is intensely intriguing and delicate.Was this review helpful to you?
Could be more impactful
An artistic sci-fi movie that ponders about existence and subconscious, cinematography is very delicate in making those futuristic scenes look ethereal. It has high level intelligence for its setting but the story it tells doesn't seem to have the scale to match that. There is no overwhelming cinematic climax due to limitations on the character design, but what it has to offer is the wholeheartedly affection of someone important in life. It's still a beautiful film that's excellent enough to be anticipated while the untapped potential remains to be explored.Was this review helpful to you?
Korean cinematic phenomenon
Extravaganza cinematic visionary that is more extraordinary than ever, this could very well be the most monumental achievement ever done in a war film. The naval battle sequence lasted for an overwhelming 100 minutes in hyper realistic visuals and intense actions that are totally out of this world. The well arranged narrative is also mind-boggling enough to maximize the tension of the political struggle alongside some really insane acting performances, everything is simply too phenomenal in this movie.Was this review helpful to you?
Promising premise but less impact
Extremely mundane style of storytelling, most of the scenes were done using silent suspense but sometimes it's really a little too much for such a simple story to be stretched this long. Visuals is the stronger aspect of this movie, that seemingly permanent grease and greyish hue smudges the small suburb which doesn't look like having much of a future, it really sparks the underlying pressure for the poor to abandon their morale just to survive the unjust in this corrupted society. It's a promising premise in gritty and stylish low tone, but can't really say the same for its lukewarm impact towards the ending.Was this review helpful to you?
More complex storyline, but weaker fight sequences
Guy is back again after a year, whether it is an upgrade this time around, the answer is both yes and also no. The story building is more intensive in this third installment as they go for a more complex structure of a three way conflict that involves a lot more thought process, and the implementation of the characters are great along with the flow of the story. Now onto the weakness that this movie had, which sadly should be its main selling point, the action choreography. The franchise that was known for having masterclass martial arts sequences, somehow turns out not as powerful as the first and the second movie, fight scenes here were a little plain and dull, punches get simpler and battles get shorter, which feels like a rushed production. The previous two villains also fare so much better in terms of fighting skills and the pure charisma on screen, whereas the villain here is just not that intimidating and thrilling. It also has a weird tone that relies on too much humor to push the plot forward which almost becomes a full blown comedy. Well i guess sequels are just not that easy to preserve its excellence but I hope the next installment could really do better than this.Was this review helpful to you?
The meaning of meaningless life
Huge appreciation for the writer to be able to speak for every lonely person out there, providing a little meaning for the meaningless life. It may not be a lot but it's already enough for that little happiness and understanding to happen through its literal storytelling along with its heartfelt characters. Every dialogue and choice of word fits perfectly into our harsh reality, the acting is so deep down it calms every wandering soul like a true companionship. Even though it's densely packed in 16 hours of runtime, it's able to contain almost every modern societal problems out there that you could think of, and also tackling life progression at different kinds of stages. It may be tedious and tragic, but the sad and melancholic instinct within us will always ponder questions on why we exist, why am i here, while working hard to adapt into this familiar yet uncertain world. After completing this drama feels like covering in a warm blanket and having a great listener beside us, that little comfort is exactly everything we need.Was this review helpful to you?
