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The Butterfly
This review may contain spoilers
"Refugees are people, too. They live and breathe."
Black Knight didn't add anything new to the dystopian world genre, but it was an engaging and entertaining drama at the perfect length. It was long enough to give the viewer time to care about the characters and also didn't bog down and overstay its welcome. For a world short on oxygen, it knew just how many breaths to take.
Kim Woo Bin as delivery man 5-8, in his oversized coats was perfect as the leader of the delivery people and refugee rebels. Having survived a massacre, he knew exactly what the Cheonmyeong corporation was capable of. The Chairman's son, Ryu Seok, wanted to eradicate the refugees and keep the status quo with the haves having all the oxygen and resources in their underground relative utopia while the refugees gasped for air and dealt with a lack of food, medicine, education, and jobs on the dusty surface.
Kang Yoo Seok as Sa Wol was the cocky young upstart mutant refugee who entered the fight ring in order to become a delivery man. Again, nothing new in the winner takes all fight to the near death or death to gain a dystopian prize, but the scrappy and sympathetic Sa Wol made it easy to care about him. Esom as Seol Ah, was the dutiful soldier who was not afraid to bend the rules by hiding Sa Wol in her house and raising him for a decade. As the story went on, she and 5-8 would have a different reason for going to the mountaintop, each taking their own road in order to bring Ryu down and save the refugees who were marked for death.
Kim Woo Bin did a great job as the delivery man who delivered more than food and oxygen, he delivered hope and justice. Song Seung Heon was elegantly despicable, proving why nepotism is a bad thing. The story had some lapses in logic and could have delved more into certain plot points, but the charismatic performances overrode the plot holes a delivery truck could have driven through.
Black Knight highlighted how the 1% in charge of resources was unwilling to share and capable of almost any atrocity against refugees that they didn't see as holding any value. It was in their best interest to keep the people divided into classes. The company and their lifestyles trumped any good they could have done for the surviving masses. For Ryu, the people were never grateful enough for the oxygen Cheonmyeong allowed them to breathe---those whom they decided were worthy to breathe.
"The only thing necessary for evil to triumph in the world is that good men do nothing." (Source debated) The politicians, military, refugees, and delivery people would have to decide what they were willing to do to build a world for all survivors. Black Knight could be dark at times and was unafraid of sacrificing characters in the deadly fights, but it also shone a light on the goodness of people as they fought to create a better world for everyone, not just for some. This might not have been a perfect drama, but it was perfect way to spend a few hours on a rainy day.
5/12/23
Kim Woo Bin as delivery man 5-8, in his oversized coats was perfect as the leader of the delivery people and refugee rebels. Having survived a massacre, he knew exactly what the Cheonmyeong corporation was capable of. The Chairman's son, Ryu Seok, wanted to eradicate the refugees and keep the status quo with the haves having all the oxygen and resources in their underground relative utopia while the refugees gasped for air and dealt with a lack of food, medicine, education, and jobs on the dusty surface.
Kang Yoo Seok as Sa Wol was the cocky young upstart mutant refugee who entered the fight ring in order to become a delivery man. Again, nothing new in the winner takes all fight to the near death or death to gain a dystopian prize, but the scrappy and sympathetic Sa Wol made it easy to care about him. Esom as Seol Ah, was the dutiful soldier who was not afraid to bend the rules by hiding Sa Wol in her house and raising him for a decade. As the story went on, she and 5-8 would have a different reason for going to the mountaintop, each taking their own road in order to bring Ryu down and save the refugees who were marked for death.
Kim Woo Bin did a great job as the delivery man who delivered more than food and oxygen, he delivered hope and justice. Song Seung Heon was elegantly despicable, proving why nepotism is a bad thing. The story had some lapses in logic and could have delved more into certain plot points, but the charismatic performances overrode the plot holes a delivery truck could have driven through.
Black Knight highlighted how the 1% in charge of resources was unwilling to share and capable of almost any atrocity against refugees that they didn't see as holding any value. It was in their best interest to keep the people divided into classes. The company and their lifestyles trumped any good they could have done for the surviving masses. For Ryu, the people were never grateful enough for the oxygen Cheonmyeong allowed them to breathe---those whom they decided were worthy to breathe.
"The only thing necessary for evil to triumph in the world is that good men do nothing." (Source debated) The politicians, military, refugees, and delivery people would have to decide what they were willing to do to build a world for all survivors. Black Knight could be dark at times and was unafraid of sacrificing characters in the deadly fights, but it also shone a light on the goodness of people as they fought to create a better world for everyone, not just for some. This might not have been a perfect drama, but it was perfect way to spend a few hours on a rainy day.
5/12/23
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