rachel
Singapore
I felt that the movie tried to cover too many themes and relationships, which made its coverage of everything too shallow. Some themes include the relationship between Soo-Ah and her brother, the parallel brother-sister relationship between Soo-Ah and Ki-Sub, Soo-Ah's struggle with her blindness and trying to be independent, the psychopathic killer himself and his cruel, cruel deeds, etc. As a result, I don't have a good idea of any of these themes.
Kim Haneul's portrayal of a brave, blind woman is worth the watch. Yoo Seung Ho doesn't have as much onscreen time, but he is cute as always.
Despite its flaws, the movie contains some pretty suspenseful moments that will keep you holding your breath.
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Let's start with the good points: star-studded and gorgeous cast, gorgeous colours, stylish sets & shooting locations, and moving music.
Additionally, the show started off really well. Song Hye Kyo (Young) and Jo In Sung (Soo) have great chemistry, and it's exciting to watch Soo do all he can to con his way into the hearts of Young and those in her core circle. Kim Bum (Jin Sung) and Eun Ji (Hee Sun) also contribute some laughs to this show.
Now that brings me to the bad: because of that great chemistry, I felt there were several uncomfortable moments in the show between the pair (can't say more without giving it away). And the story disappointingly deteriorates (towards the final third (approximately) after the good start.
There were so many unnecessary twists and turns in the story that did not contribute at all to my understanding of the characters, or their motivations for their past actions. I went into this with my eyes fully open that it was a makjang type of show - full of tragedy, chaebol antics etc. However, I expected more seeing that it was from the writer of Padam Padam, which was tragic, moving, and TOTALLY MADE SENSE.
I would only rewatch this drama for the cute moments between Soo and Young, as well as Jin Sung and Hee Sun.
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It is a charming show at best. The two lead characters' personalities are polar opposites, making them a pretty good fit. More so, they share the same morbid sense of humour and way of looking at their remaining days on earth. In a sense, the story stays true to the title of the show - 'Never Ending Story'. Even though the characters know they face terminal illness, they must live on as normally as they can - EVEN if the subject matter of their dates are pretty heavy stuff, like looking for urns or choice funeral parlours.
Uhm Tae Woong and Jung Ryeo Won are not too bad in this show - they do a decent job.
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Yoon Shi Yoon and Park Shin Hye make an adorable pairing, probably due a lot to Yoon Shi Yoon (who is such an adorable, speed-talking puppy in this show). He balances the mischievous and insightful sides of his character, while Park Shin Hye does well as the shy and withdrawn heroine who grows out of her shell. I love the way all the characters enter each other's lives to challenge their assumptions and perceptions for the better. This is a nice ensemble cast, but not exactly the best out there.
Kim Ji Hoon has entered my list of ahjusshi hotties to look out for - his character Jin Rak is so endearing. Your heart just breaks a little for me every time he plays the better man and tries to put Dok Mi first, but unfortunately you just know he's the type who can never get the girl.
The conflict in the last few episodes felt a little draggy and weighed the show down a little for me, but I still appreciate the way the characters were written.
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What I like about this movie is the simplicity of the story, and how it does not all take place in the courtroom, which tends to drag down the pace of the movie. Ha Jung Woo, Park Hee Soon and Jang Hyuk all give great performances as the defence counsel, prosecutor and the suspect. Ha Jung Woo is fantastically charismatic and interesting to watch onscreen as the seemingly nonchalant lawyer who grows in the process of defending his client, Park Hee Soon plays a really enigmatic and mysterious prosecutor who seems to have a hidden agenda in his pursuit of this case, and Jang Hyuk does not give away much in his portrayal of the suspect.
I love how the movie is written to constantly shake your assumptions and cause you to doubt your theory - so did he do it or not? Be patient as all will be revealed in the end. A great thriller!
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Initially, I was sceptical of the Kim Hee Sun-Lee Min Ho pairing - among the usual concerns are the age gap - but it grew on me and I like the mature way the romance was played out, probably helped by the writing (no unnecessary noble idiocy and a very forthright couple in this show). Thankfully the show isn't just driven by the KHS-LMH romance, but also by other relationships, which I particularly liked - the relationship between the king and queen, between the king and LMH's character, and the camaraderie & brotherhood amongst the Woodalchi.
There are moments of comedy in this show - the transition KHS's character makes from 2012 Seoul to 14th century Goryeo, and all the modern language and habits she brings with her. At times the villains are hilarious.
Several scenes were poorly executed - weird transitions from scene to scene, music not being used properly to add to the mood of a scene, not enough grandeur given to action scenes etc.
I felt that the story was only adequate for a 20 or 22 episode long drama - 24 episodes felt way too long and I gradually got bored towards the end because several conflicts and threats by the villains were recycled and I was just pleading with them to act on their threats so I could see some plot movement happening. Thankfully the ending was good, but it sure took the drama WAY too long to reach that point.
This had the potential to be a great show, but unfortunately it is just a good show.
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The cast is nearly perfect, with the exception of the second female lead. Jae Hee and Han Chae Young have great chemistry as the lead couple. Jae Hee gives a heartfelt and comical performance at the right moments, showing his character's growth from a mollycoddled high school student to a college student who takes ownership of his relationship and makes a stand for Chun Hyang and himself. Han Chae Young feels too mature for the role of a spunky high school student at the start of the show, but she grew on me especially when her character graduates from high school and matures.s
Uhm Tae Woong performs the role quite suavely - an evil second male lead who goes all way out to thwart the relationship. I also grant him a concession because he is the Uhmforce. The second female lead is just mehh for me - in fact out of the four, she's the only one who has no name recognition at this point in time. She just performs the role of antagonist, as written. In fact, she has the kind of face that makes me want to slap her when she comes onscreen. Both second leads are just PURE EVIL.
Like another reviewer said, few characters will emerge from this drama blameless. Most of them have done something to hold the relationship back from progressing - but I wouldn't call them Nice Guy-type dysfunctional. The only two who seem to have common sense and foresight is Ji Hyuk and Mong Ryong's father. Even Dan Hee, who at the start seems to be a harmless and well-meaning friend, but at some point in the show, she started to grate on my nerves.
Pacing of the story starts well. After episode 8, it starts to be frustratingly slow but thankfully picks up towards the end of episode 10. But, the way everything is tied up by the end of the show leaves much to be desired.
The music is just alright. In fact, it gets very repetitive and it becomes obvious that the same tunes are used when certain themes and characters come up in the story. Pretty boring.
The wardrobe for this show, especially Chun Hyang and Mong Ryong, is pretty atrocious on hindsight. I don't understand how these clothes could have been considered trendy during that time. I would not allow anyone I care about to wear them in public.
All in all, even though there are many flaws, the show is spirited and full of heart. It also receives lots of praise since many Korean drama fans started out on this drama, of whom I am one.
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It is definitely very stylishly put together, assisted by the glamorous Macau and Hong Kong cityscape, and gritty Busan apartment buildings in the backdrop. Most of the main characters well developed, with the exception of some supporting characters, whose backgrounds we had a a peek but were never quite fully explained. But if this was done well, it probably would last EVEN longer than the approximately 2h 20min duration (which is more than long enough for me). For me, this is the most interesting part of the film.
Besides some exciting action scenes, particularly those that involve wire work, there are many funny scenes too, especially those involving Gianna Jun, Kim Soo Hyun and Oh Dal Soo. The music was pretty snazzy and added to the exciting scenes of the movie.
There is no need to overanalyze this movie. Suitable for general entertainment.
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This movie really is about both friendship and brotherhood. I am no expert on North-South relations, so I don't know how realistic it has been portrayed through the events in this movie, but I think it has been set up very well to show how both characters dealt with the conflicting loyalties they felt to friend and country.
The pacing of the movie is done very, very well. We are thrown right smack in the early stages of an operation, which escalates quickly. This quickly drew me into the movie and left me hungry to know what would happen next. The next part of the movie afterwards was slower in pace but was full of both funny and exciting moments, and left me emotionally invested in the friendship between the two main characters, followed by the last third of the movie where the pace picked up and left me on the edge of the seat. The ending was well-written.
I am surprised that I have not heard more buzz about this movie. This is a must-watch!
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Unfortunately most of the action happens at the start, and then at the end of the movie. I did hope the movie could explain more how Jung Tae Min built his empire to become the top in Busan. I think Kim Kang Woo and Joo Jin Mo put it good performances as the brothers who share a love-hate relationship, portraying the conflicting emotions they feel towards each other and the difficult past they've had.
Overall verdict: alright in terms of action, with a moving story about brotherhood.
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Won Bin is an ahjusshi on a mission. Even though the relationship between him and the girl drives the movie, they share surprisingly little screen time. Most of it is spent on him while on the chase, some of it on the villains, then some of it on the police who are on the chase for this mysterious ahjusshi and the traffickers. The action scenes are pretty exciting and I appreciate the camera work and varied angles used to give us a good idea of the frenetic pace of the fights.
I would not watch this again, if only for the gory and bloody scenes that are pretty hard to swallow. If any at all, its rewatch value probably lies in the subtly quiet and moving moments between Won Bin and Kim Sae Ron.
Won Bin seems to be quite fussy about what he works on. My guess is he will not return to K-dramaland which is frantically paced and hence exhausting. This makes every film and TV drama he has ever worked on even more precious.
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I am no fan of horror movies at all. However, with this one, even the supposedly scary scenes where ghosts appear (helped by the usual scary music and pale ghost faces) are mostly undercut by humour (vastly helped by the mischievous music) and sometimes have happy endings. There are also plenty of purely comedic scenes. Within the first 18 minutes of this movie I was already tearing from all the laughing - no joke.
This is a mostly light-hearted movie, filled with some sad moments about the effects of Yeo-ri's powers on her, and heartwarming moments with the ghosts. The ghosts that haunt Yeo-ri have not gone into the afterworld because they still have things to settle on earth.
On an unrelated note, this is the second movie I've seen SYJ in where she goes to a batting cage, the first one being A Moment to Remember, but in this one her character is good at it, but in AMTR, her character is hopeless at it. Hmm interesting.
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The lead couple have sizzling chemistry - you can feel the intensity of their love for each other and the mutual attraction. Jung Woo Sung's character Chul Jin - he's the man every guy wants to be, gruff, oh-so-cool without being pretentious, and the man every woman wants. Dependable, caring, loving, and will sweep you off your feet, all at the same time.
The music is well-chosen, reflecting the whimsical and fairytale-like romance they experience during their courtship, and then the bittersweet tone of the second half of the movie.
I discovered this movie by accident on my local TV channel many years back, but could not complete it because it was too late at night. Glad to have finally finished watching it. Dementia may slowly erase your memories, but it can never take away from the happiness of the moment, the joy of experiencing the here-and-now.
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The tone of the movie is generally quite gritty. Some scenes that take place in the dark were, literally, so dark that I had to turn up the brightness on my laptop to the maximum. Frustrating, but not a major problem. I also really like the featuring of foreign blue-collar labourers speaking fluent Korean alongside Go Soo, something we never see in typical Korean dramas and movies.
Kang Dong Won's performance as a soft-spoken hobo-looking man with Professor X-esque abilities of mind control is positively terrifying, powerful enough to command an entire army of humans turned zombies (essentially that's how they behave even though they are still humans). It's my first time watching KDW so I will now check out other projects of his. It's a pity he is no longer interested in working on TV dramas. The funny thing is how 'uglified' the two leads are made to look when they're hotties in real life.
BUT, I didn't exactly understand the ending. Not sure if I'm stupid for not understanding it.
Kids, use your powers wisely!
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There are some cute moments between the lead couple as they get to know each other. However, there are some other random moments in the movie involving supporting characters like the friends of Kim Hanuel's character, which don't seem to be relevant at all to the main storyline.
There are no surprises to be expected - after all, with a period of cohabitation between 2 people, there's bound to be mutual attraction and we see that playing out as the line between a pet-master relationship and a romantic relationship start to blur.
Don't expect too much if you want to enjoy it. Recommended for a light-hearted movie break.
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