Reviews

The base story itself is nothing new but the concept and execution will keep you on you toes. There is a light back ground story here that hits you full on in episode 8 but otherwise this is a very episodic show with each case wrapping up at the end of every episode.
That does not detract from the story at all, in fact some how it enhances it. You get some truly awesome action scenes, including Yamada kicking backside in his wheelchair. You forget that this actor has not been in this wheelchair for years, he has made it a part of his person. That makes me appreciate the actor even more.
This show tackles heavy topics and makes you stop and think, even if you don't want to.
THIS SHOW IS AMAZING!

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Soul searching.

This is an absorbing sci-fi suspense thriller built around themes relating to the immortality of the soul and its ability to reincarnate after death. The city's top prosecutor Liang Wen Chao (Chang Chen) takes on a high profile, inexplicable and grisly murder of a terminally ill tycoon. As Wen Chao examines the key suspects - the son, the young wife, the deceased ex-wife and the business partner, cutting edge technology and superstitious rituals intersect to further muddy waters already tainted by greed, love, hate, misplaced loyalty, revenge and man's futile quest for immortality.

Without spoiling it, I think the whodunit aspect of it is quite well done from the way the suspicion shifts from one suspect to another until the impossible is eliminated down to what remains as the improbable truth. I did not completely buy into some of the motives of the key suspects and I was irritated by the over-acted supernatural twist that failed to deliver the chiller thriller effect it was striving for. As for the howdunit aspect I will just say it was much more fiction than science but this is the case with most sci-fi thrillers. Since it does deliver an interesting twist, it is very forgivable so just go along with it and suspend disbelief.

This movie's strongest selling point is Chang Chen and Janine Chang's performance as the core investigative team and lead couple. The kind of stoic, desperate soldiering on Chang Chen does as a terminally ill man desperate to do his best for A Bao and their unborn child with what little time he has left is heartbreaking and moving. This is really Chang Chen's best role in terms of how he conveys such deep emotions and soul searching with so few words and how his journey gives him unique insight into the victim. Beyond his incredible weight loss, I was also riveted by how effectively Chang Chen conveyed the impression of a man calling upon the last legs of his energy, whose mind is very much alive as his body fails. This is not a love story but because of amazing acting by the lead couple, I can see the depth and complexity of their unspoken emotions, how well they just fit together, understand and sacrifice for each other. This is the part of the movie that will stay with me.

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Pretty heartwarming & cute drama~

Saw the posters and heard about the plot of this drama before it released and brushed it off thinking it'd another one of those time traveling youth dramas BUT then I heard about its high ratings on Douban (8.6 the last time I checked which is very good compared to other dramas' scores) and decided to give this drama a go. And I am so so glad I did!

Plot:
You may think it is pretty cliche after reading the synopsis on here but it was very unique in its own way. First time seeing a drama where the daughter goes back to when her mom is in high school and then befriending her mom from then until college graduation. Li Jin Bu was pretty immature, doing whatever she wished, before "time traveling" but after spending time with her 17-year-old mom and mom's family and friends and seeing how her mom grew up, as a viewer, I could see her change. The writer wrote this drama well to show the youthfulness of the gang of friends and the adding in comedy, romance, and family. It wasn't draggy at all and went by at a good pace. There were some scenes that had me burst out into laughter and some touching scenes that made me tear up.

Acting/Cast:
Never seen any of the cast before except the actress who played Li Jing Bu but I am glad to say they all did very very well. Everyone embodied their characters perfectly, drawing me into their roles respectively. I especially love how well they cast young and the older Li Qing Tong because the actresses conveyed their emotions beautifully as if they actually are one person who grew up. The way they carried out their lines and showed their character's feeling in their eyes deserves to be applauded. The male leads (or whatever you shall call them) were not only very handsome/cute but they acted beyond my expectations too- will definitely follow these blossoming actors.

Music:
Loved almost all the tracks but my all time favorite has to be the ending song-六七月 by 赵贝尔. The opening song was good too and I love how the leads sang it together in the drama too. So talented! The actors who played Duan Xiao and Chen Jun He respectively also sang a solo song each which both sound good too. Do check the OST out~

Rewatch Value:
I don't usually rewatch dramas since I remember what happened halfway into the drama but this one is pretty worth if it ever comes down to a rewatch session of something sweet, funny, and youthful. 24 episodes isn't too much to rewatch too so that's why I gave the score I did.

All in all, quite worth the watch over this summer. Some people didn't like how they ended it but I think it was a nice way to tie everything off since how else can you explain the "time traveling?" I do wish they'd add maybe an epilogue so we can see Li Jin Bu meeting Chen Jun He in present time? Wishful thinking but yeah, please don't hesitate to try if you like youth dramas with comedy, romance, and family!

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Quem diria, hein? Kidnap tem um relacionamento mais saudável que muita série fofa por ai

O negócio começa com o Min, que é ator e dublê, vivendo o caos: irmão doente, dívidas até o pescoço, e aí ele aceita a genial ideia de sequestrar um jovem milionário, o Q. Pois é, já começou errado. Só que tudo piora quando o chefe manda ele matar o menino… e o Min simplesmente não consegue. Em vez disso, esconde o Q em casa e finge que fez o serviço. A partir daí, é ladeira abaixo.

O que eu gostei é que Kidnap não tenta enfeitar crime. Tem dilema moral, culpa, sobrevivência, romance e suspense tudo junto. E sim, Min e Q têm química, daquelas que dá gosto de ver. Mas o que mais me ganhou foi ver o Q, mesmo machucado (e com um pezinho na síndrome de Estocolmo), se recuperando aos poucos, voltando pra terapia (ponto extra, porque BL mostrando terapia de verdade é quase um milagre) e o Min virando o porto seguro dele. Foi sincero, e isso me pegou.

Foi gostoso demais ver um romance saudável se desenvolver, mesmo tendo começado de um jeito bem torto. Não teve aquela romantização absurda do crime ou do trauma, e sim um crescimento gradual, com respeito e cuidado real entre eles. A relação foi sendo construída com confiança, apoio e afeto genuíno, e isso fez toda diferença pra que eu me importasse com o casal até o fim.

Agora… não é perfeição não, viu? Essa ideia de uma quadrilha dar uma missão dessas pra alguém tão inexperiente quanto o Min é meio “ahn?”. Fora umas escolhas de trilha sonora que me tiraram da cena na hora, parecia que eu tava vendo outra coisa. E teve umas decisões de roteiro que me fizeram revirar os olhos, mas ok, segui.

Visualmente, é mais bem produzida que muito BL por aí. E o romance aqui não é jogado no colo da gente, tipo “amor à primeira respirada”. É algo que cresce na marra, com peso dramático, com trauma junto. O Q passa um sufoco real, e a série mostra isso sem apagar tudo com aquele famoso “o amor cura tudo” que a gente já conhece e detesta.

Eu vi gente elogiando a química natural, aquele clima que vem de olhares e tensão real, e também o cuidado com o trauma do Q. Mas também teve quem detestou e achou tudo raso, mal dirigido e com personagens de uma camada só. Ou seja: não é unanimidade.

No fim, Kidnap me pegou justamente por ser confuso, moralmente torto e, ainda assim, ter uns momentos de verdade que te acertam no peito. Não é pra ver esperando fofura, mas se você curte personagens quebrados tentando se encontrar no meio do caos, essa série entrega justamente isso.

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I am speechless. One hour well spent. I really have no idea how this 1-hour drama could give me so much feels.

Although this is actually a typical drama storyline, nothing special or unique, I really like how the story and the pace are displayed. It is a 1-hour drama, but it does not feel rushed. Everything is going smoothly until the very end. I think the casts and acting play a big role in making this drama a spectacular drama. All of them portray their characters so nicely, I can really feel their emotions, chemistry and everything else. I am familiar with Jinyong and Soo Bin. However, I am not familiar with the other main lead guy. Nevertheless, I really hope to see him in more dramas in the future. Besides being an eye candy, he is really good at conveying his emotions. Good job! In terms music, the end music is super nice. I love it. It is very memorable and it is currently giving me an earworm ._. Hmm.. although it is good, I dont think I will rewatch this again, it is good for a one-time watch hehe

However, despite the 'perfectness', I do feel that there are some plotholes. Some of the problems are not clearly solved. I do wish those problems could be solved clearly but then considering the 1-hour time, I can let this slide :D

Overall, perfect! Recommended! ;)

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Not amazing but weirdly I loved it??

disclaimer: I have never read the webtoon so bare with me on this one

This show is badshit insane, and I LOVED it.

The premise of a woman who turns into a dog by kissing people? I am confused, but nonetheless intruiged, something about weird plotlines allures me what can I say. I described it the best in a quote I wrote while watching, "ugh this kdrama is everything a kdrama should be, stupid as hell plot, cliche upon cliche upon cliche, awkward situations UGH IM IN LOVE". Like yes sign me up. Now, what I didn't know I was signing up for however, was the actual amazing romantic chemistry and heartfelt connections that paint this show in an absoloutly beautiful light? I was strapped in for a silly time why am I suddenly crying????

WHAT IS GOING ON? :
Now, I have to adress the ginormous elephant in the room, that is literally everything but the budding romance between the two main characters, cus none of it really made any sense, like at all..?? Like beforementioned, the show mainly foces on our main female protagonist Haena who has a special ability. Her family suffers a curse that makes it so every female born, literally gets turned into dogs when kissing someone for the first time. Okay?? But why?? Now that is the question isn't it. Throughout the show we get small flashbacks that all point to the reason for this curse, but it's not explained fully until the last couple of episodes.

In a previous lifetime (iknow ofc ), Haena and her love interest Seowon ends up in a tricky situation. Haena is the maid of a princess(?) or daughter of an emperor(?) or something I don't know (my memory sucks), and to save her lover, she reveals the whereabouts of this princess to some bandits that wants to get her. What Haena isn't aware of however, is that the princesses lover is literally an all-mighty mountain spirit (???), who somehow mistakenly thinks that Haena and Seowon actually KILLS HER, thus resulting in the mountain-spirit cursing all of Haenas bloodline through generations.
You see how everything kind of imidiately falls apart?

THE SAVING GRACE:
Looking away from all the previous lives, magic spells, curses and mountain spirits however, what is this show really about? Haena, together with Seowon (love interest) and Bogyeom (mountain spirit in hiding), is a highschool teacher trying her best to navigate the ups and downs of romance and dating, while having a terrible dog-kiss curse. She has a crush on fellow teacher Bogyeom, and wants to confess her feelings for him. In a moment of true desperation (she was drunk at a work gathering), she decides it's finally time. And, not only does she confess, but she also KISSES this man, being fully aware of her curse. But uh oh! It turns out, she was so blackout drunk that she ends up mistakenly kissing Seowon, the other teacher at the gathering, and she totally freaks out and runs away cinderella style (she turned into a dog). Now the show is about Haena trying to inexplicably get Seowon to drink with her? So that she can kiss him again? Before it's been 100 days? Or she is going to stay a dog forever?

It might just sound like I'm dunking on this show, again, but just trust the process. Basicly, this forces Haena to go out of her way to talk and interact with Seowon as much as humanly possible, so that she can lift the curse before it's too late. Throughout this pretty long period of them interacting more and getting into whacky (kill me) situations with eachother, they honestly build up such a believable and trusting relationship it makes my heart ache. Seowon is conviniently afraid of dogs (I have to laugh), and Haena helps him overcome this fear. After this their romance builds up in an extremely natural and satisfying way and you almost forget how fucking weird this show actually is, cus the chemistry is simply TOO DAMN GOOD. Both the main actors perfomances are so good and it just made me really buy their connection and relationship, especially when put in dangerous situations and all the other shit that happens in the later episodes. They FEEL like a real, honest to god couple, and they play it so extremely well. Also them being lovey-dovey legit made me want to die so if that's not the bes confirmation of good performance idk what is.

IS EUNWOO HOT ENOUGH TO GIVE A GOOD SCORE?:
This show, is a show :)
Personally, I give it an 7.5 for story, because it seriously drags in the middle with the mountain-spirit guy, and it was so excruiciatingly boring to the point where I almost stopped watching, BUT I can't give it anything but a fucking 10 for romance. The cast is SO GOOD and Eunwoo really put his heart and soul into this role, I swear I have never seen him act as hard as this ever. True Beauty is seeing this and crying.

All in all, I loved a lot of it, but a lot of it was also extremely boring. I had to skip most of the parts of the mountain-spirit guy in the last episodes, because I just could not for the life of me pay attention or pretend to actually give a shit about his character, his story or motivations. Also, if they were going to reincarnate his lover from their previous life (which they do btw oops), why of all things reaincarnate her as a highschool student MINOR, while the mountain-spirit was a grown ass adult teacher at the school she was attending? Their dynamic was so off and I was so weirded out every time they interacted. ALSO ALSO, in the end they tried to pair her up with eunwoos nephew anyway, SO WHAT WAS THE POINT? She basicly did nothing for the story and her character mostly just confused the hell out of me.

Anyway, Eunwoo ate down, Haena is my mom and I never want to take a walk in a mountain in South-Korea.

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Here, "living" is the simplest thing.

Being The Winner of Magnolia Award Best TV series of 2024, & Having a Grand Rating of 8.9 in Douban, "我的阿勒泰" /My Altay/ "To The Wonder" is one of the finest & Sincere productions of China that came out in recent years. It's a cultural tourism work of Northern Xinjiang but the Cinematic quality is truly magnificent. A Storytelling like a roaming raconteur, Picturesque Cinematography, Excellent Camera work & Direction, Every shot is immersive, and Every Actor perfectly embodied their roles.

At the age of 19, Li Wenxiu stood at a crossroads in her life and asked a writer she admired what to do during a lecture.The writer said, "Go love, go live, go get hurt". It felt like the original author Li Juan's self narration, this drama is adapted from her eponymous essay collections, the original work is a record of her own life experiences as an adolescent living in the Altay Mountains, living with her Mother & Elderly Grandmother alongside nomadic Kazakh herders for several years. They migrated & moved ranches with the herders, run a general store, worked as small tailors sewing clothes, picked wild mushrooms deep in the mountains, & experienced a close-up look of lives of this ethnic minority, Prolly the reason why this drama felt so Genuine. The best part of watching was the rawness of it, be it the characters or the landscapes, or the relationships & the conversations that came along with it...Customs, traditions & Cultural aspects of the ethnic minorities were interesting to watch, Zhang Fengxia's dynamic with her daughter & mother was chaotic, funny & heartwarming at the same time, the chemistry between Male & female lead was Calm, soothing & refreshing. Ba Tai & His family with other minor supporting roles & their journey with the Main characters created a blended experience of immersive storytelling.

Yu Shi is So Manly Handsome & a pleasant discovery of Acting Talent. Such a natural aura out there with bare minimum Makeup & styling. He is horse-riding, singing, playing musical instruments, doing archery, & speaking Kazakh half-fluently. His Ba Tai is Charming, youthful & gentle at heart. Zhou Yiran is such a pretty lady & she carried her role really well, watching them on screen have been an absolute pleasure.

This drama has a world of It's own, & it successfully made me appreciate that world of vast grasslands.In the remote northwest region of Altay, a land with Snow-capped mountains reaching into the clouds, dense forests, flocks of sheep, horses galloping freely, Kazakh boys on horseback, and Han girls in long skirts—the pure and bright vitality of life leaps off the screen. Everything is so picturesque, calm and natural, When things feel heavy in life, try this drama for a Scenic peace of mind.

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"I detest young offenders"

"Offender, Criminal, Killer" what comes to your mind when you hear these words?

Maybe, a maniac, a psycho or a monster and disgusting adult human being? But what about a child? In most of the drama/movies we see adults committing crimes, but young offenders exist too.

And this is what "Juvenile Justice" wants to remind us, that criminals can be anyone, even a little child. "Juvenile Justice" deals with a very interesting, yet very difficult and provoking theme. Fortunately, though, the drama succeeded in managing its heavy theme and ended up a very eye-opening drama for me.

As "Juvenile Justice" it's a law drama which deals with many inhuman crimes (and it's also a Netflix original drama), it's an R-rated drama, which contains a lot of violence, gore scenes but mainly, it contains a lot of scenes that may upset psychologically some viewers. In addition, the drama doesn't contain any funny moments, or comic reliefs and its pace it's slow too. Thus, the drama is indeed a heavy and difficult watch, it will punch you in the stomach without any pity for 10 hours straight. Therefore, be very careful when you make your decision to watch it.

The story

The story revolves around the Juvenile Judge Shim Eun Seok. Through her eyes we are able to see how Juvenile Justice works on many different cases and affects the involved ones and that's the biggest advantage of the drama.It approaches its topic from many different aspects and shows the two sides of the coin of crime but also the law system.

It has to be mentioned though, that the number of different cases may have a negative effect on some viewers because they won't like all the cases the same as the cases aren't on the same level and some are more interesting than others. Despite this fact, I believed that all the cases offer something valuable to the story and also, that the story's coherence is great as every event of the story is very well connected with the other so the overall story is very balanced.

The story starts with a shocking abominable and macabre case which gives a strong and promising start. The middle cases are milder but the story doesn't lose its interest neither becomes tedious and repetitive. The story throughout its whole run, asks moral questions and tries to make the viewers think of various different situations and dilemmas. The final case, the story’s finale, gives a decent and powerful closure. The story indeed leaves the best for the end as from all the cases, the last one is the most suitable for closure . Thus, the story manages to end without the feeling of being rushed or unfinished. To my surprise, Netflix made a (maybe) one season kdrama that is complete and I'm very glad and relieved about this.

There's a high possibility that the first case and some others are inspired and lightly based on real cases which have happened in Korea and I personally really appreciate it. It's very interesting to see how writers use real events to deliver their messages and basically, to see the impact these events had on them. In addition, the story feels more down to earth and more realistic. Korean dramas and movies have their way of making excellent and entertaining stories based on real events. Fortunately, "Juvenile Justice" is one of these stories. More details about the cases in the spoiler comment on this review (because they are, of course, spoilers).

The characters & acting

Almost all the characters of the drama have depth and their personalities are very well built. Their actions are always composed of their life experiences, scars, insecurities and the drama explored with success the reasons behind their behavior. None of the characters is perfect, everyone made mistakes and some learnt through them, some not. It’s pretty amazing how the drama made so many well written characters and developed their personalities through the story, this is very rare to see.

And of course, the actors did an amazing job portraying these complex characters. I couldn't be more satisfied with their performances. Their feelings were on point and the characters really came to life and took shape. There was also great chemistry between the actors that made the characters more bound and the drama complete and more impactful.

The production

Production is the last ingredient of a drama. It's the finishing touch that will make the drama more appealing. The "Juvenile Justice" 's production, as far as the directing is concerned, isn't one of Netflix's top-notch and artistic ones, but still, it's great and gives the drama the right tone and atmosphere, making the drama very decent and beautiful. The music is wonderful, full of emotions. It gives the right tone in every scene and it never feels off. The music is the cherry on top of the drama, giving you the last push to fall in love with it.

Overall

"Juvenile Justice" is a very tough watch and not an easy ride. Still, the things this drama will make you feel and think are countless. If you believe you can bear its cruelty, then "Juvenile Justice" really deserves a try because from the story, to acting, to production, this drama has the whole package. For me, "Juvenile Justice" is the first Netflix original kdrama I loved after "D.P. " and I'm glad I watched it.

~~~Epilogue~~~

"I detest young offenders". Young people are the future of humanity, humanity’s hope. When they behave like adults and commit crimes, the world loses its hope and everything becomes darker. Why do young people commit crimes? How can someone so young do such a macabre thing? Can we teach them what is good and what is wrong? Can we set them back to the right path? In the end, is it their fault or ours?

"I detest young offenders" because they are showing me how cruel the world is and how we fail to protect them.

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Korean films started to shine only recently compared to its fellow Asian countries. Swiri (or Shiri) is one of the films that started the South Korean cinema peek.

Despite the mega huge cast and great premise, I was actually a bit reluctant about watching this film. South Korean films started to shine after the millennium so watching something prior to that date is very risky but considering Swiri’s year of production (1999), it was a pretty cool film about a very appealing theme: The North and the South. I tend to adore productions about that theme; they always leave meaningful messages behind. This one didn’t disappoint.

Being a thriller, Shiri handles some plot turns wisely while others were plain predictable. Many “twists” didn’t surprise me at all. I don’t know, maybe because this is 15 years old so smart screenwriting didn’t actually hit hard but it wasn’t very fun to predict many turns of the plot. It’s not that serious though, it didn’t prevent me from enjoying this film to the fullest. Being a film about the two Koreans gives it too much potential to hit many important elements. I hate reviewers who compare this to some Hollywood films; this handles a very personal issue about Korea so it has nothing to do with the US’s filmmaking.

The other side of the coin is action; there were some pretty cool action sequences although I clearly saw some imitation to Hong Kong’s heroic bloodshed genre. I find nothing wrong with that because it added a delicious flavour to the action making of Korean thrillers. It was a pretty violent film and very up to my taste; brutal and pleasant. However, Swiri is not all about action; there were many dramatic moments and even romantic ones. It contained a good variety of genres to enlighten the mood, even the politic parts weren’t any complicated. I like entangled political clashes especially with the Korean peninsula issue but I know that many would find that very boring to follow. Fortunately for them, the plot followed a very simple political approach.

The acting was A class with both big stars Han Seok Kyu and Choi Min Sik ahjussi’s leading the film in the most stylish way ever. Beside them was another big Korean star Song Kang Ho ahjussi who succeeded in playing a supporting yet a well-crafter role. The characters weren’t that deep to be frank, they’re your usual action films’ leaders with great shooting skills and some intelligence to keep them going. But they didn’t feel shallow either, they had some interesting personal traits that made them feel memorable.

The cinematography was actually pretty good for a 1999 film. The explosions were alright but some of them felt completely fake, I can be lenient toward that because the director handled his camera angles and action scenes in a satisfying way.

Watch if:
-You like Korean thrillers because this is one of the films that started it all.
-You like Action thrillers.
-You like films about North and South Korea.

Do not watch if:
-You dislike Action thrillers.

Shiri is a remarkable Korean thriller considering its production year. It has potential to bring you immense entertainment if you appreciate recent Korean Action-Thrillers.

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Feel-good time travel story that leaves its viewers smiling.

A seemingly one-take sci-fi comedy that makes up for the lack in budget with creativity and lots of charm.

I had the best time watching this hidden gem. Starring a bunch of actors from a popular theatrical troupe and directed by Junta Yamaguchi, who doesn't have many credits to his name yet. The fact that this movie accomplished so much with so little is what made it so outstanding to me.

Given the time loop setting, it's a bit repetitive at first and takes some time to get into its flow since all characters have to understand the whole concept first. But as the movie progresses it just keeps getting more inventive, hilarious and absurd in the best way possible.

A compelling and whimsical take on time travel shenanigans proving that sci-fi doesn't always need a big budget.

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I'm not good with watching dramas that are younger (or older) than at least 2007, I don't know why but none of them seemed to pique my interest. Until I found this drama through my new-found love of Kimura Takuya... because of "Mr. Brain", of course! It was great to see Abe Hiroshi, Kadono Takuzo, Otsuka Nene, Takahashi Katsumi, and so many others in this series as well; the entire guest cast for each episode was fantastic. Kimura Takuya portrayed his character very well, it seems that he does the "air head but secretly a genius" role very well, I think. The script was very well written, the witty banter and the rapport between the cast was fantastically played out as if we were just watching a live camera feed from a prosecutor's office. If you were like me, and don't give "older" dramas a chance, then I feel sorry for you, because you're definitely missing out on this gem!!

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The summary makes it sound like a serious movie, but there are also some funny moments in it as well. It is not your typical story with an emotionless assassin that tries to look cool all the time.

What I really liked about the movie was that it was told from the four hitmans perspective. Their personalities and habits were really entertaining. I really liked the fact that one of them was narrating some parts. The characters were all well shaped out and the actors did a good job portraying them.

I think this movie is worth watching because it is funny, has action and some emotional
development from the characters. The mix seems just right.

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