Reviews

Original Korean storytelling set in a unique Filipino setting

I've watched both the original and our very own adaptation, and I must (and sorry) say, I liked this version more than the original Korean version.

In this adaptation, the storyline is switched to the rural Philippines during 1976 which falls under the Martial Law Era of the Marcos Regime. Compared to the original Korean version which is more simpler, the Filipino version is much more colorful and lively with scenes filmed in Greece and Batangas, Philippines, particularly the countryside house and the market scene which was filmed in Taal Heritage Town. The barn and other props in which were not originally part of the countryside house were carefully and wisely designed and created by the production team.

The two main leads had great chemistry together. Rabin and Angela perfectly nailed the roles originally played by Song Joong Ki and Park Bo Young. They both gave justice to the original actors and their roles. Candy Pangilinan was a great comic relief, and Albie Casiño played Yoo Yeon Seok's villainous role very well. I also find this adaptation more humane and emotional than the original version. I loved how they portrayed the older Sara (played by veteran actress Lorna Tolentino) in her current self upon reuniting with Boy (played by Rabin Angeles) without switching back to her younger self unlike in the original version. I also loved the Acacia tree scene which wasn't in the original film. The film also has 2 theme songs: the Tagalized version of "My Prince" by Angela Muji and "Mahal Kita, Walang Iba" by RabGel. Love both songs, but loved MKWI the most. The ending scene was also touching and meaningful.

Recommended for fans of both K-Drama and Filipino Drama. The adaptation remained faithful to the original storyline while blending in with unique traditional Filipino cultural elements. Already watched it a few times, and I enjoyed it very well. Hope you enjoy it too, even if you're not Filipino. Kudos to the director and production crew for this wonderful adaptation of a Korean classic hit. More power to RabGel💪❤️

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Cute and Confusing

I didn't watch the series first but there were a LOT of plot holes. I'm usually not a stickler for plot logic but there were several gaping plot holes and it wasn't the English translation like it often is.

This is a story about a boy who was somehow abandoned as a young child, then found and raised -solo- by a middle schooler. He feels overly indebted to his adoptive hyung/parent, and is working several part time jobs to become financially independent. There seems to be some hint that his hyung harbors romantic(?) feelings(?) and maybe that's why he's being so aggressive about wanting to become independent? He becomes a boyfriend for hire and there is like 10% chemistry. But the actors are both cuties and very awkward. Then his boyfriend-employer's boss wants in on the deal and also hires him as a boyfriend to make her actual boyfriend jealous. Actual boyfriend goes off the rails breaks up with boyfriend-employer's boss and starts stalking her. So in response, she goes to the hyung's bar and apparently talks him into disappearing (?) so that boyfriend-for-hire has to run the bar alone (?) and also become dependant on her, as well as break up with the original boyfriend-employer. Time passes and boyfriend-for-hire randomly (?) finds his hyung at a park, and they sort of (?) reconcile (?) and then boyfriend-for-hire and boyfriend-employer randomly (?) meet at a bus stop and reconcile with kisses. Then boyfriend-for-reals-now pitches an app idea to his real boyfriend and his ex-girlfriend-employer/his boyfriend's boss. and she gets really flirty and intense but approves the sales pitch.

This was a meh, the actors were all cuties and there was no overarching negativity. It wasn't particularly funny. Just kinda cute. The story made no sense at the end.

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Even knowing, it still hurts

I watched this mostly because of Cha Hakyeon, and honestly I’m glad I did. Although the movie has some flaws, it’s still such a sweet and simple love story. The chemistry between the characters feels natural and warm, which makes the emotional moments hit even harder. What stayed with me the most is the message underneath everything: even when life is unfair and painful, you still keep loving, dreaming, and moving forward without giving up. The music adds so much emotion to the story, and by the end I was completely destroyed. The ending is incredibly sad and emotional… and even when you know it’s coming, it still hurts.

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Overall, an irreplaceable film. Engaging characters, a compelling plot, writing choices along the way that are not attached to just following established tropes. If you haven't watched it yet, don't read up too much and just watch it. Not actually knowing what kind of story is being told is a big part of the interesting way things play out.

My only criticisms are my own personal preferences. It is a bit too horny. And certain characters don't get as satisfying an ending as I would have liked. But this is not a rosy drama so not every plotline will be wrapped up with justice and comfort as the point. The story is more focused on being *raw* and really looking into the complex situations of the characters.

Well actually I do have one other criticism and it might be a big one, depending on how you want to look at it. But this film, at times, seems to be showing a dark side of sexual appetites and voyeurism... but doesn't the film do the exact same thing? Commodifying female sexuality for a horny ass audience... -_-

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What if you changed every day

First of all, if you are familiar with this story from the kdrama -- these are different stories that merely share the underlying premise of what the "magic" is. BOTH ARE WORTH WATCHING!! <3

This one is the movie, and it is very good. I love the underlying premise because it really does ask fundamentally, "Who are you separate from your body?" and "How much of how you are seen, is based on your body?"

These are such important questions, and exploring them in the context of romance is extra interesting.

The vibe of this movie is pretty thoughtful and a bit melancholy; the film style is maybe reminiscent of French film?

One of the only challenges, for me, is that this movie's specific approach to this plot never has the main character have a "baseline" appearance. This makes is a bit harder to invest in the character, but also makes it that much more impressive when the movie *gets you to anyway*

Also the whole furniture maker angle is very cute and charming. Really got me wanting to learn to make furniture!

Which also serves the metaphor very well, as we shape our lives to fit who we are... a person whose identity is less "stable" faces many challenges that a more stable person will not understand. And their loved ones also face their own challenges trying to love someone who is always changing. And this movie takes the time to actually engage these ideas. <3

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An interesting peek into those affected

Interesting peek into a women's prison, and the way lives are affected by it. This is a slightly gritty look at actual lives. Not gritty in the sense that there is anything particularly shocking in the content, but more that it does not add any "kdrama polish" to anything. Just real people, living in the real world, despite often not having many options, still working toward figuring out their place in the world based on the options in front of them.

The writers really put in some extra thought into a few metaphors and symbolism used, which adds a nice touch as the overall story and message settle in.

When you are passing a bus with the same number, give them a wave.

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Let the Children Fight

Physical fighting is common in very young children, but they soon learn how to express their emotions and solve problems with words. It’s usually best to avoid fights, but sometimes fighting it out seems to be the best option, especially for children. In this movie, we follow high schoolers who often use their fists, along with one strange girl who gets involved in the fights and tries to set the record straight. The film contains a bit of drama, comedy and action.

The story wasn’t very convincing. The comedy provided a good refreshment every now and then, but the best part of the movie were the action scenes. Although it wasn’t believable to watch a girl fighting boys — especially since we never see her train — the fight scenes had strong energy and felt satisfying.

I actually don’t know what this movie wanted to achieve. If it was meant to give young actors a chance to act, then I understand. But from a story perspective, I don’t see anything particularly memorable. Or maybe I’m already too old for high school movies.

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Fun, Enjoyable Movie

I recently rewatched this Thai film on aThai Airways flight and it reminded me why it left an impression on me the first time.

One of the highlights for me is the chemistry between Baifern and the male lead. Their interactions feel natural and emotionally convincing. There’s a certain charm in how they play off each other that carries the film through both its lighter and more dramatic moments.

Having watched several other movies starring Baifern, I can confidently say I’ve become a fan. She brings a consistent warmth and hrt looks surely helps and this film is no exception. Her performance here is natural and believable.

Even though this movie was done 5 years ago, it still holds up well today. The themes feel relevant, and the overall execution remains enjoyable.

Overall, I would definitely recommend this movie—especially if you’re a fan of Thai cinema or looking to explore more of Baifern’s work. It’s an easy, satisfying watch.

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Absolute peak Korean action cinema

First screened at Cannes 2026, when none were expecting anything new to come out from zombie franchises anymore, director/writer Yeon Sang Ho is here to prove them wrong, this time around with fresh new implementation and insanely stellar performances, even bested himself after all the monster flicks that he has done in recent years. It has plot development and storytelling that makes actual sense, the heightened suspense is top class from all the settings that they've built, which gave the movie one of the most convincing villains ever in Korean movies. Acting performance is intense and the action sequence is sleek and highly believable, absolutely peak Korean action cinema.

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Zombie with Wifi/Bluetooth

Its an exciting zombie movie with a great story line and straight to the point, you feel the danger and wonder how would they stop it small twist here and there but you notice them early so by that i believe you already know what to expect.
The acting is good except there some actors that have the same emotion throughout the movie cough jun ji hyun cough which lowers its rating but others are cool
the ending is not satisfying in my opinion and there is some plot holes that if they were fixed it could reach the hype of train to busan

But in general good watch try it.

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BATTLE ROYALE 2: REQUIEM FINALLY ANSWERS ONE HARD-HITTING QUESTION: what if movies were bad?

Obvious spoilers ahead. I tried to avoid anything major in regards to character deaths or plot beats. However, I do mention a specific scene and what happens in it, as well as what happens in the first ~20 minutes. Read at your own risk...? Is that how that saying goes?
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I first watched this movie roughly three months ago. I have not rewatched it a single time. Despite this, I find I have more to say about it than I did back then. The longer I think about this film, the longer my criticisms become. Because this film is just Remarkably bad. I really struggle to understand how this happened. This'll mostly just be a word vomit of criticism because I need to get this out.

At first glance, the plot doesn't seem that bad. In fact, it's almost compelling! A movie taking place after the first movie that has the protagonists of the last movie become terrorists that the government wants to hunt down could be interesting, but this film really fumbles it. I'm not usually one to judge logic in an unrealistic film (my favorite movies become incredibly stupid if you think about the logic for more than a few seconds) but Wow this was really stupid! Every character was really stupid and the plot was really stupid!! There's a rule they implement at the beginning that just... makes no sense. I imagine it's trying to say something about how governments needlessly kill their own people, including children, in war? But it's a sloppy way to deliver that message, and takes away any suspense or emotional weight that the character deaths could've otherwise had.

On that topic, the pacing in this film is terrible. Honestly, it's difficult to talk about the pacing because I have never seen a film with pacing this terrible. I'm genuinely at a loss for words and I do not understand how you can mess up while directing THIS terribly. Nothing happens in the first 30 minutes, then there's a headache inducing action scene that should hold emotional weight but just doesn't. This continues to happen the entire movie, with long strings of really boring scenes that try to build characters (but fail) and then bursts of jarring, confusing and most importantly, meaningless action. Even when important things Are happening, it feels like nothing is happening.

While on the topic of characters, the characters are so poorly fleshed out that when they inevitably die, you feel nothing. This is especially upsetting when it comes to the one character that had potential, AKA the daughter of Kitano's character in the first movie. The beginning of the movie is spent focused on her and trying to build her up, but after that, they sideline her and focus on... some classmate of hers that has an incredibly boring backstory and motivation. Okay. They try to give her more weight later on but once again, it falls flat. Another character they squander is actually the protagonist of the original movie, Nanahara. I won't go into too much detail as to not spoil anything too hard, but Nanahara goes from a sweet and compelling character in the first movie to a washed-up failure of a revolutionary in the sequel. I've never seen a sequel ruin a character quite like this film does with him, he is completely unlikeable and as per usual for this movie, stupid.

Now, as much as I cannot stand this movie, I do appreciate the attempt at commentary. Note the use of the word "attempt", because while on the surface I agree with the messaging on the United States, imperialism, nuclear warfare and resistance, it is handled just as poorly as every other aspect of the film. The first Battle Royale's commentary is incredibly tactful and effective, whereas this one simply Tells you "THIS IS ABOUT THE UNITED STATES!!! DO YOU GET IT!!!!" while barely showing how. I will not give a terribly handled movie props for having a message I agree with. I would've given it its flowers had they handled it even marginally better, but they didn't.

Even my favorite part of the movie, that being Takeuchi Riki's insane performance, shouldn't have been part of it. It was incredibly entertaining and funny but that doesn't fit what the movie is trying to be at all. I'm glad he was part of it though, because its a glimmer of "so-bad-its-kino" comedy in an otherwise unbearably stupid and boring film.

The movie isn't all bad though! There's a scene where Takeshi Kitano asks his teenage daughter if he should kill himself that's probably supposed to be emotional but instead comes off incredibly humorous. It's also not relevant at all to the story! 10/10, no notes. it's beautiful.

If you want a movie like Battle Royale with compelling characters and good directing, don't watch this. If you like war movies and want hard-hitting anti-US government, imperialism and war commentary, still don't watch this! There are so many movies that handle these topics with more tact and grace that you could watch instead. there's no reason to watch this unless you're a Kinji Fukasaku completionist, and even then this shouldn't count because he only directed One scene in it before his death. It's sloppy, terribly paced and drawn out. Not worth your time in the slightest. Kenta Fukasaku got what he wished for with outrage for the sequel, but probably not for the reason he wanted. Instead of generating outrage for the messaging, he generated outrage for how boring it was! So maybe he should've been a little more specific with his wishes...

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