Lately I have been watching a lot of korean dramas that just are so shallow and lacking that I haven't deemed them worthy to review, this definitely pulled me out of that stupor of 'korean dramas have turned to sh!t.' :P It's also been a long time for me since I binge-watched a drama and I just couldn't stop watching this one.
The story kept me guessing and was both so heart-wrenching and warm. Towards the end I cried a few times, but I find those dramas that make me cry get me so emotionally involved. The acting was great, obviously with Chun Jung-Myung and Choi Kang-hee was very convincing also. I hadn't really seen much of her acting apart from in Protect the Boss, so it was nice to see her in such a serious (?) role.
Honestly you should watch this right now!
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As I am trying to finish shows that I put off over the last year, I picked Healer back up where I left off, and within days have binged watched it because I was sucked into the storyline. I loved the interwoven storyline, the way that all of the characters were connected, and how sometimes the audience got glimpses of the past overlaying the present. Very cool.
The one thing I could have wished a little bit more for is a more concrete 'happy ending' but, given that this is more action based, I am happy that the plot resolved nicely. I'm just a sap who wanted more mush at the ending I suppose.
All in all, I ended up loving this drama about halfway through it. I loved the suspenseful elements, and how they kept the action all the way until the last few minutes of the show.
(I only marked the music down, because they use the song throughout the drama, as they do in many dramas, but it was used in every episode).
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Overall if you tired of regular kdrama / cdrama / jdrama foolishness this will not disappoint.
The acting is well decent too nothing award winning but the cast will keep you engaged.
One thing the director tries to make you believe is that his girlfriend exists...unfortunately this one is a dramatic fail. If the character has no interaction with anyone then of course you know shes not real! Also, the sets tended to be well bad college dorms classrooms...and who believes anyone in this cast is in college? No one!
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But, for the unpredictable plot twist and because of the amazing cast, it was a great movie. And Park Seo Joon performed very well in this movie. But I can't really say it is a good police.movie.
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Each of the four main characters were approached online by an 'entity' that identifies itself as the 'demon'. The 'demon' promised to fulfill their wishes but they will never find happiness. The main characters agreed to what the 'demon' offered and signed a lifelong contract with it. In return, the main characters received special powers that at first came in handy to help them but turned into curses that they slowly regretted. One by one, people around them disappeared or died and all of these crimes were somehow related to this 'demon' website. Through a series of circumstances, the main characters meet and after finding out they were all 'contracted' to the 'demon', started to band together to solve the mysteries. One by one the puzzle pieces are fitting together as the 'demon' prepares for a showdown with the world in what can be traced back to the mass murder case from 15 years ago.....
This drama is the perfect blend of mystery, action, sci-fiction, medical fiction, investigation and paranormal. There are some comedy as well when things get a bit too intense - which was a welcomed relief. The story started out with the 'demon' but towards the end, it makes you wonder about the opposite side of the 'demon' - the existence of 'good'. There was even a mention on the concept of Gaia at the final episode which totally delighted the sci-fi cum religious fiction geek in me! At the end of the day, you are left with a sense of wonder about human nature; just like what one of the main characters kept asking in the final episode: "Are humans naturally evil or good?"
Watch to find out! The ending explains everything - no loose ends left!
Excellent special effects and good acting. This drama is available in Youtube in HD and with English subtitles hard-subbed; so you never have to wait for Eng subtitles to watch it. What more are you waiting for?
Acting/Cast: Mostly new faces but they can act, so you won't be disappointed with the acting.
Music: Not much of music but the beginning and ending OSTs perfectly reflected the mood of this drama.
Rewatch value: I would say that this drama is split into five main parts:- Four parts on the stories of the four main characters and the final part begins when they meet and started to investigate the mysteries together. Hence, you can re-watch the parts or episodes of the character that you like. However, all of the parts are connected -which you will realise once our characters meet. Personally, I like the part when they meet and start to band together; that's when things start to come together and bits and pieces from the back stories of our main characters start to make sense. And of course, I love the ending! I am glad they extended this drama to 17 episodes to give us a perfect and unhurried ending. Well done!
Overall: If you haven't check this drama out yet, you should! This is an unexpected and delightful gem for year 2016! What a wonderful way to end the year and just two sleeps away to Christmas! Merry Christmas & Happy New Year 2016 everyone!
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The big bro is just something else. Hes a flirt at work but his girlfriend is from hell. Shes got princess syndrome and he doesnt seem to be bothered. She gets so annoying you wanna slap both of them
The sister is a tomboy and does jiujitsu so shes though as nails but shes still a girl inside. Her mouth expression is funny
Baby brother is just pain weird. Hes a nerd and he follows aliens
Hao yang ( the boyfriend) is eye candy esp with his eyeliner and he does great with his hopeless romantic side. Hes a total playercand heart breaker.
The parents are a mess esp the dad but everything works out for all of them in the end
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The drama has gorgeous posters and interesting description, with overall wonderful themes to work with (family, the burden of royal duties, betrayal, brotherhood, forbidden love) but I guess the team of directors, writers and producers just weren't ready do right with something of this scale.
In hindsight, it would never become the chinese Game Of Thrones as everyone was expecting. Not that I like Game of Thrones that much (I dropped at the fourth season), but I really think that the hype was the worst thing that could have happened to this drama, because:
1) this is more similar to tolkien than george martin.
2) this is a drama for children/early teens
3) the huge budget spent was most for the CGI (and itsn't good)
4) it has too many episodes for the poor paced plot
Firstly, about the FANTASY aspect: it was difficult to believe in the world they were trying to portray when everything was so fake - from their pointed ears that at some camera angles you could see weren't even glued right (they were slipping!!), the scenery with bad paper-maché, the world that didn't follow its own rules except when it was convenient and the powers that didn't make sense. All in all, they could have worked on the worldbuilding more than the CGI (that failed horribly).
PLOTWISE, the story could have been great but it was just dull and childish. There were many moments when the silence was awkward, or the conversation was dumb, or the character's action almost made me cry (and not for good reasons). The events were poor paced and I had to reread the description over and over again to remember myself why I chose this drama. Their worst mistake was going for so many chapters and bad writers - I dropped at the 20th episode because the writers were still "lost" at that point!
The ACTING, well, as in every fantasy the characters are sterotyped but the director took it a little bit too far. Honestly tho, I can't fault them much because they were clearly following the director's orders, and the script they were given wasn't the best to work with. I think it's worth mentioning that the impression might have been bad because the editing was a whole new level of incompetent (I honestly thought that c-dramas had overcame this).
The OST was good!
All in all, I'm afraid I sound too disappointed but I suppose I wasn't really the audience they were aiming for (I'm 20yo). If you are younger than that, _NEW TO FANTASY_ in general or just don't care too much about... uh, pace... I hope it can be a good drama for you. The main actors, at least, are wonderful eye-candy! And it wasn't all bad, there were moments that really grab your attention.
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I watched the movie without subs. There you have it, and nope, I don't speak korean (yet)
Before you think my review is invalid because I couldn't grasp everything perfectly, let me stop you because this is the exact reason I'm writing this review: even with my extremely limited understanding of the language, the story, the actions, the whole thing seemed crystal-clear to me. I never felt like I was watching a foreign-language movie. Everything made sense and seemed logic, because the acting is top-notch. Top. Notch.
When the brothers were having a quarrel, I understood it.
When they were laughing with each other, my heart melted.
When they were teasing each other, I chuckled.
When they were talking over sad stuff, I teared up a bit.
And I cried like a baby at the end.
Their facial expressions are mostly flawless and very accurate. I mean if one tells X in X country their puppy died they'd have the same reaction as Y in Y country, we all constitute humankind.
Their tones also help to get the feel of the situation, even if they're basically talking gibberish to you, their tone makes sense.
Now if you know even like 30 really basic words like mom, eat etc. it's gonna help a LOT. And you probably do know these words and way more than 30 if you've been swept by the Hallyu long ago so you have no excuse not to watch this movie :-)
I thought I'd have to watch this a second time to understand it fully but I really don't, and actually had to write down in my notes that I watched this movie in Korean because there's zero gray area really.
I understood about 10% of the lines (literally, as in I know what they're saying right now bc I know exactly all the words), but my actual understand of the plot and what was happening was around 90%, maybe even 95% because as I said before, the few words you know, the scenes and mostly the perfect faces and the tone, of the actors makes you totally forget you're watching it without subs.
I gave this an 8. It wasn't actually that incredible of a movie, it was rather two well-spent hours and a good laugh, but 7.5 just didn't seem good enough, that's why I settled with the upper mark.
In a nutshell: a good watch !
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Was it worth it: Yes
What I liked the most: The actors did an excellent job.
What I disliked the most: Lee Jung Jin’s character. Ugh.
Moment Meter: 2/10 – Pretty tame, particularly for an action drama.
Other thoughts: As I sit here thinking about it, I’m just now realizing what an interesting story line this drama had. Usually I hate politics in dramas, but this one was interesting from beginning to end. There were a lot of characters that I loved to hate and only a few that I really sided with. The pacing was great, and there was just the right amount of action in it. I’m always grateful for the omission of constant shaky cam. It wasn’t non-stop action the entire time and it wasn’t endlessly long with nothing happening either. I’m pretty sure Ji Chang Wook had a wound on his body at any given time throughout the entire thing. The acting was solid, and I really like the choreography for the first fight, but every fight after that seemed a bit weak (especially because I can’t help but compare to Healer). The ending was good and satisfying.
Conclusion: I would classify this as a melodrama with a hint of action. It wasn’t a favorite, but it was very solid.
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Was it worth it: Not as much as I thought it would
What I liked the most: The fact that it addressed breast cancer in males.
What I disliked the most: The story line involving the older characters. Slowed it down for me.
Moment Meter: 3/10 – There were some here and there, but not many that I can recall.
Other thoughts: It was very hard to get into this drama. They drop you in the middle of it and you’re forced to figure it out as it goes along. Everyone acted a bit too “eccentric” to be truly believable, but towards the end I understood how the characters worked and it wasn’t too bad. The beginning is awkward and doesn’t move smoothly at all. The drama became a lot better towards the middle and end. Everything was little more charged and exciting and made a lot more sense. It didn’t feel like a tremendous waste of time, but it’s not my favorite.
Conclusion: You really need to hang in there for the first half of the drama before it picks up. I’m not sorry I watched it, but all of the leading actors have way better dramas out there.
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This webdrama... is awesome, easy going, the storyline we out of logic but so much acceptasble. i was wondering whether the male lead one of WINNER boys would pull this off, but he actually did it.
It was watchable and rewatchable. it was so fresh and all had equal lines to say.
over all... it rewatchable and fun.
and u r never bored watching this,
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Now coming in to this I knew it was a revenge story and that I would not find myself actually rooting for the villain (in general I hardly do) and that was fine by me. I don't have to like the villain, in fact I like not liking the villain. However, I do not enjoy watching a villain with absolutely no charm or charisma. To be frank, Sun Woo in general wasn't acted well. The actor felt completely one dimensional up until the very last scene of the show where finally I felt myself feeling something other than utter annoyance. It really frustrated me because Sun Woo is a multifaceted character who in another actor's hands might have come off brilliantly.
I was not expecting to think much of Cho In at all because of So Ji Sub. I specifically watched this show after watching So Ji Sub in Ghost and being completely unimpressed by him. His1000+ hearts on this site baffled me and I wanted to find out what so many people saw in him. He was my absolute favorite in this show. First of all he looked adorable and secondly his wounded portrayal of Cho In just murdered my heart. I swear this man conveyed so much with his eyes, I just wanted someone, anyone to hug him at all times.
As far as the female characters go, I actually really liked Seo Yeon. She was far from perfect and thank the TV gods for that, I like my characters to be as close to human as possible. What I liked most about her is despite dating two brothers she was upfront about her feelings. She stuck by her feelings and when the time came for her to prove it, she did. When Sun Woo asked her if she would stick by him even he did despicable things she meant it. A female who sticks by her guns and doesn't play with people's hearts? Yes please. Plus she was genuinely a sweet person.
Young Ji drove me up a wall majority of the time. She was adorable at times, but mostly she came off as obsessive and stalkerish. Such a shame as she and So Ji Sub had really nice chemistry.
Back Seung Hyun, who played Chi Soo, was so dedicated and he got my blood boiling, but it was such an awesome performance. In fact I found his relationship with Cho In much more interesting than Cho In and Sun Woo's because of his great performance.
The side "romance" felt random and just "there". Didn't add much to the show at all.
All in all the show was solid and if you need a reason to watch this show, So Ji Sub would be it.
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