MASK started off with a "Yeah, I know it will go that way" story plot, I admit I even thought of dropping it off for the first 10 minutes. But thank God, I did not, because the next 10 minutes was what made me engaged.
Despite of the not so original story plot, what made this drama worth watching was the world class acting from Yeon Jung Hoon. I had never checked out his drama before and I watched this drama because of Joo Ji Hoo. But, Yeon Jung Hoon did a very well done job on his character. His character, Min Seok Hoon, who is a villain, happened to be the first villain I really fall in love with in a drama.
As most people, we never bothered to hate, despise, and berate the villain. We did that, done that.
But, oh boy, I was wrong. I really fell in love with Yeon Jung Hoon and the character he portrayed! I tried to hate him, but no no just couldn't do it.
Min Seok Hoon was a villain (of course!) but he loved Seo Eun Ha like a man loved a woman, despite of all the crazy plans he proposed. One moment he would put on his mask as an evil, another moment he would show that he somewhat cared for Byun Ji Suk (the Doppelgänger), then the next moment he would shed his tears for Seo Eun Ha. This man is just beyond crazy! I just have to give a standing ovation to Yeon Jung Hoon to act this well.
I will not discuss any other aspects from this drama, because the main reason why I decided to write a review on this drama is Yeon Jung Hoon's acting. Well, the other actors in MASK are not that bad, but still, Yeon Jung Hoon deserved a round applause followed by awards because of his actings, he exceeded my expectation.
If you are looking for a melodrama with great actors this 2015, you really should check MASK out. The acting from the actors itself will make you stay put and watch the whole series you just couldn't stop.
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And, especially in the end, the drama was very intense and I got very emotional because of Yoo In Youngs character. The music was thrilling, not specific, and I wouldn't listen to it like a song, but making your heart beat more also the story was exciting anyway.
I would have liked to know what happened to Yeon Jeong Hoons father in the end and why chairman Seos wife did not appear again in the last episodes.
There was comedy in there too, if not, the drama would be veeery melancholic and even dark.
The main actress wasn't the typical "sunshine girl", she was also good at "not smiling", I liked that.
But the supporting roles were brightening up the party :)
There wasn't much I didn't like, I even would watch it again maybe. Well maybe not, but it's not that impossible than with other dramas. The length fits, too.
In fact, I didn't really like Hoyas acting, I don't even know why. I really liked it in Reply, but now...
Still- big recommendation!
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Story wise this drama tended to be a bit all over the place, in a good way. There was always multiple facuets to the story, while one character was plotting one thing, another was planning on using their plan to achieve another goal. The plot line was interesting, none of the usual amniesa and "Oh my god you're my lost sister, misplaced from birth" pit falls that melo's tend to have. I found myself intent on watching each week, not only for the next plot twist but also for the sweet story of "finding love after being married" that the two leads presented.
During the beginning of the Melo, I was most certainly annoyed with the actress playing Byun Jin Sook, she seemed to have a character that lacked any sort of backbone what's so ever. But as the drama progressed, I really saw the actress grow her character into someone strong and willing to take a stand for what's right. Ji Hoon's character interested me from the very beginning, his constant battle between loosing his mind and maintaining an image of stability really worked well character wise and I'm really happy I got to watch as this character grew into a healthier person. Over all their chemistry really made this show. As we watch them grow as people and family members, we also see them grow into love. Something I personally thought really made this show beautiful.
I would say this drama is pretty rewatchable. While it's not my favorite genre nor my favorite drama, I really enjoyed seeing the characters grow, as well as watch the political and sinister plot line unfold.
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Good Actors, Bad Drama
I honestly regret sinking the time I did into this drama. The story was garbage due to bad character writing and development. The characters and overarching plot had everything laid out to be something unique and a good drama; they really could've made this into a masterpiece. Instead, they chose the worst way to go about telling this story. If you have to throw common sense out the window and dumb down your characters in order for the plot to work..then your plot doesn't work. If you have to have a bad guy "oops" and casually mention something they shouldn't have in order for the plot to work...your plot doesn't work. The writers not only disrespected us viewers, the actors, the crew that works 12+ hour days tirelessly on set for months and months, but also themselves by writing such a cheap story this way. Writing your characters to be beyond stupid might make your job easier as a writer, but people will no longer be interested in your story. No one likes cheap plot tricks; no one. There's a difference between dumb decisions/character naivety and just plain stupidity that's clearly made to push the plot forward. 99.9% of issues could've been avoided had the characters used common sense befitting that of any intelligent life on planet Earth. To me, that is the definition of bad writing.I found it really hard to watch; if dramas start to get frustrating for me, I speed them up to get through it quicker. Normally I try not to speed it up so quickly so that I can still retain details. Well this is the fastest I've sped up anything, including my college video lectures. I had to watch the last few episodes in 2.5x speed in order to get through it, I just couldn't take it anymore.
Some things I actually liked about this drama was the music and actors. The actors were the most disrespected in this drama, because their performance was better than this story deserved. To me, Seok Hoon carried this show. I was more interested in Min Woo's plotline at first, but throughout the whole thing was the most fascinated with Seok Hoon as a character. The complexities of his character are honestly amazing and it's the only prop I can give to writers. I personally don't mind the ending "change" but I also think it could be argued that it went against what they had built his character on for 20 episodes. Regardless, his character is one of the most interesting out of any TV and movies I've seen. I am very interested in seeing more of Yeon Jung Hoon because I honestly think he should win an award for this role. (I think that would require someone forcing themselves to sit through 20 hours of foolishness, though.) If you happen to be a fan of the actor, this is a great role to see him in, but be prepared for the rest of the drama you'll painfully have to watch.
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This drama is a complete waste of time and is extremely boring. I fast forwarded through this drama, more than I usually do. It is rare for me not to like most of the characters in a drama; they were all stupid or made the most idiotic decisions. I warmed up to the main couple towards the middle, but at the beginning I couldn't stand the female lead and preferred the male lead. Mi Hyeon and Seok Hoon had absolutely nothing to do with their lives. They wasted their time concocting nefarious plans when they could've spent their time working to the top spot they wanted so bad. The female lead didn't even try pretending to be Eun Ha. How could no one see she was someone else because she made it so obvious. She would run or tremble when she saw people from her past. She would go to go to her old neighborhood in clothes and a car that would make her stand out. Always ran off when she heard something about her family, in spite of the consequences it would have on them. She wouldn't listen to Seok Hoon's advice or warnings; I know she was trying to get from under his control, but he's been playing the game longer than she has. She wouldn't stand up to people like Eun Ha would have. She let them walk all over her and let them see her sweat. She, Min Hyeon, and Seok Hoon irritated me immensely. I do not recommend this drama, unless you want to be frustrated for 20+ hours. Esta resenha foi útil para você?
Story: Not sure who this story was about. MY, SJ, MW, SH? What the heck. False identities, lying, cheat, murder all dangled though-out yet nothing tied together. All these characters were complex and deserved better back stories to pull this story together and allow us to care about them.
Acting: The actress who played duel roles was great. To the extent you really thought they were two different people. This level of acting was felt and executed seamlessly. The other person you got drawn to was the villain-husband-pyscho man. The actor performed this with the most taut mask, you grew to like him because he was so convincing and hated. Both of these roles deserve recognition.
Music: OK - nothing that makes me remember this drama
Overall: this drama was about the lies, complex -troubled people, deception and betrayal, all great characteristics of drama. Now all it needed was better writing to make us care about all those folks wearing masks.
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XD Okay now we get to the serious part.
Mask has a good message to deliver to the audience and the title therefore has a meaningful effect. The OST is good (one is memorable and the intro is nice as well). The villain is strong in this drama and the ending was heart-warming. The romance parts were very cute and fluffy and funny. However, the cons are too much to handle for this drama (I'm not talking about kiss scenes anyways).
Firstly I have to complain about Minwoo's role in this drama. He plays little to no importance to the story and most of his doings were goofing and playing lovey dovey with his wife. Every time his screentime comes, there would have Eunha/ Jisook involved. His back story is dramatic but not impressive as it doesn't seem to be the focus of Mask. This weak character is overshadowed by Jisook who is somewhat overshadowed by Sukhoon and maybe even Miyeon.
Secondly, the drama kept going back and forth with exorting, murder/ illegal activites/ victimising, intimidating and the circle goes on until the last episode. This is tiring to watch because Sukhoon's character was a really stiff character until the last episode.
Thirdly, the story is made from two pieces. One is romance and one is "fight between evil and and justice". This is by far my first drama that felt so broken like this. The romance part could be omitted entirely without influencing the plot to be honest. So everytime the romance came I would smile for the cute but I cant deny the fact that it was actually filler.
Lastly, the biggest problem. The logicallity and believability. How comes there are two persons with exact same face but not twins? I couldn't take it serious right from episode one.
On a side note, I hate this particular one scene where Minwoo said he had found a person he loved more than his mom. Like... I get it that he couldn't spend much time with his mom but still this line is so cringe worthy I bet Jo Jungho would have cringed like me when he read it out loud.
TL;DR this drama has fine romance parts but not recommended cause the plot is a mess right at the start.
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●Story- synopsis is written fairly without giving any spoilers to the amzing story. Its a story for power struggle in the typical rich family but you wont be able to guess why and who is the baddy until you watch it. It was thrilling and exciting with each episode.
●Acting- byun ji sook/ seo eun ha was good playing the part fairly. Nothing sort of wow.
Choi Min woo was good. I had seen him in GOONG and liked his acting skills. The part where he plays psychiatric symptoms are nice.
Chemistry was good. Falling in love after the wedding was done nicely.
Choi Mi yeon face was like she was always on drugs. Her expressions and acting didn’t go well for me.
●Music- actually saying I don’t remember.
●Rewatch- no,its just a single watch for me, maybe the romantic scenes of the leads.
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Hello! For anyone that enjoys mystery movie this is one of them. I enjoy watching how suspenseful it is. The characters are great in this movie. I got so addicted to the drama that I bought my own version online from Ebay and I never bought from Ebay so you can definitely say this is a must!! This movie will leave you to staying up at night until you get to the end. The only thing about watching it online Viki is that there are a lot of ads, and I HATED seeing the ads but altogether it was pretty much great. Definitely would recommend this to anyone who enjoys watching something new and different. Esta resenha foi útil para você?
When the evil characters are more interesting than the main ones
- **Story/Plot**: 2/31. Synopsis (0.25)✅
2. Initial Impression (2eps) (0.25)✅
3. Genre Adherence (0.25)✅
4. Emotional Engagement (0.25)✅
5. Logic (0.25)❌
6. Plot Coherence (0.25)✅
7. Dialogue (0.25)✅
8. Pacing (0.25)❌
9. Character building/Development (0.25)✅
10. Story Richness (0.25)❌
11. Plot Twists (0.25)❌
12. Messages (0.25)✅
- **CAST/Acting**: 1.75/2
1. Lead Actor Performance (0.25)✅
2. Lead Actress Performance (0.25)✅
3. Main Cast Chemistry (0.25)✅
4. Supporting Actors/Actresses Performance (0.25)✅
5. Casting Precision (0.5)✅
6. Character Transformation (0.25)❌
7. Scene Stealers (0.25)✅
- **Directing/Camerawork**: 1.25/2
1. Camera Movement (0.25)❌
2. Editing (0.25)✅
3. Continuity (0.25)✅
4. Visual Effects (0.25)❌
5. Visual Details (0.25)❌
6. Cinematic Tension (0.25)✅
7. Lighting (0.25)✅
8. Flashback Integration (0.25)✅
- **OST (Original Soundtrack)**: 0.5/1
1. Background OST (0.25✅/0.5)
2. Overall OST (0.25✅/0.5)
- **Style**: 0.5/1
1. Costumes (0.25)✅
2. Set Design (0.25)❌
3. Colors (0.25)❌
4. Poster (0.25)✅
- **Ending**: 1/1
1. Closure (0.25)✅
2. Emotional Impact (0.25)✅
3. Logic (0.25)✅
4. Personal Satisfaction (0.25)✅
Total Rating: 7/10 +0 Bonus
>>>>Final Rating: 7/10
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The cast is really amazing, Yeon Jung Hoon is AWESOME, I really hope an award for him! Soo Ae is brilliant as always
The last eps made me cry ....seriously is the one of the best drama 2015 !
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