Love the acting - plot a let down
I am a huge fan of the cast and waited for forever it seems like for Lee Minn Ho's next show after his military service. And the creator of Goblin!!! Very excited and the leading cast had me setting the alarm bell on Netflix and binge-watching the entire season. The series has a strong start, the beginning plot was great but then it started to go downhill in the middle. It seemed so rushed and the storyline lost its luster and became predictable and honestly, I almost didn't finish it. I was disappointed with the ending but even though it was not as good as I had anticipated if you are a fan of great acting and wonderful production it is worth watching. Just don't get your hopes too high on this one.Esta resenha foi útil para você?
TKEM starts off with a strong footing. It reels you in with really good world building of the Kingdom of Corea (which is one of the major things I liked about this drama), and the mysterious manpasikjeok that allows it’s holder to travel parallel worlds.
The first few episodes were a bit slow in terms of the major plot but seemed rushed with the romantic relationship of the leads. I personally didn’t have that much problem with how the romance developed but I guess I can see where it might seem rushed. The romance time frame was a bit badly executed and would have been better if their time together and apart was more implied. The story also expects the viewer to know some basic concepts on time travel / parallel worlds which allows the story to focus more on the major plot. It is not that hard to understand what was going on as almost everything comes into place at the end. The story really picks up by episode 11 (may also be due to the change of directors) and I rarely had a hard time in enjoying the whole series. Perhaps the minor issue I can think of in the script is how the product placements were given that much dialogue. It would’ve been better for most PPL to have been just on display or have the characters use them. The PPL didn’t really bother me as I just thought of it as a comedic relief.
When it comes to production and technicalities, TKEM does not fall short. The costumes were amazing and I appreciated that it fits the color grading of the drama. The cinematography was good but camera angles in some scenes of dialogue could’ve been improved. Camera angles play a major part on how the delivery of dialogues will be interpreted by the viewers. There were times when emotional scenes could’ve been shot more closely because they felt so far off you can’t feel the emotions that well even if the actors portrayed it well. There were also times in the earlier episodes when banters felt a bit awkward because of lack of sound effects that were thankfully fixed in later episodes. The OST was really fitting and the instrumentals were no joke (just take a listen to My Love And... —an orchestral take on My Love by Gummy and it is amazing).
The characters in TKEM had good chemistry. Some side characters could’ve been removed to make way for more of the plot but it was still a delight to witness them interact with the leads. The absolute scene stealer in this drama is Eun Sup / Jo Yeong played by the wonderful Woo Do Hwan. Every scene he’s in, he acts it out in full. Kim Go Eun and Lee Min Ho also portrayed their characters well but might have suffered through the seemingly premature development of their romance which made their characters a bit flat to some. I also loved the strong personality of Tae Eul that complimented Lee Gon. As previously mentioned, time was not that implied in the drama which made every reunion of the leads translate to Tae Eul being “too weepy” and the exact opposite of her established characteristic (which I do not agree with). Another issue I have concerning character development was of Prime Minister Goo. Her character seemed pointless. She could’ve been more utilized, really. I personally had no major issues in understanding the motive of the main villain but some viewers may not spot it clearly when it was show vaguely.
Overall, TKEM has flaws that can be overlooked when getting into it. I personally enjoyed this drama and never skipped a scene (which is saying something as I always skim and skip through dramas I’m watching). It needs to be watched continuously and with an open mind. It’s far from the best but if you are looking for a grand fantasy drama that requires a little bit attention to detail, this is for you :)
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Can Lee Min Ho be more handsome!!??
Lee Min Ho was an handsome king and that is a fact...he was born for this role but.... Story was SHIT ....I get what writer wanted to say, but screenplay was to raw, forced, predictable and characters were not good developed. Kim Go Eun and Lee Min Ho are not good match at all... there is no chemistry between those two! Kim Go Eun is great actresses but she couldn't do much better since screenplay was Shit! Her character was rude and without empathy to the point that I hated that girl. Why king fell in love stayed mistery to the end.... End of story is a pure shit in a much higher level they stayed together forever in different universums.... Crap! All in all cast was good , OST and production but in the end when story is bed only bitter taste stay in your mouth.Esta resenha foi útil para você?
Twitter fans and I watched a completely different TKEM
Poor LMH! I’m a fan but this isn’t the right comeback.Love Team: Dislike. No chemistry. Not matching from looks standpoint. King is fully smitten at first sight and we’ve no idea why. (The ID is too trivial)
Male lead: Dislike despite being LMH fan. ML had unrealistic reactions to everything. Eg overly calm when transported to parallel world, expounding nonsense and calm in gun fight.
Female lead: Dislike. FL was too weepy from halfway and became Katie Waitey in the end (the label on Kate Middleton when she didn’t really pursue serious career and was just waiting for Prince William).
Evil uncle: Dislike. He could’ve been a worthy antagonist but was utterly powerless and futile. All these years of planning - it’s not just his plan didn’t succeed, his plan didn’t make sense
Prime Minister - Dislike. It’s not that I felt she was evil. ButThere was no point for her role. True, we had some cute scenes on ep16. But ep1-15, there was a lack of coherence and sense of purpose for her role. It didn’t move the plot at all.
Supporting cast: good to very good. They were put to good use. Woo Do Hwan the bodyguard served a good purpose and bromance with himself was fun to watch, Shin Jae the police officer acting was good, Luna served good purpose (even if I didn’t like her as I disliked the actress), the court lady, old prince uncle were good plot insertions that painted a richer world.
Writing . terrible terrible terrible. There is nothing good I can say about the writing.
Directing - overall ok as scenes were pleasant to watch. But 2 big sins - (a) excessive use of slow-mo which backfired. (b) lack of tensions in crucial parts
Music - it’s ok. Not a personal favorite but I can’t criticize the music.
Cinematography- scenes were pleasant to watch but some cheesy insertions (the red balloon, slo-mo photo destruction). But overall good.
Cannot recommend to anyone except drama newbies.
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Disappointing
Story :The scenario and all the characters were very badly organized, I hardly understood anything :’) Nothing was logical and nothing was explained. The concept is good but it has not been exploited well enough...
Acting :
Kim Go Eun was very good, she's a charismatic actress.
Lee Minho was also good of course but we all know that he's not versatile, his facial expressions were the same as usual so i was a bit disappointed by his acting.
Woo Do Hwan was amazing, the two characters he played are very different and he pulled that off really well.
I discovered Kim Kyung Nam with this drama, he play very well and I had a second lead syndrom T-T
Overall :
Despite all that, there is action, suspense and humor so I watched everything pretty quickly and I had a good time, surely the reason why I put this note while this drama deserves less objectively.
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This one was highly anticipated one on my list but i am kind of disappointed. Plot has many holes and from time to time didn't make sense. Too many flash back scenes. Though they show FL as kickass but she cries buckets in the drama and at times it's beyond me to understand why so much crying? what is the reason to cry? for e.g. when she was running away to LL goon's and sees LG her crying i couldn't understand was that a relief to see him or she was super upset?? every scene FL appears she is crying on the screen. It really does not portray strong FL when you see her cry on every scene with LG and just becoz she can throw few punches does not make her strong. Strength mainly come from internal being which i found was not there. I was bored while watching this and only sat through this becoz of Lee Min Ho. It's a one time watch . Esta resenha foi útil para você?
Legendary
Pls don't watch a drama forced,or with hatred. Don't allow others reviews and comments to influence u. Everybody doesn't have the same style or have interst in the same genre. Ppl simply watch it for the visuals. Well u can. But respect the cinematography, the work that's being put..and respect the story...it's a freaking drama and watch as it is...if u don't like it you don't have to watch it...but if you caught the plot new and nice...well give it a try...upto where i have finished (10...) It's being fast paced...if ya'll don't understand chemistry...pls don't watch it...for me it was amazing...just think according to the story..and don't think so realistic...he's a freaking king and she's a tough woman...and their auras r different...so understand the story..and watch it..not just for the mere visuals. Well u can. But then don't complain about story and chemistry nd stuff...everything's not everyone's cup of tea.Don't like it Don't watch it.
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UNA TRAMA SCI-FI PER UN ROMANCE DRAMA
Personalmente è un drama diverso, la trama è molto avvincente e interessante, un po' sci-fi perchè si parla di dimensioni parallele, e ogni puntata regala un colpo di scena. Per nulla prevedibile anche se va seguita senza distrarsi per non perdere neanche un pezzo necessario alla comprensione.Per la prima volta mi ha intrigato il villain, uomo bellissimo, maturo, virile, con la voce più bella che io abbia mai sentito. Attore molto bravo e molto credibile.
Era il primo lavoro del famoso Lee Min-ho che seguivo e anche lui devo dire che mi ha conquistato, nessun attore avrebbe potuto calarsi nel ruolo meglio di lui perché ha un'eleganza e una nobiltà naturale, nel portamento e nelle movenze. Carisma fortissimo.
La protagonista femminile, che è l'attrice di Goblin, per capirci, mi è piaciuta molto, non amo le donne passive e bisognose, e qui ho trovato una donna dal forte carattere , ruvida nei modi (che pazienza ha lui), coraggiosa, intraprendente, senza manierismi e ipocrisie, provocatrice e disinibita.
Notevolissima la perfomance di Woo Doo Hwan, in questa serie molti attori sono chiamati a interpretare un doppio ruolo e lui lo ha fatto egregiamente, è riuscito a interpretare due personalità distinte e completamente differenti, facendo anche un accento e uno slang diverso, oltre a dare prova di doti atletiche e fisiche non comuni (sempre che non ci sia qualche controfigura dietro).
Purtroppo ci sono secondo me dei buchi narrativi nella storia che non svelo perché significherebbe spoilerare ma la regia è stata un po' superficiale in questo, pertanto seguite e se qualcosa nel finale non vi è chiarissimo pazienza, prendetela per quella che è : una serie con delle idee geniali che vengono portate avanti con coraggio ma non sempre con delle scelte logicamente fondate.
Il finale è all'altezza di tutto, uno dei pochi che mi siano piaciuti veramente , sebbene tutti speravamo qualcosa di diverso ma si sposa con la serie.
Fate attenzione quando seguirete la serie al bimbo che gioca davanti ad una libreria...scoprirete il perché.
Purtroppo ho letto molte critiche su questo lavoro da parte dei coreani per il messaggio che viene veicolato contro le donne e per i frequenti messaggi pubblicitari che si trovano nella serie (anche qui ho fatto poco caso perché non conosco i prodotti non vivendo in corea ma sembra ce ne siano davvero tanti). Per questo motivo non è stata una serie molto ben vista e ben accolta in corea. Peccato.
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A voir même si un peu décevant
L'histoire et l'intrigue m'ont beaucoup plu dès la lecture du résumé. En plus, joli casting, j'étais aux anges.Mais force est de constater que j'ai été un peu déçue…
Dans l'ensemble, ce drama se regarde, et j'ai passé un joli moment.
Mais…
* Histoire complexe, à laquelle il manque pas mal de réponses par rapport à ces deux mondes parallèles.
* Relation entre le King et son bras droit, qui aurait mérité plus de développement.
* Personnages bien portés mais superficiels.
Par contre :
* Le parallèle entre les deux mondes, et le fait de retrouver les personnages mais qui vivent complètement différemment est intéressant.
* L'idée du scénario est sympa.
En bref, un bon moment, mais il ne faut pas en attendre plus.
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The king is a TV series I love to see more than once
The hero in that TV series is not the actors the hero is
1- The screen writer Kim Eun Sook she did an amazing job she made me know what a royal family should be and what an orphan baby that can have anything in the world still at the same time has nothing from this world all his world is his country its pride he is putting everything on hold for that with no care for himself or his happiness yes you can feel that the hero is detached from every one all the time as if he is documenting every frame move and emotion she made him a scientist that is his job and at the same time a king who his main gold is justice love and care for everyone her message was delivered with flying colors
2- The music is the second method to deliver that message thank you for entertaining our souls and ears with the same elegant way the screenwriter did
3- I thank the directors they made me feel the difference between the 2 world without even mentioning that this is brilliant thank you
4- About the cast every and each one of them has a talent and was put at the correct place and environment to act and entertain me and every one can watch
Than you all for the good work waiting to see more of the screenwriter Kim Eun Sook work when I see your TV series I am on another world this world is mine watched the Guardian: The Lonely and Great God I love it too
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Visually pleasing but messy in the second half
Likes:1. Lee Min Ho looks so good in every single scene that he kept me watching even though this drama was boring half of the time.
2. The very interesting idea of parallel universe where there are two kinds of korea. I had to keep pausing the drama so that i could think of what happened. And after the show i still kept thinking and guessing what would happen next.
3. Thoroughly enjoyed Woo Do Hwan as Eunseop and Jo Yeong (but i like Eunseop more!)
4. The stunning visuals and ost
5. At first the blatant display of the PPL was laughable but it also made me look for them on the internet
Dislikes:
1. During the first half i was confused if we were in kingdom or in the republic. There were too many characters to track and questions kept piling up without answers until ep 11. and the biggest plothole just felt lazy like they didnt have time to explain because we're on the final episode.
2. Super boring like nothing really happens until the last 10 mins and then it makes me anticipate the next episode. The next episode will answer a little bit of the previous ep by first 15 mins then it becomes boring again until the end. I was honestly watching this because of Lee Minho. Good thing the second half saved this show.
3. This happens in every time travel drama that as we get deeper into the story, the less the time travel logic makes sense. Until we end up just following the story without thinking of the logic anymore.
4. The romance build up was rushed that i didnt feel invested in them. I was just forced to believe they are in love and they need to be together in the end..because they are our leads. .
Overall, you dont need to be an intellectual to watch and enjoy the show, but you need to remember that this is a fantasy kdrama, not scifi. You need to suspend an appropriate level of disbelief while watching the show. Dont overthink the plot and concentrate (on their lines and the small details) so you can follow the story.
Rating: 8.5/10
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