Hotel Alice (2020)

Confused Mess

So much promise. Looks like they've set up something really clever.

"Traditional" time travel is single dimensional - go back in the past, change, and it affects the future instantly, you know, good old cause and effect. Back to the Future where Marty and his family start disappearing from the family photo when he accidentally messes up how his mum and dad meet? That kinda thing. It's classic, it works. Is it the only thought line for time travel? No, definitely not, but it's the one usually covered in stories.

There are other thoughts on Time Travel like - maybe it's multi dimensional, now instead of progressing along a single line back and forth, now you're moving through *time* in two dimensions, which means you can go back to the future version of a past and changes you make there don't affect *your* past because that's a previous version of it! Confusing? Quite a bit... but... wouldn't it be cool if someone attempted it?

I thought that's what we had here.

Nope, turns out the writers just don't get time travel at all. It all just becomes a confused mess, going back to the same moment and playing it out differently (that's multi dimensional!) but then also having cause and effect (that's one dimensional) and maybe not entirely because.. well.. argh. Mess, mess, mess.

... and... is this a love story? because if so it's... wrong. This is mother and son! If it's not a romance, what's with all the romance music (which I liked, hence the good score on the sound track, just really confusing how it was used!).

Apparently the main character has alexythemia (where you have no emotional response, basically) - except, he's crying and feeling bad and so forth lots and lots, so you have to come to the conclusion that he actually is just a bit of a miserable so-and-so and covers it up by saying that. I'm going to try that later I think see if anyone buys it :)

I really enjoyed the actors work, they were the highlight of this drama, some great cast here and they do a great job.

I'm MOSTLY gutted because this had some real potential. I want to think that the writer had a great idea and it got hacked about and corrupted somehow, because there's the nucleous of something great. It's not that the ending was rushed and didn't make sense (though, honestly, it barely made sense) - it stopped making sense about half way through and you begin to realise that... hmm... i'm not sure the Captain of this plane is firing on all cylinders...

I'm going to stop here. Not recommended. Cast were fantastic, music was great, production values were really good too, but... story... the story... yoikes.

Leia Mais

What the hell was that ending?!!!!!

My God what a way to mess up a drama that had so much potential.

I feel so bad for Joo Won, this was his first drama since he got discharged from the army and he got this crap.

The Screenwriter and the writing team seriously lost the plot after episode 12. I could deal with all the weird time bullshit and even the parallel world stuff because the graphics were great, the action was great, the soundtrack was great, the acting was great and I loved the cast. But the last four episodes destroyed all of it.

It just didn't make sense at all. I've never seen a drama flop so bad before.
The story just self-imploded. There were so many plot holes by the end, plot holes that could have been easily rectified. Plus they tried to make it oddly romantic at the end when frankly the whole drama was not romantic... I just..... I don't know man. I think the Director needs to get a reality check and the Screenwriter and editors need to be fired.

That ending was really abyssmal, no way to justify it.
I really hope Joo Won and Kim Hee Sun pick better projects next time because this was not it.

Leia Mais

confusing, thrilling yet entertaining

Before I write this review, I have read some other negative reviews and I respect their opinions about this series. But for me, maybe you just expect it to be like the other series that you've already watched for example like The King: Eternal Monarch. Time travel is different from parallel universe and this time its like that they were both intertwine that's why its so confusing. But however, when you finished the last episode, everything's will be understand. The propechy is what the story make a twist and confusing since whoever wrote it maybe from another time and dimension. The story is good and the culprit is also interesting. But I must say that the ending is not good. But the series is worth watching!

Leia Mais

Since this is Joo Won's first kdrama since his military enlistment I'm pretty excited to see how the drama will unfold. So far, Joo Won's character in Alice reminded me a bit of his character in Good Doctor, in which due to the circumstances of their birth they ended up living a life quite different than other people. Seeing Joo Won's performance in Good Doctor made me curious as to how he'll play Jin Gyeom and it was indeed interesting to see how much Jin Gyeom had grown throughout the series.

This drama had the theme of mystery and detective drama, added with time travel. While the detective theme at first appeared to be main thing that moves the plot of the story, eventually the scifi part starts to kick in and we can see how the time travel aspect with influence the story. And indeed, as the story moves forward we can see how the past, present and future started to mix together. It was interesting to see the drama dealt with the problem of paradox involving people from different points of time meeting each other at different stages of their lives. To which, it might end up very confusing for people who aren't quite used to the scifi genre, especially ones that involves time travel. In before I start quoting Doctor Who but I won't.

While some may have trouble watching some parts of the episodes due to the impression they may have regarding the doubtful relationship between Taeyi and Jin Gyeom, it may help a bit if one stayed open-minded while watching the drama by not immediately assuming that every single melodramatic scene in the drama to be a romantic one. Since the drama will involve a lot of paradoxes as people from past and future inevitably gonna cross each other's path, some emotional scenes may not be as straightforward as it appears. And love can be of any type aside from romantic feelings, so its better to not be so quick to assume the relationship that we see in the drama. Not to mention that we do have a character who had a disability in that he was not able to recognise emotions and understanding the meaning of said emotions.

As a scifi drama that dealt with time travel and parallel drama, I have to say that the plot of Alice was quite decent. While there are some parts that were still left vague and not executed well, overall it wasn't that bad a drama. With genre like this, it helps to have no high expectations and be open-minded to the many unexpected outcomes resulting from the timey-wimey.

Leia Mais

Don't always rely on Reviews

MY ADVISE - DON'T DROP THIS CAUSE OF LOW RATINGS OR REVIEWS ...

This drama some are find interesting while exact same amount of people find so FLAWS as a drama that discuss a Sci Fi matter , the Time travelling. When it comes to this kind of dramas TRY NOT TO DEPEND ON REVIEWS cause it changes according to how they wanted this drama, how many things should follow the Scientific rules things like that. Most people say that it doesn't make any sense that how the bloody bath scene turned upside down and it all started again, Of course it's a Huge problem but can't we let it slide, Think it like some Miracle or something like that and then Ignore it cause this is a drama. Why would we have to consider that and tell watching this a waste of time.
When I watch this drama I didn't care about any scientific matters or How is that possible or something like that , cause I was too focused on what will happen NEXT, that's what I thought. And how this will end, those are the only things that on my mind throughout the whole series.

STORY..
* It's a time travel story , not something like fantasy time travelling, It's through Scientific invention. I don't know about others but I found the story interesting. All started at some point and It end Closing at the same point giving me the ultimate Happy ending. If I want to say things that things that you should not get confused about,
* It's all started with a Book that telling the end of time travelling
* Time -- >the thing that you shouldn't messed up with,
* Mother - son relationship , this will be the spine of the Story
* Mother -A time traveler
* A son who is trying to prevent the death of his mother which happened at the past
* PARALLEL UNIVERSE THOERY ( simply - there is someone exactly look like you in another universe
* same person who has the same look( exactly same look) as his mother
* Like wise the story Going on
So isn't this story interesting , Why do we set low ratings after going through the story, BECAUSE of something that bother you at the end ,

Why ?
What's the problem with making that kind of plot?
Is it that Wrong ?

I don't find it like that, As I mention before think it as a Miracle or something that fits to your mind and then ignore it. Then look the whole picture. Isn't that interesting?

Cast, Acting..
Why bother reding about acting , They have done their best. So no worries

Ost/ Background sounds
It's all perfect, No need to worry

At last,

THIS DRAMA IS WORTH WATCHING

Leia Mais

ALice

OVERVIEW:
1-4 Episodes; Great Start
5-8 Episodes; Half Good,Half Bad
9,10th Episodes; Storywise O....K
11-15 Episodes; O...........K
16th Episode; eXpected ENDing

Likes:
1) Fresh Concept
2) Watchable Drama [First & Last 4 Episodes]

Dislikes:
1) Story Execution [Some Scenes]
2) Confusing Timelines
3) 16 Episodes are Very Long
4) Overused of Comedy
5) Some Logics
6) Ending


OVERALL:
Missed Opportunity.....

***********************
OVERVIEW:
1-4 Episodes: Great Start
5-8 Episodes: Half Good,Half Bad
9,10th Episodes: Storywise O....K

Likes:
1) Fresh Concept
2) Watchable Drama[2020]

Dislikes:
1) Story Execution [Some Scenes]
2) Confusing Timelines
3) 16 Episodes are Very Long
4) Overused of Comedy
5) Some Logics [9,10th Episodes]
6) Ending

OVERALL: Upto 10 Episodes
Average Alice....

Leia Mais

The Time Travelling makes sense, the other reviewers are just too simple to understand it

The Time travelling theory itself and how it was portrayed is muuuch better that other kdramas with similar genre (im looking at you The King: Eternal Monarch), you kinda have to rewatch it to understand it better on how it works if you dont get it the 1st time.

The way characters portray while moving back and forth during the different timelines its more visible and easy to understand, something that other dramas tend to fail to address properly.

It does have flaws tho, for example there where some scenes where the music didnt really fit the vibe it was giving.
But other than that if your into Time travelling kdramas, you should go blind and skip reviews, its better that way to enjoy it.

Leia Mais

Alice, Oh Alice This is not a review but a commentary.

In Korean Dramas, and also noticeable in Chinese dramas, where intimate touches of hands and body contact between male and female are a taboo and they made it a BIG deal and the kissing are rarely encouraged and almost stilted. Its great they have kept the highbrow on morality, and sex is nothing to be sneezed at. I should be paying my deep respect for playing the big brother.

Alice is a drama with very interesting storyline with complex plots, and could have been very entertaining. BUT there are a couple of nagging issues that made couldn't make me like it more than 2 stars. One glaring issue I am sure a lot of viewers agree and that is the issue of incest. No matter how hard the team of three writers try they couldn't explain successfully the incest issue. Time-travelling and crossing the the multi-dimensional universe can't changed anything, at the end of the day they are still mother and son. Nothing will altered that fact.

I wonder what were the writers and the director thinking when they told this story? INCEST is not a taboo and rising and touching is? IF this is what Korean's social moires and culture allows, then it shows that they Psyche of the Korean is deeply disturbing and extremely unsettling. I am sure it's not. I am sure the production house are trying to push the boundaries and show how open they are, but they have stepped into a territory that is not only a cultural taboo but also against biological science no go territory.

This series just simply disturbing and makes me sick in the stomach, and to mention, shocking!

Three writers and I am sure three great brains in drama telling couldn't see the pitfall they walked right into when they dug all on their own is amazing. This is even more disturbing. I would never fall in love with anyone who looks exactly like my mother, no matter how beautiful she is, it's just that I do not suffer from Oedipus complex.

Leia Mais

Kdrama with a brilliant Start turns Really Really Bad

Ok I m going to try and avoid too many spoilers and in depth time travel explanations.
Firstly the first 6 episodes of this drama just blew me away it felt like so much happened and every minute of each episode was interesting. I was excited. (As with all time travel takes you just get on with it.) BUT THEN he meets his mother in a different timeline so we have moved from (time loop to multiverse type stuff) so apparently not really his mother but it his mother right down to the small mole on her face. What follows is a fucking romance plot between this guy and his mother that persists and persists and is just so stupid gross and out of place that it forebodes the disaster that the time travel and plot of the show develops into. It was so unnneccessary the ML had a grand love interst there waiting if writer needed a bit of romance but unbelievably the 2FL becomes a love rival in the most cliched and stupid cohabiting plot line. I just and i mean this could not believe what I was watching. I actually felt so cheated LOL. Do not waste your time watching it. I stuck with it for way too long and the plot became more ridiculous as we went along.
Also to all those who say "oh well its a differnt time line shes not his mother" my answer is WTF i dont care you should not have to think about stuff like that so hard as your watching them forced into romantic scenes ugh she was his fucking mother. Also when he first meets his mom/not mom and she asks to see a pic of his actual mom as he only has told her she looks really really like his mom. He doesnt show her one as he doesnt have it with him oops. Very convenient because the Writer knows if he has to write that scene its going to be like this : FL "show me a pic of your mom you brought from your timeline" Ml "here" FL "holy shit thats me I am actually your mom oh gross i cant believe i thought you were hot oh ugh this is too weird okay I beleive you let me help you like a mom but I am definitely not going to get all hot and bothered and doe eyed when you stare at me sleeping or i take off your shirt or you lean over me to get a plate or i treat your wounds or i get drunk and you sing a love song cause that would be weird as Fuck hell no im not doing any of that phew im glad we cleared that up early" of course all that stupid stuff happened bye bye Weird Show by weird writer with mom issues.

Leia Mais

Watch it without expectation

When I started this I really had different expectations episode 1 was really so cool with the 2050 cg and taeyi from the future but then it went to a different path I saw many bad comments about it and what I imagined it to be was different from what I got so I dropped it for like a month then I picked it up and I have to admit I was very intrigued and didn't fast forward much I wanted to know and understand what's next. I found that the best way to enjoy this is not using logic and accept it as a drama many of the comments saying that it's incest, it's not just because someone looks like you doesnt mean it's you present taeyi even called future taeyi mom. I just wanna say something go into this with an open mind it's lame that all the concerns are about the supposed incest like get over it. Also with the forced romance that all of you are talking about like where?? we had very subtle romance they didn't even have a kiss and all people wanting him to end up with doyoun when he never even hinted as seeing her more than a friend from the get go, with and without taeyi they would still be friends you forcing romance on him is the real forced romance. Overall it's a mess yes but it's a mess I couldn't stop watching 😂 might also be biased here cauz FL is like (for me) the hottest woman on earth, I am always so mesmerized by her beauty, one scene in particular was in the car in ep1 she looked like miss world 2050 hahaha. Sorry I am slightly obsessed
Would I recommend it? Yes BUT go in it with a very open mind ep 3-4 might be unbearably boring but after that it picks up and have many plot twist. Even with its many flaws I liked it a lot ps people need to stop screaming incest incest like chill

Leia Mais

An enjoyable dissapointment

I won't make this review long because I would basically be repeating what everyone and their mother commented.
if you have 16 hours to kill then go ahead and watch this drama, otherwise don't bother. especially if you care a lot about the plot, because it feels like a 15-year-old drafted this story after watching some youtube videos on time travel (and still not understanding anything). the ending was one of the worst kdrama endings I've ever witnessed among all 40 or so dramas that I've watched so far. so many plotholes and loose ends. weird incest romance thing. so goddamn unfair to the characters who went through so much and it all felt useless at the end, especially min hyuk and do yeon. they didn't deserve such a dissatisfying end, ugh. the only thing that kept me going was the actors. it truly felt like a waste of an amazing cast and a promising premise. sigh... but ill admit guiltily that i still found it entertaining to watch. make what you will of my review.

Leia Mais

this is not a watch for everyone...

I am a sci-fic sucker but i don't think this one's magic is not for me... It's not worth the watch. It felt like i just finished it for the need to know what happened to jingyeom and his mother's written prophecy. I end up finishing it even though and, IT STILL LEFT ME TOO MANY QUERIES.

Maybe because (probably) the main reason is that the story's concept of time traveling is not established very well. The foundation of the concept is not well-introduced. Also, you can see many flaws in the time-traveling concept. It is very lousy written. Fr! I HAVE SO MANY QUESTIONS ABOUT HOWS AND WHO!

Leia Mais