A hatchet job by the writer...

The concept of this drama was so promising, and maybe because it was too long (actually for me there was really only enough real substance for a movie) the longer plot must have over-extended the writer and ultimately the talk-and-hug-heavy- plot exposed his limited set of skills. The biggest snag? Once you hit the middle you keep getting a loop of the same conversations between our leads with the EXACT same words...over and over and over again...followed by regular hugs. Now I do love hugs & skinship in a drama, but these were long and awkward with drawn out camera shots. After ten of these identical "talks" though, even the earlier thrill of seeing them hug was gone. The thin plot is filled up with identical and gratuitous bloody and violent murders, a lack of police 'smarts' and the same trope that makes my blood boil every time: the girl stays alone or goes out on her own without backup when there's a killer out looking for her. The demented father was THE best feature, and I also loved the performance of the two young actors who started the drama, along with our hero's Mom and lost brother. Really sad and quite a surprise for me, was that Jang Ki-Yong's character was restricted in the range of emotion he was given, unless he was angry. The rest of the time he stared a lot in hurt or longing silence.. The romance was 'ok' but got a little boring because they kept repeating 'exactly' the same dialogue about the same topic. The plot had big gaps in common sense, especially when it came to the transparent and predictable events in the crimes. Too bad, what started out to be a gripping story that questioned whether we have to follow in our parents footsteps, turned into an endless blood-spattered kill-fest. Definitely a 'hatchet job' by the writer. It's a miss if you care for a well-developed drama.

Leia Mais

Even when it's happy...it's not.

THE NICE: (1)our actors were good. Kwon Yuri did fine, although the writers made her a rather stiff and moody character.
As for Hyun Woo....he's too sweet not to like.
(2)Lliked the music they kept playing, which under scored the core issue around the couple's pain.
THE BIG CHALLENGE FOR ME?
(1)There just wasn't enough happiness in their relationship shown before the accident for me to believe they ever cared enough about each other for her to go to the lengths she did to save him. We only saw that in flashbacks, yet even then there was a pall over the whole story...a glumness that even the ending couldn't brighten.
(2) Not a satisfying ending to know that our villain operated right under the nose of his colleagues. An important job like his demanded that clients be treated with respect .Whoever was 'in charge' would have had brakes and balances to make sure their agents couln't go rogue like he did. Worse still, this bad guy got away with it in the end. Even though many saw him as a bleak misunderstand (and sexy) guy, I found his past story wasn't enough to forgive his ruthless hounding of her throughout. this short drama.
FINAL NOTE: Lots of old tropes like an accident and plenty of noble sacrificing, which I like if they're done well. Not anything hard to watch but also not really anything uplifting if you're looking for romance.

Leia Mais

Vampire classic from 2015 still great in 2021

Okay, lots of vampire-style blood and fangs in this, but Lee Joon Gi is at his best playing the double-edged sword of a man trapped inside the beast. Twists and turns, betrayals too, as well as some characters who start out bad and then get bitten by the good in all of us. A lot of good acting, yet our scriptwriter (who was part of the 'Coffee Prince' writing team in 2007) fails with a super-naive heroine who's still arrogant enough to believe that she doesn't have to listen to anybody, but to follow her heart, which often gets her and her 'heart-throb' in a lot of trouble. Which is my least favourite trope, but Lee Joon Gi makes the crazy ride worthwhile. If you hate blood and dark cave settings, then this isn't for you, although I felt this way until Lee Joon Gi snarled his way into my heart.

Leia Mais

Slow start...but the characters end up charming you

After seeing 630 k-dramas, I almost gave up on this one up at the beginning because of the clichés and the over-shy discomfort of our leads when they first met. But it worked. Yes, even the over-long camera focus on our leads faces when they try to to communicate. I remember the earlier days of K-dramas when this 'film trope' was used a lot, but I read an article in which a director explained that it was to bring viewers closer in, then hold them a beat longer in the emotion along with the character. This drama uses it almost in the same way, although today's viewer might not like it. Our leads stare at each other during conversation, their eyes often saying way more than their wordscommunicate.
It's an old-fashioned story idea too: city boy meets a country girl. But clichéd stories don't shoot down a drama if the characters are interesting. I felt his social phobia was actiually endearing and loved our femal leads friendly, capable and generous personality was a worthy lead . The countryside's villagers are another tropey tie-in to classic dramas indeed, yet I foundwe gotsome nice country extras with both the animals and the children, who stole scenes even more than the nosy neighbours.
As for romance. The parallels among the three love relationships reflect each other almost to a fault and seem over-scripted ...but yet...it works. We get some fresh insights on how men and women think differently about managing a relationship, yet they come up with the same answers we all do in the end. Finally, the sweetness of Once Upon A Time...might seem like cheese at times...but when it comes to dramas...I like both.

Leia Mais

When 'Love and Destiny' run our lives... Gods become human too...

Add this one in alongside another classic Wuxian Drama: Eternal Love/Ten Thousand Miles of Peach Blossoms. These stories are both so mesmerizing, and the Gods and Goddesses so human. They can be just as principled or as petty as the people below them in the mortal world. Happily, in Love and Destiny, we get to see both. The love story works well because the length of this series allows us to see the ups and downs and watch as the small flame that kindles between two opposites fans into a blaze of enduring, passionate love. There are others who fall for each other too...and many who try to keep them apart, but it's wonderful to watch how the 'lazy Fairy' and the disciplined God of War, work out their differences.

PROS: Amazing costumes , hair design and outstanding acting talent (how could the bragging, full-of-himself God of Thunder make me smile so much whenever he tried to out-do Jiuchen??). Ni Ni who plays our Fairy, is such a beautiful woman and she manages to wring her face into impish smiles & haughty pouts without being clichéd. Excellent actress. As for our God of War, I haven't seen him before, but Chang Chen didn't quite have fun with his part until the last third, when he'd learned to smile and savour life & love...all for Ling Xi.
Also liked the world the writer created. There were rules in the heavens which made it easier to understand the characters' motivations when they followed them...or how serious it was when they broke them.

CONS: Just one. I really did appreciate the subtitlers on the streaming site who offered us some backstory about customs or objects we might not understand. For example 'the 'Shwuanxi Double Happiness Lamp' for engagements. However, I did have a problem throughout the series with the non-immortal language that kept popping up. Here we are in the Heavenly Realms where the Gods have self-cultivated to a 'higher order of being' and then suddenly, their words are translated into our own no-so-high modern american speech. The subbers gave us : "done deal", "Little brat", "A pain in the ass", "long time no see", "Do your thing" and.... coming from the mouth of a Princess: "Is that bitch here?" Even The Immortal and very ladylike Doctor Quinhao tells her brother to "Shut up!". Totally out of character. For me, this breaks a wall somewhere between the viewer and the characters. I am immersed, enjoying and believing the story of our Gods and Goddesses, where time is in thousands of years, and then, when I hear modern-day slang, my brain trips a bit and takes me outside the story , reminding me that this moment isn't real. It breaks the trust we have in the storyteller and the tone of the drama suddenly drops. We are not in the high heavens anymore but on the lower-east side of New York.
A small point maybe...but this show in particular would have been much better without the intrusion. But all in all I absolutely LOVED this series. Brava!

Leia Mais

All it took was one flawed actor to sink this for me...

Must say...even though many are rankled by the age gap trope, it didn't bother me at all when the young girl crushed on the handsome soldier who bandaged her up and took her home on his bicycle. I wondered how they would tackle this storyline. However, now on episode three, I've reached my limit, all because of the female lead . Her talents as an actress fall way short of being able to pull off this storyline. Acting immature might be the writing or the director's coaching, but this 'lady' is overdoing it and keeps piling it on, in a most insincere way. Just doesn't have the acting chops to give us a layered performance and is too on the nose to be interesting. Apologies if I sound harsh, because I like the male lead, eversince "Queen In-Hyun's Man"...and there are many other seasoned professionals in this one too, BUT the pivotal role is way out of this 'Lady's' skillset.

Leia Mais