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BarryJ
Reviews
Mubeop Byeonhosa (2018)
Very well-balanced
This had been in my queue for some time, as the capsule description wasn't particularly compelling to me. After watching it, I realized there was no reason to have hesitated.
Overall, a strong crime/corruption/revenge k-drama leavened with a good bit of action and a bit of romance.
If you watch many k-dramas, you will recognize a number of cast members, all of whom turn in good, or at least serviceable, performances. Good cast chemistry.
I noticed a couple of reviewers comment about Min-su Choi's performance with his guttural delivery at times. While I do think he may have slightly hammed it up a little with this, and with his physical acting (his gait for example), I thought it was just fine and not over the top for his gangster character.
My main criticism is around the pacing. As I often notice in k-dramas, it can lag a bit in the middle bits. I also felt the wrap-up was needlessly hurried. They could have easily written the events of the final episode to unfold over two or maybe even three episodes while tightening up a few of the episodes in the middle.
A secondary criticism is that I think the some of the writing around various plot development slightly strains credulity, but by the standards of the genre, in which entire stories often hinge on the most improbable of coincidences, this is a pretty minor point.
Beterang (2015)
Enjoyable though not excellent
Overall, pretty good. While not my favorite Korean action film, if you like the genre you will probably enjoy it. Overall story and tropes will be broadly familiar to anyone who watches much Korean crime/action.
My one criticism is that the antagonist is cartoonishly evil - a genuine sadist - and his sadism is demonstrated probably more than is necessary, and in more extreme ways than is necessary, for a film which is trying to be more comedic.
Other than that, some good casting/actors, many of whom will be familiar to fans of the genre, including a cameo by Ma Dong-seok, probably my favorite actor in the genre.
The K2 (2016)
Very good but not great
I watch a lot of Kdramas with crime & corruption themes, and most have some kind of a romantic subplot in there somewhere. I often joke that by the end of some, I unexpectedly almost more invested in the romantic subplot than the primary story.
I mention this to make clear I am not averse to the romance elements of such series, but for me the romantic subplot did not add much to this series, and in fact detracted from it as I felt the show really dragged when developing it. I attribute this to mostly to how it was scripted and to the character of Go Anna generally.
Having said that, the rest of the series is really quite excellent. Song Yun-ah, as Madame Choi, delivered a fantastic performance of an extremely interesting character. The acting was generally quite good across the board including by some of the smaller supporting roles. There are enough mutually sparring antagonists with shifting alliances (either real or feigned) to provide several twists and turns.
If you generally like the corruption subgenre of the K-drama space, this is definitely worth watching, but it is not the best of the best in that sub-genre.
The Next Three Days (2010)
Weak
Was just looking for some mindless entertainment. Wasn't expecting art, but this was just not even terribly engaging. Frankly felt cheated by the trailer. You get Liam Neeson for maybe five minutes, probably just three. Broadly predictable due to use of some pretty common tropes for this general type of film.
Myeongbulheojeon (2017)
Strong K-dramedy
I watch a lot of Korean television series, although usually with more of a crime/corruption/conspiracy angle. However, my K-drama queue was a little lean and this did have strong reviews so I gave it a go. I'm glad I did. Exceeded expectations.
Great cast and cast chemistry. Solid production values including the sets for the Joseon era. Good writing both in terms of the broad plot and related subplots as well as the dialogue. Thanks to the visits to the Joseon era, viewers will be introduced to a couple of historical figures from the time. While time travel is the foundation of the show's premise, it doesn't trouble viewers with the paradoxical nature of time travel and its implications. More writers of time travel shows should also avoid it, few handle such matters well. To the extent the writers want to encourage more philosophical ponderings, it is more about the differences, and similarities, between Joseon-era and modern Korea.
Satisfying conclusion - be certain to watch to the very end: there is a brief coda after the final episode's credits which will give the viewer a last smile about the conclusion.
If you are looking for a Korean drama with a strong dose of humor, a modest amount of romance and an interesting story, I'd highly recommend it. If you're new to the world of K-dramas, it might be a good introduction.
Parallel World Love Story (2019)
Interesting idea; well executed
Good performances, particularly by the male lead, but the supporting cast does a good job as well. While the one other reviewer here suggests it is difficult to distinguish between the two worlds being shown, I only thought that initially - I was looking for some obvious visual cue (Memento's use of B&W vs color to indicate which timeline you are viewing being an excellent example). I fairly shortly realized I was thinking about it too hard. it really is pretty easy to follow if you pay attention to which characters are in which scenes.
I think the main thing to recommend this film is the basic idea of it and the slow burn unfolding of it. I am glad the film doesn't make it immediately obvious what is going on. It creates some tension as one tries to understand the relationship between the two worlds and what causes the change in circumstances. The production itself is modest. I was somewhat reminded of the movie "Primer" in terms of a modest production that does a great job with the story.
I would love to write a couple of other comments, but I personally think a film like this is better to watch cold, so I have been deliberately vague in a couple of areas and will leave unmentioned a 2004 film which I was strongly reminded of by the end of this movie.
Alhambeura Goongjeonui Chooeok (2018)
Interesting Premise Well Executed - Recommended
Interesting premise for the story which was in general executed quite well. Light science fiction, which is to say the world in which the story is set is based on non-existent technology (though the sort of thing we might see before too very long), but the show is not "about" the technology. Great location shooting, good production values, strong acting. Same director as Stranger, which I liked even more and very highly recommend.
The ending was reasonable in my opinion. From reading some other reviews, some would have liked, in effect, further explanation of the fate of a key character. I however was fine with the omission, as a) I do think it would have added that much, and more so, b) science fiction often fails, embarrassingly, when it tries to form an explanation around a phenomenon (as an example, the Star Wars franchise was not helped by a seeming obsession with explaining "the Force" after the original trilogy).
As with many good dramas, sometimes well-loved characters die while a loathed one may survive until the end, but this is just the nature of things. And indeed, others may not find the "loathed" character of whom I am thinking as annoying as I did.
In general, if you like K-dramas which are not primarily romances, I strongly recommend this.
Bing-ui (2019)
Could have been better
Less of a disaster than the typical Netflix Original production, and it started very strong. However, the way the story unfolds in the back half of the season is just excruciating. Some strong actors, good production values (although crazy to see all the GM vehicle product placements in a Kdrama), good characters. They just really needed to do something less abusive to the viewers for the way the season wraps up.
Boku dake ga inai machi (2017)
Wonderful
I am not a follower of manga or anime, so I cannot review this in the context of the source material or its prior adaptation. Having said that, I watch a fair bit of Japanese live action television and a great deal of Asian TV & film generally. Overall, this is a really top-flight production of a great story (both the core plot and the script). Even though each episode is only a half-hour, and the pacing is very deliberate, it really does pack a lot into each episode. Strong acting, particularly given the largely youthful cast; some wonderful cinematography; and nice scoring round out a really wonderful production. Also notable that this is a rare time travel film which avoids the frequent debating of time travel paradoxes by simply taking the time travel for granted. It is easy enough to suspend disbelief about time travel for narrative purposes, but too many films try to explain it - a fraught exercise.
Ultraviolet (2017)
Entertaining enough; could be better, could be worse
This review is based on Season One, the only season out at the time I write this.
The general idea behind the show is reasonably good and most of the story lines are interesting and semi-believable. Good production values, generally well-acted. I find the lead character at times rather annoying, but these moments are usually brief.
I would say they were two flaws in the series, one of commission the other of omission. The former is the fact that it requires major suspension of disbelief to accept that the main character is generally tolerated by the police, and would most probably be incarcerated for her meddling in a couple of cases.
The omission is that, often, if not typically, in this genre, there is a meta-mystery or conspiracy which is unraveled as the season unfolds. Sometimes the conclusion to that mystery is not truly conclusive and so provides the basis for the following season. There is a possible meta-mystery introduced early in the season but other than occasionally being referenced, it is never advanced.
Decent show, could be better. I would watch a future season. Would be pleased if future seasons add some sort of long-arc deeper conspiracy/mystery element.
Stranger Things: Chapter Seven: The Lost Sister (2017)
Worst episode of the franchise, maybe even any serial franchise
The negative reviews here are very fair. I can scarcely understand the rationalizations involved in the rare positive reviews. The sole defense of this episode is that it provides a crucible in which Eleven develops in both power and emotional maturity. And yet, these developments could have been handled via myriad means, and certainly not asking viewers to endure such a cringe-inducing spectacle. It could have just been a bad 5-15 minutes of an otherwise acceptable episode. Thankfully, it was deep in the series - had it been episode one or two, I may have just written off the franchise and not continued watching despite my fondness for the first season.
Most regrettably, the conclusion is not incompatible with revisiting the intolerable cast of characters that populated it. By "intolerable," I mean not just that the characters were uniformly unlikable (they were) which is fine in itself, but they were also just "bad" characters.
Four episodes have regular producer Justin Doble as a writer. This is one of them. I would suggest that the other three were of middling quality. This one however should be a firing offense.