Otiose
Fun Entertaining Watch
The story and characters got better with each episode such that I hope they continue with the main characters in a part 2. I thought there were a number of plot holes and open questions on how the universe worked, but because the story doesn't take itself too seriously and because of the character growth you don't care about those questions. At the end I was left wanting to see what happens next with these characters.Vond je deze recentie nuttig?
Starts Slow, Gets Better
This reminded me of the old CSI series but at times a bit clumsy in weaving the character growth, plots, and crimes into a smooth story. The pilot was slow but as the episodes progressed they got much better. The grating flaw in the production was often the background music which drew attention to itself - was often weird - especially that piano.Vond je deze recentie nuttig?
Clumsy but engaging
The description sounds interesting. Honestly though after a few minutes what kept me going through the first few episodes was the question whether the lead actress' acting was really that bad, or maybe the director was coercing the odd overly physical emotional expressions. The story gets better, and I finally lean towards blaming the director. Later she does show acting talent. The plotting and overall production was below average.Vond je deze recentie nuttig?
Good movie that could have been much better.
Overall I liked the movie but I often found the transitions in character arcs and major plot points clumsy and difficult to follow. For example, the how of someone crossing over and the role of the 'warden' were left under explained. Still despite the flaws the good aspects including the characters and acting held my attention until the end. The Korean series 'Missing: The Other Side' seems to have inspired much of the world building in this movie but the Korean version did a much job of explaining important aspects. For example, when someone passes over the Missing series shows it happening, whereas here the viewer must pick it up from context and the presence of the warden, but his role here isn't really clarified until well into the film.Vond je deze recentie nuttig?
Well worth giving a try, with a few reservations
I watched this because I had just finished Extraordinary Attorney Woo and I wanted to see Park Eun Bin outside of that extreme autistic character. And she does not disappoint. If I had not known the characters Woo and Seo were played by the same actor I would not have realized it. It is a remarkable talent that can take the audience so deeply into the character as to not see the actor. There are too many famous actors that overwhelm the character they're playing so that the audience only sees the actor.The music and performances are well worth the time. The story and plotting are at times fragile meaning that characters' twists and motivations were not always believable and relatable. However, the acting and music carry the flow and engage the viewer. I found the first few episodes not as engaging as the later ones. At times the plot twists seemed overly complicated and manipulative. For example early on I became aware the writer wants to play with the audience as to which brother is KiHo. Once aware of that manipulation, instead of the story flowing naturally the audience becomes too self conscious that the clues obviously dropped are likely meant to be misleading.
I found the positives more than made up for the few flaws and kept me engaged through to a satisfying conclusion.
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Finish Falters
Strong opening and enough intriguing questions raised to hold you to what turns out to be an unsatisfying conclusion. The opening and first few episodes caught my curiosity, but I found myself sticking it out to the end just to find out how it would tie things up. But it didn't tie many important threads up and we don't learn what happened to the characters and in important cases the why behind their actions. I was waiting for a supernatural angle to appear given the physically impossible things occurring, but there isn't any. The makers just walk away from a reasonable finish. That last 'special' episode or epilogue was weird. The idea that a surgeon/doctor would pursue relationships with two or three high school girls was absurd and I suspect as illegal and socially unacceptable in Japan as it would be elsewhere in the world.Vond je deze recentie nuttig?
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Remake has all the high and low points of original
This version holds its own compared to the original meaning that the viewer will see all the original high and low points of the original story. However, the finished product has a few rough edges. Some of the support acting (or perhaps the director?) was a bit weak. On the positive side a few of the subplots were improved over the original in particular the relationship with the big bad doctor and his female student and third in the love triangle with the two leads. The Korean version didn't develop this relationship whereas the Thai shows us the potential.Several rough edges came through which may be due to the many writers involved in the Thai version.
The lead's uncle withholds key information (that there is a demon stalking him) until suddenly he reveals a few morsels in front of the ghost girlfriend which struck me as odd. It moves the plot tension but didn't make sense to tell his nephew based on prior exposition, particularly because a few times in the same episode and before he told his shaman ally that he absolutely could not tell his nephew about this demon, and then he does...in front of a ghost he knows nothing about. It would actually have made a lot of sense to explain all about this dangerous demon much earlier.
A really rough edge occurs in an early episode when the Detective explains to his officers that he wants them to tail the doctor suspect. One officer does, and the doctor detects this, and leads the officer behind the building within a stone's throw of his clinic and parked car, and kills him. Then.....nothing. What happened to the body? Neither the Detective or any police officers note the absence of their colleague. That was just sloppy execution.
Something interesting that caught my attention was in the 10th episode at 4:30 the two leads are in a scene which was probably improvised where they are bantering over their dinner. The female lead speaks Thai followed by Japanese, and then a few English words. The difference in voice timber was striking. Her voice is very different in the three languages. I've heard this often among Japanese where both men and women will have totally different voices between English and Japanese.
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Good but shy of Great
On the positive side are the three main characters and their shared shattered backgrounds from their childhoods. Over several episodes they are brought back together and their shared pasts are unlayered through a series of satisfying reveals. The support acting was well done and other overall production values high.On the bad side the antagonist was so powerful - as we learn through slow reveals - that we wondered how they planned to defeat him. This is the main flaw in the show - a structural problem is that the main characters and we the audience never understand the how and why the big bad can be defeated. In an early episode it's said they will exorcise him/it when they catch him/it. At times they behave like impulsive middle schoolers talking about catching the bad guy with no clear idea what they'll do with him should that happen. There are scenes where they rush towards the big bad, especially true for the taxi driver, Hwa Pyung, with absolutely no expressed plan how to get through bodyguards or other obstacles or what happens when they 'catch' him.
One common problem with media centered on exorcism is that they contain exorcism scenes in which the priest or shaman endlessly chants some holy words that fail over and over and over until they work - or not. This show has the same flaw in that we (and the main characters) never learn (until they very end) what MacGuffin - thing or rule or process - will defeat the big bad evil spirit, and in fact as the episodes progress it becomes obvious that the big bad, Park Il-Do, is seriously powerful and far stronger than we were given to believe in early episodes.
And because of this structural flaw the close had to - literally - reveal a Deus Ex Machina. Notice the prayer the priest uses at the very end in the water. He calls upon God directly, and God delivers. And the last scene where the three are reunited is as pure DEM as it gets given where we last saw Hwa-Pyung.
Despite the serious structural flaw the good (main character arcs, relationships, story arc) out weighs the bad for at least one watch through.
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Supernatural Vigilantism with a Big Bonus
There are many movies and TV series with strong vigilantist themes including a great many from Korea. This one, Judge From Hell, adds something to trigger attention. Seeing some rogue heroes deliver vigilante justice the system fails to provide is always satisfying, but here we get to see the hero, a demon exiled among humans to hunt down sinners, punish the sinners in excruciating and painful detail before sending them on their way to Hell. All in all it is extremely satisfying and very rewatchable.The challenge for the screenwriter and director is to find the right balance among comedy, dark detail, and romance. For me, the comedy was a bit strong at times, and perhaps the main character, the demon judge, could have been a bit more demonlike before softening up, but it all works well enough.
The first half of episodes tend to emphasize the procedural element - showing the sins of a particular culprit followed by the machinations of the demon judge to deliver the sinner's punishment and then send them to hell. The judge likes to leave the bodies to tease the authorities. Once the basics are understood the series shifts to emphasize the struggle among the top demons in and from Hell.
And the ending is an obvious setup to keep the option for a second season open.
It's odd that in this story Satan and Lucifer are two entirely different beings and not just different names for the same.
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Impressive start to finish
Supernatural suspense crime thriller. I was engaged from the first episode through the last. It's not easy to sustain the tension for 12 hours but the screenwriter, Kim Eun Hee, and directors do just that. The reveals build as we follow two parallel investigations - secular police detectives and a supernatural expert - separately pursuing the 'culprit' behind a series of suspicious suicides. These two avenues collide frequently as they bump into the each other following various evidence and leads. The performance of Kim Tae Ri as the focus of the story deserves praise as exceptionally well done. Her character is both the protagonist and the antagonist.Vond je deze recentie nuttig?
Fresh, Quirky
I tried this entirely because of the teaser prominently featuring Bae Doo Na. The first five episodes have been great.The show is 'quirky' meaning you're going to love it, or hate it depending on your susceptibility to this particular brand of quirk.
Only six episodes are promised, so the hope is there will be more.
Bae Doo Na effortlessly does meek and menacing and comedic.
Lee Su Hyun is great in her first outing.
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Fast paced thriller with a hard ending
No spoilers up here. The typical K Drama has a feel good wrap up ending. This one does not and that's ok. The screenwriters here could have taken the easy route and written a 'happy' ending but instead they wrote the right ending for these characters and this story. After the last reveal and you're faced with the finale and perhaps a little shock you'll appreciate what happens and why it had to be that way.The series has its share of action and fight scenes but these never take over and dominate the story and character development. There are too many shows and movies where it feels like a little bit of story wrapped around overly complicated and drawn out action/fight scenes. There were a few isolated cases early on with a bit drawn out fight scenes but once the skills of the main protagonist are established his later performance is marked by efficiency - brief fight scenes.
The story stayed with me after the finale as I couldn't help but think about the characters and their choices.
Looking forward to rewatching this one.
I'm surprised these screenwriters don't have more credits given how well written this series turned out.
Warning - Below some questions and comments that contain spoilers. These are not nitpicks but after one viewing questions that I didn't see an answer for.
- Young Kim Soo Hyun was consistently shown with blue eyes yet as an adult his eyes were brown. What was the point of the blue eyes?
- Kang Seul Gi was mentioned twice as the biological daughter of Kim Soo Hyun. How and when this came about was never answered, but would partially explain why Soo Hyun prevented Pavel from killing her.
- Do Hyun Jin aka Lee Young Eun was adopted to replace a dead daughter. What happened to her sire? All the kids were created via artificial insemination in order to provide organs for specific powerful clients. Why was she exceptioned? Why did she even have a name i.e. Lee Young Eun vs a number?
Speculation Given the genetics for organ donors of even family members can be dicey it would make sense for the scheme to create more than one kid from each sire for donations. The main antagonist created Kim Soo Hyun to provide a bone marrow transplant for his sister who named him and then died. Perhaps he also sired Lee Young Eun for the same purpose, and when her half sister died he adopted her as a replacement.
That would make her a half sibling to Kim Soo Hyun and the biological aunt for Kang Seul Gi.
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Wat is er aan de hand met secretaresse Kim?
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Made to be Rewatched
My first impression maybe one or two episodes in was to wonder how will they get 16 episodes out of this basic set up. As the story unfolds layers of hidden reveals and story twists emerge to justify those 16 episodes. On rewatch I appreciated the foreshadowing and reveals placed early on but which require that second time through to fully get.For example, pay attention to the flashbacks connected to each character. In particular and I say this without spoiling anything note the flashbacks with the main male lead. These point towards whether he does or does not remember certain events and who he really is.
I enjoyed the steep character arc of the main male lead, but also the less obvious arc for the main female lead.
All in all a very entertaining story that improves the second time through.
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Not Just Another Business Proposal
I tried this with low expectations anticipating a half clone of Business Proposal but with each passing episode was increasingly delighted. While they both have a Cinderella element involving a young woman getting caught up in a difficult relationship with a higher status male, the emphasis is so different.The set up:
The female lead, Yun Seo, together with her little brother, ran away from an abusive drunken father (he beat her and her brother) and drunken mother (she let it all happen) within minutes of finding out she had been accepted into a college. Years later having overcome many obstacles she now works in a major company as a Team Leader.
The youngest member of the team is the male lead, Ju Won, who undergoes severe training as the junior most member. Over time Yun Seo and Ju Won begin a secret relationship that lasts almost two years until she stumbles upon the fact that Ju Won is actually the second son of the Chairwoman of their company who after returning from an extended study abroad was placed incognito inside the company to get on the job training.
And complications ensue:
The first episode opens with the Chairwoman meeting with Yun Seo to tell her to break up with her son for a huge amount of money. The story that unfolds has a lot to say about not only Yun Seo and her difficult upbringing and current situation, but also surprisingly about arranged marriages and the difficulties the upper crust face in finding marriage mates.
The Chairwoman is not an evil person. We learn she is in an arranged marriage with a man who lives in Germany and is not faithful (not that she seems to care). She’s tried to raise her two sons to be cold and calculating to survive in their upper class world.
The story contrasts the evolving relationships of the Chairwoman’s elder son, SiWon, and his wife, with the problems facing his younger brother, Ju Won, and his chosen mate, Yun Seo.
SiWon is in an arranged marriage. His wife has lived in Paris for the past two years and SiWon, we can tell, is lonely but has adjusted and even appreciates living alone (he goes pantless around the house). His life is disrupted when his wife returns suddenly to cohabit (pants now required).
Over in the other relationship Yun Seo tries to break up with Ju Won as per her agreement with the Chairwoman. However, Ju Won resists both Yun Seo and his mother, the Chairwoman, and fights to keep Yun Seo.
At first his behavior seems a bit pathetic but as the story develops we learn why Ju Won is being entirely rational in his pursuit to keep Yun Seo.
For someone in Ju Won’s upper rich crust it is nearly impossible to find a mate especially one from a lower income level who isn’t swayed by the opportunity to marry into power and money. The Chairwoman cannot imagine that Yun Seo is anything other than a gold digger motivated by marrying into the family for the money.
SiWon failed to find a love match and had to enter an arranged marriage.
Ju Won, however, spent two years being tortured incognito and all on his own wooed Yun Seo into a relationship. In fact once she knew his true identity she didn’t think it could work out so she was receptive to the Chairwoman’s offer. Ju Won at one point bursts out saying he’s not giving her up because the relationship he made with her is the single most worthwhile achievement in his entire life (where everything has been handed to him).
Now that his true identity is out he is destined for an arranged marriage like his elder brother, and Yun Seo represents his one and only chance to ever marry for love. So his refusal to give in to his mother’s demands is entirely rational.
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Top notch comedy
The best thing from among many delightful aspects of this series is the dynamic comedic duo Kim Se Jeong and Seol In Ah. Whenever the scene focus is on these two they generate laughter and this was much more apparent my second time watching. This praise shouldn't be taken as criticising the performances of the other leads. This is a feel good romantic comedy that comes across as fresh and original despite treading some old cliche pathways. The two leading couples have chemistry that works together.PS One personal irritation for situation comedies is when the situations are so badly contrived i.e. people making absurd choices and then scramble to escape. 'Business Proposal' has few like that. What makes much of the humor work is that the choices and resulting situations are usually 'reasonable' enough to be believable. That sets the stage for the comedy talents of the dynamic comedic duo, both together and when working off of their leads, to shine at their best.
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