UNDERRATED !! Surprisingly good Sageuk that centers more around injustice , revenge , comedy and less of palace politics
First off, if you're looking for a romance, look elsewhere, this is more of an action packed-melodramatic-comedy then anything, with just a touch of romance in it. Although the first 6 episodes are a bit slow, You will be banging your head and crying when is Jong getting a break from tragedies , the story soon picks up with a quick-fire, rapid pace that will leave your heart feeling as if it had been pulled out and stamped upon. It was truly a beautiful drama.
PLOT
The plot line was absolutely fantastic, even though I'm afraid to say I was a little hesitant at first. When I read "Historical Drama", I'm just not that interested, to be honest. And for those of you who are like me, let me just tell you this. Historical will be the last thing on your mind as this drama is filled with intense action, blooming romances, heartbreaking tragedies, and absolutely amazing acting. It's a lot similar to the robin hood figure(s) we know. It keeps the action going and there is really never a dull moment, you're either laughing, crying or on your toes wondering what's going to happen next. Every death is likely to make you shed a tear, depending how emotionally invested you are. But within minutes, you'll be laughing or on the edge of your seat as the drama unfolds.
The only problem I would have with it is that they either should of taken the romance out of it that they attempted to squeeze in, or they should of put more effort into it. I was also a little unsure about the ending as well as it seems to just leave you to imagine what happened, but I still left this drama feeling satisfied either way!
MUSIC/CINEMATOGRAPHY
The music was pretty good, to say the least. The producers did a great job in matching the music with the mood. There is BGM for suspense ; there is a BGM for action and one of thieving .. everything is perfect .
Nothing less can be said about the action scenes and background choreography. Even a decade later we see many shows :cough: Sysphus :cough: with bad action scenes and CGI. I really appreciate Lee Joong-gi and Park Shi Hoo for their amazing stunt performances.
CAST
The drama does not suffer from bad acting at all. The cast fully suited their roles, and although Lee Jun-gi is partial to some overacting when he is trying to hide the pain or the fact he is iljimae , it wasn't anything that detracted away from the drama. The actor who played Seo Dol was amazing - that guy put me through emotional highs and lows, and he had amazing chemistry with Lee Jun-ki. I actually felt like I was watching a father/son team whenever those two were on screen with each other.
Although far from perfect, Lee Jun Ki does a brilliant job of a vengeful ninja out to get the bad guys. Of course he has an ulteriour motive (finding the man who murdered his dad) but the way he switches personalities is just....! (Its not a surprise Watch Flower of Evil too) Whenever he's around the villagefolk, he keeps up the image of an unsuspecting simpleton. But what highly impressed me, was the gritty resolve in his eyes, when he let the mask slip in private.
I saw no true purpose, asides from being a romantic tool, for Eun Chae; yes, she was caring, kind and seemingly selfless (well, at least that is what she liked to think) but her character lacked development, depth and heart. Every time she would pop up on screen, the story would end up slowing down. She was an unnecessary character, in my opinion, and her romance with Iljimae was highly unconvincing.
The second main girl - who actually had a more significant impact, and had a purpose in the story - had much more convincing chemistry with Yong and I would have preferred her to be his primary love interest. She was a brilliant 3-dimensional character - like Yoong - and she had true depth. She is the Main Lead ; convince me she is not after watching the show !!! :100: for the best girl !!!
The father/son relationship was also incredibly moving. You can tell that Seo Dol has this completely unconditional love for Yong (despite him not being his biological son) (also Ja Do/Shi Hoo) , and their relationship is so special and beautiful. I haven't seen a father/son relationship, like that, in K-Drama - ever. The impact Seo Dol and Yong have on each other just pulls on my heartstrings, and I am usually a person who remains highly unmoved by fiction.
I also have a lot of admiration for Yong's adoptive mother Dan-ee. She appears to be cold and indifferent towards both Seo Dol and Yong (and even her own biological son, Ja Dol/Shi Hoo), but that's just way of trying to protect herself if anything bad happened to either of them. You can tell that she truly loves them.
I didn't have a problem with Ja Do/Shi Hoo, though. I thought it was kind of weird how he loved Eun Chae (not a spoiler, this is pretty much obvious from the outset of the drama) because he believed her to be his sister, although she wasn't (again, not a spoiler), so that incest-but-not-incest thing kind of grossed me off him for a while. However, his moral conflicts and his struggles with his identity were quite touching. Park Si Hoo seems to be doing these incest roles like in Golden Life
The best performances, in my opinion, came from Lee Moon Shik, Lee Yong Ah, Lee Jun Ki and Kim Sung Ryung, Lee Won Jong (who was perfect as the delightfully self-serving and wicked, Byun Shik) and Park Shi Hoo. There wasn't really anything that I could call a 'bad performance' in the drama, and though I didn't like Eun Chae, Han Hyo Joo did what she could with such a bland character.
VERDICT
The only reason why this drama doesn't get a perfect 10 from me is because I felt that the romance did actually weigh things down quite a bit and whilst the ending was good, the slight openness of it did irk me off because I prefer more defined endings. (Especially after watching a drama for 20 hours!) However, it was a beautiful story with beautiful characters (and great action scenes) and I recommend it to all. It has heart, humour and depth and it has really renewed an interest in the saeguk genre, for me. (after Mr.Queen and Queen In Man)
Review by chillikunBlockedParent2021-03-14T09:59:01Z
First off, if you're looking for a romance, look elsewhere, this is more of an action packed-melodramatic-comedy then anything, with just a touch of romance in it. Although the first 6 episodes are a bit slow, You will be banging your head and crying when is Jong getting a break from tragedies , the story soon picks up with a quick-fire, rapid pace that will leave your heart feeling as if it had been pulled out and stamped upon. It was truly a beautiful drama.
PLOT
The plot line was absolutely fantastic, even though I'm afraid to say I was a little hesitant at first. When I read "Historical Drama", I'm just not that interested, to be honest. And for those of you who are like me, let me just tell you this. Historical will be the last thing on your mind as this drama is filled with intense action, blooming romances, heartbreaking tragedies, and absolutely amazing acting. It's a lot similar to the robin hood figure(s) we know. It keeps the action going and there is really never a dull moment, you're either laughing, crying or on your toes wondering what's going to happen next. Every death is likely to make you shed a tear, depending how emotionally invested you are. But within minutes, you'll be laughing or on the edge of your seat as the drama unfolds.
The only problem I would have with it is that they either should of taken the romance out of it that they attempted to squeeze in, or they should of put more effort into it. I was also a little unsure about the ending as well as it seems to just leave you to imagine what happened, but I still left this drama feeling satisfied either way!
MUSIC/CINEMATOGRAPHY
The music was pretty good, to say the least. The producers did a great job in matching the music with the mood. There is BGM for suspense ; there is a BGM for action and one of thieving .. everything is perfect .
Nothing less can be said about the action scenes and background choreography. Even a decade later we see many shows :cough: Sysphus :cough: with bad action scenes and CGI. I really appreciate Lee Joong-gi and Park Shi Hoo for their amazing stunt performances.
CAST
The drama does not suffer from bad acting at all. The cast fully suited their roles, and although Lee Jun-gi is partial to some overacting when he is trying to hide the pain or the fact he is iljimae , it wasn't anything that detracted away from the drama. The actor who played Seo Dol was amazing - that guy put me through emotional highs and lows, and he had amazing chemistry with Lee Jun-ki. I actually felt like I was watching a father/son team whenever those two were on screen with each other.
Although far from perfect, Lee Jun Ki does a brilliant job of a vengeful ninja out to get the bad guys. Of course he has an ulteriour motive (finding the man who murdered his dad) but the way he switches personalities is just....! (Its not a surprise Watch Flower of Evil too) Whenever he's around the villagefolk, he keeps up the image of an unsuspecting simpleton. But what highly impressed me, was the gritty resolve in his eyes, when he let the mask slip in private.
I saw no true purpose, asides from being a romantic tool, for Eun Chae; yes, she was caring, kind and seemingly selfless (well, at least that is what she liked to think) but her character lacked development, depth and heart. Every time she would pop up on screen, the story would end up slowing down. She was an unnecessary character, in my opinion, and her romance with Iljimae was highly unconvincing.
The second main girl - who actually had a more significant impact, and had a purpose in the story - had much more convincing chemistry with Yong and I would have preferred her to be his primary love interest. She was a brilliant 3-dimensional character - like Yoong - and she had true depth. She is the Main Lead ; convince me she is not after watching the show !!! :100: for the best girl !!!
The father/son relationship was also incredibly moving. You can tell that Seo Dol has this completely unconditional love for Yong (despite him not being his biological son) (also Ja Do/Shi Hoo) , and their relationship is so special and beautiful. I haven't seen a father/son relationship, like that, in K-Drama - ever. The impact Seo Dol and Yong have on each other just pulls on my heartstrings, and I am usually a person who remains highly unmoved by fiction.
I also have a lot of admiration for Yong's adoptive mother Dan-ee. She appears to be cold and indifferent towards both Seo Dol and Yong (and even her own biological son, Ja Dol/Shi Hoo), but that's just way of trying to protect herself if anything bad happened to either of them. You can tell that she truly loves them.
I didn't have a problem with Ja Do/Shi Hoo, though. I thought it was kind of weird how he loved Eun Chae (not a spoiler, this is pretty much obvious from the outset of the drama) because he believed her to be his sister, although she wasn't (again, not a spoiler), so that incest-but-not-incest thing kind of grossed me off him for a while. However, his moral conflicts and his struggles with his identity were quite touching. Park Si Hoo seems to be doing these incest roles like in Golden Life
The best performances, in my opinion, came from Lee Moon Shik, Lee Yong Ah, Lee Jun Ki and Kim Sung Ryung, Lee Won Jong (who was perfect as the delightfully self-serving and wicked, Byun Shik) and Park Shi Hoo. There wasn't really anything that I could call a 'bad performance' in the drama, and though I didn't like Eun Chae, Han Hyo Joo did what she could with such a bland character.
VERDICT
The only reason why this drama doesn't get a perfect 10 from me is because I felt that the romance did actually weigh things down quite a bit and whilst the ending was good, the slight openness of it did irk me off because I prefer more defined endings. (Especially after watching a drama for 20 hours!) However, it was a beautiful story with beautiful characters (and great action scenes) and I recommend it to all. It has heart, humour and depth and it has really renewed an interest in the saeguk genre, for me. (after Mr.Queen and Queen In Man)