Reviews

It's a tongue in cheek comedy. Yes it's a bit too long but somewhat decently creative, especially the early editing.

Pacing is very good and action scenes are very well planed out. The best sequence is probably the smoke bomb dance routine. Maybe minus the skating part. I like casting BDH as a decoy and Sam Rockwell is just having a blast. All other supporting roles are fantastic as well.

The inevitable ending and double, or triple twists and turns are very cliche indeed. Maybe that's part of the plan, part of the cringe factor ? Oh I don't mind for a mindless Saturday night movie to relax and put the mind off things.

The ending works and in a way, its logical but a little too serious. I would have thought more silliness might have been more appropriate, although unrealistic.

All this because the opening is all caricature. The whole story is straight forward and needs to. Works well that way. The main events, encounters storylines, all seems universal. For around that era that is. Teens today may not be able to relate.

The inclusion of the 2 female lead is very clever yet obvious. It's a balancing act. Also the betrayal of first love. Or idealism vs reality.

The side kick of the main lead is hilarious. Not alot of screen time but steals the scene every time. I would have like more side stories of the underdog group too.

It is a feel good story until it isn't.

Wow. Refreshing, intricate, and perplexingly good. It's kinda dark humor x thriller. Six degree of killer separation and existential teen agnst.

Another finely directed meaningful story from SKorea. I'm only 4 episodes in and hooked. I understand this is from a webtoon. The story I won't go into but the editing is a attention grapper. There is the usual sound and visual transition. There is also flipping/merging of current and past scenes using same or similar visual space/camera angle. Shifting of time, perspective, alive and deceased person interaction...etc. These makes the telling of the story much more refreshing without seemingly showing off.

And there are themes of the young looking for direction or meaning in life. The unclear boundary between victims and perpetrators of a crime. And obvious question of vigilante justice.... Or is it a crime to kill a killer ?

This is a more thoughtful version of another similar recent SKorea series, Vigilante.

First episode did not lrave a good impression at all. Slow plotting, and character development. And only 2 of the main characters tried to carry the load. If you get past this, it's only uphill.

And the initial IMDb tags had comedy on it. Which is not true at all. Not funny. But a full fledged mystery thriller.

It seems with each episode, an important new character or critical piece of information will show up. And the plot slowly becomes more complex, layered, and interdependence builds. Not everyone, however, will show their hand.

There are things that are a bit too obvious, cliche. The pendant, the overzealous cop, the despicable villain, and the hospital escape plan. Still, overall it feels a bit longer and less refined. Could cut 2-3 episodes.

The strange thing is if the audience don't wait till episode 4, where one key thing is disclosed, they will miss a good show. Is that the intention not the director and producers ???

What a thriller. But it's also a love story. This one is very modern, artistic, twisted take about love, longing and what absence of such can do to us.

Wonderful story begins with the modernity of an app. Central to the app undelines the human nature for connect ion. Just like many others in real life. The atmosphere, characters are very specific and 3 dimensional. Initially there's a child genius with autistic bend, then the paraplegic cop, and not to be outdone is the punkish psychic.

Theme wise, it's another take on broken people on the edge of society and how they find/need/thirst/feel love. Albeit well to do people. The approach is not cliche, unlike most serial killer plots. The three friends are broken in different ways. So is the physcho guy. Near the end he did say I had met you earlier....

Everything about this series is top notch. Fantastic story is enhanced by music (Scarborough affairs, theme music, bgm), casting, acting, direction, writing, costume, character details, set production, editing, all the way to color grading and cinematography.

This show is different. Dark, daring, thematic, thoughtful with social commentary. And almost entirely female cast. There's little to no comedy.

The entire story traverse many distinct timelines, settings, scenes and sets. Mainly 3. The main mask girl, the prison girl and the daughter of mask girl. Each segment is unique, has different style, mood, energy, color scheme and story archs. And must be challenging with many different actress portraying the same character. So credit to writing and direction.

The obvious theme is the social sickness/religion of popularity, which largely depends on looks. That is outward appearance, not character. And what we do to gain that attention, that love, to prove what? That we existed?

A literature device of duality/twins is heavily employed. Beauty vs ugyliness, inside vs appearance. The two grown-up lovers vs the two childhood friends. The two mother's, one fixated on revenge while the other grandmother never understood her child. The world in front of the camera and behind the mask. The life inside the jail second half vs first half behind the mask - different kind of jail.

And of course double face of lying.

Not a Wes fan boy but I like some of his films. The French Dispatch didn't speak to me (and was tired when I watch it. Probably need a 2nd view) unlike the captivating Fantastic Mr Fox, nostalgic Moonrise Kingdom and theatrical Isle of Dog.

And I love Asteroid City. It has humor, and asks existential questions of being and reality. The question of reality from the viewpoint of the audience, observer of reality; viewpoint of actor / actress questioning their craft and timing, reinterpreting reality; viewpoint of a photographer ( whose job is suppose to capture reality). And the kids' science competition .... Science is basically testing of hypothesis against what reality that we don't know or have little understanding of.

The alien aspect might be a straight word play, and maybe asking who are we? Alienation ? Lol. Where do we come from? And the question of intend, importance, and interpretation of meaning. The setup of viewing the stars were in the form of audience seatting arrangement .... looking at the universe.

What is real?

To me this is Death Note x Faceoff. Plot is overly complicated and execution is poor. As in everything is 1 speed, fast. No change of pace, no character development, just plot point after plot point.

Cinematography is good, direction is good mind you, just script is blah ! It's the same sickness again that plagues 90% of these HK funded movies nowadays. They need backers to fund the project. And to do so backers want stars, that means skim on the writing.

In a way this shows either no total control nor final cut option by director or the writing want to show cleverness. And every twist point must be explained by one of the main lead as if in a musical recital. How very boring. Then again the plot is highly improbable and uber twisty.

There are lots of TVB regulars and to pick Louis Koo as the seemingly minor character is a dead give away. The other movie recently with the fate and misfortune is comparatively better.

Only 6 episode through and that's the impression, a modern, brutal take, on the Cinderella story where an social media nimph with integrity, honesty and innocence takes the online world in S Korea by storm.

Of course there's a love story, love triangle, murder, jealousy, threats, drug use, plot twists...Etc. But the evil bunch are really just way tooooooo one dimensional. That's including the lawyer husband, hervwife and the single guy love interest.

It is also a story that flips between 2 timelines. But even for a 12 episodes series the first 6 are very glamorous and didn't get going and dragging it's heels until episode 3.

Hope the 2nd half is better.

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Ok 2nd half is better. But a bit rushed. Comes down to one trick pony - who is bbbfamous ...lol. But the theme is constant it's about the vanity of people obsessed with making it big, getting attention, followers and being the center of universe. And lastly, not stressed enough, what is the right thing to do. Nothing really new. And with social media, everyone has a chance.

But with the anonymity of online world, comes no responsibility, and not much consequences unless one has a conscience. In a way, it's a satire but with little else to say.

--- up to 20th Besides the slugfest, the last few episodes reaffirms the main theme of acceptance and the longing of being normal, even for the mutants from the North. And consolidates the evil of government, bureaucrats and power hungry people. I liked that everyone was involved, including the solider turned teacher, the 2 or 'normal' students and obviously the electric bus driver. Also nice touch and humor on the big brute from the North.

---- ep 13 The other theme, so far, is acceptance. Just like the X-men counterpart. That is shown in two episodes on Monster. The clincher is in the recipricated dialogue when each ask of the others past and they both accepted, without hesitation by saying 'you must have your reasons'.

A side on the production. Some FX here are not that up to par. But to me, that's secondary to the story. As long as the 4main catch : story, direction, acting, writing, are still on a relatively high level.

What I've missed so far is the theme of parenting. Ever since the first episode, that has been there all along. And this theme culminated in two scenes. 1) the flashback of the why flying man/super sensory couple had to hide and the diversion getaway to save the child. 2) the Monster and the other super parent saving the 3rd child in the sewers. And what Monster decide to do when the evil director found the special powers are passed on to the next generation. This series is not about super heroes.

---- ep 8 This is a continuous review. I'm only 8 episodes in and the show is taking its time and I have no problem with that. Some people will not have the patience to find this gem.

This to me is a Korean version of the X-men. But much more down to earth. The main point of the story, I think, is these 'mutant' are most of the time, normal people. You can see this in the throw back of the love story between the couple. You can see in the students that wants to fit in so badly. Case in point is the repression and outburst of each of the 3 high school students. One had to restraint herself to do what is right, ended up in a bloody one on 17 brawl. Another can not save his 'girl' because he can not be free to practice flying.

These are just normal people, deep down inside.

They want to work, contribute, pass the tests at school, make friends, live a life, find love.

How they came to be is just as important as who they are and what they want to become.

The story has a lot of characters and each is carefully devoted with their own story. This adds dimensionality, weight to the character. The past is slowly revealed along with the present danger. And the tension builds. Some people won't get that.

Again a convoluted story that crawls back to crimes committed some time ago.

There is a very interesting beginning with the struggling writer. Then a bit of SciFi added and I wasn't sure what this show is. Until a dig to the pass. For another 5 episode or do, the past is revealed with more characters and villians.

However the pace suffers with the dragged out bent to fit 16 epidodes. There are slow motions, regret of a cop, long lost love, hidden evidence, bad cop with a consience, paternal love, brotherly love. ....etc Everything you can think of the plot has it.

So this could have been a great show in 10 episodes. Now it's just very average.

On paper, this show is not all that attractive. Main character being an old and slow detective. His past is mired with murky, complicated regrets and/or mistakes.

The mystery and deaths that surrounds him is never really clearly explained. And that could be frustrating. There are two strong sidekicks and another obviously suspicious partner.

Supposedly a show in two parts. All the technicals are excellent. Bgm, photography, acting, pacing.... Etc. So the overall effect keeps drawing me in. The lead actor has always been solid and here no exception.

Onto the second part now and the mystery continues. There are a few new characters and old memories. Although with a clearer mission now. Hope the ending is carefully planned and executed.

---- Season 2, episode 7 ---- Ahhhh ok. It all makes sense now. Why the old cop always survives and is never a target of the hidden entity.

Four episodes in and it's still consistent, smart, sharp and witty.

In the first one there's a clip on Pulp Fiction due to the story structure. It always starts in the near middle and reverse back. The entire show has a trick, trick being innate lie detection. Once you accept that premise, everything else is gravy.

The Fugitive on the run is a smart use to change scenario, scenery, situations and characters. And you get some high value guest appearance. But dialogue gets the most attention for me. Not just for the attention to details and cleverness but important as to when and how(or by whom) the words are delivered.

The lead actor is more than great but not sure if just a little bit .... How should it be described ..... too good to be true? Maybe? And the travels are interesting with many slices of Americana, small towns mentality, and psyche but big picture on human nature.

Can't wait to see the next one.