First impressions - Heartless City and Shark
I think the the uncommonly long k-drama draught might have finally come to an end. Though I'm not counting my chicks yet, it's k-drama after all and there's always a good chance we'll get an omelett instead of chickens. On the other hand, I've been so busy the past months that nothing much to watch on k-dram front has been rather a blessing in disguise. Most of my western shows have just piled up and it'll likely be Christmas before I've sorted that side up. :)
Anyways, couple of new dramas just premiered and I'm tentatively optimistic. At least they bring little diversty to the sageuk deluge that is Korean TV these days. It's been sooooo long since I was truly hooked by a k-drama. I mean TRULY. I thought that Nine would surely do the trick but it didn't quite manage that. I am going to finish Nine one of these days though, I did like what I saw of it but it just wasn't quite what I was looking for.
Heartless City and Shark might just be what the doctor ordered.
Both had quite promising first 2 episodes but surprisingly it's Heartless City that captured me more. It's rather film noirish. Muted colours, grubby clubs, back alleys, dingy bars, Seoul nightscapes and badly lit interrogation rooms. And gaudy bling and mansions, very mobster-chic, LOL. Setting is cops and drug trafficking gangsters, so it's as tried and tested as can. That doesn't necessarily have to mean it's bad if the framework is solid and there is a good story to tell. You really don't need to reinvent the wheel every time. The beginning felt very assured, they seem to know where they are going, which is always a big plus considering how many of the k-dramas have sucked like a hoover in the writing and plot department lately. What I really like is that neither the cops nor the mobsters are depicted as idiots. I've become SO tired of the stupid-trope where they make especially the 'good guys' act like they haven't even got half a functioning brain betwix themselves. Here both sides have their 'brains' and their 'brawns'. The scheming was pretty darn interesting and the story exciting even. These first episodes were just the setting up part but it didn't feel like that at all. I'm looking forward to next week. Also, it was quite odd to see the nice, teddybear Doc from ILiCDD as a baddie.^^
Shark is a very different beast, even if you can't call it exactly fluffy either. It's the last instalment of the 'revenge trilogy' by the PD/wrtier team that gave us Mawang and Resurrection. Both of which I loved. These two know their stuff and you can tell it's them by the lovely cinematography and symbolism, just to mention few of their trademarks that can be found also in Shark. But.... Shark didn't grab me the way the other two dramas did, right from the beginning. Something was missing. I'm also a bit apprehensive about the transition from the kids to the adult cast. The young actors are doing a bang up job, as per usual (I rahter adore Yeon Jun Seok - there's another young'un to keep tabs at) and Kim Nam Gil is no UTW, that's for sure, so..... we'll see. As beginnings go it's still way above most of the stuff I've tried this year. I do think there's a solid base on which to build on and maybe things will fall more into place once the revengy part really starts rolling. Several familiar faces, TPTB seems to like casting certain actors in their dramas. :)
This entry was originally posted at http://timescout.dreamwidth.org/45762.html. You can comment either here or there.
Anyways, couple of new dramas just premiered and I'm tentatively optimistic. At least they bring little diversty to the sageuk deluge that is Korean TV these days. It's been sooooo long since I was truly hooked by a k-drama. I mean TRULY. I thought that Nine would surely do the trick but it didn't quite manage that. I am going to finish Nine one of these days though, I did like what I saw of it but it just wasn't quite what I was looking for.
Heartless City and Shark might just be what the doctor ordered.
Both had quite promising first 2 episodes but surprisingly it's Heartless City that captured me more. It's rather film noirish. Muted colours, grubby clubs, back alleys, dingy bars, Seoul nightscapes and badly lit interrogation rooms. And gaudy bling and mansions, very mobster-chic, LOL. Setting is cops and drug trafficking gangsters, so it's as tried and tested as can. That doesn't necessarily have to mean it's bad if the framework is solid and there is a good story to tell. You really don't need to reinvent the wheel every time. The beginning felt very assured, they seem to know where they are going, which is always a big plus considering how many of the k-dramas have sucked like a hoover in the writing and plot department lately. What I really like is that neither the cops nor the mobsters are depicted as idiots. I've become SO tired of the stupid-trope where they make especially the 'good guys' act like they haven't even got half a functioning brain betwix themselves. Here both sides have their 'brains' and their 'brawns'. The scheming was pretty darn interesting and the story exciting even. These first episodes were just the setting up part but it didn't feel like that at all. I'm looking forward to next week. Also, it was quite odd to see the nice, teddybear Doc from ILiCDD as a baddie.^^
Shark is a very different beast, even if you can't call it exactly fluffy either. It's the last instalment of the 'revenge trilogy' by the PD/wrtier team that gave us Mawang and Resurrection. Both of which I loved. These two know their stuff and you can tell it's them by the lovely cinematography and symbolism, just to mention few of their trademarks that can be found also in Shark. But.... Shark didn't grab me the way the other two dramas did, right from the beginning. Something was missing. I'm also a bit apprehensive about the transition from the kids to the adult cast. The young actors are doing a bang up job, as per usual (I rahter adore Yeon Jun Seok - there's another young'un to keep tabs at) and Kim Nam Gil is no UTW, that's for sure, so..... we'll see. As beginnings go it's still way above most of the stuff I've tried this year. I do think there's a solid base on which to build on and maybe things will fall more into place once the revengy part really starts rolling. Several familiar faces, TPTB seems to like casting certain actors in their dramas. :)
This entry was originally posted at http://timescout.dreamwidth.org/45762.html. You can comment either here or there.