Night Watchman's Journal (2014)

I enjoy fantasy and historical dramas. Nightwatchman's Journal is not a masterpiece nor is it trash. Let me begin with the bad points. The drama was repetitive, but the repetition was necessary for the growth of the team.
The plot of the drama is simple. Good versus evil. Good wins.
Drama made several attempts to show the imperfections of the world such as mental illness, political greed, misusing tax money, misdirected love, and doubt. The drama ended answering a few of the imperfections.
Acting
The good points are the performance by the Kim Heung Soo and Ko Sung Hee. King Heung Soo played King Rin. His performance was exceptional. He stole every scene he was in. Now So Kung Hee played Do Ha. She was so convincing that over 90% of the viewers completely forgot she was illiterate and from the mountains.
I would rewatched this drama simply because I enjoy fantasy dramas.

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This was kind of hard for me to rate. For all the interesting and exciting parts there were just as many boring and lame parts. The story is good, but the execution is lacking. It is total fantasy with a little politics and romance thrown in. Part of the issue may be that the production spent so much money on special effects that there was none left for the set. Anyway, on to the acting.

I found myself routing for the "bad" guy. I couldn't help it. Kim Sung Oh was the best actor in the entire drama. He has more charisma in his pinky than all of the other actors combined. His portrayal of Sadam is excellent. I'm a fan of Jung Il Woo and he does fine as Rin. There was just something missing. I think it is because there was a lack of chemistry between him and the other actors. I don't know who Kim Sung Oh is, but she is a sucky actress. It is part story line and partly her acting as Do Ha. I could have cared less about what happened to her by the end. She should be ashamed that Yunho (who is a mediocre actor at best) had more chemistry with the prince than she did with either of them. The rest of the actors are fine. Oh but the crazy girl, Soo Ryeon, played by See Ye Ji also was just horrible. Do these actresses really think the same expression is good for every emotion? They just widen their eyes a little and they think that is enough. Blah. I only gave the acting a higher score because of Kim Sung Oh.

The music is annoying at times. For crying out loud...if they are going to sing English words then they should make sense.

I will never rewatch this.

I don't recommend this drama. It isn't horrible, but it isn't the greatest either. Watch at your own risk.

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