Disappointment!
So, this drama is probably the worst one I have ever seen. The screenwriting, production, storyline, and effects are so bad that it is hard to believe that it is a Korean drama. I did not really care about the characters, and the only positive thing I found was the flashback from their past. The first episode was so hard for me to watch, but I gave it a chance. However, I had to drop it at episode 4 as I could not waste my time any longer.To be honest, I do not understand how the rating can be so high.
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Island
I have watched because of the genre and Cha Eun Woo - and he did great, his character was fun and really like his blue eyes. Well this season/part/however you call it had more interesting plot or better made eventhough I like second season more. It is not a bad drama but splitting it into to parts was unneccessary.Was this review helpful to you?
Fun Urban Fantasy
It's been so long since I wanted to binge a kdrama, Island might be tropey or not particularly memorable in the long run, but it sure is having fun wielding its demon slashing blade along the way.Great chemistry among the cast is a gamechanger for me, yes, it's a waste for Kim Nam Gil to play a badass stoic demon hunter, as he can express his way through anything , but I'm such a sucker for these types of grumpy/sunshine loveline. He's so good at "longing yet irritated" gazes directed to Lee Da Hee.
Cha Eun Woo looks like he's having a blast playing that cool exorcist priest. There might be quite a few Mi Ho being chased around by demons, until Van saves her, but here's hoping it grows into her developing her powers and they can all kickass together. I love this trio, and can anyone blame me? I'm kind of sick of all the doom and gloom in other shows.
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Scattered ashes, dust and broken glass made pretty...
This is the drama that is there to teach viewers not to touch unknown statues and stay out of the forest...This drama is all about the aesthetics and less about the plot, ,gore and elements of surprise one may expect in a Action, Thriller, Horror, Fantasy. As the creators of this drama must have started off brainstorming pretty locations and things that could look cool + added cast known for being nice on the eye and then tried to sow it together as well as they could.
The first two episodes or so Won Mi Ho (Lee Da Hee) has more scream time than Father Johan (Cha Eun Woo, the main attraction of this show) has screen time. Three is less dialog than screaming too... So you may just want to turn off the sound to watch it.
The scenery and cinematography is just so pretty... The forest, the sea, the streams... drone taken pictures from above every few minutes... Water, fog, ashes, more ashes and what is supposed to be horror type demons that again look like ashes... Father Johan asserting his exorcism over a bed... Can be triggering for some and pleasurable for others... I will admit I had to sort my own thoughts here the whole in gods name type of deal was probably the scariest part of the show.
There is a plot here, it is neither new or very interesting if I am to be perfectly honest, but there are som nice little gems here and there with good lines and issues brought to lite that are not fully explored but I appreciate them being mentioned. Such as consent, power relations (I love my power relations), men who hate woman, domestic abuse, and human trafficking disguised as adoption.
I wish they would stop doing: Splitting dramas in 2, just stop it, even Prime Video gets that there is no point of splitting it and has it as one.
All in all an ok watch that gats extra points for being so pretty!
Also do not expect much logic or to be kept on your toes... or to get captivated by this, its pros are the aesthetics and CEWs charm...
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Great acting from Lee Da-hee & Cha Eun-woo
I haven't watched such a good tv show in a long time. Not one second was boring. All actors brought their A Game and the visual FX are amazing!Lee Da-hee plays the overachiving daughter excellent and her acting is on point in every scene!
I really enjoy seeing Cha Eunwoo in this role. He can finally show that he can act in a natural way and not as stiff as in his past roles he played.
Only downside at the moment is that i have to wait another week for new episodes to watch and i'm not able to watch all EPs at once. At least this will give me something to look forward to every friday!
Only 2 EPs in and for me it is a 10 out of 10!!!!
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Supernatural meets Da Vinci Code
I have been waiting for this to air for over a year now. You have the great prophesized evil coming back that needs to be stopped. Only 2 episodes so far and I wanted more. The storytelling is griping with intelligent 'damsel in distress' and realistic, relevant violence.Story-Easy to follow yet makes you wonder more about what is going on, what each characters individual story is and how they come together.
Acting-My goodness. I came for Cha Eun Woo and he delivers. This is a different genre for him and it fits. The others play their roles very well and now I want to look up their works and learn more about them.
Music- A definite yes. Music can make or break a scene and in my opinion the music was fantastic. An immediate spotify add once I find it.
Rewatch Value-Yes. I suspect this is going to be one that on completion I will rewatch to find the clues, hints and plot nuggets that were dropped early that I missed due to subtitle reading or I didn't know they were a clue until the end.
Overall-The violence is acceptable, warranted but not gorey so if you are squeamish about blood, you will be ok. The fight scenes right now are a bit fast but there is a reason for it so I don't count that as a minus. I thought this was going to be 'horror-scary' and it isn't; hence the comparison to Supernatural. It has just enough creep factor to push you into realistic-fantasy thriller without making you look away, scream or shrink in your seat.
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Cha Eunwoo Is a Talented young man
I was so excited since I hear about the cast, I love the soundtrack, that young priest is the awesome! Eunwoo is rocking this character, he's a wonderful actor I love all his kdramas, the story is amazing, personally I'm not a fan is scary content, but this kdrama is so good, I can't stop, I want all the episodes already . I'm so excited for every Thursday. Also if you fall for Cha Eunwoo here, you need to discover Astro as well (that his group name) cause yes! That talented and gorgeous man is also a Kpop artist, we are so proud of him.Was this review helpful to you?
An addictive k-drama
I was fascinated by the story, hell, priests is amazing! I've only seen two episodes, but I really liked it. I don't usually watch horror series, but I started it because of Eunwoo's performance and I was riveted by the story. It is the first k-drama that scared me of how good it is.In addition to the story, it is a very good drama because of the special effects it has, also because of the good performances by the great cast. I am surprised by the characterization of the demons and the same for the scenarios, is it really Jeju? Woah!
For sure there will be many twists in the story, I am looking forward to the next episodes
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This show seriously has no business tagging Horror as one of it's main gener
I've got zero idea what pot the VFX and makup department were smoking on when designing those "Lust Demons" i am telling you (if you are reading this, the ISLAND creative crew) if those honestly least-terror-inducing demons are your definition of 'SCARY' then ya'll clearly need to rethinking your understanding of the whole term(word) itself.There's definitely snippits of GORE throughout the season but seriously no horror
I've never read the original source material, the WEBTOON (nor do i plan on reading it) but I can tell why most of the reading fanbase won't be happy with this live action adaptation
Before I being my rant, let's open-up with the positives.....
♤ The ACTION ..I'd say it is well done.. Van is a supernatural being with superhuman strength and in the action choreography that is potryed really well.. even though there are lots of cuts in a particular action sequence but it has been edited really well.. so it feels very smooth flowing ( in short the action is definitely NOT a sore to the eyes, in fact I'd say it's one of the best I've seen comming from fantasy-k-content in past 4-5 years)
♤ The ACTING department- majority of the characters are seriously paper thin.. but the actors that play their respective roles did all they could with the script they where given... the guy who suprised me with his improved skills was undoubtedly Cha Ewn Woo as Yohan.. I hadn't expected much from him going in considering his previous roles... but he did well here given that he is a rookie in a cast full of veteran actors...I'd say he did really well..
I've got no complaint from Kim Nam Gil in the acting section.. the man knows how to do his job well...Ohhky it might bit of a stretch but trust me Nam Gil is the only thing that's saving the show for me at this point.. he's literally carrying the whole show entirely on his shoulder...
Lee-Da-Hee's acting is as moderate as ever I don't think it has changed at all in the past 4-5years.. I am tired of alway seeing play the same type of chracters and it has become very boring not to see taking up fresh original roles..
♤ The CHEMISTRY / RELATIONSHIPS
◇ Van and Granny- honesty the most most wholesome relationship in the entire show, its a pity they don't have a bunch of scenes together in the 1st part..
◇ Van and Miho - ( I know.. i know the show is not said to have any romance and the source material doesn't have love-line as well) but Nam Gil and Da Hee as Van and Miho definitely have fire flickering on n off... (the showwriters are definitely hinting on it). I will fool myself and hope for a romance in S2 but will also try to keep my expectations tamed cause i don't wanna be dissapointed and give myself a terrible heartache if the creators don't give me a romance sub-plot in S2 (reminds me of my dissapoinmet with Bulgasal.. jezz)
The COMEDY- it feels very sublet.. very fitting and blending in pretty naturally into the story... without being overly on your face... it adds much needed mirth to the dark-enigmatic atmosphere of the show..
♤ The CINEMATOGRAPHY.... the show has hit a jackpot in this department... there are certain aerial drone shot.. that are just wallpaper worthy..
NOW LET ME RANT......
The STORY- It is always mind boggling to me that when Tv script writters have the benefit of a full fleged well written comic as source material how can they miss the mark when it comes to adapting it in Live action (the show has certain changes that I heard are not in the OG comics.. which I don't honestly mind.... but the overall presentation of the story is very flimsy)
2nd is the CHRACTER writtings , besides Van there's not a single well written character, not even 1
Let's start with WonMiho/Wonjeong (the female lead who's character is supposedly to be crucial for the climax). All I saw her do was wear really preety clothes and fall into the arms of her potential lover Van every now and then, like isn't she being hunted by demon.. shouldn't she be learning how to operate guns or do Karate or stuff.. I don’t know but learn something for self-defense (Yehh I'm well aware that she hires Van to protect her from the same.. but still).
Yohan - The writers tried giving Yohan some emotional depth and complexity (showing us his relationship with his brother in ep 6) but it simply wasn't impactfull... the writer/director never really gave the two brothers enough time to bond with each other or with the audiences. So me as viewr never fully understand the psychological impact the final act of ep 6 might have on Yohan...
Gung-tan is the most one dimensional villan EVER...
The only saving grace is VAN- This guy is decently written and impressively acted and brought to screen by Kim Nam Nam Gil (the actor has become so good in playing these 'cold emotionally-distant tormented guy' role over the years)
The CG and VFX is very Mehhhhh.......(but i am hopeful about it seeing the trailer for 2nd part) apart for the vfx of the 'energy barriers' of blue and oranges colours created by Van and Guntan respectively.. everything else is very forgettable
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Another really good horror drama
The horror genre have been badly ignored over the years. The last time I saw a good horror drama was 'the hand'. This drama though is amazing in the fantasy genre and have a very interesting plot which keeps you engaged.I loved the acting as well as the visual effects. The fight sequence were really good and came close to 'Marvel' fight perfection. I loved the production and the casting which very well compliments the story.
I would definitely suggest people who love fantasy-horror genre to watch this series. Its definitely worth your time. A big salute to the VFX team. They did an amazing job in this drama.
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Hottest Priest, Intresting Plot
After a While there is a good story comes, You will love the priest avatar of Eun Woo... 1st epi is a bit slow, and why every KDrama has foreigners when it's come to ancient stories... I just don't get that! would it be necessary to include foreigners for the sake of authenticity?Also, the chemistry between the main lead is lit and 1st 2 episodes contain drama, excitement, and comedy...
Maybe the budget but The VFX isn't that impressive if compare to other KDramas I watch so far..... aside from that this drama is worth watching.....
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Amazing drama
For someone not into horror genre, watched premiere episodes to support my favorite actor Cha Eunwoo. Lo and behold, I didn’t even blink & watched the first 2 episodes without skip. I can say it not only has the perfect cast, but the right mix and flavors that entice viewers, especially for someone like me who is not fond of horror. I am looking forward to the remaining 4 episodes for Season 1, and of course, for Season 2!Congratulations #Island Squad!
As the story continues to unfold, I am excited for the meeting of Priest Yohan (Cha Eunwoo), with Miho (Dahee) , Van (NamGil) and GungTan (SungJoon). This drama shouldn’t be missed. Love it so much!
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