Jacinta
Would have done better as a 90-minute historical motion picture for kids on Disney
If you're looking for a riveting and compelling storyline with gripping plot twists, then this drama is anything but. Like many other fantasy dramas, Legend of the Sea is a light-hearted rom-com which tells the love story of a girl and a boy (well in this case, a modern-day mermaid and a talented con-artist).
Characters
Cheong Shim/Se-hwa (played by Jun Ji-hyun) was an absolute cracker of a character; her fearlessness, cheek, wackiness, and great sense of humour won many people's hearts throughout the entire series, including my own. Could the casting director have picked anyone more suitable to play Cheong Shim other than Ms Jun herself? Absolutely not. Jun has this very captivating gaze about her when it comes to rom-com roles, and not to mention, her ability to act funny is both natural and effortless. But insofar as Jun's capabilities go, I have yet to see her act in more serious roles other than in 'My Love from the Star', and this drama itself.
Heo Joon-jae/Dam-ryeong (played by Lee Min-ho) on the other hand was less captivating as the leading male protagonist. Lee Min-ho's prior roles included Gu Jun-pyo in BOF, Jeon Jin-ho in Personal Taste, Lee Yoon-seong in City Hunter, and Kim Tan in the Heirs, and here, it just felt as though he was reprising his prior roles by taking on the same, boring, old personas - cold, callous, egotistic, but also funny, flippant and a huge romantic at times.
The supporting actors weren't any better to be honest, despite the years of experience three quarters of the cast had prior to starring in this drama. Don't get me wrong, I've seen some fantastic acting from quite a handful of the cast members, but their acting here just made me cringe so much. That said, the only person which really stood out to me was Heo Chi-hyun's character (older step-brother of Heo Joon-jae). Unlike Joon-jae, Chi-hyun was a good kid who grew up to be a successful businessman following in his his step-father's footsteps. A rebellious youngJoon-jae was therefore no match for Chi-hyun, yet all Chi-hyun wanted in life was for them to be brothers before anything. Of course the storyline didn't allow for this to happen, but I'm thankful that at least the actor who played Chi-hyun did a fantastic job at it by keeping his character's emotions and performance in check.
Storyline
Despite Park Ji-eun having written the scripts for two of the most commercially successful dramas ((My Love from the Star (2013-14) and Crash Landing on You (2019-20)), this script just couldn't compare in any shape or form, and was more or less the same in terms of dullness as her scriptwriting in the Producers (2015).
Park is no doubt a talented writer, but her ability to develop a unique dialogue really hit a low here (but perhaps not lower than that of the Producers). Needless to say, the effectiveness of the dialogue was watered down by a lot of small talk which failed to capture the essence of crucial moments. The over-use of petty remarks, or fatuous lines which contributed nothing to the plot, or character development was well and truly disappointing.
It's not often I turn my attention away from something I'm watching, but this drama made me feel so drained to the point I had I to figure out what other ways I could still watch it but not give it my full, undivided attention. And that's when it clicked - why not just play this drama in the background when I was doing something else? A drama's dialogue should be engaging from start to finish, but if as a viewer, you feel more determined multi-tasking whilst watching a drama like this on the side, then that's sufficient to say that you've really lost touch with it.
There were also many times where the writer was pushing for suspense, but everything just came across far too easy, cheap and predictable. For suspense to be elicited, the scenes should be gripping and heart-pumping, but what good is it if the stunts and tactics are of a Tom & Jerry kind, but worst?
Come to think of it, this drama would have done better as a 90-minute historical motion picture for kids; Disney style. Instead of going through the 20 episodes to find out what happens (which is basically an overly the top fairy-tale ending between the two leads), this drama could have been easily condensed into a movie using all the Joseon period flashbacks. Se-hwa and Dam-ryeong's poignant love story was already far more compelling and moving than that of their modern-day reincarnations, so for what reason did it need to be dragged on and made into a series? Furthermore, the key themes of fate, tragedy and revenge were heavily centred upon, but very poorly executed.
A couple of scenes which demonstrated this:
1. There's an emergency situation and A's phone is ringing on a bedside table; however A is unaware of this and by the time A picks up their phone to see a missed call from B, it's already all too late;
2. B dies as a result of having their drink poisoned by C and an autopsy is carried out, yet police is still unable to figure out the circumstances of B's death;
3. C pretends to fake mourn over B's death at the mortuary and everyone somehow falls for it;
4. D jumps in front and takes bullet for A only to end up in hospital (mind you there were 10 police officers at the scene, yet D somehow ended up getting shot...).
But, if there two things which I have to give this drama credit for, it would be:
1. the very unlikely noona and dongsaeng romance between Tae-oh and Shi-ah which was far more intense than Shim Cheong and Joon-jae's; and
2. great staged hostage situation by Joon-jae and his sidekicks (reminded me a lot of Signal).
Other than that, one would have hoped that a drama starring an A-class ensemble would without a doubt trump a B-/C+ storyline, yet this could not be helped considering the direction, production and writing was just a big, sloppy mess from the get-go and there was nothing that could salvage it.
Characters
Cheong Shim/Se-hwa (played by Jun Ji-hyun) was an absolute cracker of a character; her fearlessness, cheek, wackiness, and great sense of humour won many people's hearts throughout the entire series, including my own. Could the casting director have picked anyone more suitable to play Cheong Shim other than Ms Jun herself? Absolutely not. Jun has this very captivating gaze about her when it comes to rom-com roles, and not to mention, her ability to act funny is both natural and effortless. But insofar as Jun's capabilities go, I have yet to see her act in more serious roles other than in 'My Love from the Star', and this drama itself.
Heo Joon-jae/Dam-ryeong (played by Lee Min-ho) on the other hand was less captivating as the leading male protagonist. Lee Min-ho's prior roles included Gu Jun-pyo in BOF, Jeon Jin-ho in Personal Taste, Lee Yoon-seong in City Hunter, and Kim Tan in the Heirs, and here, it just felt as though he was reprising his prior roles by taking on the same, boring, old personas - cold, callous, egotistic, but also funny, flippant and a huge romantic at times.
The supporting actors weren't any better to be honest, despite the years of experience three quarters of the cast had prior to starring in this drama. Don't get me wrong, I've seen some fantastic acting from quite a handful of the cast members, but their acting here just made me cringe so much. That said, the only person which really stood out to me was Heo Chi-hyun's character (older step-brother of Heo Joon-jae). Unlike Joon-jae, Chi-hyun was a good kid who grew up to be a successful businessman following in his his step-father's footsteps. A rebellious youngJoon-jae was therefore no match for Chi-hyun, yet all Chi-hyun wanted in life was for them to be brothers before anything. Of course the storyline didn't allow for this to happen, but I'm thankful that at least the actor who played Chi-hyun did a fantastic job at it by keeping his character's emotions and performance in check.
Storyline
Despite Park Ji-eun having written the scripts for two of the most commercially successful dramas ((My Love from the Star (2013-14) and Crash Landing on You (2019-20)), this script just couldn't compare in any shape or form, and was more or less the same in terms of dullness as her scriptwriting in the Producers (2015).
Park is no doubt a talented writer, but her ability to develop a unique dialogue really hit a low here (but perhaps not lower than that of the Producers). Needless to say, the effectiveness of the dialogue was watered down by a lot of small talk which failed to capture the essence of crucial moments. The over-use of petty remarks, or fatuous lines which contributed nothing to the plot, or character development was well and truly disappointing.
It's not often I turn my attention away from something I'm watching, but this drama made me feel so drained to the point I had I to figure out what other ways I could still watch it but not give it my full, undivided attention. And that's when it clicked - why not just play this drama in the background when I was doing something else? A drama's dialogue should be engaging from start to finish, but if as a viewer, you feel more determined multi-tasking whilst watching a drama like this on the side, then that's sufficient to say that you've really lost touch with it.
There were also many times where the writer was pushing for suspense, but everything just came across far too easy, cheap and predictable. For suspense to be elicited, the scenes should be gripping and heart-pumping, but what good is it if the stunts and tactics are of a Tom & Jerry kind, but worst?
Come to think of it, this drama would have done better as a 90-minute historical motion picture for kids; Disney style. Instead of going through the 20 episodes to find out what happens (which is basically an overly the top fairy-tale ending between the two leads), this drama could have been easily condensed into a movie using all the Joseon period flashbacks. Se-hwa and Dam-ryeong's poignant love story was already far more compelling and moving than that of their modern-day reincarnations, so for what reason did it need to be dragged on and made into a series? Furthermore, the key themes of fate, tragedy and revenge were heavily centred upon, but very poorly executed.
A couple of scenes which demonstrated this:
1. There's an emergency situation and A's phone is ringing on a bedside table; however A is unaware of this and by the time A picks up their phone to see a missed call from B, it's already all too late;
2. B dies as a result of having their drink poisoned by C and an autopsy is carried out, yet police is still unable to figure out the circumstances of B's death;
3. C pretends to fake mourn over B's death at the mortuary and everyone somehow falls for it;
4. D jumps in front and takes bullet for A only to end up in hospital (mind you there were 10 police officers at the scene, yet D somehow ended up getting shot...).
But, if there two things which I have to give this drama credit for, it would be:
1. the very unlikely noona and dongsaeng romance between Tae-oh and Shi-ah which was far more intense than Shim Cheong and Joon-jae's; and
2. great staged hostage situation by Joon-jae and his sidekicks (reminded me a lot of Signal).
Other than that, one would have hoped that a drama starring an A-class ensemble would without a doubt trump a B-/C+ storyline, yet this could not be helped considering the direction, production and writing was just a big, sloppy mess from the get-go and there was nothing that could salvage it.
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