Taemango
The Cloud Recesses (Yúnshēn Bùzhīchù)
This review may contain spoilers
A botched fairytale attempt
In the words of one of my favourite reviewers, Autumn Topping, The K2 is a modern retelling of Snow White that raises the question of "What if the Evil Queen fell in love with the Huntsman, but the Huntsman fell for Snow White instead?".
Although I watch this drama years ago...I'm finally able to properly word my thoughts.
Despite the fact that Ji Chang Wook is not my favourite actor, I enjoy him enough to have high expectations for this production. To begin on a good note, I must state that The K2 delivered on the action front with intensity (with some over the top exceptions). Now I will review each section of the good and the bad of this show.
Starting off with the romance. Oh god, where do I being? Je Ha and Yoo Jin's chemistry....let's just say I found myself sitting in agony as I question why I had to put up with Je Ha's childish crush on An Na. And I mean childish as in immature.
The main leads relationship had no chemistry and even pushed me to believe that the true stars of the show were Yoo Jin and Je Ha.
There were many moments in the show where it had reached a point where rationality no longer mattered.
It attempted to make a tale out of plainly improbable events, a massive cluster of plotholes, and outright ludicrous ideas.
An example of such an illogical plot was during Je Ha's first love's back story. His first love is Iraqi, she's entirely dressed in a gown and hijab at all times, but magically she chooses to throw off her veil and liplock with her "hero" only because he suggested they married. NOT EVEN A PROPER PROPOSAL!!! Her ONLY purpose was to die in order to create motivation for Ji Chan Wook's character to get involved in the action. She had nearly no dreams, hopes, or realistic goals.
On that note, I might as well mention the most cringe-worthy scene in all of drama romance history. Despite the fact that Je Ha is a mercenary soldier, he squeals while seeing An Na prepare ramen. As if that is the world cutest, most precious, never before been done action in the world. If I could show you all how much I rolled my eyes, I would.
There are numerous simple plot devices just holding up to spring out from all sides at the final moment to spare and draw out the show, and they're all exceedingly wry.
To summarise, The K2 was successful in generating exciting action moments, but the storyline struggled to match them. The drama started strong with a good setup in the first third, but it didn't seem to have much of a narrative to tell after that. Ji Chang Wook had a strong performance, yet some of his impacts were lost due to a lack of connection with An Na's character. This drama has enough decent things in it to appeal to fans of action and political manoeuvring, as well as Ji Chang Wook fans. While it didn't quite meet my expectations, it was a decent watch overall. I may revisit the drama a few years down the road, but I doubt my opinion will change.
X0X0 <3
---Taemangi
Although I watch this drama years ago...I'm finally able to properly word my thoughts.
Despite the fact that Ji Chang Wook is not my favourite actor, I enjoy him enough to have high expectations for this production. To begin on a good note, I must state that The K2 delivered on the action front with intensity (with some over the top exceptions). Now I will review each section of the good and the bad of this show.
Starting off with the romance. Oh god, where do I being? Je Ha and Yoo Jin's chemistry....let's just say I found myself sitting in agony as I question why I had to put up with Je Ha's childish crush on An Na. And I mean childish as in immature.
The main leads relationship had no chemistry and even pushed me to believe that the true stars of the show were Yoo Jin and Je Ha.
There were many moments in the show where it had reached a point where rationality no longer mattered.
It attempted to make a tale out of plainly improbable events, a massive cluster of plotholes, and outright ludicrous ideas.
An example of such an illogical plot was during Je Ha's first love's back story. His first love is Iraqi, she's entirely dressed in a gown and hijab at all times, but magically she chooses to throw off her veil and liplock with her "hero" only because he suggested they married. NOT EVEN A PROPER PROPOSAL!!! Her ONLY purpose was to die in order to create motivation for Ji Chan Wook's character to get involved in the action. She had nearly no dreams, hopes, or realistic goals.
On that note, I might as well mention the most cringe-worthy scene in all of drama romance history. Despite the fact that Je Ha is a mercenary soldier, he squeals while seeing An Na prepare ramen. As if that is the world cutest, most precious, never before been done action in the world. If I could show you all how much I rolled my eyes, I would.
There are numerous simple plot devices just holding up to spring out from all sides at the final moment to spare and draw out the show, and they're all exceedingly wry.
To summarise, The K2 was successful in generating exciting action moments, but the storyline struggled to match them. The drama started strong with a good setup in the first third, but it didn't seem to have much of a narrative to tell after that. Ji Chang Wook had a strong performance, yet some of his impacts were lost due to a lack of connection with An Na's character. This drama has enough decent things in it to appeal to fans of action and political manoeuvring, as well as Ji Chang Wook fans. While it didn't quite meet my expectations, it was a decent watch overall. I may revisit the drama a few years down the road, but I doubt my opinion will change.
X0X0 <3
---Taemangi
Was this review helpful to you?
