jestdie
Doctor Prisoner is a great cat and mouse, revenge drama. The pacing of the story is spot on, I rarely felt that a scene or arc, for that matter, was dragging on for to long. The story stays true to the original premise throughout the show. It is sometimes quite predictable. But, more often then not the they story stays one step ahead to keep the suspense and intrigue.
Acting/Cast: 8.5
I thoroughly enjoyed the acting in Doctor Prisoner and found the cast to amazing fits for their respective characters. I would have loved to see more emotional range from Nam Goong Min who plays the main role as Na Yi Je. His character often feels a bit one dimensional, as 99% of the time he is a mysterious, stoic character that shows little to no emotion. My rating might be lower if not for Kim Byung Chul as Sun Min Shik and Choi Won Young as Lee Jae Joon. Their acting was spot on and often had me at the edge of my seat.
Music: 8.0
I am not to picky about the music in the dramas I watch; all I ask is that it not be over the top or over used. Thankfully Doctor Prisoner mainly uses music too enhance scenes and often it is in the background. It is never over the top and never finds itself out staying its welcome. Nothing blew me away, but at the same time nothing bothered me about it.
Rewatch Value: 6.0
I don't see myself ever re-watching this show. Not that its a bad show, but their are much better shows I would watch if I wanted to re-watch something.
Overall: 7.0
I would recommended this show if you are looking for a interesting revenge story that is not crazy dark or you just want to watch something that is not a romance drama for a change of pace.
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On to the bad and I mean really bad.
While the cast is amazing and the acting is good, the writing is terrible and doesn't give the actors much to work with. It felt as if the writer of this drama had no clue where they wanted the story to go and were writing it as filming took place.
The opening few episodes of this drama are really great and makes you excited to see what comes next. But, then everything that was being built up is just dropped and essentially forgotten by the way side. This happens throughout the drama. Every major conflict or major story element is just dropped at some point so that they can introduce a new one.
Then we have the music, one song is played over and over again in its entirety and every time the person on screen just silently kills time, usually by looking at the scenery, till the song is over. The song is good, but why? .....just why?
Then we come to the worst of the worst the ending of the show. Around when there are 4 episodes left. The story once again decides that even though we are at the climax, of what should be the shows most prominent arc, it gets dropped and we are off on another story thread. OH, but this one is like watching paint dry all the way till the end of the show. Nothing happens, nothing new is achieved, no new lessons were learnt, no new developments are made. These last few episodes feel like filler at its worst and filler is not something that should ever be used to close the story.
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Much like a bag of stale chips.
Story: 2.0Have you read the title? Have you seen the poster for the movie?
If you said yes, to both of these questions you know 90% of the story. The other ten percent is introduced, but never expanded upon.
Without spoiling anything, I can't go into any detail. But, the story loves to add in story beats and plot points to increase the tension, suspense and/or emotional value of scene. Once that scene is over, that plot point is lost in the wave of zombies. Don't expect to receive any closure from this film.
As I was watching the film, I had a thought. "Wow, this is crazy how are they going to wrap this up? They have so many story threads dangling in the wind. I wonder what happened with that characters mother?". The BAM unnecessary story twist and the movie was over.
Where is the other half of this story? What happened with out main cast of characters?
Acting/Cast: 6.5
Oh my, this is the most mixed bag of acting I have ever seen. Most of the main cast did amazing work, that really pulled you in. Some of the supporting characters acting was good, but left little impression. Then you have the main characters daughter. I get shes a kid and all but, her emotionless state through most of the movie was weird and when she did try to conjure up some emotions they felt flat and emotionless. The same goes for the rest of the background and scene actors. They have two emotions blank wall stare and yell in fear or pain.
Music: 8.0
Music is used well where its needed and never seems to be out of place. As with most of my reviews, I don't have much to say about the music of this movie. It does what it needs to do, without causing distractions.
Rewatch Value: 1.0
No....
Overall: 5.0
Overall this move is much like a bag of stale chips. It still tastes decent enough, but there are alot of other snacks out there that taste a lot better. Your not going to watch this film and leave felling satisfied. But, if your board and just want to watch some mindless zombies munch on some brains, Its not the worst thing in the world to watch, but its also not all that great either.
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I don't have much more to say about it. I would't recommend this drama to anyone. In fact I would actively warn people not to watch it.
I was so excited for this drama when I saw the trailers, they made it feel like this was going to be a suspense story for the ages. In the end it was nothing short of boring.
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The casting and the acting it's self in this drama was top notch. The pacing of this drama is is well done. I can't remember a moment that I found myself feeling like a scene was dragging on to long. I find this to be quite a rare occurrence in dramas and is a large contribution for my recommendation for this drama.
Overall it is a nice action drama that is well paced and fun to watch.
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Wow, oh wow. I truly enjoyed this drama.
【Ｓｔｏｒｙ】10I normally do not enjoy stories based around supernatural abilities and was hesitant to watch this drama. Though, I kept seeing it on the top of ranking lists and being recommended on the K-Drama social circles and after watching it, I now understand.
While the story does heavily revolve around this premonition ability, it is handled extremely well and never feels over used. I think this is what sets it apart from other dramas that revolve around a singular supernatural ability, that I do not care for.
I also love the general development of the story overall. The pacing is great and I never once felt a sense of boredom or thought that a scene was dragging on. This alone makes the story get a 10 from me. It is like finding a diamond in the rough.
【Ａｃｔｉｎｇ／Ｃａｓｔ】10
The casting for this drama is spot on and everyone performed an incredible job. The main cast felt like they fully embodied their roles. Just fabulous!
The acting was so good that when a character felt an emotion, I also felt the same emotion. Whether that be sadness, happiness or even anger.
【Ｍｕｓｉｃ】10
It was enjoyable music, never felt over used.
【Ｒｅｗａｔｃｈ Ｖａｌｕｅ】8
This is one of the few dramas on my watch list that I will for sure rewatch.
【Ｏｖｅｒａｌｌ】10
Wow, oh wow. I truly enjoyed this drama. The story, acting, camera work, all of it was amazing. If you have read this far, I implore you to watch this show yourself.
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An Enjoyable Watch
【Ｓｔｏｒｙ】6.5The premise of this drama is fun and exciting. Though I find the implementation of that premise to be a mixed bag. Over all broad view it's a great story, with a lot of excitement. I really like the story beats, as well as the twists and turns the story takes.
Sadly, the path to to these story beats is marred by the writing. This drama heavily relies on character emotion to drive the story forward. But, it uses this tool like blunt weapon with no grace. Characters will often do something irrational, with no plan or purpose behind their actions, using emotion as an excuse. This is hard to explain without spoiling anything, but the best example of this comes as soon as episode 2, between the male lead and the female lead, and continues throughout the show.
【Ａｃｔｉｎｇ／Ｃａｓｔ】9
I absolutely adore the cast in this drama. Every casting choice feels spot on and everyone really embodies their roles.
I'm knocking off a point for Park Hwan Hee crying scenes. They just feel uncomfortable because of the bad fake crying.
【Ｍｕｓｉｃ】10
Nothing much to say about the music. It is used when it is appropriate and the music fits the scenes.
【Ｒｅｗａｔｃｈ Ｖａｌｕｅ】3
Once you have watched it once, I don't think you will get anything new from a rewatch. I also don't think it would be all that enjoyable once you know the story twists.
【Ｏｖｅｒａｌｌ】7
It is an enjoyable watch, but don't expect it to be life changing. If you are like me you will enjoy your time watching this show, but will also be annoyed with the way every most actions seem to have no real rational behind them.
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There is some truth to the ending being bad, but that is really only concerning the last episode. This drama feels like it ended on the 15th (second to last) episode and the 16th episode was really just a flash back and where they are now episode, while also wrapping up a few loose ends. Was it needed? No, no it was not. Does it hurt the story? No. Was it boring to watch? Maybe a bit.
I only say all that to hopefully help others that were on the fence, about watching this drama, due to the talk about the last episode.
With that out of the way, on to the real review.
Story: 7.0
The story it's self is fun. It has many moments where I found myself laughing out loud, crying, feeling anger and over all just enjoying my time with the show itself. Some parts of the story feel cliche. Some gags feel over used. But none of that is to the point of making the show unenjoyable.
Acting/Cast: 10
The cast, the acting, and the writing was stunning. The actors all have this amazing chemistry that is helped out even more by the realistic writing that help lend to make the reactions and relationships feel real. This may be the first drama I have ever watched and never thought, "Why would they do/say that".
The drama and romance is handled in a realistic manner. There never seems to be any points where a character in the story does something only to push the plot along and that is both really refreshing and enjoyably.
Music: 7.0
This drama is pretty light on music, many of the scenes have none and I found that really nice. Not every scene needs to have music to heighten the mood and this drama understands that. It uses music where it is needed and in scenes where it makes sense. None of the music was overbearing or over the top. While at the same time none of the music really stuck me as something amazing.
Rewatch Value: 5.0
This is not a show I would rewatch. If I did I think I would still enjoy my time with it, but there are dramas with much higher rewatch value that it has to contend with.
Overall: 7.0
I recommend this drama, with the understanding that the story is nothing new. Expect amazing cast and acting, but the story is really just a place to allow the actors to shine and the relationships and drama to grow.
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This review may contain spoilers
This drama was a bit hard for me to rate. The opening was great and drew my attention. Around the mid way point the story takes a hard turn in a direction I did not enjoy. In fact a few instances I had thoughts of dropping the show. I am glad I didn't though because after getting over that hump the show picks back up again. The ending was probably one of the most emotionally charged endings I have ever seen. Over all I would have rated this drama a 6 (3 stars), but the ending was so good that I am bumping it up to an 8 (4 stars).
The scene in the last episode between Shin Joon-Young played by Kim Woo-bin and Shin Young-Ok played by Jin Kyung was by far the best acted and emotional scene I have ever felt and it is thanks to that acting that the rating is being pushed up so high. While watching it I forgot for a moment I was watching a drama and felt like I was really sitting in the room with them. Even now a full day after watching that scene, I still have a pang in my heart thinking about it.
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