Tech Thriller with Romance
I was expecting this to be a futuristic ROMANCE flick, focused primarily on the excitement and challenges of falling in love. And while it did start down that path initially, before we could get into the "meat" of the trio's relationship, the plot changed gears, evolving instead into a suspenseful tech THRILLER. After that, the romance took a backseat to the corporate intrigue.
As may be expected of Netflix, this production is technically slick with plenty of low-key special effects, a nice soundtrack and some decent action scenes/car chase stunts. If you have seen "Memories of the Alhambra," I would say this has a similar flavor (minus the gaming). Lee Ki Chan also did a great job of portraying two polar opposite personalities and acting to green screen. The manga-like plot, though not especially original, was still interesting enough and started strong.
Unfortunately, about halfway through, some obvious plot holes began to appear, and the last 2-3 episodes had to rush to accommodate all the necessary twists and turns for a happy ending. On the other hand, the faster pacing also neatly tied up most of the loose ends, so at least there's that.
All in all, if you go for light, family-friendly fantasy/sci-fi romance stories that don't require much basis in reality, this will probably be right up your alley. Recommended.
ROMANCE RATING: 7/10 I can't speak for others, but considering that this is being marketed as a romance film, it would have been nice if the love stories with both Holo and Nan Do were a little more fleshed out. All the necessary scenes were there, but somehow, I just kept expecting...more. Like looking at the rough sketch of a picture, or only reading every other line in a book (though you may disagree).
Aside from that nitpick, as far as actual chemistry goes, I thought the main leads had good compatibility. It was a little disappointing that we didn't get to see much of the kisses (2+ scenes) when they actually happened, but by K-drama standards, I would consider them acceptable.
As may be expected of Netflix, this production is technically slick with plenty of low-key special effects, a nice soundtrack and some decent action scenes/car chase stunts. If you have seen "Memories of the Alhambra," I would say this has a similar flavor (minus the gaming). Lee Ki Chan also did a great job of portraying two polar opposite personalities and acting to green screen. The manga-like plot, though not especially original, was still interesting enough and started strong.
Unfortunately, about halfway through, some obvious plot holes began to appear, and the last 2-3 episodes had to rush to accommodate all the necessary twists and turns for a happy ending. On the other hand, the faster pacing also neatly tied up most of the loose ends, so at least there's that.
All in all, if you go for light, family-friendly fantasy/sci-fi romance stories that don't require much basis in reality, this will probably be right up your alley. Recommended.
ROMANCE RATING: 7/10 I can't speak for others, but considering that this is being marketed as a romance film, it would have been nice if the love stories with both Holo and Nan Do were a little more fleshed out. All the necessary scenes were there, but somehow, I just kept expecting...more. Like looking at the rough sketch of a picture, or only reading every other line in a book (though you may disagree).
Aside from that nitpick, as far as actual chemistry goes, I thought the main leads had good compatibility. It was a little disappointing that we didn't get to see much of the kisses (2+ scenes) when they actually happened, but by K-drama standards, I would consider them acceptable.
- nishera
- 7 feb 2020