Doril
A Decent Production Heavily Weighed Down by Its Script
This drama has a typical, good production that leads to high quality visuals and music, but unfortunately the show also leans heavily on its script, which is by far its weakest point. Taken together, I thought it was a decidedly average series.
Let's start with the good. This is Ji Chang Wook at everyone's favorite: he plays the suave, caring, handsome action lead that everyone loves him as since his capstone role as the titular character in Healer. The production team was definitely very aware of this fact and there was definitely fan service in the form of shirtless moments and shower scenes. The K2 also highlights what I think is Yoona's greatest strength: since I was a teenage boy, during the time when she first came out in Girls Generation, I've thought that she is one of the prettiest, if not one of the most beautiful girl-next-door-type celebrities. I think the show was also aware of this as they made her character, Anna become a literal runway model, who is always impeccably dressed even when in every day wear.
But unfortunately, visuals and fan service only get us so far. The script is a complete mess -- allies easily turn into enemies and enemies easily turn into allies in the blink of an eye. An epic revenge plot line could be setup as background for a particular character, only for that character to perform a 180 for dubious reasons. The plot is also too convoluted and shows that the showrunners didn't know exactly what they wanted this series to be, so they mixed everything together in an unsatisfying way: sometimes it's a sweet romance. Sometimes it's a thriller. Sometimes it's a Makjang-like revenge story. Sometimes it's an action series. Sometimes, it's trying to be an analogy to Snow White. It doesn't do any of this particularly well, so it just feels jarring and bad. The dialog does not fare much better. I remember one character trying to order another character's death and it went roughly like this: "kill him! And after he's dead, bring me his cell phone!" It's clear that most of the dramatic tension setup is only done to enable action scenes.
Regarding the fight sequences, I thought they were poorly done, due mostly to bad cinematography. A lot of the hand-to-hand brawls look and feel very fake as you see then punching at air at abnormal speeds. I don't know what it is, but I think is very characteristic of action scenes done for Kdramas. If you compare their cohorts, such as beloved Thai action movies, American Hollywood action movies, or even revered Korean movies like Old Boy, you'll find a much higher level of mastery at shooting action sequences. Since the K2 was so heavily focused on action, and in my opinion it was of low quality, this also knocked the show down several pegs in my rating.
I thought the acting was OK, but overshadowed by the poor script. I don't think Im Yoona as an actress is particularly skilled at portraying complex emotions, but at the same time, her character wasn't terribly complex. Anna was a stereotypical sheltered, innocent, and pretty girl. Many praise Song Yoon Ah for her acting, and I can definitely see the skill, but I found her character unlikeable and sometimes inconsistent. At the end of the day, I think the bad script overpowers anything that anyone else involved in the production could have countered.
The OST deserves a special shout out because "Love You" is the most kdrama-y kdrama power ballad I've ever heard. If you have ever seen the Family Guy episode that explores and makes fun of Korean pop culture, then you have seen the part where they call attention to how at the end of many Kdramas, they put on the chorus of some dramatic song. And Love You sounds EXACTLY like a stereotypical song. Don't get me wrong, it's great. It's just so...typical.
I only got through watching the K2 because I really like Yoona and I mostly enjoyed the show Yong Pal, which was penned by the same scriptwriter. But I can't say that this show was anything special. It might help you kill 16 hours of time, but I don't think it's anything to write home about. It is easily skipped in favor of better done action series like Healer or better Makjang/Thriller type stories.
Let's start with the good. This is Ji Chang Wook at everyone's favorite: he plays the suave, caring, handsome action lead that everyone loves him as since his capstone role as the titular character in Healer. The production team was definitely very aware of this fact and there was definitely fan service in the form of shirtless moments and shower scenes. The K2 also highlights what I think is Yoona's greatest strength: since I was a teenage boy, during the time when she first came out in Girls Generation, I've thought that she is one of the prettiest, if not one of the most beautiful girl-next-door-type celebrities. I think the show was also aware of this as they made her character, Anna become a literal runway model, who is always impeccably dressed even when in every day wear.
But unfortunately, visuals and fan service only get us so far. The script is a complete mess -- allies easily turn into enemies and enemies easily turn into allies in the blink of an eye. An epic revenge plot line could be setup as background for a particular character, only for that character to perform a 180 for dubious reasons. The plot is also too convoluted and shows that the showrunners didn't know exactly what they wanted this series to be, so they mixed everything together in an unsatisfying way: sometimes it's a sweet romance. Sometimes it's a thriller. Sometimes it's a Makjang-like revenge story. Sometimes it's an action series. Sometimes, it's trying to be an analogy to Snow White. It doesn't do any of this particularly well, so it just feels jarring and bad. The dialog does not fare much better. I remember one character trying to order another character's death and it went roughly like this: "kill him! And after he's dead, bring me his cell phone!" It's clear that most of the dramatic tension setup is only done to enable action scenes.
Regarding the fight sequences, I thought they were poorly done, due mostly to bad cinematography. A lot of the hand-to-hand brawls look and feel very fake as you see then punching at air at abnormal speeds. I don't know what it is, but I think is very characteristic of action scenes done for Kdramas. If you compare their cohorts, such as beloved Thai action movies, American Hollywood action movies, or even revered Korean movies like Old Boy, you'll find a much higher level of mastery at shooting action sequences. Since the K2 was so heavily focused on action, and in my opinion it was of low quality, this also knocked the show down several pegs in my rating.
I thought the acting was OK, but overshadowed by the poor script. I don't think Im Yoona as an actress is particularly skilled at portraying complex emotions, but at the same time, her character wasn't terribly complex. Anna was a stereotypical sheltered, innocent, and pretty girl. Many praise Song Yoon Ah for her acting, and I can definitely see the skill, but I found her character unlikeable and sometimes inconsistent. At the end of the day, I think the bad script overpowers anything that anyone else involved in the production could have countered.
The OST deserves a special shout out because "Love You" is the most kdrama-y kdrama power ballad I've ever heard. If you have ever seen the Family Guy episode that explores and makes fun of Korean pop culture, then you have seen the part where they call attention to how at the end of many Kdramas, they put on the chorus of some dramatic song. And Love You sounds EXACTLY like a stereotypical song. Don't get me wrong, it's great. It's just so...typical.
I only got through watching the K2 because I really like Yoona and I mostly enjoyed the show Yong Pal, which was penned by the same scriptwriter. But I can't say that this show was anything special. It might help you kill 16 hours of time, but I don't think it's anything to write home about. It is easily skipped in favor of better done action series like Healer or better Makjang/Thriller type stories.
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