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Everyone of us goes out everyday, carries the risk that we are unable to go back home. If you think of it that way, knowing you do not have much time left to live is a blessing, given you can overcome the fear of leaving your loved ones. Having a heavy philosophical content, the drama manages to deliver the growth of each characters and valuable lessons without preaching.
As everyone is connected, one's significant life event does not affect that person alone but everyone around them. The same thing happened to successful single mother Han Seung Hee. Her health situation urges her to reflect on her life and widen her social circle as she realises her old way of living cannot give her son another mother. As a consequences, She makes her choices that impacts all those around her. Whether her choices were right or wrong, I believe each one of us has their own judgements however it is undeniable that everything she did was out of love for her son. The most important thing is that she is a mother. She grows as a mother and everyone else also grows.
The beautiful thing about the drama is that it is realistic though the plot exaggerates at some parts to highlight the moral lessons to be learnt. Life goes on, everyone has to part and everything changes. That is the reality. As much as the story is about Han Seung Hee who is a dying mother, it is also about other people and how they prepare to move on with their life after she dies. I love the ending because it shows life continues and even though it may be incomplete, love and forgiveness fill up the space.
Overall the casts deliver solid and convincing acting, especially Song Yoon Ah. I truly lived in their world. Yoon Chang Young and Hong Jun Hyun did a great job as sons, gave audiences the alternatives and outcomes of different choices made by mothers. Other actors performed well though I believe there are room for improvements for supporting actors.
It was a fun rides with lessons to learn on the way. I recommend anyone who are looking for a slice a life kind of story. For people who are scared of the sadness, personally the reason I cried while watching was because it is touching, not because it is sad.
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I finished watching this drama quite a long time ago (roughly 2 years?)but I still remember, well, most of it. Since I re-watched bit of it yesterday, I figure I should write a review.
I absolutely love the idea of the plot. This type silent hero who seeks for revenge just kills me. My first impression of the drama was: "Oh, something like the modern version Iljimae?!" so when I watch first episode I was not impressed. In many ways, the drama could have done better. While I appreciated that it was necessary as the foundation of the story, I found it hard to swallow and lengthy. The story did get better when the revenge and romance kicked in later in the middle of the drama. It focused more on love line than the actual substance of the revenge so that was probably why it was not THAT THRILLING given the plot idea. Well by not that thrilling I meant the story gave the hero so many easy wins and the detective couldn't have any real impact to the hero's revenge plan, not till the very end. As I was watching I kept wondering how can it be so easy in Korea to kidnap a high ranking politician, too easy that it was frightening. Well, staffs in the Blue House was a mess. Compare to a very similar drama in same genre: Galsitak which came out later in 2012, Galsitak was definitely more thrilling in terms of keeping our hero on his tip toe. BUT, I did have a lot of fun watching it, as it was very edible and entertaining. The characters were not that hard to read and probably why it was very addictive, suitable for entertaining. I love the twist at the end however I think the ending could have been more momentum. I do love the action in the drama. I think the drama was very cute despite its suggested route of a melo-drama. So while Galsitak, Iljimae and City Hunter have the same feel, the way they presented it was not the same.
The cast. I have seen several dramas starring Lee Minho as well as Park Min Young and I personally don't think they have great acting ability. For Lee Minho, probably because he hasn't yet chosen many different types of characters for his works but I think he suits this kind of mysterious hero well. The chemistry between two actors was actually great. They suit each other perfectly and it was why the love line was very vivid and cute.
The music, probably worst music I have seen in a drama. Most of the time because it was misplace and the choice of song was not suitable as well. Normally I wouldn't care less about the music, but the music in City Hunter sometimes really kills the mood.
Re-watch value? I like to rewatch City Hunter many times. Although the drama itself was not exceptional but and even after I was aware of its bad points I still want to re-watch its bits and bits. I love the idea very much and its very entertaining even when you rewatch it. Its very addictive, I would say.
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My rating was slightly lower for individual parts but I gave this movie an 8 because I enjoy the feel it gave. While it concerned issues regarding the society becomes more apathy, full of prejudice and stereotypes hence the need for a fake family, 'Family Complex' was rather a heartwarming movie. It did not sugarcoat thing but not yet dig down enough for us to see any apparent disturbing content, for which I think is perfect for a weekend entertain.
The plot is interesting. The movie portrayed a family rental agency where people can hire someone to be their family and thus naturally discussed ethical issue surrounding the topic. The profession was reasoned as needed, but was it right for such occupations to exist? How far could the actors involve in the client's life? How much could they lie? I found myself enjoyed untangled each questions as the movie went on. While I found it was cheesy at parts and could have been more memorable if there were more clashing of ideas, it was a good experience.
Acting was good although I do find they are lacking at parts. There were definitely room to improve.
The music was not bad but not good either otherwise I would have noticed so I assume it was so-so.
For re-watch, I don't really like re-watch movie but I do see the potential of Family Complex~ Maybe sometime in the future :)
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The story is not new because there are a lot of dramas/movies/mangas about love, dream and friendship already. However, Buzzer Beat portrays all of these aspects at an age that the characters had first tasted the harsh reality and thus struggle to live with their maybe too quixotic dream and mending their own wounds suffered from fail relationships. I think this is Buzzer Beat’s unique side.
I like that the characters came to realisations about their feeling fairly quickly, almost no self-denial and also very decisive about their path in relationships as well as life. This is very interesting because it almost felt like the characters know what path they should take because they have became more mature but the youth spirit inside of them kept urging them to not give up to the practical reality.
About the acting, I think both leads have great chemistry together. While I love Yamashita Tomohisa’s acting in Kurosagi and Nobuta Wo Produce, I have to say he didn’t impress me here. Sometimes I feel his character a bit plain and uninteresting. But I think Kitagawa Keiko really suit her role all the side actors have done a great job as well.
The music is very uplifting and fun although I would love to hear more classical soundtrack.
Well the drama is entertaining to watch it for the first time. I would not re-watch it personally.
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At first I was not used to the slow pace, the lack of background music and colours which make this drama kind of creepy and heavy. However later I was completely absorbed by how each and every characters and events play out, either because the drama’s pace was getting faster or the characters and events were harder to read or both. I then understood why people kept commenting saying “Don’t give up MARS, you won’t regret it” coz’ I am not regret watching it.
The drama tackles most issues that are not commonly discussed and plays out very well. One thing I found most enchanting is the psychology of the characters that are described. The drama kept urging me to question the character choices and the similarities and differences between each and every characters mind to the point that I found them very real, vibrant and alive. I would say the drama portrays the twists of the minds very well. Another thing is that the story is very synchronising; at first you thought they are fragments of many tragedies but they all connected at the end.
The only thing that stops me from give the story full mark is because its lack of focus on some characters and thus make the characters behave illogically and you kind of feel what about xxx and xxx especially Quiluo. While the story portrays Ling very well, Quiluo sometimes was forgotten. So you kind of feel Quiluo’s fear very real and vivid at the beginning, then it gone then it came up again and I just feel Quiluo transformed too quickly. Well I am not saying the drama messed up when portray Quiluo, they have described her very well, her insecurity and fear. But I just love to see more because just as much as Ling, I think Quiluo character is an interesting one or at some point, even ‘darker’ than Ling; but at the end she transformed too quickly to a ‘Mary Sue’. I know I know, this is already enough for a 21 episode drama but I am being harsh on it coz’ I love it that much.
The acting, I have seen drama that actors the character’s inner devil very well so I think the acting of the cast are not the best yet. While I would not say the acting was superb but I can feel the chemistry between them and I think they have done very well, especially Vic Zhou who had to portray two very distinct beings. After all, the drama’s characters are very hard to portray because of they were formed by layers after layers.
About the music, the drama lacks of background music however I think it was perfect for this drama. It can totally bring out the deadliness of the whole drama, like the traps that the characters wanted to break free from. You can totally feel their worlds are such a deserted and lonely place. And when there is music, it served its purpose, whether to make the drama more dramatic or peaceful or happy or full of hope.
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