Man to Man Review

Title: Man to Man

AKA: Man X Man

Genre: Action, Thriller, Romance, Comedy

Episodes: 16

Broadcast Period: Apr-2017 to Jun-2017

Cast: Park Hae Jin, Kim Min Jung, Park Sung Woong, Yun Jung Hoon, Chae Jung Ahn, Jung Man Shik,

A longtime celebrity Yeo Woon Gwang (Park Sung Woong) suddenly has a need for a bodyguard and hires Kim Seol Woo (Park Hae Jin), a man trained in special investigations and a mysterious man of many talents. In reality, Kim Seol Woo is a NIS black ghost agent who has his own agenda and the role of a bodyguard is only a cover to achieve his goals. The drama is about the twisty events they encounter and the budding bromance between the star and bodyguard. In addition, Kim Seol Woo gets romantically involved with Cha Do Ha (Kim Min Jung), the manager of Yeo Woon Gwang.

Yes! Park Hae Jin in a decent role that fits him so well, was so much more enjoyable than anything else in this drama. I was just really happy for him, that he got this opportunity, and I hope he will get better ones in the future. Storywise I liked, but I think it dwelled too much in the entertainment than the action and secrets society. I know that there should be two aspects to this, but personally I think they considered the one with the superstar actor and his people more than the ghost agent. And that is a little sad, since he should be the focus point. Nevertheless, I did enjoy this drama, and was looking forward to it every week. The romance part didn’t appeal to me, it felt forced somehow, maybe the focus wasn’t on the romance at all, definitely no chemistry. To sum it up, I really liked the drama and I do recommend it. You can find it on Netflix!

☆☆☆☆ / 4 out of 5 stars

♥♥♥½ / 3 ½ out of 5 hearts

Hidden Identity Review

Title: Hidden Identity

Genre: Crime, Thriller

Episodes: 16

Broadcast period: 2015-Jun to 2015-Aug

Cast: Kim Bum, Park Sung Woong, Yoon So Yi and Lee Won Jong.

Cha Gun Woo (Kim Bum) is a former SWAT member who left it and became a police detective. When his partner dies in front of him while on a stakeout, Gun Woo becomes depressed and reminded of the past where his girlfriend was killed by a criminal, right in front of him. The brother of his dead girlfriend, also a cop, Kim Tae In (Kim Tae Hoon) works with a small crew of detectives for the police unit that deals undercover operations.

When Tae In goes missing whilst on a undercover job, they recruit Gun Woo, as he is the most fit for the job, but also has something that might interest him. At first Gun Woo is very reluctant, but when they tell him about the case and the parts involved he suddenly gets very interested and agrees…

This drama has by far one of the most interesting storylines ever made, but has one of the most typical ending and climax. Meaning I was so bored with the “sad” ending that I was counting seconds for it to end, as it was too common. Though I was keen to watch the story and to know about the backstory, I was yawning a lot the time, which when I think back was because of mediocre acting from the cast. The ones playing the ‘baddies’ or the antagonists, were doing a great job – had me buy it completely. But the main cast somehow were very dull. Including Kim Bum. After watching this I am quite sure he doesn’t know how to act. Or at least in this drama he really was bad at acting this character because I got nothing good from him – except for him reminding me of Lee Seo Eun and Lee Seo Jun (the twins from Superman Returns) – which doesn’t fit this apparent “badass” character. To be completely honest I don’t remember all the other actors – that is how dull of an impression they left me.

I think I would recommend this for the story, but not if you are a fan of Kim Bum. He disappoints.

☆☆☆☆ / 4 out of 5 stars

♥♥♥½ / 3½ out of 5 hearts

The Fatal Encounter Movie Review

Title: The Fatal Encounter
AKA: The Kings Wrath, King of Misfortune
Genre: Historical,
Origin: Korea
Release Date: April 30, 2014
Cast: Hyun Bin, Jung Jae Yeong, Jo Jung Suk, Cho Jae Hyun, Han Ji Min, Kim Sung Ryung, Park Sung Woong, Jung Eun Cha,

Kim Jeongjo (Hyun Bin) has been in power for only one year. He has already gone through several failed assassination attempts on his life and his hold on power is fragile. He trusts only his eunuch named Sang Chaek (Jung Jae Young) and the commander (Park Sung Woong). Outside the palace Eul soo (Jo Jung suk) was raised as an elite assassin, one day he gets order from Queen Jungsoon (Han Ji Min) to kill the king otherwise they would kill his love.

This was the hardest intro I had to write so far. Since it was a movie, it was hard to explain what it was about without spoiling anything, so forgive me if it sounded half-heartily written. However, I have to say, the director did not leave me any choice, it was the most confusing movie ever, so many things happened at once, and you’re just left with the only reason to continue; Jo Jung suk. The role as an assassin surprisingly fits him. As I finished the movie, I had to go back to the description to figure out what the whole thing was about, it wasn’t boring at all, but personally I preferred to know what was going on in the entire movie, or just half of it. Anyhow, if you are into assassins, vengeful historical movies, this is a good choice.

☆☆☆½ / 3½ out of 5 stars


♥♥♥ / 3 out of 5 hearts