Tuesday, 28 March 2017

Goblin (2016)

Photo source: http://www.allkpop.com/article/2016/11/new-drama-goblin-drops-posters-filled-with-bromance-and-romantic-chemistry

Goblin. Saw the hype but didn't feel any real interest to watch it. I have loved Gong Yoo since Coffee Prince and have found him to be one of the best actors I've seen (based off a few of his other works as well). I've also seen Kim Go-Eun in Chinatown and thought she was amazing in that. I think my main deterrent was the age gap between the leads. The fact that she plays a high schooler while Gong Yoo is (I think in his 40's as his character age). Anyway of course a bunch of friends recommended this one to me so I gave it a go after much convincing.

Kim Shin (Gong) was a human cursed to be an immortal goblin until he found his bride. In the present day he lives with an amnesiac grim reaper (Lee Dong-Wook). One day Kim Shin meets Ji Eun-Tak (Kim), who has the ability to see ghosts and is destined to be his bride that will end his immortality.  

So, the first episode I was confused. The next few episodes I was annoyed...and then after that I started to enjoy it. It's hard to give this show a rating or an overall opinion. It was a good show and really well made but I think I found it a little boring. It does have normally excellent reviews so up to you if you want to see it.

SPOILER ALERT BELOW!!

Alright down to business. So basically the first episode I was just like WTF IS HAPPENING AND WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE!? Was that lady in white his lover? Why did everyone get slaughtered? Why was he banished to be a goblin? Okay guys, I am going to rant so much and tear this show apart. Even though I overall didn't mind the show...I think.

Okay so first of all he walks up to the King, watches everybody he cares about get slaughtered and THEN stops and is like "okay you can kill me now" wtf Kim Shin wtf? I think the reason you were cursed to be an immortal goblin is because you're an IDIOT! So the first episode is basically all in the Goryeo period and everything was confusing. All the women looked the same so I couldn't keep up with who was the Eun-Tak's mother. Also! Why did they put massive old lady make-up on Samshin (Lee El) I mean couldn't they have hired an actual old lady to play her during the old lady bits? She looked freakier than the evil ghosts that turned up.

Now on to our female protagonist. Okay I know she had a hard life...super sucky but omg she was soooooooooooo annoying in the first few episodes. Every time she was with family or at school she was all hateful and angsty (which was fine, that made sense). But as soon as she met the goblin, and all the times after she would not SHUT UP. It was like she needed to fill literally every second with dialogue when she was with Kim Shin. Also, he turned up when she blew out the candle. Has she not blown out a flame in that entire 10 years or something since her mother died? Also, was she not the goblin's bride since birth therefore during her 9th birthday when she blew out candles shouldn't the goblin have turned up?

Finally hope came to me in the form of the grim reaper and Sunny. I loved all the scenes with these two and found the grim reaper so incredibly cute. He was just so awful at dating but so pure! It was around these times where I would skip to their scenes because I could not stand Eun-Tak.

Eventually Eun-Tak becomes bearable and I started watching the episodes in their entirety. I found the relationship between the goblin and Eun-Tak a bit bland. I didn't really see any romantic chemisty between them. I felt more chemistry between the few scenes Eun-Tak had with her childhood friend. I still don't understand how their feelings developed. Kim Shin went from trying to avoid Eun-Tak to falling in love with her? Why? How? I still don't know! Can someone PLEASE explain to me how they fell in love? Gong Yoo just kept putting on constipated faces when he was her then cracked a baby smile when she wasn't looking at him.

Also, I get that Kim Shin was cursed with immortality so he could see everyone he loves die. But why did he have goblin powers? Didn't those powers just make his life way more awesome? It doesn't really seem like a punishment.

I don't get why Sunny and the grim reaper couldn't be together when they remembered their Goryeo past. I mean you guys loved each other back then so why can't you just get together now anyway? And why the hell did Sunny not age a day when she died at like...age 60 or something?

I don't think this is a very good review. Mostly just a rant. The last 4 episodes I thoroughly enjoyed because shit finally started happening. Also I had to re-watch that passionate kiss scene between Eun-Tak and Kim Shin oh ma lord that man can kiss! I also think I liked these later episodes because Eun-Tak was 29 so it didn't seem creepy anymore. (Yes I know the actress is in her 20's irl but that's not the point).

I don't get why when the sword was pulled out Kim Shin just got banished to a snowy field for 10 years. Wasn't he meant to die forever? Didn't Eun-Tak blow out any flames in those 10 years? Did you see how many freaking candles she had? THAT IS A PLOT HOLE. Also Kim Shin comes back and is still immortal. Soooooo Eun-Tak will die again and reincarnate another 2 times. Spend all those with Kim Shin and he's just going to wait around for all that...live through her death 4 times and then he's just going to chill single and alone for the rest of eternity? Wasn't his curse lifted once the sword was pulled out? Wut?

Also when Kim Shin comes back and he's like "as long as you are well I am happy." Mate, did you not hear her when she said she has severe mood swings? Did you not see her wolfing down pills to control her emotions? She isn't well.

The way the show ended was good through, wrapping up the relationships and showing happy endings for everyone. But still there are many questions left unanswered and many plot holes made for the sake of the drama achieving what they wanted. I'm not going to let those slide. Also, I feel that the episodes would not have been 1.5 hrs long if they didn't have so many god damn slow mo's and camera angles. Every time something "full of tension" happened we got it in slow mo AND in 50 different angles. Did anyone else notice that? I get they want to build tension but seriously it was so overdone and they did it every episode! Multiple times! If I got a dollar every time that happened I would probably have $50 or something.

So yes, in conclusion, it was a visually stunning drama haha I know I didn't mention that but yeah it really was. I wish they travelled somewhere other than Canada though. "Oh look I have a magic portal to anywhere....hmm let's go to Canada 4 times for steak." Pretty sure Australia is known for the best beef right? Unless you get some legit Japanese wagyu. I have never heard anyone rave about Canadian beef. Okay back to the conclusion. I wouldn't watch this drama again, and the only memories I'll have of it are the illogical plot points and my annoyance toward the female lead. The only good memories will be the visual locations and that 10/10 kiss in episode...12? maybe 14. Anyway that was marvelous.

I give it...6 out of 10 stars. It's not as bad as I make it sound but it did take me a long time to get through it because I wasn't very enthusiastic. I gave it a good chance when I started episode 1 and they tore me down. You shouldn't have to make a comeback halfway through the drama to make it good.

Let me know your thoughts! (I'll probably be torn apart haha)

Until next time my drama queens and kings,
Sarah

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