Category: Good Ol’ Review

DryedMangoez Good Ol’ Reviews written after a television series has completed its premiere run.

Good Ol’ Review: “Superhero Senki” a Fun, Exciting Love Letter

Good Ol’ Review: “Superhero Senki” a Fun, Exciting Love Letter

To commemorate the 45th season of Super Sentai and the 50th year anniversary of Kamen Rider, Toei presents Saber + Zenkaiger: Superhero Senki (セイバー＋ゼンカイジャー:スーパーヒーロー戦記). The crossover film will feel familiar to fans who may have enjoyed the Super Hero Taisen series of films where numerous legendary Sentai and Kamen Riders come together to fight a vicious foe. And though there are certainly a few hurdles this film needs to overcome, it ultimately is a loving tribute to Shotaro Ishinomori, the father of the two long-running tokusatsu franchises. As well as to children, young and old, who have enjoyed both series the last five decades.

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Good Ol’ Review: Yoo Jae Myung and Ji Soo Deliver Captivating Performances in JTBC’s Affecting “Ping Pong Ball”

Good Ol’ Review: Yoo Jae Myung and Ji Soo Deliver Captivating Performances in JTBC’s Affecting “Ping Pong Ball”

Yoo Jae Myung and Ji Soo deliver captivating performances in the warmhearted, though pensive Ping Pong Ball (탁구공). A part of JTBC’s Drama Festa anthology banner, this 2018 two-episode special drama might as well be a full-length feature film based on its production and presentation. A wonderful screenplay about the friendship formed between two seemingly different people is brought to life by two excellent performances and its cinematic treatment. All for what is ultimately a moving and fascinating slice of life portrait.

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Good Ol’ Review: Netflix’s “The Silent Sea” Has Rough Landing, but Ultimately Reaches Its Refreshing and Suspenseful Destination

Good Ol’ Review: Netflix’s “The Silent Sea” Has Rough Landing, but Ultimately Reaches Its Refreshing and Suspenseful Destination

Netflix continues to churn out solid and unique Korean drama offerings. And the latest is The Silent Sea (고요의 바다), a sci-fi mystery thriller starring Bae Doona and Gong Yoo. The premise of the eight-episode series is intriguing: an elite team is sent to retrieve a mysterious sample from the moon in the hopes of finding a solution to the severe drought and desertification of the world. Though the series itself isn’t totally out of this world (so to speak), it is nonetheless a refreshing and ultimately enjoyable experience that offers something different from the norm. Even if the series leaves a lot of potential on the table.

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Good Ol’ Review: “One Ordinary Day” an Emotionally Thrilling Character Portrait

Good Ol’ Review: “One Ordinary Day” an Emotionally Thrilling Character Portrait

Kim Soo Hyun, Cha Seung Won and Kim Sung Kyu deliver captivating performances in the Coupang Play original series One Ordinary Day (어느날). Adapted from the BBC drama Criminal Justice, the series follows a young college student accused of murder and the scruffy lawyer who decides to defend him. A gripping portrait of a young man struggling to prove his innocence, One Ordinary Day is an edgy and sadly realistic look at the harsh realities of the justice system with a character-driven narrative that keeps you guessing until the very last moment.

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Good Ol’ Review: tvN’s “Happiness” a Creative Character-Driven Thriller

Good Ol’ Review: tvN’s “Happiness” a Creative Character-Driven Thriller

tvN’s apocalyptic thriller Happiness (해피니스) is terrifying simply because it hits so close to home in 2021. Set in the very near future where infectious diseases have become the norm, Happiness grabs hold of some familiar narrative themes and blends them together with frighteningly relatable real world situations. As much a character piece as it is a horror-tinged thriller, Happiness makes use of a strong cast, creative direction and the stoking of real world tension for what may be the last great series of the year.

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Good Ol’ Review: tvN’s “My Roommate is a Gumiho” is a Charming Escape

Good Ol’ Review: tvN’s “My Roommate is a Gumiho” is a Charming Escape

The tvN series My Roommate is a Gumiho (간 떨어지는 동거) is a light, fluffy romantic comedy. With a touch of fantasy, the series adds an ample amount of charm and whimsy to what is actually an unexpected slice of life about college and friendship. Though, as the title suggests, the main focus is on the blossoming romance between a human and the titular gumiho, the series is actually at its best when it focuses on the friendships and relationships that grow out of every day, real world situations.

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Good Ol’ Review: JTBC’s “Sisyphus: The Myth” Gets Lost in Its Own Convoluted Time Traveling Shenanigans

Good Ol’ Review: JTBC’s “Sisyphus: The Myth” Gets Lost in Its Own Convoluted Time Traveling Shenanigans

Time traveling stories can get tricky. Television series involving time travel and the like usually require a certain level of commitment and faith from both the viewer and the team bringing the story to life. Because of that, these series can be either hit or miss. There’s usually no in between. Until JTBC’s Sisyphus: The Myth (시지프스: the myth) that is. This ambitious, high concept series features a strong cast and high production value. But that merely allows the series to spectacularly get lost somewhere along the way. It is almost a case of style over substance as Sisyphus is a disjointed and unbalanced series that never commits to what it wants to be. And in turn, gets its wires crossed in a way that it unfortunately is unable to untangle by the time it reaches its baffling and unsatisfying end.

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Good Ol’ Review: “Escape from Mogadishu” a Thrilling, Satisfying Cinematic Experience

Good Ol’ Review: “Escape from Mogadishu” a Thrilling, Satisfying Cinematic Experience

Writer/director Roo Seung Wan delivers a breathtaking film with Escape from Mogadishu (모가디슈). The combination of edge of your seat action, tense wartime drama and sincere heart and emotion make for a thrilling and satisfying cinematic experience.

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Good Ol’ Review: Yoon Shi Yoon Does What He Does Best in Surprisingly Meaningful “You Raise Me Up”

Good Ol’ Review: Yoon Shi Yoon Does What He Does Best in Surprisingly Meaningful “You Raise Me Up”

Yoon Si Yoon proves once again how he’s one of the most effortlessly versatile actors today with the eight-episode Wavve drama series You Raise Me Up (유 레이즈 미 업). The series has an immediately attention-grabbing logline: a down-and-out 31-year-old studying for the civil service exam finds he may be impotent and the urologist he consults turns out to be his first love). But in familiar K-drama fashion, there’s more to the story than meets the eye. The potentially funny and raunchy first impression leads into an introspective and emotional journey for our main character that ends up being more relatable than one might have expected.

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Good Ol’/Check-in Review: Season 4 of now-tVN’s “Voice” Franchise Expands Its World in Stunning Fashion

Good Ol’/Check-in Review: Season 4 of now-tVN’s “Voice” Franchise Expands Its World in Stunning Fashion

The first three seasons of OCN’s Voice delivered top-notch action and stunning performances. Between the relatively familiar crime solving mystery of season one to the darker psychological thriller of seasons two and three, Voice 4 (보이스4: 심판의 시간) finds the perfect balance between those two contrasts. Continuing the story of Lee Ha Na’s captivating Kang Kwon Joo, Voice 4 introduces us to new characters and new dangers while expanding its world in the most unexpected, yet exciting ways.

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