A few days ago, there was such a news:
The era of 100 billion Korean drama production costs has arrived.
Because of next year's Korean drama highlight "Squid Game 2", the production cost is as high as 100 billion won (about 556 million yuan).
Not only that, but the production cost of Korean dramas has soared in recent years.
Last year's "Super Alien Family", the total production cost reached a height of 65 billion won (about 350 million yuan).
At the end of the year, Netflix made another big move and launched a super production of 70 billion won (about 389 million yuan).
The cast is eye-catching:
The male protagonist Park Seo-joon, the female protagonist Han So-hee.
The monster thriller theme is also eye-catching enough.
The broadcast is also divided into two seasons, full of explosive attitude.
So, as soon as the first seven episodes were launched, Uncle Yu couldn't wait to finish them in one go.
So, without further ado, let's talk about it today-
"Kyojo Monster"
Gyeongsung Creature
As the Korean drama with the highest production cost last year, the gimmick of "Monster of Beijing" is not only "costly".
Not long ago, Netflix's other Korean drama "Sweet Home 2" also made a blockbuster appearance.
is also the theme of monster + human nature, and the two are quite a bit of a fight.
Obviously, Netflix seems to be more partial to "Monster in Beijing".
After all, the latter is rarely recommended by the main Netflix network.
The cast of this play is also full of topics.
The male protagonist Park Seo-joon, has been in the limelight a lot in recent years.
Recently, because of his cameo appearance in "Captain Marvel 2", he showed his intention to break into the United States.
Needless to say, the heroine Han Suxi.
was previously named the new "beauty ceiling" of Korean film and television, and instantly became popular all over the world with dramas such as "The World of Husband and Wife", "Irresistible Him", and "My Name".
Later, she posted a series of eerie paintings on social media.
was interpreted by netizens from all walks of life as the cruelty of the Korean chaebol and the entertainment industry to her.
However, it didn't take long for Han Suxi to publicly clarify that there was no so-called inside story.
These paintings were created after she was injured while filming.
At that time, she was filming "Monster in Beijing".
The story takes place in Seoul in 1945.
At this time, it was in a state of colonization by Japan.
Jang Tae-sang (Park Seo-joon) is the owner of a pawn shop.
He is handsome and knows how to behave in the world, and has a strong network of contacts in Seoul.
Whether it is Japan or North Korea, whether rich or poor, there is no way he cannot get along.
One day, the concubine of the Japanese officer disappeared inexplicably.
He asks Jang Tae-sang to find the concubine before the cherry blossoms wither, otherwise he will take everything from him and send him to the battlefield.
Such an unreasonable and strict demand, Zhang Taishang had to obey.
After all, no matter how beautiful he is, he is also a colonized Korean.
At the same time, Yoon Chae-ok (played by Han So-hee), who is a secret agent, comes to Seoul with his father in order to find his mother, who has been missing for many years.
In order to get more clues, they found the "omnipotent" Jang Tae-sang.
By coincidence, the two teams decided to join forces.
After some investigation, all the clues pointed to a Japanese military hospital.
They managed to infiltrate the hospital.
Unexpectedly, this hospital hides an ulterior secret.
There are many cages where many poor North Koreans are held.
Piles of corpses.
Creepy vivisection.
It seems that the Japanese army is secretly conducting some terrible experiments here.
Moreover, it seems to have succeeded.
Because Zhang Taishang and the others met a terrifying-looking, tentacles, and terrifying alien monster here.
What's even more terrifying is that this monster also has a high IQ and evolves very quickly.
On one side is the Japanese army, and on the other side is the monster.
The escape path of Jang Tae-sang and Yoon Chae-yu began.
血腥、暴力、黑暗、惊悚.......
Seeing this, it is not difficult to understand why Han Suxi painted such a dark painting.
With the broadcast of "Monster in Beijing", the rumors about the "shady" naturally broke down.
But something else happened:
A large number of Han So-hee's Japanese fans chose to take off their fans.
Because the core of the story of this drama is actually to denounce the inhumane injuries and pain caused by the Japanese invaders.
In the play, there are various scenes and lines of Japanese people abusing Koreans.
For example, after the Japanese caught Yin Caiyu, they demanded that he must speak Japanese:
It is illegal for North Koreans to speak Korean.
Speak Japanese so that people can understand it.
It's like a North Korean teenager who was forced to enlist in the army, and then was looked down upon by the Japanese in the army, punching and kicking him in various ways.
What is even more outrageous is that the Japanese army used Koreans to conduct all kinds of biological experiments and then mentally destroy them.
The terrifying monster in the play is actually the mother that Yin Caiyu has been looking for.
Mother became like this, which made her collapse.
But the Japanese officer who made it cruelly told Yin Caiyu all the details, and even tried to get her to kill her "mother" with her own hands.
This murderous method is insidious enough.
In this story, monsters are a reference.
A captive North Korean mother, covered in scars, has been brutally transformed into a terrible monster after being subjected to unimaginable torture and pain.
All this is intertextual with the trampled Korean Peninsula.
And behind the bloody and ferocious monsters, there are more terrible human hearts than it.
The theme of anti-Japanese has always been one of the main components of Korean film and television dramas.
But in the past, most of these stories were realistic and heavy.
In the past two years, South Korea's anti-Japanese theme has begun to move towards the road of "divine drama".
For example, the previous "The Legend of the Nine-Tailed Fox 1938" contributed to the classic scene of babies dodging bullets.
However, it is different from the anti-Japanese dramas of "tearing devils" and "grenade bombing planes" in the mainland.
Korean dramas are not "gods" in magical and outrageous operations, but like to combine anti-Japanese and magical elements.
The "bullet-dodging baby" mentioned above is actually a fox demon turned into.
"Monster in the Capital" is even more typical.
The main creator chose one of the current popular traffic, monster elements.
And the reason for this is also very clear.
Whether it is the magical setting of the fox demon, or the use of the image of the monster with great visual impact.
On the one hand, it balances the heaviness of the historical subject matter itself.
On the other hand, it makes the fight scenes in the anti-Japanese story more watchable.
In this way, it can also attract more young audiences to watch and achieve certain commercial results.
Pity.
Such a high-production, high-concept, and high-connotation drama still overturned.
Although now the scores of Douban and IMDB are the passing line.
But whether it is in our country or in South Korea, the scolding is not small.
After the test screening in South Korea, various media outlets only gave a score of 2.9 points.
In my opinion, it is reasonable that this drama will hit the streets.
First of all, the picture texture does not reflect the value of 70 billion at all.
Aside from the monster effects, you don't see any scenes that cost a lot of money.
And halfway through the plot, the monster is still in a state of "holding the pipa and half covering his face".
Secondly, the acting skills of the male and female protagonists are not convincing.
In the play, Han Suximei is really beautiful, but her expression is stiff when she acts, and she has no emotion.
As for Park Junxu, I can only use the word "oil" to describe it.
The role setting of the male and female protagonists is even more CP-devoid.
In the play, the relationship between the male and female protagonists is obviously a key point.
Otherwise, it would not be in the key to the fight with the Japanese, and fireworks and slow motion would be used to create a sense of romance between the two.
But the problem is, it doesn't make sense.
Not to mention, at a dangerous juncture, what is the point of adding such a paragraph.
The relationship between the two is not convincing.
Zhang Taishang is a merry man who boasts of seeing all the beauties in the capital.
Just because Yin Caiyi knocked off his hat in the moonlight and spread his hair, he was so amazed that he was tempted?
Plus Park Seo-joon's indescribable expression.
Anyway, I didn't feel the heartbeat of the male and female protagonists at the first meeting, but I felt that Zhang Taishang was like a prodigal with bad intentions.
Under such a premise, some of the subsequent episodes that allowed the two to see the truth in the tribulation were all operations in my eyes.
In the end, what displeased me the most was the deliberate sensationalism.
Since he chose to use the image of "monster" to refer to the pain of history and the evil of human nature.
It is possible to contrast the suffering of the monsters with the cruelty of the Japanese by depicting more.
It is not a way for the monster to subconsciously protect Yin Caiyu after recognizing her as his daughter, trying to exchange for the audience's tears.
As for showing how the Korean patriots resisted the Japanese invaders.
I'd like to see more plots and details to talk about specific things.
Instead of using slow motion + BGM, directly show me how they use illogical tricks to save people.
The result is only sensationalism, and no emotional resonance at all.
As we all know, this kind of theme has always been what Korean dramas are good at.
When it comes to counter-aggression, there are such high-reputation works as "Mr. Sunshine".
Stills from "Mr. Sunshine".
talked about monsters, and also came out of "Kingdom", "Sweet Home" and other big hits.
Stills from "Sweet Home".
But now, "Sweet Home 2" and "Monster in Beijing" have overturned one after another.
In fact, Netflix Korean dramas in recent years have been going downhill on the whole.
The reason for this may be impatience.
With the advent of the fragmented digital era, how to quickly and accurately grasp the excitement of the audience has become the primary key.
So the accumulation of elements becomes the most efficient way.
And not only Netflix, but also content produced in South Korea is gradually falling into such a situation.
In many works, you can only feel the coolness and excitement of the form, but it is difficult to get a deeper impression.
It's like "Monster of the Capital" has a seemingly profound title for each episode.
But the content is not enough to reach the height of these words, and some are just pretending to be deep.
At the moment, there are only three episodes left of "Monster in the Capital".
I don't think it's going to be a big reversal of word-of-mouth, and there's no such possibility.
After all, the audience is not a fool who only knows how to eat.
If you blindly use some opportunistic methods to deceive the audience into the game, you will also use larger and larger numbers as the standard.
Then, in the end, all that is left is a void of numbers.