#watched: KINGDOM on Netflix (#SPOILERS in Review)
WHAT-IS: "Kingdom (Hangul: 킹덤; RR: Kingdeom) is a 2019 South Korean television series written by Kim Eun-hee and directed by Kim Seong-hun. It is Netflix's second Korean original series, which premiered on January 25, 2019. The series is adapted from the webcomic series The Kingdom of the Gods, which was authored by Kim Eun-hee and drawn by Yang Kyung-il. The series garnered positive reviews, and its second season is set to begin production in February 2019." (Wiki)
SYNOPSIS (Short Version): "While strange rumors about their ill king grip a kingdom, the crown prince becomes their only hope against a mysterious plague overtaking the land."
SYNOPSIS (Long Version): "Set in Korea’s medieval Joseon period, it tells the story of Crown Prince Yi-Chang (Ju Ji-hoon), who becomes embroiled in a coup/political conspiracy and is forced to embark upon a mission to investigate the spread of a mysterious undead plague that has beset the current emperor and the country's southern provinces.
The story starts with a notice written in Korean on a billboard, claiming the king of Joseon is dead and the crown prince should be crowned immediately as the new king. However, inside the palace, the king is known to be severely sick and has been secretly treated for the past 10 days. No one was allowed to visit the king, not even the crown prince himself.
Late at night, the crown prince sneaked out to visit his father, wanting to know the truth. But instead of his own father, he encountered the silhouette of a beastly monster.
Accompanied by the physician Seo-Bi (Bae Doo-na), the enigmatic Yeong-Shin (Kim Sung-gyu), and his personal guard Moo-Young (Kim Sang-ho), Prince Yi-Chang must prevent the advance of the plague towards his home capital of Hanyang (present-day Seoul) while addressing the sinister coup masterminded by Minister Cho Hak-jo (Ryu Seung-ryong) and his family aimed towards his deposition from the throne."
All above information are available publicly on the internets, with no specific spoilers to be had .... BUT, scrolling forward on this post, BE WARNED that there would be PLENTY OF SPOILERS AHEAD!
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LAST WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD
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I'd watched the entire 6 episodes within a span of 7 days (I did not binge at night because I was chickensh*t LOL), and was left feeling both excited and somewhat "cheated" by the end credit rolls, because the series was not resolved! You'd NEED a "Season 2" to discover what happened next to our motley crew of folks! Talk about a "cliffhanger"! LOL
If I had known earlier, I might have chosen to wait to watch this series until such time Season 2 was ready to roll, so I could properly binge-watch it and BE SATISFIED with the ending... assuming there would be an ending by the end of Season 2 tho ...
The first two episodes were indeed as most folks mentioned: SLOW. Not crawling along like most (media) zombies do, but enough to let the viewer breathe a little (or so I am being optimistic to call it that), but once Episode 3 comes along? The pacing moves faster, although not as fast as when the zombies themselves move = the ones in "World War Z" or "Train To Busan"! Rule #1 of Columbus in "Zombieland" rings true: "CARDIO"!
The amount of running seen in these series, leads me to believe if I were in the era, I would be chomped on faster than when the zombies "turn"!
Also the word "zombie" was not used in any promotions for this series ("write-ups"), but it would be easier for me to "assume" they are, as their very action and actions associate them with the "traditional" notion of zombies we know of in media presentations ... although one aspect bugged me quite a bit = was when the Prince once dictated that to stop the "monsters", you'd need to chop off their heads (makes sense), or burn them (okay, makes sense too) ... but in later fight sequences, folks were slashing up the monsters, and still they dropped. Yes, I am quibbling here, as frankly it makes no difference otherwise in my entertainment :p
I'd initially appreciated the notion that the zombies react during the night, and seek to hide and sleep during the day - ala "Vampires" - to be an interesting mix of genres ... but don't let that lull you into complacency, as the last episode of the series would slap that right conception right out of you MUAHAHAHAHAHA
The politics are intense and devious, and not wholly off-putting as "normal" historical intrigues does (for me anyways). Also not knowing said historical-significance helps in suspending the disbelief for the situation, I feel. Having said that, palace intrigues are universal, methinks, having been accustomed to Chinese movies all these years. The scheming Prime Minister and his daughter the Empress - very well casted too!
The character arcs are interesting opened up, but on hindsight, not wholly explored beyond mysteries awaiting to be solved - from all the side characters actually, except for the Prince, whose character arc develops more than everyone else, though not very "believing" on my end, as we only just see him "step up".
The characters are as diverse (for the period), and are as cliched as they could be, to invest your attention in. The faithful bodyguard (whom I initially thought would be the mole), to his dutiful wife (appearing only in the last couple of episodes) who no doubt will bore the Empress' son (OMG) ... to the physician-in-training/nurse (who seems to be quite held back in her portrayal), to the more-likely-desserter (whom everybody forget was the guy who fed the infested corpse to the villagers, innit?) - would HE be the mole instead? And what is Lord Anh's REAL motive and story behind? With the upcoming Season 2, I certainly hope their stories would continue to develop and enrich the series, IMHO.
The direction is very decently executed. The production quality lush beyond your "usual" period production on K-dramas, with plenty of gorgeous depth and textural layers in the cinematography, mixed in with some dodgy chase scenes and understandably uneven night-time in-the-dark-scenes, IMHO.
What I also enjoyed was the opening sequence, which by Episode 4 you would've figured out WHAT the opening scene portrayed, and the satisfaction of seeing it unfold again, and again...
I would heartily recommend folks to watch this original Netflix offering (View here), at the very least to enjoy a slice of zombiedom, which frankly is not as "gross-out" as folks might expect (certainly me).
At 6 x Episodes, each with a run time between 43–56 minutes, it is easier to digest and devour. Rated "M18", with zero hint of nudity, but plenty of veiled scares with no overt blood-spill, besides bloodied bodies and guts exposed, so yes, not for the kiddies, thanks.
Someone asked me on Facebook: "Is there a tsunami of zombies like in World War Z"? (adlibbed) ... well, they did try in the earlier episodes :)
SPOILER VIDEO CLIP AHEAD
(All poster & stills via IMDb)
(Above review previously featured on #iliketeevee)
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