Omniscient Reader: The Prophecy(전지적 독자 시점) Korean Film Thoughts

 

   HEY EVERYBODY! It's been a long time since I've updated this blog.  I think that my focus was else where for some months. However, now is the present and I'm back posting more frequently. Omniscient Reader is a series that I was introduced to in Manhwa(Korean comics) form. When a film was created, I was indifferent.... The indifference became even stronger when I was the cast..... I'm pretty sure this film still did well in South Korea just based on common knowledge of what South Korea tends to flock to. 

   This film is based off the Manhwa titled Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint which was a best seller at the time of it's release.  The plot has to do with a student reading a story posted online and rewriting that story as the events began to come to life in reality. I was really engaged with this series for the first couple of volumes until the qualities started to become more and more like Solo Leveling. Korea has a certain in game reality genre for these kind of stories and they all end up being inspired or take from Solo Leveling. I'm not sure how director Kim Byung Woo thought he could direct this film without it being super cheesy. The story wasn't cheesy to a degree.... What was cheesy was the portrayal of the situations and the special effects pulled from the panels of the Manhwa. These just didn't translate well to screen. I'm also one of the last people to complain about live action adaptions... but this was an awkward rendition. 

   Well beloved actor Lee Min Ho in his performance was being... himself mostly. I haven't seen this man do a role that challenges his acting in years. This man is still playing the same kind of roles that can swap out a suit and tie just in various circumstances. He gets people in the theater seats doing the same kind of performances so who am I to judge. Anh Hyo Seop had to carry this whole film on his lower back. Hes the only person that actually gave a good performance worth talking about. His acting was in the moment as well as emotional. He's the star that is in the shadow of Lee Min Ho simply because he has a longer career. 

  My favorite scene was the scene in the digital area where the characters were fighting the grey monster. This was adapted well into film. Plus it was the part of the film where I was the most engrossed into the plot. Same thing when I was reading the manhwa. Too bad the script couldn't formulate the story completely due to the manhwa being so long. My patience wore very thin by the time this film was over. Between the bad looking effects on top of the story pacing, I was over it. The director tried to leave the ending open like they could make a sequel.... LORD HAVE MERCY. 

    I would give this a watch without any real expectations. Do not go into this film expecting much. You will be somewhat disappointed.  

signed,

RICO