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Monday, January 25, 2010

Invincible Lee Pyung Kang (2009)












Invincible Lee Pyung Kang
천하무적 이평강 / Taming of the Heir
(Nov – Dec 2009)


who’s in it
Nam SangMi (Time Between Dog and Wolf, The Grand Chef),
Ji HyunWoo (Over The Rainbow, My Sweet Seoul),
Seo DoYoung (Spring Waltz, Friend Our Legend)

what’s it about
Six feet and a gangly ditz, the heir to a financially struggling golf resort comes back to Korea to find his sick father has shacked it up with his ambitious secretary and, as Beyonce advised, put a ring on it. Kicked to the poverty curb by his new step-bro and step-mum who think he’s a colossal loser, he finds himself bunking at a chicken-boilin’ hostel with the daughter of a golf course designer, his resort’s late golf course designer, that is. Naturally, he makes a nuissance of himself and gets all up in Lee Pyung Kang’s grill, which the title of the drama leads one to believe Lee Pyung Kang (played by Nam SangMi) may be a significant character.

commitment
Typical rom-com 16 episoder

network
KBS2

wildcard factor
Each episode started or ended with a “not-funny-I-don’t-know-what-the-point-of-these-are” sections depicting a sageuk spin on the main couple’s story, presumably this was their past lives…or whatever…who cared, I sure didn’t. I imagine the weird additions were done in an effort to clip some unique onto a show burdened with a somewhat generic premise, but it only highlighted the latent cheese factor present throughout the series.

after the first episode
Felt a little like newly cut bangs on your forehead…irritating but couldn’t help but sorta like being tickled by the way it fell, kinda fun and fluttery.

gave up

snoozer moments
Any scene with the step-bro and step-mum actually. Step-bro resembled a zombie extra from Michael Jackson’s Thriller at times. He had some major luggage under his eyes.

soju-guzzling
Hardly at all, neither of the leads were prone to extended stays at the self-pity motel, which I kinda appreciated.

what didn’t work
Unfortunately, the last episode. The neatly tied ending was kinda lame (but not enough to ruin the whole drama).

what did
Nam SangMi was her usual bright and silly self, and Ji HyunWoo was a very tall, dark and dimpled presence—essentially, a prime cut of beef on a television plate. Both Nam SangMi and Ji HyunWoo looked terrific in HD. She has the most amazing skin!

what made me want to gouge my eyes out
The historical bits were…well, let’s be honest here, as I mentioned above, stupid.

what kept me going
He was selfish, she was not, and their bickering cute elbow-nudging adorableness was just enough fun to root for them. Sometimes I am just a sucker for good-looking people that share the same screen time. As long as their characters don’t offend with too much stupidity, I can ride along without much complaint.

_________________________________
Other factors:
predictability Totally
engrish Definitely some of that going on in this one, but mostly in song-form
originality Zilch
eye-candy Major. Seo DoYoung, Mr. Spring Waltz himself, is also very delectable here.
hair and fashion Nothing in-yo-face offensive
__________________________________


is it worth trying to find?
Depends how much of a fan you are of any of the leads. If you are a fan, definite must-watch.

total enjoyment factor
7/10—a generous score perhaps, but I have to admit, it really hit the romcom spot for me.

total disdain factor

why this review is completely biased
I’m a fan of Ji HyunWoo and Nam SangMi AND SEO DOYOUNG, who was dreamy in Spring Waltz and Friend Our Legend.

could a non-kdrama fan like this
Unlikely

verdict
Enjoyable but a low-calorie offering, don’t expect to feel like you had a full-course meal, more like just an appetizer. But you won’t feel like you overpaid.

1 comment:

  1. i like this entry, was watching the first episode halfway..

    ReplyDelete

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