주몽 (Jumong)
MBC - May 8, Historical Drama

PD: 6
이주환 (Lee Ju-Hwan)
Weird choice for an Historical Drama, but I've seen stranger things. Now the biggest problem is experience, because even if you've worked 20 years in 'regular' TV Drama, your first Sageuk project can be really hard to adapt to. Lee's past works mostly deal with Trendy Dramas or Daily Dramas, like the smash hit 인어 아가씨 (Mermaid Girl) and 선희진희 (Seon-Hee Jin-Hee). But I'm giving him a 6 solely based on his involvement in the 1994 classic 종합병원 (General Hospital). Why? Because it's THAT good.
WRITER: 10
최완규 (Choi Wan-Gyu), 정형수 (Jung Hyung-Soo)
Here's your killer ap. Choi Wan-Gyu is, along with Im Choong, my favorite Sageuk writer, and his list of credits reads like a 'who's who' of the best shows of the last 10 years. We begin with 'General Hospital', the fantastic 'Lee Young-Ae before Lady Vengeance' revenge Drama 그들의 포옹 (Their Embrace), 2000's classic 허준 (Hur Joon), 상도 (Sang Do), 올인 (All In), and many more. Jung Hyung-Soo is one of his many proteges, and he himself wrote a few 'not too shabby' shows like a certain 다모 (Damo). They're two of the most shining lights who lead MBC's complete revolution of Historical Drama tropes, so we should expect something excellent from them. We couldn't possibly be in safer hands.
CAST: 8
송일국 (Song Il-Guk), 한혜진 (Han Hye-Jin), 전광렬 (Jeon Gwang-Ryeol), 김승수 (Kim Seung-Soo), 오연수 (Oh Yeon-Soo), 김영철 (Kim Young-Cheol)
Excellent. Of course we're dealing with a 'new age' Historical Drama, mixing more fictional characters than usual and a healthy (I hope!) dose of melodrama, mixed with the usual Sageuk formulae, so the cast tends to be younger. Song Il-Guk was fantastic in 해신 (Emperor of the Sea), and will finally have the chance to go full force, with what looks to be his most important role to date. Han Hye-Jin is still very young and inexperienced, but she carried a Daily Drama on her shoulders -- last year's 굳세어라 금순아 (Be Strong, Geum-Soon) -- which is not an easy feat. It's hard to say if she's got what it takes for a show like this, but this is certainly the chance to show it. Jeon Gwang-Ryeol and Kim Young-Cheol are Historical Dramas veterans, and although Oh Yeon-Soo is not too familiar with the genre, she's an excellent actress. With a few older veterans, this could become a great cast.
OUTLINE: 9
Don't ask me why, but I tend to like Historical Dramas focusing on the beginning of a Dynasty, rather than its end. They tend to be a little more 'idealist' and inspirational than the megaton bombs of intrigue of the other type of Dramas. And here's one of them! King Jumong (or King Dongmyeongseong, if you prefer him dead) founded Goguryeo in 37 BC, after several tribes from Gojoseon and Buyeo got together and decided... hey! There's nothing interesting to do, so let's, like, build a Kingdom! A former man of Buyeo, Jumong conquered the Kingdoms of Biryu, Haengin and Okjeo to create Goguryeo, although his reign was pretty short-lived. The show will focus on what made 'Emperor of the Sea' so successful: big battles, lavish locations (China), and a little more melodrama than we're used to.
RATINGS POTENTIAL: 9
Big. Song Il-Guk's popularity is increasing exponentially, and Han Hye-Jin's latest Drama ended with a big 40%. MBC is starting to do well again, so I think this might be their first huge hit of the season. Although I think it won't match the ratings of 연애시대 (Alone in Love), I can safely say 35-40% shouldn't be too surprising. I can't wait for this show, and this time I'm serious.
OVERALL: 8.40

» Posted by X at March 6, 2006 08:41 AM
http://www.twitchfilm.net/archives/005348.html

credit : xosandy of soompi