Gyeongseong Creature Review: Offer an Absolutely Intriguing and Engaging Narrative Plot
Cast: Park Seo-Jun, Han So-Hee
Director: Chung Dong-Yoon
Streaming Platform: Netflix
Filmyhype.com Ratings: 3.5/5 (three and a half stars)
From Korea with horror, here comes Gyeongseong Creature, supported by a considerable wait for the hope of being faced with another tasty product of that cinematic school, which in the last decade has brought renewal and creativity in abundance hands. Trust me, this hope is not in vain, because this genre mix set in 1945 Korea is as creative as it is accessible, a worthy heir to other Korean shows that we have loved madly in the past. In recent years, many South Korean products have made their way into the global entertainment scene, from K-pop musical groups to TV series that have managed to conquer the global audience. After the global success of Squid Game, Netflix invested heavily in the creation of works from South Korea, increasingly attracting a huge audience.
On December 22nd the first part of The Creature of Geongseong landed on the platform from the Red N, which we will tell you about in this review, a new work poised between horror, thriller, and historical drama that confirms the very good artistic value and commercial than what was packaged by the K-Series recently released in streaming. The second block of episodes will be visible from January 5, 2024. Directed by Jeong Dong-yun, Gyeongseong Creature is a dramatic title set in South Korea, which immerses the viewer through one of the darkest and most ferocious periods of the Asian nation. A content that, in addition to showing wars and desires for supremacy, also brings more frivolous and lighter aspects to the small screen through subplots that lighten the tension generated by the main theme. In the meantime, the TV series Gyeongseong Creature has already been renewed for a second season, the current main cast of its debut on Netflix includes Park Seo-Joon, Han So-hee, Wi Ha-joon, Kim Hae-sook, Soo Hyun and Jo Han-chul.
Gyeongseong Creature Review: The Story Plot
Gyeongseong Creature is set in the then capital of Korea occupied by Japanese soldiers in 1945, today better known to all as Seoul. They were difficult times, due to widespread poverty, the uncertainty of the war, and above all the iron fist with which Japan treated Korean citizens. And it is in such a context that we meet Jang Tae-sang (Park Seo-jun), an ambitious, charming, and cunning dandy, although sometimes too daring. Owner of the most important pawn shop in the city, he is like others suspicious of what is happening in the Japanese Hospital, where many people have disappeared without ever returning. Precisely to shed light on this mystery, Jang finally decides to make use of the ability of the “hounds”, street detectives who are enemies of the Japanese occupier, among whom the very skilled and charming Yoon Chae-ok (Han So-hee) stands out.
Having put together a sort of gang, the two will try to infiltrate the base. They cannot imagine that Japanese scientists and the military have been conducting terrifying experiments in the country for some time and that now what they have obtained is a monster, the limits and possibilities of which are not yet clear about its nature and powers. Gyeongseong Creature bears the signature of Kang Eun-Kyung, veteran of Korean cinema and television, while for Jeong Dong-Yun it is the first, real, prominent opportunity. Yet, the whole manages to be intriguing, capable of ranging towards any atmosphere, of paying homage to the great masters of the past.
In the same way, Gyeongseong Creature knows how to present itself as an innovative story regarding the already fruitful Korean horror and genre production. Although it does not have a pharaonic budget, it does not disappoint even from a visual point of view, with very successful homages to John Carpenter’s The Thing and the various epigones who in the 80s and 90s made body horror a genre that was nothing short of iconic, especially for the thematic richness. There remain perhaps some reservations about the desire to have a constant alternation of tone, to join the melodrama where possible, but this never happens with bad grace.
Gyeongseong Creature Review and Analysis
Gyeongseong Creature, due to the strong themes covered, is certainly not suitable for everyone. However, despite the most macabre part of the story based on the title of the TV series – that is a particular creature – this new Netflix content cannot be classified purely as a horror film. The story of Gyeongseong Creature includes a mix of different genres ranging from thriller to sentimental, all peppered with gripping action scenes and semi-comical sequences. If on the one hand in Gyeongseong Creature there are dramatic deaths and blood flows in rivers in multiple contexts, on the other hand, the part of the story relating to the two protagonists almost fades towards the K-Drama soap opera style. In a certain way, the TV series highlights a strong contrast between life and death due precisely to the different styles of these two scenarios.
While the cherry trees in bloom appear in the city of Gyeongseong, giving the viewer the typical Asian setting of an oriental postcard, inside the Ongseong hospital you can breathe terror and suffering among the dark and gloomy corridors. Paradoxically, the alternation of two different realities narrated in the TV series Gyeongseong Creature could also attract that part of the public who is usually reluctant to the horror genre. In the same way as the citizens of future Seoul continue their lives unaware of the horrors that surround them, the viewer can continuously unplug from such visions between one shock sequence and another through epic fights and funny skits. To be honest, however, we must recognize that the continuous change of scenario can also be counterproductive on certain fronts. As in Gyeongseong Creature, there is a tendency to drag some situations to the limit, to increase the suspense in the audience and encourage them to continue watching the subsequent episodes.
A type of ploy that, all things considered, succeeds well in its intent, especially when it comes to short-lived television series, as in the case of this first season of Gyeongseong Creature consisting of ten episodes in total. Netflix’s Gyeongseong Creature TV series, despite the pink parenthesis with which it dampens the tension between one drama and another, represents crude realities that have always existed in our world. First of all the madness and desire for universal supremacy are generated by the human mind. The gradual development of progress that has occurred over the years has led man to dare more and more, to try to achieve even the impossible. The situation is drastically taken to extremes in Gyeongseong Creature but should not be considered any less truthful for this reason.
Science and madness in some cases often go hand in hand, regardless of whether some projects are feasible or not. The fundamental point concerns certain ideas born from the human brain, which have very little humanity about them. But all are always driven by the desire to push man towards the conquest of the entire world or to achieve the much – for many – longed-for immortality. In the TV series Gyeongseong Creature something exactly like this happens due to someone who goes too far with his imagination, using the classic mentality of those who justify the sacrifice of many for a potential common good. Gyeongseong Creature is a viable physical creature but also metaphorically represents evil, the dark part of the human being that crosses an insurmountable limit from which there is almost no return. This creature is the concrete projection of terrible abstract thoughts that take shape in a disturbing way and in the worst way, not only in the mind but also in the human soul.
The thirst for power, the greed of greed, and the belief that man is a being above all others, lead man himself to want to rise above the real capabilities he has at his disposal. Gyeongseong Creature is the worst of nightmares that come to life, symbolizing an open Pandora’s box, where all the darkest and most unspeakable desires merge into a single uncontrollable being thirsty for revenge. First impressions of Gyeongseong Creature are broadly positive, although the Netflix TV series includes several critical issues. The acting of the characters does not always live up to expectations as in some cases the protagonists seem like caricatures of themselves, except Park Seo-Joon who brings perhaps the truest character of all to the small screen. The overall narrative is slow and heavy because each episode of Gyeongseong Creature lasts approximately an hour, while a faster pace would have facilitated the long viewing. Furthermore, some epilogues are all too obvious in the wake of the classic rescue at the last minute which therefore makes a certain part of drama within the same dramatic title unrealistic.
However, although in part it is difficult content to digest for the more sensitive audience, the strength of Gyeongseong Creature is given precisely by the variety of genres it includes. A fair amount of splatter can satisfy the most demanding spectators, while those who prefer lighter themes can get involved in the romantic and sentimental part of the story. There is no shortage of noteworthy action sequences in the classic oriental fighting style and other ironic scenes ready to dampen the tension given by the cruder moments. In conclusion, Gyeongseong Creature is an interesting and engaging title on an emotional level, even if it doesn’t cry out for a miracle in terms of originality. However, it is content linked to partly real dramatic events, which leads us to reflect on man’s actions, also learning from the mistakes of the past to avoid falling back into the same collective errors.
Gyeongseong Creature fully embraces the theme of the double and does so stylistically too. There is a continuous alternation between day and night, above and below, almost as if he wanted to recreate the contrast between Earth and Hades, Hell and the earthly world. This suggestion is also fueled by photography that is often in pastel colors, when it comes to following Jang, Yoon, and all the others, little scoundrels or idealists determined to see clearly what is happening in the Japanese base. Then we go deep into the underworld created by the sick minds of Japanese officers and researchers, around which the series creates a recovery of the memory of the infamous Unit 731. This unit was responsible for every possible brutality throughout Asia and the Pacific during the Second World War, against more than 3000 people, in the name of experimentation in the bacteriological and chemical field which finally created an almost biblical monstrosity.
The creature we are dealing with is familiar as a birth process, it also brings to mind what Resident Evil or Silent Hill introduced us to in video games, but then Carpenter, Cronenberg and even Lovecraft appear for those who see them now. However, Gyeongseong Creature is also capable of surprising us with its characters, given that everyone, even the secondary ones, has a story, a motive, and a reason to enter that experiment center, which will become the scene of horror of the highest caliber. Naturally, the Creature is not the real monster, we know this well: men are, as in the most classic of modern horror stories, and in this, the series is also very closely connected to Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.
At the end of the viewing, there also remains a feeling of great unease, because, apart from the fantasy, such events for years in Asia, under the Japanese boot, were the secret but dramatic normality, which unfortunately remained unpunished. Directed with a sure hand even in the action scenes, it also has an elegant variation in the two main protagonists and a tribute to the clichés of the adventure and noir genres. We are not at the level of a pearl-like Squid Game was or like other sci-fi horror series like All of Us Are Dead, Hellbound, or Kingdom, but this remains a robust, intriguing product that never has any particular drops in pace, although perhaps a little predictable in the long run.
Gyeongseong Creature Review: The Last Words
Gyeongseong Creature is a TV series that contains a mix of various genres ranging from thriller to romantic K-drama. The story as such is interesting but not without flaws, in particular, due to predictable and unrealistic scenes and general acting that is not always up to the task. However, the Netflix title can be watched and involves even those unfamiliar with the horror genre, thanks to different subplots that allow it to incorporate different target audiences. Drawing heavily from a typical monster movie subject, Gyeongseong Creature can offer an intriguing and engaging narrative plot, that focuses on a strong historical awareness to rise to a universal monument of the crisis of man in conflict with his self-destructive instinct.
Gyeongseong Creature Review: Offer an Absolutely Intriguing and Engaging Narrative Plot - Filmyhype
Director: Chung Dong-Yoon
Date Created: 2023-12-22 16:35
3.5
Pros
- Choreographed action scenes
- Evocative oriental settings
- Park Seo-joon manages to keep the bar high
Cons
- Narration with fluctuating rhythms
- Some epilogues too predictable
- Acting not always convincing
