Moving (2023)

Unique and Worthy

Moving is literally those extremely good, rare television dramas that come out every 5 years.

I’ll be honest, at first I didn’t expect much as I thought that Moving would be a ‘recycled’ drama where the theme and some parts of the plot would be a copy and paste, but I was wrong. The fact that the creator thought of the way of starting Moving by showing the students perspectives as a ‘build-up,’ then slowly, but perfectly showing the parents history to lead up to the climax to combine both, is a job well done. Furthermore, the considerate amount of effort put into each character involved is amazing, and really, you can tell. Whether it be the main characters or the minor characters, or those with abilities or not, they are all involved in the story and have unique personalities and stories. Their stories impact the drama, and their history adds on to how the climax was created. Even the introduction of new characters wasn’t tiring because they all have a purpose. Every episode is thrilling, and every episode ends with a cliffhanger. My eyes were glued onto a screen the entire time watching Moving and I would not leave my couch because I wanted, no NEEDED more.

The line-up of Moving is truly a rare sight, in which even my parents were shocked at the amount of stars involved in a single project. Ranging from the legendary icons that brought Kdramas and KMovies global fame (Han Hyo Joo, Ryu Seung Ryong, Zo In Sung, Cha Tae Hyun), to the rookies that absolutely exceeded my expectations (Lee Jung Ha, Go Youn Jung, Kim Do Hoon), this star-stunning cast, portrayed their characters extremely well throughout the drama. Yes, you can be sceptical at once and even confused after seeing Han Hyo Joo playing a mother, but trust me, once you keep going forward, you’ll know that she is the perfect person for the role. I can’t say anything different for the rest of the cast either, because they did so perfectly well portraying their characters, their emotions, and their thoughts. Everyone involved is extremely talented, and their outstanding acting could even get you wondering just how talented they are.

The cinematography involved is outstanding, and so is the music. Believe me, I’m obsessed with one of the BGM because it’s just so perfectly made. The editor really knew when to add each sound in because they relate and fit into the scene so much.

I really enjoyed watching Moving as it’s a really amazing show. I’ll be down to rewatch it another, no, multiple times because it’s definitely those shows that you can watch again without getting bored. The drama is a well executed, well made masterpiece that the Moving staff and actors created what most dramas couldn’t do. Easily a 10/10.

Leia Mais

A "Moving" drama that doesn't come around very often! SUBLIME, WITTY, ACTION PACK AND EMOTIONAL.

"Moving" up your emotions in every possible way!

CHEMISTRY is through the roof! Han Hyo Joo and Zo In Sung are chemistry-ing like no other, even the chemistry amongst the other actors are so effortless and smooth that you just get sucked into THEIR reality while watching!

Even though this is centered around incredible individuals with super powers, it still very much showcased their in-depth reality of hardships in their life that is focused with missions they carry out. I really loved the backstory and past of the kids' parents. The parent's story from the past, their struggles, pain & hardships truly were admirable to watch!

Every time I watched Jang Joowon's (Hulk) scenes I became a bawling mess! It's been a whole emotional roller coaster the parents acting truly proved why they're A-listers actors. They portrayed caliber acting where you feel each and every emotions! The display of emotional expression of the veteran actors were so meticulously well executed that you feel each emotion deeply. This series is unbelievably amazing that waiting for the next episode were torturous!

Moving really touches every aspect of everyday life; the struggles, pain, loneliness, hardships, societal judgement, hierarchy of jobs and the disparity of living an average life as individuals with super powers.

This drama is packed with fast pace action, great CGI/VFX, amazing cast of actors; both playing teenagers and A-Listers actors and great story-line of every character that pulls at your heartstrings. The production value is indeed spectacular and stellar. Not only is the quality of the drama evident but the intriguing story line is so well paced and written that every episode feels like 20 mins instead of 56 mins.

CHARACTERS

The kids/parents relationships are so heartwarming to watch. The parents did their very best at raising their children especially with all odds against them. And the kids being good, attentive and understanding of their parents showed us their strong bond and trust between each other; each having their own unique story.

Character development was very well paced out by using flashbacks, clever and poignant editing. Each character's backstory had their own message which really created emotional attachment from the viewers. This made me empathize with every one of them after understanding their pain and struggles of what they all had to go through especially the parents.

**SPOILERS AHEAD**

Each scenes were very well thought out and every cut was symbolic and meaningful. For instance the interaction between the American Ambassador and the Chief director of the NIS. The American guy boldly sat down displaying his back towards the Korean creating a discourteous/disrespectful move. The power altercation between the two countries was quite a revealing case to watch!

SYMBOLISM WAS THROUGH THE ROOF!

The symbolisms in the drama were so relevant to each character too!! Every scene has a meaning not one thing is useless in a scene. For instance, the 2 bullet scars on Joowon's arm are so symbolic. They represent the 2 people (The commander & DooShik) who showed him real kindness during his mission on the field when everyone else thought of him as a monster. And the keepsakes he holds dear from both of his comrades and wearing the boots and always having the pocket knife with him are such precious memories he'll never forget. Their existence to him are irreplaceable. He's truly so pure of heart and loyal to the end. His story really brought me to tears from him getting betrayed, chased, stabbed, always enduring the pain, to him falling in love which made me smile but then cried again when he lost his only rock and love of his life.

ACTION SCENES

ACTION was killer and unbelievably incredible that it seriously kept me on my toes!! The production and quality was beyond my expectation!! I can't say it enough but it felt like I was sucked into the characters' intense action scenes during their fight rooting for them to win and accomplish their mission. The perspectives, different angles and camera takes were so smooth and effortless that there was no awkward cut at all. Truly a spectacular performance on both the actors' effort and the production team!

ROMANCE

The romance in the drama is surprisingly a pure breath of fresh air! It's not at all cliche, cringe and overdone but just perfectly balanced! The characters' personality creates such a heart fluttering scene that encapsulates their sweet moment without rushing and the slow-burn romance just makes the viewers left wanting more. That's exactly how pure romance in real life is like and I'm glad they showed and displayed it in such a way in the drama. Of course for my taste, nothing beats seeing adults falling in love for the first time and even better at first sight! Perfectly done in my opinion!

Overall, this drama truly exuberates every genre you can think of; action, romance, melo-drama, humour, mystery, thriller, supernatural and high quality content of story-line and cast. It is refreshing, compelling, fascinating and complex!! Definitely a must watch drama that doesn't come around very often!

Leia Mais

So I would give this series massive points… for effort.

A Disney+ superhero kdrama that's getting a lot of buzz right now. Alright, is it any good then?

It has some interesting ideas, and some pretty neat action beats, but it's disjointed. Too many characters. They try to give a complex backstory to each of them and so it becomes quite bloated due to that.
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Stunts - 70/100 | Like I said above, points for effort. I like that they were really trying here. A bit frustrating to watch the action in this because some of the action is really inspired, but other parts aren't. Lots of CGI. Some of it good, some of it bad.

Narrative - 61/100 | The first half of this show was great to be honest. Really interesting. In the second half though, it stumbles and loses its way by going in a sort of Anthology-lite direction and it loses all narrative momentum.

Fight Choreography - 75/100 | Earlier episodes that weren't so CGI-heavy were the best. Overall it's quite violent.

Enjoyment - 63/100 | You'd think all the episodes focusing on introducing various characters would culminate into something great when all the separate plot points merged, however it simply doesn't. The last episodes felt a bit cheap, forced, and nonsensical. Some individual episodes were great though, like the one focusing on the resilient dad played by Ryu Seung Ryong.

And the ones focusing on Han Hyo-joo, who is simply amazing in this. Same for Zo In-sung playing her husband. Their chemistry is off the charts.

Leia Mais

Moving was different than I expected, in many interesting ways. The beginning of the show is much more of a teen drama, focusing on the younger characters, their abilities, and relationships. While some of the younger characters were endearing, once the story shifted more to the parents I was way more invested. Some of teen characters didn’t feel fully developed and the plot lines could feel a little boring.

The parent storylines were all so well done and the show surprised me by having such great love stories. All of their storylines were a little heartbreaking but it was so beautiful to see that they would do anything for their children. Mi-hyun was a real standout character. The show took a character that was a mother who didn’t have the powers of physical strength like a lot of the others, and made her one of the most badass characters. Mi-hyun was cunning, perceptive, intelligent, and did not hesitate to take out anyone who threatened her family. The romance between her and Du-sik was one of the best parts of the show. Their romance felt quiet and realistic but you could really feel their connection. The romance with Ju-won and his wife I haven’t seen talked about nearly as much and I think I loved their story just as much. I honestly would’ve watched an entire show about any of the parents.

The action sequences were a lot of fun to watch, especially a lot of the later ones where there are so many different powers. Some of the fight choreography was wild, especially with Du-sik and his flying abilities. It didn’t feel like all of the backstory made sense at times and it wasn’t clear if the show was planning to get to those things later or if they were just plotholes. The show seems like it really needs another season and it would be unsatisfying if it doesn’t get one.

I think that while I enjoyed most of the show quite a lot, my biggest issue was with the pacing. The show felt a bit boring at the beginning, then it switched to a lot of flashbacks, and then it felt like they tried to fit all of the conflict and resolutions into a couple episodes. The rush at the end to tie everything together made it so that some parts felt out of nowhere and others were unsatisfying because there was so little time for them. I rarely think this about shows but if they wanted to try and do this much with the plot, it could’ve benefitted from being longer. It would’ve given more time to develop the huge cast of characters as well.

It seemed like they were really setting things up for another season, so it’s hopeful that a lot of questions will be answered! I would love another season and to see all of these characters interacting with each other again.

Leia Mais

Superpowers, violence, and a star studded cast

A Korean superheroes drama? YES, PLEASE! The production value was awesome. You can tell a lot went into making the superpowers look believable. The regeneration, gunfights, action sequences and bloody gore were all high quality. The only disappointing aspect were the flying scenes. I think they may have ran out of money for that as it was very apparent that they were hanging on something as you can even see where the wire or hooks went into their clothes. As a viewer, that kind of sucked because I found it very distracting and awkward.

As for the acting, I really liked how there were a lot of high caliber stars in this drama. I mean, who wouldn't want to be part of a Disney superhero drama? Not many opportunities like this come to Korea so it's great to see a lot of great actors taking part. Even the young rookie cast was good. The only one who I did not care for is YDG. I know he only has a minor role, but I really don't understand how he keeps getting roles. He constantly overacts. I thought his acting was so bad in The Forbidden Marriage that I'm so surprised he was able to get cast in this drama.

Now for the pacing, I thought each episode was good, but the overall series was lacking as a whole story wise. Too much of the series was spent on the backstories and flashbacks of each main character that basically only the last 2 or 3 eps were dedicated to the present story. Don't get me wrong...I did enjoy each backstory, but it was building up momentum for the present story except the climax didn't really deliver sense wise. It felt a bit pointless on the villain side. For example, (SPOLIER AHEAD: Why go through all this fighting only to give up so easily at the end? The whole self sacrificing bit seemed out of place because it was rushed in without any build up to make sense of the change of heart).

However, seeing that they left a clip after the credits to allude to a season 2, it would then make more sense that S1 was just part 1 - the set up. If I look at it that way, then the ending is less disappointing. But if they don't have a S2, then I'd have to say the ending felt incomplete because there were so many things left unexplained and some things not quite adding up.

But all in all, I found this drama entertaining and was quite delighted that Disney greenlighted an Asian superhero drama that did not offend me with concepts of Asian stereotypes that we often see in Hollywood movies. It's been a slow journey to get to this point, but I'm glad things are starting to turn around. I hope we get to see more!

Leia Mais

Violence galore lacking meanings and life lessons, too much side stories, good acting

UPDATE: I still think this non-linear storytelling doesn't work well for a 20-episode drama. Many characters were left underdeveloped, their back stories felt like unimportant side stories. I wish they'd cover the core story sufficiently here... So I'm not really looking forward for the 2nd Season.

I have mixed feelings about Moving, I found this action show to be unique and gripping although I do not gravitate to watch a superhero genre. I really enjoy the suspense and stake built within every episode; At any moment the storm is coming and the action really starts where anyone can die. The pacing is fine and what's great is that all the characters are given their moments to shine. Another pro is the CGI, they are great quality and really believable.

Moving spends a lot of episodes introducing us to its many characters and setting up the story. The first 7 episodes highlight the kids' superpowers and friendship while hinting to us that their powers might bring more trouble than they’re worth. It gives us glimpses of the mystery and danger to come. I love the healthy relationships between parents and children throughout the show. I also want Bong Seok to be happy, although I'm not completely sold on a romance between him and Hee Soo. While I appreciated the parents' stories as well, after the 13 episodes of our character's backstories, I still have very little attachment to most characters besides Bong Seok. They are not fully fleshed out. This is way too structured, by the time I get invested in these characters, their story is over already (@,@).

Watching the 2nd half have left me feeling bitter and it does not recover till the end. My main issue is that the writer and director purely highlight violence is romantic in these backstories. In a world dominated by conspiratorial and corrupt governments, the only way you can survive is by murder. Also, the portrayals of North Korean villains as monsters could have been more intriguing if they're written as more morally gray characters. Their superpower is used to kill, not for self-defense, and sorry to say, I really dislike it. If that's the case, then what's the difference between heroes and villains?

-Sept 2023, Yovita
Find me on Instagram: @kdramajudge

Leia Mais

The Drag Nearly Killed It

My 4 categories are Acting/Cast, Writing, Direction/SFX/Music, Entertainment Value.

If you're like me and you hate flashbacks, you probably won't like this drama.

Acting/Cast: Top notch easily. Great cast, great acting. The acting made me feel things, especially in the first half of the drama. 10/10

Writing: The writing was great in the 1st half. I liked the story between Bong Seok and his mom. I found the kids to be interesting and how they each deal with their "condition". This isn't really about superheroes...they're more like everyday people that have an ability that has made them outcasts. I found that approach to be compelling. It reminded me of the plot of a book I read in school called Hidden Talents by David Lubar. So, in the beginning, when the focus was on the kids in this school together, I really enjoyed it. Then, the story went into flashback mode that lasted for way too long. The story wasn't very linear anymore and it jumped between characters. Because of this jumping around, many characters that I enjoyed watching were completely absent from multiple episodes in a row. I just wanted the flashback to hurry up so I could get back to watching the kids at the school. Don't get me wrong, the adults had interesting stories too, but they were dragged out for way too long. I almost dropped this drama because of this. They should have cut back to the kids in the middle of the flashbacks or maybe cut the total number of episodes down. Towards the end, a character was introduced, given a back story in flashback fashion and everything. It seemed out-of-place. Why spend so much time on an insignificant character this late in the drama? I guess it was to give the characters connected to him a little bit of background and humanize some of the "villains"? Maybe if they didn't drag out the flashbacks of the 2 main kids' parents, they could have had more time to appropriately flesh out some of these side characters. However, despite almost dropping this drama in the 2nd half, the ending was decent. 6/10

Direction/SFX/Music: I didn’t like the flow/pacing of the drama. Flashbacks lasted so long that I nearly forgot what the faces of characters on the backburner looked like. However, the production value was obviously high. Most of the time, the SFX was very well done. However, there were some flying scenes that I thought didn't look so great. The music didn’t grab my attention, but at least it didn’t annoy me. 5/10

Entertainment Value: The first half kept me engaged. It was emotional and unique. I found myself looking for a plot but instead, I got a barrage of flashbacks. The story dragged on, and I longed for the simpler times that took place within the school for extraordinary children…which did eventually come around again, but too little, too late. 3.5/10

Overall, I gave this drama a 6/10 mainly due to my hatred for flashbacks.

Leia Mais

Moving" - A Dynamic Tale of Powers and Personal Growth

"Moving" is a captivating drama that I recently finished, and it left me with a mixed bag of emotions. The second-generation characters in this series are a testament to versatility, both in terms of their extraordinary powers and their evolving behaviors throughout the episodes.

Bong Seok's character development was a highlight for me. His journey from shyness and fear to confidence in his powers was both relatable and inspiring. Hee Soo, on the other hand, stood out with his intelligence and kindness, never once judging Bong Seok for his initial reservations.

Gang Hoon's immense strength grabbed my attention, but I must admit that his character didn't resonate with me as much as the others.

Shifting gears to the first-generation powers of the parents, Jaa Woon's dark past and his wife's struggles added depth to the storyline. Jaa Woon's healing power was a personal favorite, showcasing the resilience of the human spirit.

Mi Hyen's senses power was intriguing, but I couldn't help but wish for a bit more depth to her character. The same goes for Doo Shik.

The plot, while simple on the surface with the backdrop of a North-South Korea conflict, unfolds in a way that keeps you engaged. It's a testament to the storytelling that even with a straightforward premise, "Moving" manages to entertain.

Overall, "Moving" is a series that's definitely worth a watch. The blend of diverse powers, character growth, and a unique take on a war narrative make it a compelling drama. I eagerly await the arrival of season 2 to see where the story takes these fascinating characters next.

Leia Mais

Another overrated Kdrama

By first glance it seemed like a super hero drama, but in fact it isn't, it's more of a romance drama instead.

The main problem is it hasn't got a clear plot, just a bunch of individuals with super powers wondering and interacting with each other, there wasn't even a main story line, that makes it rather slow paced and uninteresting. The story was mainly broken into 3 parts that were loosely connected, there wasn't a clear main character or antagonist or plot to carry through. The cast were fine but they were wasted as the characters were lack of charisma or strong personality that shines, but rather portraits as dull ordinary individuals. When a drama or movie is written it should carry a main story or convey a certain message which Moving has totally failed to deliver, which is a giant waste of talents and viewers time.

Leia Mais

I enjoyed the exposition of each major character's story, particularly that of Kim Bong Seok's and his mother's. Han Hyo Joo is one of my favorite actors and I thought that Lee Jung Ha did a great job. I loved the way that the writer teased out the connections and tensions with the more minor characters, which made me care about the minor characters almost as much as the major ones. So far so good. But the drama went downhill for me during the climactic battle scenes between the superheroes. The battle seemed like just the usual over-the-top but predictable superheroes battle. The "surprise" plot twists were emphatically not. Argh.

Perhaps I would not have been as disappointed had my expectations not been raised sky high as a result of the earlier episodes as well as by praise from reviewers everywhere? I kept hoping for one of those "I did not see that coming" moments. Maybe it will come in the sequel, in which case, I might reevaluate this review.

Leia Mais