Iljimae review

Synopsis:

This historical drama set during the Joseon dynasty tells the story of a legend who rose from humble beginnings to become a hero who robbed from the rich and fought for the poor--a mysterious man known as Iljimae.

After he witnesses his father being killed during his childhood, Yong takes to the streets as a beggar, searching for what remains of his family. After watching his sister's execution shortly after finding her, Yong embarks on a mission of revenge. Tattooing himself with the black emblem he saw on a sword of his fathers murderer. When he stumbles across a conspiracy dealing with his father, Iljimae decides to use Eun Chae, the daughter of a government official, to get the information he needs. When he unexpectedly falls for her, he finds himself torn between his life-long mission for vengence, and his forbidden passion for a woman who only knows his as Iljimae.

My thoughts:

Very much like the tale of 'Robin Hood', "Iljimae" is full of twists and turns, love-triangles, action, vengeance, conspiracies and comedy. I, for one, loved it. Although a bit confusing here and there, but always interesting. The actors did well portraying their characters. The story line was not bad but very interesting. Though it was slow paced, there was comic relief to fill in the gaps that made it worthwhile and enjoyable. It seems at times the story took too long to progress or the relationships between characters took to long to develop. Often at times I was scratching my head, confused and frustrated, wondering to myself and saying; "what the hell" or "huh?" during the scenes development or at the end of the episode. "Iljimae" was so emotional, you could get a good sense of Yong's pain and suffering and what he went through as well as some of the other characters. All in all, it was not all that bad for what it was, I certainly enjoyed it and look forward to the sequels.