Don't Look Back: The Legend of Orpheus (2013) User Reviews (3)

Best revenge drama out there

[phd_travel · 8/10 · 11 June 2020]

There are many revenge K dramas out there. Shark is the best of the ones. The.others like "Innocent Man" run out of steam early on. Green Rose was okay but simple and not that gripping. Shark is exciting from beginning to end and each episode has something to keep you watching. The dialog is quite good too. The series starts off strong with a good young cast. The actress Kyung Soo-jin who plays Son Ye Jin as a teenager looks a lot like SYJ. The best match between the older and younger versions of a character I have ever seen. When he comes back from the dead it's quite interesting as he seems to be a not a loser type hero and quite ahead of the game. Son Ye Jin makes this show watchable with her intelligent convincing performance. Also you can believe that people would love her so much because she is so beautiful. Kim Nam Gil seems a bit inexpressive as the hero. Maybe that was intentional. The story is involving and well crafted. Some moments are frustrating when they don't share information. The great secret of the older generation is quite epic feeling with the link to historical events like the Korean Independence Movement and the Gwangju massacre. Another well flushed out aspect is the role of the patient and trusting husband played well by Ha Seok Jin. One of the few innocent characters in the movie.

The ending is unsatisfying. Funnily didn't feel to bad that he died. Although he deserved some justice he wasn't a likeable character. Was rooting more for her to go back to her husband. Didn't like them not showing whether her husband would accept her back but I guess it's implied.

Worth watching. The 20 episodes just sped by.

Sad ending

[mayaagustini · 8/10 · 15 February 2021]

Kim nam gil played really great act as a bad guy, he deeply attached with character and so Yejin shi.

As a married woman loving other man is a Sin, but these drama make it looks fair and accepted as a normal use case.

what i dont like from this drama is only sad ending :(

Shameless Binge-Watch

[aggiemanalac · 8/10 · 29 March 2021]

I stumbled upon this relatively unknown series and decided to watch it because of Son Ye Jin. But the show stealer is definitely Kim Nam-gil. I admired him his ability to communicate all his emotions with his eyes and facial twitches: sadness whenever he'd see members of his family and his love, Hae Woo, from a distance, mute anger whenever he'd see the chairman and his son, his shift in body posture when he becomes resolute anew to carry on his vengeance without allowing his emotions to get the better of him.

Son Ye Jin was "ok", if not a bit mis-cast as Hae Woo. She wasn't bad, but neither was she a strong performer in this series. I just felt her acting lacked dimension. Ha Seok-jin as her loving, understanding husband, Joon Young, was "ok too". I liked that Joon Young tried his best to understand that Hae Woo and Yi Soo will forever have that eternal bond that even he will never be able to break (would not even dare try) but was willing to live with unconditionally.

Lee Jung-gil as Chairman Jo was "ok" too as the unknowingly evil grandfather that Hae Woo doted on. Kim Kyu-chul was really good as his alcoholic son, Eui-seon. He was effective at being spiteful and being who he is because of how his father treated him all his life.

I like it that Yi Soo's dark world was balanced with pockets of love and close relationships such as that of Yi Hoon with her adoptive parents, Soo Jin's and Seok Jin's strong relationship as newly-weds that was threatened by Soo-Jin's lingering feelings for Yi Soo, the brotherhood forged betwen Yi Soo and investigator Soo Yun, among others.

There were a few loopholes in logic and sometimes there were details that one would expect would lead to somewhere but ended up forgotten. An example of this was when Hi Hyun, Yi Soo's sister, had mentioned to the chairman when they were out in the garden, about the strange thing she noticed about the different locker keys and had proudly mentioned about it to her father, the detective. I was expecting something to come out of that because it was some kind of revelation to the Chairman, but it didn't lead to anything. It was almost like the writer had forgotten about that or decided belatedly not to make a big deal out of it after all.

If you are able to let pass these little lapses and loopholes, this is a really good watch. Just be sure to be in the mood for a solid melodrama when you watch.

There are apparently mixed feelings towards the ending. It will leave much to the imagination, and I've chosen the positive route. :)