The King: Eternal Monarch Review: Lee Min-Ho's Comeback With The Netflix Show Confuses The Hell Out Of You Before It Settles Down

The King: Eternal Monarch Review: The series juggles between two parallel universes of 1994 and 2019. While one is the kingdom of Corea, the other is the Republic Of Korea. Lee Rim (Lee Jung-Jin), in the quest for power and to grab a magical flute that connects two worlds Manpasikjeok, kills off his brother who is the King and tries to do the same with his nephew, Lee-Gon. The latter despite being a kid, stand up against him and accidentally breaks the flute into two. Lee Rim decides to kill his nephew Lee and almosts manages to succeed when a masked man forces him to flee. The masked guy bends over the heavily injured Lee-Gon and drops an I-card before fleeing. All this happens in the Kingdom Of Corea (That's not a typo), 1994. Here’s How the Korean Drama Crash Landing On You Borrowed This Great Line From Irrfan Khan’s The Lunchbox

Lee Rim runs away from the cops and lands in the woods. One half of the flute in his hands opens up a portal through which he lands in the Republic Of Korea, 1994. He realises its a parallel universe, meets his brother again, kills off his doppelganger who was bound to a wheelchair, murders the nephew this time and washes ashore as a dead man in Corea of 1994. He does reappear!

25 years later Lee-Gon (Lee Min-Ho), who had to take the throne post his father's murder, is a strapping young King who is a mathematician, learned and good with rowing. He seeks the person who saved him that night and that leads him to jump the portal too since he has the other half of the flute. The Republic Of Korea, 2019 is a capitalist country with high-rises and posh surroundings. He comes across Jung Tae-Eul (Kin Go-Eun), the face that is plastered on the I-card he scoops up from that fateful night.

The King: Eternal Monarch is a two episodes per week show airing on SBS TV and streaming on Netflix. Screenwriter Kim Eun-Sook is considered one of the bests that the Korean drama industry has for supernatural themes. She has titles like Guardian: The Lonely And Great God, Secret Garden under her belt apart from Heirs and Descendants Of The Sun. The best aspect of The King is both are modern worlds. Despite having a monarch in 1994 Corea, it's advanced and not a time in the past. So there are no unnecessary shocks of characters witnessing a new gadget or a new technology in the other world. Also, the writer attempts to explain how the rift happened and why there exist two worlds of the same country. That was a brilliant stroke!

Sook's biggest asset is she can spin a tale of fantasy with a lot of thrill and humour.  But The King leaves you frustrated in the first episode and weirdly unmoved in the second one. There is a hint of humour in some scenes that doesn't make you chuckle at all. Hopefully, the funny moments will get better in the next few episodes. My Secret Terrius, South Korean Drama Series Predicted COVID-19 Pandemic Back in 2018? Here’s The Fact Check Behind The Viral Video That Is Not From China

The jumping of worlds leaves you exasperated with things happening so randomly that it's difficult to piece it together. Lee Kim moving from one to another makes you question which world he is in. The King despite knowing the perils of being so, runs amok at every instant. Why does one have to be disobedient to find what he seeks?  Unfortunately, despite the whole confusion to create a sense of mystery, it doesn't stop you from figuring out the identity of the masked man. I am not going to spill it for you. The trick is to watch the first episode again after the second one...you will get the hint!

Watch The King: Eternal Monarch Trailer

The King has been creating a lot of buzz since last year because it marks Lee Min-Ho's return after he was discharged from military service in 2019. For what its worth, Lee Min-Ho did a fair job. I can't call it a challenging character because he has been part of such a parallel universe series before as well, for example, Faith: The Good Doctor and The Legend Of The Blue Seas. Guess his memo was to look ridiculously handsome and smile... he did such a swell job at it, you might skip a beat every time he comes on screen. But I would like to see his character get more depth in the coming episodes apart from being handsome.

Kim Go-Eun, the fiery young girl from Guardian, plays the female lead here. Although her scenes are restricted to just being angry and frustrated in the first two episodes, I can't say she made much of difference yet.  She plays a fearless detective and I wish the story will not turn her into a damsel in distress later. Woo Do-hwan who plays Lee Min-Ho's best friend and his bodyguard Jo-Young in one world and a member of Nation Police Agency Jo Eun-seob in another,  seems a bit under-utilised. Hopefully, that will change for the best because the guy has the talent to lift a show (Hint: Mad Dog).

Lee Jung-Jin does get Lee Rim's cold, remorseless demeanor well but I would have liked it to be a little more menacing. Also, what's with the monologues, man? Why do villains feel the need to tell their prey in detail why the latter needs to die?  Take it from a person like me who grew up watching Bollywood movies from the 70s, 80s and the 90s, it's an utter waste of screentime!

That hug in the first episode was going a little too far... Quite creepy too, even if it's from a man who looks like Adonis.

Yay!

-Lee Min-Ho

-Stunning visuals

-Parallel universe concept

- Badass Kim Go-Eun

Nay!

-Convoluted play-up of parallel universe

-Lack of humour

-Predictable ending

-Needs to be less glossy and more substantial

Final Thoughts:

Lee Min-Ho's return is a pretty safe series, guess to give people a hang of what they were missing for almost three years from him. Hopefully, the narrative will get smoother soon when all the pieces start falling in place.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 19, 2020 02:38 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).