Golden Cross (2014)

Are you familiar with some dramas that start phenomenally but end miserably? Golden Cross must be one of the perfect examples for those types of dramas. It’s hard to review; it’s even harder to give it a rating that’s way below what I planned to give it at the beginning. It’s all due to the miss-use of certain plot elements.

Golden Cross can be divided into two parts: Before episode 15 and after episode 15. The first part was gripping; events kept getting more intense with each minute passing by, the revenge built up was going smoothly, the characters were more rational and interesting to follow. Prior to episode 15, most of things were impressive; I even called it a high-class piece and one of the most underrated currently airing dramas but I guess too much arrogance crushed my dreams to select this as the best K-drama of the year.

After episode 15, everything started to fall apart drastically; the plot lost focus and the story took a dangerous turn. The drama went forward and backward leading all wrong directions without finding its right balance. A certain twist ruined it all for me, I am very disappointed with the writer-nim; she was the woman who wrote a fabulous drama like The Bridal Mask so I thought that she can handle an economical revenge thriller in a better way than this. The woman just couldn’t keep the drama going for 20 hours. I think the right length for this drama should’ve been 16 episodes, if it ended right there; then things would’ve been great.

You simply cannot hate a drama because of five disastrous episodes; but it really depends on thir location in the drama’s airing plan; if these episodes were at the beginning, at the middle or came in separately then the viewer could be lenient but delivering those types of episodes at the end back to back is unforgivable. It’s a fact that the latter episodes of each drama tend to be the most important ones so yeah, it’s absolutely intolerable.

The acting was high-class; there were absolutely mesmerizing and well-chosen actors for this one. You can’t say “no” to Kim Kang Woo’s penetrating acting, Jung Bo Seok’s veteran style, Uhm Ki Joon’s charismatic skills and all other actors’ dedication to their roles. I loved the 100% idol-free main cast; they simply open your appetite for real acting. The characters on the other hand weren’t all appealing. For instance; the female department suffered so badly from laid-back characters without much changes or depth.

The music and cinematography for this one were nice but forgettable; they didn’t add too much impact on the story.

Watch if:
-You’re hardcore fan of revenge dramas.
-You like idol-free dramas.

Do not watch if:
-You’re looking for mind games and mental war.
-You’re looking for a masterpiece out of the revenge theme.
-You’re looking for romance.

Golden Cross was an amazing drama up until episode 15 when everything started heading to the wrong direction. I didn’t hate it but it’s a shame since this drama held too much potentials to become one of the better K-dramas of the year.

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Actually, what make me really want to write a review on this drama because I saw that not many watch it and the reviews also seem to tell "Don't give this drama a chance!" If I were to decide whether to watch this drama or not based on most of the opinion stated here,I think I will skipped this one.Why should I watch a drama with so many bad reviews and even the rating is lower than The Heirs. Uh Oohhh.

So here I am, trying to make this drama more desirable in the eyes of those who still undecided and hesitated to watch if this drama is in their Plan-To-Watch list. Honestly,in my opinion this drama is not that bad.If it were to compete with other dramas in it's genre,I think GC will get top 10 or even 7.I've seen many K-revenge,melodrama in my life before and Golden Cross definitely not the worst revenge drama executed out there.

The Story: As a melo-revenge drama,of course GC has a 'cruel' starter plot aiming to collect as many sympathy as possible from viewers. If you're familiar with this genre, every main lead must have a sad,unfortunate,depressing past and there is this one villain that whenever you see him you will find yourself keep swearing and making a fist toward the screen. Ahaaa! This is what I like the most when watching K-melo revenge drama,despite some of the typicalness in the story, at least you will relieve some of your stress.Is'nt that good? :P There's no exception in GC,if you want to find another kind of melo-revenge variation you won't find it here.Nevertheless,I really love the way it's executed,directed and scripted .I think the uniqueness of GC are mostly present in it scripts because that's what attracted me to keep watching GC despite the flaws. I've to agree with many that the first 16 episodes are really great. But for me the last 4 episodes also good and I still like it. It's acceptable and understandable. And that ending..its realistic. (SPOILER) I mean how many rich people in this world when he did wrong he will get the right retribution,he can just buy that retribution with money.These group of people see the word Unfair=Fair to them.No matter how unrealistic things can be in dramaland,it's still can't escape from some realistic element like this. Thus,I like the ending.

The Acting: I have to say it's superb! I never like Kim Kang Woo before,I've watched him in 2 dramas and 1 of his movie but I never come to like him. But WOW his acting here,I'd like to give him 2 thumbs up and hewheww I don't know that he can ever be this 'hot'. XD Lee Si Young also did a very good job. I really like her character in first 2/3rd of this drama but in the last 1/3rd her character become unsignificant and unbelievably weak. Disappointed :( I came to like Han Eun Jung's character in the last 2 episode, and I'm also okay if she is to end up with KDY. Jung Bo Suk 's acting as a main villain in this drama also superb. I really3 chincha3 hated him as a whole and disgusted at his character.

The Music: It's just pleasant to hear and it's flow well with the story.

Rewatch Value: I'm not a rewatcher person so I just give this section a fair value.

Overall: Golden Cross is not the best k-melo revenge out there but there's some element in it that make it better than other drama with the same genre. Of course,it has flaws here and there but really... is there a flawless drama exist in this world? For me, I never regret my 20 hours with GC and I can say it's worth my time. So people,give this a try at least 3 episode before you drop it and I will say nothing ^^

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WOW....The last few episodes were excruciatingly painful. At some point this drama became monotonous. At first I thought that the story was fresh and exciting. The "good guy" was smart and seemed to have the "bad guys" on the run. Then the same scenario happened over and over. I can't write spoilers so I can't go into it, but be prepared to watch the same thing happen numerous times. The character Dong Ha was just annoying after a while. How can the "bad guy" really not understand why the "good guy" wants revenge??? Are you kidding me??? His character was certifiably crazy. I was sick of the sound of his voice. If that is what the writer wanted, then mission successful. It was really hard for me to rate this drama, because I liked some of it. I think that it should have been less episodes and it would have been better. Plus, the ending was semi-satisfying. OH...and there isn't much of a love story. So, if you are looking for that, then you aren't going to find it here.

On the upside, the acting was really good. I HATED Seo Dong Ha played by Jung Bo Suk which is definitely the emotion that he is supposed to elicit. So good for him. Kim Gyu Chul as Park Hee Seo was also good. He is really good at playing the part of someone that you love to hate.

I loved Han Eun Jeong as Hong So Ra. Her character was a breath of fresh air to the drama. I also think that Lee Si Young as the conflicted Seo Yi Re was good. Her character was on the line the entire drama. Uhm Ki Joon was excellent as the mentally unstable Micheal. Were all the characters in the drama mentally unstable???

Last but not least is Kim Kang Woo as Kang Do Yoon. The actor had to process a gamut of emotions and he did it exceptionally well. I love the sound of his voice and his manner of speaking. He has a way of pulling the emotions out of me. I think he is a great actor.

The music was ok.

I won't ever rewatch this.

As far as revenge/melo dramas go, it isn't the best. I don't necessarily recommend it, but it isn't the worst I have seen.

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Disappointing...

Not a fan of the ending, in fact, the entire last 2 episodes were straight up disappointing. Seriously, what did the ML accomplish or gain at the end? Almost nothing. It's like he tricked his mind to think he finished his revenge. The cast was good but I ended up disliking everything else. The drama is a waste of time if you aren't a fan of the cast.

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Not one bit realistic but yet an entertaining drama

Not one bit realistic but yet an entertaining drama. Good production, a bit flawed with loopholes but yet interesting script.
The dirtiest/villainous role in the drama as a plot twist goes to Hong Sa-Ra ( Michael Jang's assistant) as she(the character) has no consistency or loyalty to a party.
The drama is worth a watch if u got time to bing-watch through the whole drama.
Compared to several other k-dramas of the time I believe this has to be well-produced, well-rounded and well-strategized drama.
But, loopholes still are blatant and will be right in front of your eyes.

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