Jocul Calamarului (2021)

Predictable storyline saved by exemplary production value and acting

Truly on-the-edge of your seat production. While it's not difficult to predict what'll happen in Squid Game, it's the journey that makes this show such an enjoyable watch. The games themselves are suspensful and keep your eyes glued to the screen; the characters are well-done and three-dimensional. Personally I didn't see too much philosophy and discourse on the social gap that the games address (on-screen), but like another review I've read online say, you can engage in this show in whatever level you're comfortable with, whether as a superficial battle-to-the-death or a more in-depth analysis on the social state of society.

PROS
❀ Action was well done, cinematography was on point, and in general the production was top notch | I think this is the highlight of what makes or breaks a familiar storyline that hinges on emotion and action. The camera work allows the characters' faces (and subsequently, emotions) to shine, and the sets and costumes are attention-grabbing. I'm especially a fan of the green tracksuits vs. pink solider outfits, as well as the stairs that model Escher's relativity.
❀ Cool easter eggs that keep you guessing | I love that the writer/director (I believe the same person) added little hints throughout the episodes that watchers can latch onto. It keeps us engaged despite using predictable plotlines as we keep watching to find out if those hints we found had a basis. (The feeling of victory when you had the correct guesses>>>)
❀ Characters... wow | I think the acting took the cake in this drama. I like that we see both familiar faces (like the cameo from the crowd popular Gong Yoo as well as Lee Jung Jae as the MC), as well as rising stars (Jung Ho Yeon that became a fan favorite as well as Anupam Tripathi - a win for South Asian casting in S. Korea). It felt like each player gave it their all and you really end up cheering for them. Personally I liked every player - even the underhanded ones like No. 101 and 218. Each of them are on the spectrum of morally gray whether it's their background, personality, or both that galvanized them to join the squid games. I also enjoyed No. 456's journey from ep 1 to 9; he does have a little of that protagonist glow/armor going on towards the latter episodes (as well as the mentality of a shounen anime MC), but I like that it gives a bit of light to an otherwise rather morose and dark show. The hopeful note the show ends on (as well as the hint of another season) can only be met by such a character.
❀ Music that fits the scenes SO well | I'm in love with the soundtrack. Even as I'm typing this, I'm listening to dubstep remixes of the Pink Soldier theme. The OSTs are paired perfectly with the eerie roboticism of the workers, secret motives of the players, and mysterious powers of the frontman. This ties in, again, with the excellent production and attention to details that the cast and production team focused on.
❀ Tight writing that doesn't drag despite being more character-focused | I think the writer did an excellent job in keeping Squid Game concise yet emotional. We go through character backgrounds, but those scenes are a help rather than a hindrance to the story as we begin to empathize with them. For characters that got less screen time (ex: the player with the nose ring), their acting/actions were more than enough to make them grow on you. Anything more would have lessened my engagement.

CONS
✕ The plot is a lil been there, done that | When it comes to human psychology and the huge wealth gap, the show doesn't offer too much to the conversation. (Interesting exception: pointing out the injustices of foreign workers in S. Korea, which is a topic I've never seen in media before.) Otherwise, like I mentioned in the title of this review, the messages aren't shocking or revolutionary. No. 456 goes down a familiar path that well-liked MCs have gone through before while sustaining his humanity and a (generally) positive outlook on society.

OVERALL
Not going to lie, I was sweating buckets while watching some of the episodes. Squid Games is suspensful, well-produced, and features a diverse cast of characters that'll grip you from start to finish. One of the best parts is that season 1 is relatively short (9 1-hour episodes) and once you start, you won't want to stop. (It took me 2 weeks to even start after prodding from friends and family, and after the games started I was all in.) Recommended for a thrilling watch with a little gore, a lot of death, and the characters that really make the show shine.

(Note: My rewatch value is set to 5.0 always as a default as I'm not the type to rewatch dramas EVER. Thus, I do not take it into account when calculating overall score.)

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Don't throw yourself at big money because you can die

There are too many characters to speak about them all so I will just say that each of them did a great job and I am full of admiration for the team. The series was not easy, rather hard to digest. Productions that are based on human morality are always difficult and can backfire on producers. Fortunately Squid Game was a hit?

I don't know who came up with the idea to turn children's games into a bloodbath, but applause for him/her. He/she totally ruined it for the next generation ? In principal the "players" suppose to be equal as they were stripped down from outside connections, money and sanity. But still some managed to cheat and the "organizers" intentionally exposed players with lower numbers to the first fire. NOT NICE! ?

I don't know if you can say that the drama has its message because what would it be "don't throw yourself at big money because you can die"? I do not think so. Because is it one of the first Korean Netflix production it has a lot of american vibe. This is also why it is so widely propular around the world. When you would start to compare it to Goblin or It's Ok Not To Be Ok in a minute you would notice how mediocare Squid Game is. I am not denying the actors' talent because they were very good just the style was a bit off for me for korean market. So I rate this drama 6/10 but despide the odds still recommend it to watch as it is a great fun ?

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The Childhood of Your Nightmares

I usually don't watch things like this because well.. i'm a chicken LMAO but from episode 1 it really got me hooked and I couldn't stop watching. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, the deaths were definitely shocking once they initally happened but then in a way you get desensitized when it happens the second time, if that makes sense. Some deaths hurt more than others because of the attachment i grew for some of the characters and others I either thought were an epic way to go out or didn't for at all cause of who they were. Won't say too much else but the plot twist was definitely something and the end in general just annoyed me. The soundtrack definitely helped set the mood. After this, I'll definitely won't be able to think of certain games without thinking of Squid Game. Everything considered , I still recommend it.

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I surrendered to the hype. As I started only airing dramas, I had the time to finish this one pretty quick (I mean one day) and I have to say that I understand the boom that I talk about in my last post. Although it isn't the kind of drama that I frequently watch, is undeniable that this production is amazing and is not from thin air the success that we can see involving this now.

"Squid Game/Round 6" tells the story of Seong Gi Hoon (Lee Jung Jae), a broken man who lives with his mother and has many debts to pay because of his addiction to gambling. The life of Gi Hoon changes when he met a man who presents an opportunity to earn a lot of money participating in a secret game. What Gi Hoon didn't know is his life and the life of others 455 people would be at risk because of that.

We can see a lot of references in this drama, as "Matrix", "Saw", "Hunger Games"... I read a lot of reviews telling about copy, but I don't think this is the case. It's impossible to talk about survivor games without reply some aspects from other productions, but "Squid Game" has its particularities, which I can't mention here because it is a no-spoiler review. I was a little hesitant to start this because I heard so many bad reviews mentioning the violence and wrong ideas that I was scared, but now that I finished I really don't understand these critics.

Of course, is a violent drama, and the age-rated is the point that confirms this, but if you watched any other horror movie or even some heavier action movie (John Wick sent his regards), you won't be impersonated at all. It isn't the kind of k-drama that the romantic ones who just watch dramas because of their sweetness and softness would like. It is heavy, but nothing absurd to people above 16 who have a clear mind at the moment. So, if you are passing through something heavy in your life and don't feel comfortable watching violent scenes or a dystopic story, save this for later or for never. I just watched because I was feeling okay, but I would wait for sure if it was a few weeks ago.

I'm doing this review more like an alert because the internet is full of reviews and comments about it. My considerations are: The story is amazing. The performances are incredible. I don't know if I want a second season. If you have children, don't let them watch it. Even if your kid is pretty mature, that are some things that they don't need to watch, and the age-rated is made for this.

This is a chosen one (★ ★ ★ ★ ★★ ★ ★ ★ ★) for sure, and now I'll come back to my silly romances until the blood dries out of my brain.

See you soon!
XOXO, Mari.

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Disturbing? Yes. But I just know we're all simping for Sae-byeok.

If I was just going off the title and didn't see the poster, I would be so disturbed by this show that I wouldn't be able to sleep for a few days.

Let's dissect the story. I love how it not only quickly introduces the main character, but also briefly brings up the other few main characters all within the first episode. It is fast-paced, and it brings about a new 'topic' every few episodes -- though not disconnected. The one thing that prevented it from having a 9/10 was the ending. It is the typical Netflix Original ending, as with Love Alarm, Extracurricular, and Vagabond; it gives you that unsettling ending that makes you long for a season 2 or explanation.

Let's now talk about the cast. I didn't really like the main character, but mostly because I couldn't relate with his character. His actor, Lee Jung Jae, did an amazing job portraying his desperation and poorness. As for all the side characters, I think I really fell in love with Sae-byeok and Ha Joon. Sae-byeok's role and her scene with Ji Yeong really made me cry; I always remember scenes and characters that make me cry. As for Ha Joon, I was just always a fan of the actor that played him. Unless there is a season 2, I don't really get the significance of his character at the moment though.

Overall, I would RECCOMEND this drama--but do not watch if you are looking for wholesome or romantic content.

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Squid Game?? More Like Death Games

Squid Game was truly something else. I expected a bunch of games, but did I expect everything that happened during and after the games? No, definitely not. This obviously needs a season 2 since the ending was kind of crappy. Don't get me wrong, the beginning and the show in general was excellent. However, I wish the ending was a little more developed.

Seong Gi Hoon was an interesting character. He was naïve of a sort, even though he was been through a lot. Even after what happened at the end, he continued to live his life the way it was before. Cho Sang Woo honestly did not deserve to last so long in the games. This man was dangerous and we couldn't even detect it. Kang Sae Byeok was the best character, hands down. She faced everything head-on which is something I want to do whenever I'm in the middle of a situation. Hwang Jun Ho was pretty irrelevant in my opinion because his purpose was to only find his brother who went missing. The hot thing about him was that he always used the words of someone whenever he was "violated". There's no closure about him, which I wish did happen. Hopefully in season 2, we'll get closure about him. Ali was too innocent in this drama. All he wanted was money for his wife and kid, poor guy couldn't even get anything, but he left his family a good amount. Oh Il Nam...I don't know, I have a confusing view about him. He treated the guys so nice, but at the end what he explained was messed up. Ji Yeong was also badass, her ending is undeserved, she deserved a second chance.

There's a bunch of other characters I would have reviewed, but meh it's whatever lol

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WOW!

The show was AMAZING! the way I was crying for characters I have only known them for 1-4 episodes is just crazy cause this is the first time it has happened to me. The way they have developed the characters even if we don't know that much about their background other than gi-hun but honestly, they never tell us anything like why he debt or any other information, so it's crazy how i started crying, this also just proves how the acting is just amazing and i loved the cast and they fit so well with the roles and the chemistry with each other was amazing too! Also, i was so happy seeing a south asian character because it's not very common to see them and even if you do see them they are small roles no main characters so I WAS VERY VERY HAPPY ABOUT THAT me being an indian myself. The music was also so good, the song matched the vibe so well such as when they played happy songs in bad situations it really matched well with the children's game theme or the pink soldiers song gave such an eerie vibe but i kept wanting to listen to the song even though it kinda freaked me out a little. Lastly, i loved the story so much but if I'm going to be honest, the story was pretty basic but it was still so addicting and i binged the whole show in one sitting so i still TOTALLY RECCOMED WATCHING!

i love this show so much and I'm SO HAPPY FOR THE SHOW AND THE ACTORS FOR ALL THE INTERNATIONAL ATTENTION THIS SHOW IS GETTING AND OTHER KDRAMAS SUDDENLY GETTING AFTER SQUID GAME... LIKE THE STORIES ARE SO GOOD THEY DESERVE IT!! YAYYYY!!

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THANKS FOR PLAYING WITH ME

Squid Game was an emotional rollercoaster from start to finish. It's definitely something you could finish in one day if you were willing to give up that much time, but I think you'll find yourself getting sucked pretty easily into this cutthroat death game that also serves as a critique on capitalism.

First and foremost, I need to talk about the characters, or more specifically the participants of the game, because they were definitely a driving force in this story. Even though the time spent with each character varied, I still thought that most of them were really well-written and were able to provide a huge impact on the overall story. Each one had justification for participating in this game and I didn't find any of their actions to be overly forced. I found myself rooting for a majority of characters, and when each of them was killed off, it definitely struck an emotional blow. These are definitely not the usual 2-dimensional stock characters that are written into survival stories that we often see today. It was also really interesting to see how the different characters changed over the course of the game due to moral decay, or in some cases, didn't change at all, which helped to further the show's illustration of capitalism.

This then brings me on to the next thing I'd like to talk about, which is Squid Game's stance on capitalism. They pretty much nailed their argument against it, which basically boils down to: there is no equality under capitalism, and the poor will always suffer for the sake of the rich. The people who were running the game kept on stressing that the rules for each game were created in order to be fair for everyone and that every player would be given an equal chance to win, but it's also important to keep in mind that the reason these games were started in the first place was for the entertainment of the rich. There was never any equality to begin with because it was their poor status that placed them there in the first place.

The characters were also supposedly given the option of participating or not participating in the games, but in reality, just like with capitalism, there was actually no choice. Even though the people who were controlling the game insisted each player was there because it was their own decision, we're actually shown that these characters have literally nothing to lose. Nothing could be worse than the hellish situation they were placed in because of their debts under capitalism. It was only an illusion of free will, and ultimately, the choice was already made for them. This is an exceptionally well-crafted representation of how capitalism works. You have to participate in this rotten system in order to survive, and if you don't, you're basically deemed as having little to no value and are seen as less than a human being and basically become forced into poverty.

And even if you think you have a chance at beating this corrupt system, it doesn't come without a cost. No one becomes a millionaire or a billionaire without stepping on other people. There is no ethical way of achieving that status of wealth. Squid Game brilliantly illustrates this point by setting up the games in such a way that you can only win at the expense of other people's lives. Every dollar that was added to that heinous piggy bank represents the value that was attached to the life of every player who died. Specifically, players who were poor and impoverished and were only playing this game in order to pay off their debts. Capitalism strikes again by forcing poor people to compete with each other in order to survive and make a living, all the while the ultra-rich get to kick back and enjoy the show. There were lots of moments that were truly sickening to watch, but unfortunately, they are pretty accurate in regards to how a capitalistic society functions. The poor stay poor and the rich get richer.

Okay. Rant finished. I'd like to point out that I also highly enjoyed the production, acting, and music of Squid Game. It was all extremely well-executed and helped to add to the intensity of the show.

However, I did not like the ending. It felt like the writers were really building up to this big, grand conclusion, but instead, we were given an ending that was underwhelming, and quite frankly, didn't make much sense. It also seemed to undermine a lot of the character's actions from beforehand, so I was pretty frustrated with it.

Overall, I still pretty much enjoyed the show up until the ending. I kind of went into this with pretty low expectations if I'm being honest, so I was pleasantly surprised. If you're looking for a good show with lots of action but isn't mindless and cheap in the slightest, I would definitely give Squid Game a chance. It definitely deserves all the attention it is receiving since its Netflix release, and I hope that it can really help to pave the way for people to reconsider their beliefs about capitalism as we know it, as well as to help encourage Western audiences to branch out more when it comes to the kinds of media they consume. As director Bong Joon-Ho said while accepting an Oscar for his film Parasite, “Once you overcome the one-inch-tall barrier of subtitles, you will be introduced to so many more amazing films." I think Squid Game's popularity will help more people realize the meaning behind this sentiment.

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Suspenseful

Oct. 2, 2021

Squid Game is one of those dramas where humans are in such a desperate state that they have lost their ability to have human compassion. To be honest, I really love the first half of the series. I am assuming that there must be a plan for a second season as the ending implied it unless they really wanna fk us up and give that ending with no sequel.

For the characters of the Squid Game, I think that the writers really gave us a huge variety of personalities and perspectives through each ones. Though, there are some characters that I absolutely despised and thank god they are gone. But I fking hate those VIPs. I need them dead, I don't think I will be able to rest and I will not continue to shut up unless those mfs get their deserved karma for using people for their fking entertainment.

With all these, I did feel a bit underwhelmed with the latter half of season 1. I feel like the writing has become sloppy and that it kinda fell into the constant repetition that made it a bit harder to finish the series. I did skip multiple scenes in the latter half as it seems uninteresting and unnecessary. I did cry for all the characters that I loved since they all really just died. Like damn, that hurt like a bitch tbh. I wished they kept my girl like come on. But oh well, it is what it is.

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A strong impact on audience

** Note : I've already watched them 2 or 3 weeks back . But , I'm just writing the review because I was pretty free and suprisingly not having house chores . **

As I finished Squid Game last weekend I saw that it was # 1 on Netflix. On my tiny little island of all places. Just a couple of years ago people scoffed at me when they found out I was watching kdramas. Squid Game is basically just a korean movie that has been extended to 9 episodes and in many ways I think it is a very typical gory and violent story that you often find in Korean movies. Something that has been slowly finding its way into Korean television in recent years, especially with shows produced by Netflix. And it is clear that a lot was put into this series from what it’s visuals, to the choice of actors and the budget etc.

As I said Squid Game was a bit of a typical story from this type of entertainment that you often find in movies from countries like Japan and Korea (like Battle Royal) and for me it was not that original with them and neither did they do something new with this type of narrative. Which may be why there was very little to the story that actually surprised me. even if I really enjoyed watching it. I found it a bit typical and it mainly just reminded me of other such stories that have come before it.

The violence is not for everyone. I can stomach quite a bit of it without it bothering me. I often think the violence in this type of stories goes a little too far but there is a purpose to it in some ways and the story puts a lot of pressure on your endurance as a spectator, because that is the purpose of it. It’s hard for the characters, it should be hard on you. You can hardly look away even if you want to and that is one of the traits of these types of stories. And in that Squid Game is very successful.

The story starts off with a bang, but after that is does take it’s time to find it’s footing but when it manages it toward the middle part the show becomes really binge-able, before taking a slight dip towards the end. The theme of the effects of late stage capitalism and it’s grip on our society and the situation that has created among us is very interesting and the story does a good job underlining that.

Really good amount of suspense going on there and some good character moments in between them, although I thought the story never really took full advantage of it’s characters as it spent more time on other aspects of the story. It was also a little too noticeable to me that this was written by a man based on how some of the characters were written and it bothered me a bit. I think the choice of actors, who are all great, made the character more interesting than they might be.

I felt the ending was a little too empty which slightly made the ride on this roller-coaster of a story slightly less thrilling. It didn’t leave that much behind. I felt I was missing some emotional payoff from the story. I felt like the personal journey was a bit lacking in the end so it didn’t stick the landing. And I didn’t feel like enough questions were answered in the narrative. It was as if the story was relaying little too much getting another series. And I appreciate kdrams for giving me complete stories in one season.

This is a nine-part gory Korean film. It really felt like it was made with that sort of target audience in mind; those who really enjoy this genre of Korean and Japanese films (as this is one of the most popular genres of Asian films in the west, which I sometimes find a bit sad but I also understand the appeal). It’s good gory entertainment and I can see why it is as popular as it is. It’s thrilling, violent and addictive while it’s going on but it didn’t leave me with much in the end except maybe blood and gore.

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