**NEW** Mr. Sunshine (2018)
Welcome back to Hallyu Reviews! We hope you enjoyed Sabrina’s review of The King’s Affection. If you missed it, be sure to go back and have a read.
This week, we take a look at Mr. Sunshine.
SPOILERS AHEAD!!
Final Verdict: MUST WATCH
Synopsis
Mr. Sunshine is a masterpiece, and one of the best K-dramas I’ve ever watched! The setting is 1871 Joseon. Two important events set the storyline in motion: With five American battleships situated off the coast of Ganghwa, America proposes exploring the area and establishing "diplomatic ties" amid great tensions. Considered "barbarians" by the King of Joseon's ministers, and claiming that diplomacy is impossible, the unwise decision is made to fight off the intruding foreigners. Unable to admit to falling to the U.S. forces, the Chief Minister arrogantly declares, "It is their empty victory, and our fruitful defeat." That arrogance would be short-lived. Simultaneously, the struggle between nobles and slaves gives rise to tensions that have consequences just as deadly as those of the king's decision to fight the Americans. Facing the imminent demise of her family, a slave mother mandates that her son escape from this madness, setting his feet on a path that leads him to a faraway land in the West that would become his "home." Little did that boy, Eugene Choi (Lee Byung-Hun) know, but years later, as a U.S. Marine Captain, fate would return him to the place of his birth. And even less anticipated would be his unusual encounter with a nobleman's granddaughter, Go Ae-sin (Kim Tae-ri), with whom he would fall in love. Separate yet intertwined stories lend critically to a multi-faceted plot of rectifying past sins, fighting for a country's future, and grappling with the issues of love, longing, loss, resentment, and sacrifice as righteous allies and unlikely friends struggle to save a nation and each other from evil enemies.
Mr. Sunshine is a MUST WATCH.
THE GOOD
(+) Transports you to Joseon – Near perfection in acting, stunning cinematography, skilled directing with attention to detail, and a masterful storyline combine to capture the mind and heart of the viewer so completely that we are deftly transported to Joseon, and become oblivious to our present-day existence.
(+) All the feels – Be prepared to invest your feelings. Whether your heart swells with joy, seethes with anger, or utterly breaks, Mr. Sunshine will take your emotions to their limits.
(+) Musical score – The musical score is arguably one of the most beautiful OSTs of all K-Dramas. We are especially blessed by the heart-piercing vocals of Park Hyo-shin.
THE BAD
(-) Bloody violence – To divulge the main “negative" would be to share a fatal spoiler. You will know it when you see it. Instead, I will warn those who are squeamish that there are various types of violent confrontations, and there is blood.
Courtesy of Deadline
So, there it is, our review of Mr. Sunshine. What did you think of this K-drama? Be sure to leave your thoughts down below!
Up next, A Shop for Killers.
