My opinion regarding K-dramas has always been quite negative. Essentially I considered them glorified soap operas, more of a means to create an exportable star system than to produce content of quality. “Squid Game” however, and its unprecedented success as much as its quality in all aspects had me questioning my previous opinion, and thus “forcing” me to check more K-dramas to see if anything has changed. “Black Night”, with its big budget, impressive cast and the combination of sci-fi, dystopia and action seemed like an excellent option. Alas, it turned out to be another title where impression has taken the place of substance. Let us take things from the beginning though.
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Based on the webcomic “Taekbaegisa” by Lee Yoon-Kyun (published from December 25, 2016 to August 5, 2019 via Toomics) the story takes place in 2071, where, after a comet destroyed most of the world, the rest of the planet has been decimated by toxic air pollution. Only about 1 percent of the population has survived and in Korea, a strict social class now exists, based on QR codes, with the people living in heavily segregated areas based on their class: general, special and core. People rarely leave their homes and, when they do, they wear gas masks due to the air pollution. Citizens rely heavily on parcel delivery service for their needs. Delivery drivers, known as knights, deliver the packages and also protect them from thieves. The rest of the people, who have not managed to get a QR code are living any way they can and are referred to as refugees.
Sa-wol is a young refugee, who has been under the care of Major Jung Seol-ah from the Defence Intelligence Command, living with her and her younger sister. Seol-ah is trying to get a QR code for Sa-wol but he aspires on becoming a deliveryman, just like his idol, legendary delivery man 5-8, frequently sneaking out to train by getting into fights with other refugees. The Cheonmyeong Group is one of a handful of people that profit from the current situation, being in charge of building the facilities people live in now, while the father, Ryu Jae-jin, and his son, Ryu Seok who are running the group, are also planning something new. One day, Sa-wol finally meets 5-8, and after a number of events, the latter decides to train him in order to become a delivery man, in an upcoming tournament that is about to happen. 5-8, however, also has other plans, and Major Sung soon joins him.
So, what happens in “Black Night”. In an effort to attract as many audience as possible, Cho Ui-seok has included almost every popular element in the book, in a tactic that from now on, I will name “SEO filmmaking”, since it seems like the way webpages use keywords in order to rank higher in Google search and attract more traffic. In that fashion, we have two rather popular and good looking protagonists in Kim Woo-bin as 5-8 and Esom as Jeong Seol-ah, with the latter also implementing the “hot girl with guns” trend that has become quite popular lately. In Yoon Sa-wol, we have the underdog that succeeds against all odds, with the added value of being a rebellious teenager. In Ryu-seok we have the rich and spoiled heir who is clashing with his father while both are being rather corrupt and willing to do anything to keep their authority, mainly against the poor and the weak. Lastly, the inevitable melodrama is here once more, rearing its head whenever is possible, in order to generate emotion through forced sentimentalism.
In terms of cinematic elements, we have hand-to-hand combat, a lot of gun shooting, car chasing, tournaments, a number of explosions and in general, every “trick” that can be found in the Hollywood action blockbuster. Add to that the impressive SFX, the fitting sepia tones, the frequently frantic editing and the polished cinematography and you have a definite action eye candy.
As mentioned before however, the characters are paper thin, the action seems frequently disconnected from the story, while the majority of the comments are essentially cliche. Perhaps what stands out is a subtle one regarding how authorities use sports to distract people from reality, with the events during the final of the tournament being the most shocking and the most impressive in the whole series.
Apart from that, however, there are very few pros here, in a series that addresses audiences who just want to spend their time without “tiring” their mind particularly. Essentially, “Black Night” is the epitome of the flick.
