After Season 1 and Season 2 are completed and brought a million viewers world wide, the most highly rated series, Kingdom made a lot of people screaming for more.
The story is set in Korea’s Joseon period, a few years after the Japanese invasions of Korea (1592-1598). While the plot started with a sick King and the lingering political conspiracy with the corrupt minister/s. As the King died due to sever illness, the corrupt ministers found a way to revive him. Aiming to seize the authority of the throne and rule the kingdom while overthrowing the current crown prince and labeling him as a traitor.
According to a forced royal physician whose job is to revive the king, by consuming a mysterious plant a.k.a Resurrection Plant with a ritual can bring the dead back to life. But the consequences by consuming the plant and to hide the conspiracy brought forth a massive and unpredictable disaster, a deadly undead plague (zombies).
The series is adapted from the webcomic series The Kingdom of the Gods, which authored by Kim Eun-hee and drawn by Yang Kyung-il.
Season 1 and 2
In Season 1, it depicts the story of Crown Prince Lee Chang (Ju Ji-hoon), who becomes embroiled in a coup/political conspiracy and is forced to embark upon a mission to investigate the spread of a mysterious undead plague that has beset the current king and the country’s southern provinces.
While in Season 2, it centers on the advancement of the plague across several provinces. In the lead-up to halting the outbreak, a devastating revelation ensues at Sangju. Upon the arrival of the winter season, the undead hordes now roam freely due to a change in ambient temperature.
Cinematography
In my opinion Kingdom have truly level-up the classic zombie film which startted with George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead.
Zombies are mostly base on George Romero’s zombie. Gradually throughout time, lots of difference twist have been added to make the zombie more of an action– horror fiction. Making them more sensitive, fiercer, stronger, faster and more insatiable hunger.
As an avid fan of zombie films, truly I think Kingdom is one of the best and thrilling zombie films I have ever seen. Kingdom definitely nailed it all! Starting with the well-made zombies, the realistic gore and gruesome scenes, the scenery, the production and acting quality, until the thrilling story.
The most catchy thing you’ll notice is the costume, make-up and movements of the zombies are top notched! It will make your jaw drop seeing how the zombie rises it’s body from the floor.
Also, Kingdom is not your typical zombie films in an apocalyptic environment. In where most of the time, the characters are trying to survive while looking for a place to stay and building up relationships and drama along the way.
The ending of Kingdom Season 2, opens a new and wide perspective on how a zombie film can have an exciting end. Knowing there is more than just the the zombie awakening, it’s destruction and the sad and hopeful recuperating aftermath.
By introducing a mysterious character, you can definitely feel the thrill and excitement on how this character eerily spreading potential zombie outbreak anywhere across the land. Definitely, Koreans are good in steering the hearts and minds of the viewers with it’s high quality production and story. Making them want more.
Season 3
Now, it seems Kingdom is having a Season 3. Seeing how Season 2 ends as a cliffhanger and with new introduced character, Ji-Hyun Jun.
Jun Ji-hyun is a South Korean actress and model. She rose to fame for her role as The Girl in the romantic comedy My Sassy Girl (2001), one of the highest-grossing Korean comedies of all time. Her other notable films include: Il Mare (2000), Windstruck (2004), The Thieves (2012), The Berlin File (2013) and Assassination (2015).
Many speculations have been going around on the internet stating what her role is. But most of those speculations only 2 are most talked about. Whether she is the seller of the Resurrection Plant from China or a warrior that was also tracking the seller of the Resurrection Plant due to the weapon highlighted on her back.
Surely we can only patiently wait for the next Season. Hoping that the upcoming Season 3 of this action-pack and trilling horror fiction, would satisfied our craving for more.
A safety reminder. For young viewers, it contains a lot of violence, conflict, conspiracy, gore and gruesome scenes. Parental Guidance is advised.
Additional information: wikipedia.org, netflix
Video and Photo Sources: netflix, says.com, soompi.com, youtube–theswoon
