It's been more than two weeks since my last review...Sigh.
I know my reviews are coming out more and more sparsely but everyone needs to bear with me here because I just finished with Exam Month and I am more than a little frazzled. However, it is now a new month and I am back, baby!!!
Music Video
Henry is one of the few idols known to be skilled with various instruments including the piano, so very smart move SM, opening the first scene with Henry playing the piano. But since we're on that subject, holy-crap-you-did-not-just-step-on-that-absolutely-gorgeous-grand-piano-Henry. Dude, those things cost up to ten grand! And he even sets it on fire at one point. Omg, I think I'm going to cry.
Anyway, this isn't really a typical SM-styled video since it has an actual plot this time. It kind of reminds me of Boa's Disturbance where the girlfriend died and the grieving boyfriend can't accept that she's gone. But in this video, he goes crazy and starts seeing her everywhere. And when he finally realizes that she is actually a figment of his imagination and that he needs some serious therapy for seeing his dead girlfriend everywhere, he flips out and starts trashing the place. Cuz who can afford to see a therapist these days.
"Gahhh!!! I still have to pay for the damn piano!!!"
I suppose it was sort of creative in a everyone-keeps-picking-on-us-because-of-our-weirdly-lit-boxes-so-we're-gonna-take-the-whole-GD-roof-off way to take off the ceiling of Henry's house, but since the song title was Trap, in a way it would be more fitting to have Henry in an enclosed room. In fact, what makes this even hilarious is that when Henry whispers “I’m trapped.”, the camera immediately pans out to show an open door right next to him.
"I'm trapped......Oh wait, I'm not."
On a side note, the video in the beginning wasn't that great because it had that shaky-camera thing that Kpop likes to do so often. I was surprised that it showed up in Henry's video though, since SM is usually impeccable when it comes to video editing. I'll never figure out why editors keep doing that since it makes for really bad video quality. So SM, you should just keep doing what you're doing. There's no need to follow any Kpop video-editing trends.
Lastly, the ending was pretty anti-climatic in my opinion. You see Henry driving around in an anguished daze and then......nothing. Honestly, I kept expecting something to happen, maybe the car flipping over and exploding in an blazing inferno, or maybe his girlfriend creepily appears and tries to strangle him, or something! But no, he just drives around for a while before reaching home safe and sound and setting his piano on fire. If you weren't going to add some tragic moment to it, why would you have that scene in the first place?
SM representative - "Cuz it looks badass. Duhhh."
Song and Lyrics
It goes without saying, I loved the piano part in the beginning. Yay, piano! Although now that I think about it, for the most part he only played about two notes so I don't think I should be that impressed.
As for the song, even though it wasn't the kind of song that stops you in your tracks and makes you want to sing and dance along to it, it was a good attempt for his first solo. So you get a thumbs up for effort.
I think I should address the presence of Taemin and Kyuhyun though. What were they doing there? I though this was supposed to be a Henry solo, not a subunit consisting of Henry, Taemin and Kyuhyun. It would have been different if say, Eunhyuk was featured instead, since many times an idol would be featured to rap for another idol's solo. But instead they get Taemin and Kyuhyun, who are both vocalists, to sing about two lines each out of the whole song. What gives?
Dance
Henry is from Super Junior, which would mean that super awkward dance moves is to be expected. In this case, it's the hand-waving movement at 1.48 minutes which makes all of them look like an 18th century English gal trying to flag down multiple taxis.
But apart from that awkwardly random few seconds, pretty much the rest of the dance was great. During the chorus, the part where Henry crosses both hands over his chest like he was being entrapped was pretty meaningful, since his lines at that exact moment were "I'm trapped.". And the gun-cocking move at 0.55 minutes was awesome. I only wish they could have added some sound effects during that part, considering they even added the sound effects when Taemin did his spin during 2.00 minutes. You think I didn't notice, but I totally did.
EJ Maria, helping out Kpop MVs since 2013.
And of course, the handkerchief tossing part was amazing, especially when they threw it up and caught it as it come down, or when they flung it at the audience. Or even when they draped it over their shoulder and it somehow magically stayed on while they were dancing.
Need I say more?
Fashion
For the most part, Henry wore totally normal outfits, which is pleasantly surprising considering that he is from Super Junior who are known for their affinity for bizarre clothing and neon boxers. Although I'll have to admit, when I saw him in the outfit in 0.32 minutes, I thought he was getting ready for a WWE smackdown with those backup dancers if not for the fact that he was still playing the piano.
"I'll give you a piece of me!! As soon as I finish playing!!!"
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