2NE1 “Come Back Home” MV Review

This week I’ll be reviewing 2Ne1′s Come Back Home MV, a.k.a. I See What You’re Trying To Do Here But Missing You Was So Much Better MV.

The Song

This song is a grower; but it takes a very, very, very long time to transition into Stage IV Cancer. I’m still waiting for it to really grow on me (I think I might be subconsciously brainwashing myself). Half of it is amazing, mainly the Minji and Dara parts, and then CL comes in and I start cringing and rolling my eyes. As for that breakdown that so many Blackjacks are just going nuts for – that breakdown ruins the song. Yeah, I said it. It’s the moment the song tries to transition from a pop song into a “trap music” monstrosity and it just isn’t working. You know what should have been the single? Gotta Be You. That song is charting without even an MV while Happy is crying off in a corner! Actually, I take that back. Missing You should have been the lead single to promote this album and it’s not even in it! I thought Falling in Love, Do You Love Me, and Missing You were supposed to be pre-releases off this album? But no YG, feel free to neglect these amazing songs. All three are better than Come Back Home. The only redeeming thing about Come Back Home being the single is the fact that it isn’t Crush, which is the worst song 2NE1 has ever made.

The MV Plot

I liked the MV plot, at least my interpretation of it. 2NE1 live in a polluted, apocalyptic-like future Seoul, where the citizens escape to a Virtual Paradise by hooking themselves up via advanced headgear. A lot of fans are saying it’s like the Matrix, but these citizens are aware that the Virtual Paradise isn’t real and submit themselves to its technological deceit because they’re unhappy with their lives (Oh god, no pun intended). This plot is more reminiscent of several simulated-reality-themed anime (whatever you guys do, do not watch .hack//sign – so DULL). The main emotional story revolves around Dara, so I thought she should have gotten more screen time than CL but whatever. Her boyfriend is a frequent user of this Virtual Paradise and when the MV story begins, he has decided that he wants to permanently live in this fake perfect world. He can be seen taking (presumably) sleeping medication to enter the virtual world forever; he also shaves his head. Dara has decided that she will not follow him (she can be seen having breakfast, choosing to maintain her health in the real world). I’m also wondering whether the pitcher on the table that has the yellowish liquid (which was in the bag) is supposed to represent government subsidized provisions and how polluted the water is. If yes, then that is a very smart and artistic decision I can get behind.

So then the 2Ne1 members decide that they’re going to rebel against the creators of the Virtual Paradise and shut down the system before more citizens become addicted to its farce. It is hinted that all the members have lost loved ones to this computer game/reality. So the girls meet together in their underground headquarters (I’m guessing) to get their chemical weapons ready for their mini revolution.

What’s interesting is that we then get flashbacks of the girls using the Virtual Paradise. Here we get a close up of the system and we see that it’s main system looks IV-like, as if the the users are on life support and dead to the world. The girls tried to escape to this world to forget their heartache but it was so great that even their own paradise couldn’t numb it.

Then, before their “big” attack, Dara returns to her boyfriend and improperly unplugs him from the system, killing him. Her reasoning being that he’s not really living and she’d doing him a favor. Then the story gets a bit hazy, mostly because of bad editing. The girls enter a dinner party of golden-haired aristocrats who have profited from the creation of the system, presumably a higher class that isn’t subject to the difficulties of the rest of the real world. They kill them and then take their rebellion to the street. Actually, that’s what it seems like. But in between these scenes we see that the 2Ne1 members are actually hooked into the Virtual Paradise, and in fact they are destroying the world within, making it exactly like the world outside. The “aristocrats” they were attacking are in fact other citizens like them that have envisioned that as their perfect lavish world (thus, the scene of Dara standing up from the table within them). In a way, 2Ne1 makes that place hell for them so they come back to the real world.

The Acting

Dear 2ne1, move your mouths. Sincerely, Blackjacks.

Also, was it me or was there a severe lack of Minji and Bom in this MV? Also, I’m getting very tired of Bom having a new face for each MV. You know how YG prohibited G-Dragon from getting tattoos for a period of time, he should place a similar restriction on Bom (of course, plastic surgery is a hell of a lot riskier so I wish he would get her professional help as well). This is getting really sad and alarming.

The MV Execution

Get in line with SM and fire your editor YG! This could have been edited so much better. The scene in the dinner party was just annoying; it felt sloppy, uncoordinated and like it was blocked improperly. Also, it really annoys me that when that (horrible) breakdown begins we just get the exact same scenes as the previous breakdown. I understand this is supposed to represent logging into the virtual world, which is usually presented with the same screen and transition process, but you could have been at least more creative with this section. Oh wow, so cool Illuminati triangles, no one has done this. That McQueen visor from the Autumn/Winter 2012 collection, that is so in right now…No, no. This felt dated as hell. Who was your Creative Director? Was it Will.I.Am? It was Will.I.Am…The only thing I liked in this sequence was the S.O.S. and the XXX parallels.

I think there should have been more to Dara’s story. It was the most interesting part of this MV! I get that CL, Bom and Minji supposedly have similar stories which is why they banded together to destroy the creators of the virtual world but…show us their stories. I like the story more than the actual execution of it. I think small details, like perhaps an instructional video on TV showing how the signing-in process works or a more in detail commercial of how each paradise is personalized, would have been awesome.

The graffiti scenes were useless: it felt like unused footage for Ugly. Also, that bat isn’t very futuristic…throwing that out there.

The Wardrobe

I liked that Dara was wearing that overgrown gray hoodie. It shows that the citizens from this world don’t really care about their image and wear dull colors to represent their mood. Then you have the rest of 2NE1, who have edgier clothing because they’re beginning to rebel against the dull nature of society. They also wear black because they are in mourning. If I could have gotten rid of something in this MV it would be the gaudy gold jewelry. So you live in a piss poor apartment and are the scum of society but nice bling…It doesn’t fit the concept.

MV Rating: 3 stars/5 stars [Mostly for effort]

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