B1A4 returns with only three of their original members in the whimsical MV for their title track, “Like a Movie.” CNU wrote the song while in the army as a dedication to their fans who patiently waited for their comeback. The MV tells three different love stories that encounter obstacles as they venture to create the “when time stands still” movie moment. With the use of special effects, passionate acting, and short stories, the MV brings together the lyrics of the song with each member’s interpretation.
“Like A Movie” spares no expense when it comes to special effects used to create a fantastical world. Each member enters their own perfect love story: Gongchan is falling in love with his neighbor, CNU is making up with their lover in the rain, and Sandeul is having a romantic first date. The MV introduces many imaginative elements, creating a dreamy setting. There is a train-restaurant that stands at the top of two flights of stairs, anthropomorphic background characters, and giant desserts falling from the sky. In relation to the lyrics, the voice of the song compares their romantic moment to a scene in a movie. Each persona in the MV is experiencing their perfect movie moment, and the amazing special effects help create that larger than life scene.
The best part of “Like A Movie” is that it misleads you to think it is only showing cliche romantic movie scenes. About halfway through the MV, there is a sudden tone shift creating plot twists for each of the members. The neighbors are both secret agents, CNU’s girlfriend is abducted by aliens right as he is about to propose, and Sandeul is trapped in a zombie apocalypse. However, they all overcome their surprise action plots, and we are still treated with happy endings. Sandeul has the best conclusive ending with his girlfriend coming down on a rope and shooting all the zombies to protect him. Unfortunately, for the other two, we just see them in happy scenarios without any resolution to their previous problems.
The song has a circus-like melody that is accompanied by a simple chorus that is easy to sing along to. The lyrics in the chorus point to the exact theme of the MV, which is about feeling like time stopped like those moments in romantic movies. One of the highlights of the song is the climax as Sandeul carries the song up with a high note without overwhelming the simplicity of the song. Gongchan follows him by bringing the song back down with echo effects on his voice that adds to the softness of the song before it returns to the lovely chorus. The song is a great gift to their fans and is beautifully written to express the special moments with a loved one:
We’re the stars of a beautiful movie, you and I.
There is no sad ending, you and I.
Even without any lines, you and I.
We’re the stars of a beautiful movie, you and I.
Even with the dance routine, the MV does not hold back on special effects and continues with its whimsical theme. The members dance on a musical clock that was shown at the beginning of the MV, which also ties back to the concept of time stopping. The backup dancers are dressed up as cute animals and follow the members of B1A4 with a simplistic dance routine. This is one of those dances that can be easily duplicated and will be fun for fans to follow along with. It also suits the song’s waltz-like melody.
While dark and moody songs tend to follow with the cooling weather, B1A4 shows that they are not into following music trends. As they return without their leader and rapper, the remaining members focus on their own talents, creating a beautiful and simple mid-tempo ballad. In other MVs, special effects tend to be just there for aesthetics and often fail to tie back to any theme or plot. However, “Like a Movie” makes great use of special effects to help tell each member’s love story without seeming like it is compensating for a lack of substance. The MV helps bring the concept of the song to life while also giving it a special twist with the tone shift to keep it from being boring.
(Youtube, ColorCoded Lyrics. Images via WM Entertainment.)
