This review may contain spoilers
Be close to your friends and even closer to your enemies, as they say. This little game of cat and mouse works beautifully. These two guys are evil incarnate, cop or gangster, same piece of work. Friend or foe, they don't know anymore.
80% of the time, they're just a bunch of yob sulking and chain-smoking cigarettes. (I learnt a new word : yob) But the atmosphere and staging are spot on. The police are real bastards, violent and cruel, without mercy. Realistic. (But, of course, at the end we're told that they're the good guys. Make no mistakes !) There are still two female characters (two more than in many stories of this kind) and they are relatively well written, with their own motivations and making their own decisions. (As for the Bechdel test... that would be asking too much, though.)
The fights are very brutal and raw. It seems as though nothing happened because the story remains simple, but in reality, there are quite a few twists and turns in store for us.
It totally deserves its high ratings. Ji Chang-wook is excellent, but to be honest, everyone is very, very good.
The theme music for the series sounds like something Ennio Morricone would have composed. It fits so well with the final scene, where the two "heroes" walk together through Seoul at night. I find that ending perfect. Tragic.
And finally, how convenient that the Japanese and Chinese speak impeccable Korean. And there is a certain view of China... each scene is accompanied by a little piece of music in a caricatured pentatonic scale. All Chinese people are portrayed as cold and violent. We are clearly being sent a message.
(TW: SA) The hero is assaulted, although the series does not present it that way. He makes it clear throughout that he is not consenting. And he shows no interest in this woman. Their strange relationship is fuelled by silences and his lack of enjoyment in being around this woman. I don't really understand this choice.
80% of the time, they're just a bunch of yob sulking and chain-smoking cigarettes. (I learnt a new word : yob) But the atmosphere and staging are spot on. The police are real bastards, violent and cruel, without mercy. Realistic. (But, of course, at the end we're told that they're the good guys. Make no mistakes !) There are still two female characters (two more than in many stories of this kind) and they are relatively well written, with their own motivations and making their own decisions. (As for the Bechdel test... that would be asking too much, though.)
The fights are very brutal and raw. It seems as though nothing happened because the story remains simple, but in reality, there are quite a few twists and turns in store for us.
It totally deserves its high ratings. Ji Chang-wook is excellent, but to be honest, everyone is very, very good.
The theme music for the series sounds like something Ennio Morricone would have composed. It fits so well with the final scene, where the two "heroes" walk together through Seoul at night. I find that ending perfect. Tragic.
And finally, how convenient that the Japanese and Chinese speak impeccable Korean. And there is a certain view of China... each scene is accompanied by a little piece of music in a caricatured pentatonic scale. All Chinese people are portrayed as cold and violent. We are clearly being sent a message.
(TW: SA) The hero is assaulted, although the series does not present it that way. He makes it clear throughout that he is not consenting. And he shows no interest in this woman. Their strange relationship is fuelled by silences and his lack of enjoyment in being around this woman. I don't really understand this choice.
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