Everything good the original drama did this one done the opposite. In short, the original version is miles better. There's some censoring happening, they really wanted to keep the +15 rating.
This is mostly gangs vs gangs and better fit in a movie format. They played a snippet from Linkin Park which was nice. Teasing us in the last minute with a quick shot of Jo Dong Hyuk was sneaky. But it doesn't matter this probably won't get a sequel. Even the movie had a teaser at the end.
You can feel the downgrade of what made the original drama good. This is basically a family friendly +15 version of the drama. You get a very similar story outline with the usual corruption of the people in power.
Wish they kept all of the original cast. This one only got Goo Tak & Woong Cheol.
Good thriller mystery with decent length. Liked the grim atmosphere and the unhinged characters. The last fight/epilogue was a bit too short, despite the last episode being 90 min.
In comparison, this is better than the 2017 spinoff drama.
Excruciatingly long and too much silence. Even the OST barely audible. Stretched shots where characters are fiddling around/pacing for no purpose. Cycled events, some chunks of episodes were uneventful. All of which didn't even serve an artistic purpose. Lacks a good structure. The undercover stuff are just too much. You get to question the intelligence of some characters too often, it's the typical trope of believing whatever the other person saying with no proof or reliability of the source.
They throw a lot of shit at you in the last half episode to end it on a high note because the prior episodes were too static. Add to that abrupt mediocre uninspired ending.
Prior this drama I watched "City Hunter", both got city in the name with similar plot coincidence? Anyway, this one is better. Yet it will leaves you with a lot to be desired.
This drama and Glory Jane both ended with Park Min Young smiling and staring at the end. Both are from 2011 too lol. Action, romance and comedy were all barely average, doesn't pull anything substantial. From ep11 to ep16 it can get boring and uneventful. Lee Min Ho didn't feel like he was a good fit to play the male lead role. It needed a more rigid actor. It's overrated and that's pretty evident from early on. Of course, they had to pull some shit. This goes into my "I'm a special quirky writer so I'mma ruin the last few episodes/ending" list.
How to fix: Remove romance, remove Park Min Young, shorten it to 10-12 episodes MAX, write better villains, patch up the holes and rework the script. Don't treat the viewers as children. Replace ML with a better action star. Still an okay watch tho.
Coincidentally, this is the second drama I watched in a row that included a piece of shit female lead. Previous one was "Monster (2016)".
No wonder it was shit. It is the same writer as "Black Knight: The Man Who Guards Me". Would have been better if this was a movie. The problem isn't with the story but with how it was executed. It was done in the worst possible way. If you look into it, she never loved ML even at the end. It was just a combination of affection, attraction and greed.
Despite suffering from dozens of problems, this could have been saved (to some degree) if they re-wrote the last 4-5 episodes but they were determined to drag it down till the end.
I think this is the first drama that I actively hated. The plot was extremely cartoonish to be in a functional state, even for the lowest standards of makjangs. Story had no substance or whatsoever, poorly written characters with no consistency at all. Whoever green lit this needs to be fired. Around midway point the drama straight up got revolting. The writers pressed the reset button hard on Soo Yeon character for some reason, everything prior to that point was neglected. Her sole purpose and attention now switched to Gun Woo until the last minute of this drama. Gun Woo can kill, plot murder, cheat, lie, hurt, manipulate and commit a dozens of crimes and still Soo Yeon would side with him even when caught red-handed. Even after knowing some truths she still doesn't care!! I wished she shared the same fate as Gun Woo at the end. The drama truly reached the bottom of the abyss. This is easily goes into my "What kind of retarded writing is this?!" Top 3. Speaking of which, this had the same writers as "Giant" How? Seriously!! It's pure manufactured shit, the purest forms of RAW shit. I was desperate to get at least an okay ending, a passable ending, an ending that doesn't twist your nipples and kick you in the balls, but I would be asking for too much, wouldn't I? I strongly advise you not to watch it unless you are desperate! Why would you? I promise you nothing of value will be lost. You know who is the "real" monster? It's me. For allowing myself to watch this. I will give it 1.5/10 instead of 1, you know why? Only because of 'Jo Bo Ah' and 'Kim Won Hae' sake!
I wish they didn't shove in this pathetic lame ass bitch Yoo Myung Joon. Although he is part of the main cast but he serves as a filler. Speaking of main cast, why Lee Min Jung treated as less than a support cast. She got decent amount of screen time at the beginning then barely appears despite being the female LEAD.
Anyway, it was alright although I didn't like the resolution for some characters especially In Hye. It lacks uninteresting characters and a good dynamic between them. The only character worth following was Do Hyun the rest were bland. It's a missed opportunity, they had a lot of room to play with some dynamics. Like Do Hyun's family, Mi Ran, prison inmates, Kang In Sook (who only appears at the end) and a better connection between Do Hyun & In Hye.
It sinks too deep into finance that it ignores almost everything else. Any side story is given little to no regard. The life changing truth about Mi Ran was given only 30 sec at the end, WHAT? Proceed with caution!
The appeal dies really quickly after eps 5 then turns stale. Its biggest flaws is riding on a single concept that is "greed", this results in an endless loop of one dimensional 24 episodes story. Committing crimes and climbing to the top, rinse and repeat.
Some people praise the outlandish crazy unhinged series of events, what kind of wacky shit is she gonna pull next? But due to its long runtime it gets predictable shortly after and nothing will faze you anymore. So how would they drive a 24 episodes? By giving the female lead insanely good luck until they reach the end and the writers turn off the "luck" switch. Pretty lazy.
I was desperately waiting for a good twist. I have an idea for a twist. How about around eps 15 the ML baits the FL to get back together to take over everything after they had had the "documents", utilize that and do all kind of twisted shenanigans. Here's a quick overview: episode 1 to 9 ass, 11 to 16 tolerable, 17 to 24 ass.
Then you got the ending, were the writers trying to show us remorse? One of the most cartoonish stunts was pulled at the end. If you used a test dummy it would had looked more realistic. Anyway, not a fan of the ending either.
Skip unless you're a big fan of Soo Ae and Sang Woo who did a lot of the heavy lifting.
It had been a while since I gushed over a drama like this. It got a vibe that is unprecedented in any other drama. The quirky random clip insertion, the lively transition entering a new scene and the melodic nostalgia-inducing OST. Loved seeing the younger versions of Shin Min Ah and Sung Dong Il.
But there are two big BUTTs that took it down a notch for me. The existence of the actor Ryu Shi Won. And how unnecessary and out of place the "terminal illness" subplot is. It felt like they HAD to incorporate that within the drama because every other drama of that era did it.
Episode 1 at timestamp 20:02 the man jumps on the driver and grabs the steering wheel, at this exact moment I knew this drama was destined to fail and I was right. Just heads up, there's no sport/baseball other than the first 2 episodes and half of the last episode.
Too bad they made Park Min Young character stupid :/
Another one of those with big potentials that flopped shortly after because it lost its direction. Reading the synopsis + watching first 2 episodes will give you the impression that it's about action-packed jewelry smuggling con artists heist team but what you get is a melodrama. We were told that ML became a con man but was never shown to be a one other than through his search for the truth.
Characters full of hot air, events are cycled through all the characters and their reactions must be shown one by one. Typical strategies to prolong a series. You get a lot of scenes with exaggerated emotions ugly face crying shouting and fist punching a wall, but none of which felt that it carried an impactful weight. Don't get me started on the last few episodes and the ending, they needed to be re-written.
This drama got a lot to like about it but at the same time it suffers from too many shortcomings. First 20 episodes are good, then it goes into a loop from eps 25 to 55. That's the thing with every single long drama, hook the audience early and leave them hanging for a while.
I didn't like the time-skip at the end of ep36, it created a big disconnect with everything happening. Since then it got heavy on politics and business talk with less of the earlier humane interactions. Giving Sung Mo a love interest in the last few episodes felt out of place. Child actors don't translate well into their adult counterpart. Young Sung Mo had a sharp rectangular face while his adult self is a circular puffy face.
The last episode didn't resonate well with me, felt too choppy and boorish. Things moving fast randomly. For this massive runtime, I was expecting a better well executed resolution, especially for the last few minutes epilogue.
The "chase" wasn't even that thrilling, like a generic action flick. Too much bullshit thrown at the viewers that makes it hard to get invested. It chooses to go for cheap and fast build up, like drinking a sugar dense beverage to get a sugar rush. That moment when the baddies get a shorter sentence than leads. Yikes! Lackluster writing, half-assed and badly executed.
An okay start but falls flat on its face pretty quickly, add to that an annoying ML. This is an eight episode drama that was turned to 24 eps. Feels really empty, mundane and barely anything happens. The acting with some scenes can be a hit or miss. Some characters wear the exact same outfit for the entire run without changing at all. Don't question any illogical thing, just accept that it happens because it happens. FL seems okay to be in the past without any regard of her real life, other than the brief mention of her parents. Don't recommend!
6 
This is mostly gangs vs gangs and better fit in a movie format. They played a snippet from Linkin Park which was nice. Teasing us in the last minute with a quick shot of Jo Dong Hyuk was sneaky. But it doesn't matter this probably won't get a sequel. Even the movie had a teaser at the end.
Anyway, it's borderline passable.
Wish they kept all of the original cast. This one only got Goo Tak & Woong Cheol.
In comparison, this is better than the 2017 spinoff drama.
Excruciatingly long and too much silence. Even the OST barely audible. Stretched shots where characters are fiddling around/pacing for no purpose. Cycled events, some chunks of episodes were uneventful. All of which didn't even serve an artistic purpose. Lacks a good structure. The undercover stuff are just too much. You get to question the intelligence of some characters too often, it's the typical trope of believing whatever the other person saying with no proof or reliability of the source.
They throw a lot of shit at you in the last half episode to end it on a high note because the prior episodes were too static. Add to that abrupt mediocre uninspired ending.
Prior this drama I watched "City Hunter", both got city in the name with similar plot coincidence? Anyway, this one is better. Yet it will leaves you with a lot to be desired.
Action, romance and comedy were all barely average, doesn't pull anything substantial. From ep11 to ep16 it can get boring and uneventful. Lee Min Ho didn't feel like he was a good fit to play the male lead role. It needed a more rigid actor. It's overrated and that's pretty evident from early on. Of course, they had to pull some shit. This goes into my "I'm a special quirky writer so I'mma ruin the last few episodes/ending" list.
How to fix: Remove romance, remove Park Min Young, shorten it to 10-12 episodes MAX, write better villains, patch up the holes and rework the script. Don't treat the viewers as children. Replace ML with a better action star. Still an okay watch tho.
At least got to see some of Lee Kwang Soo.
No wonder it was shit. It is the same writer as "Black Knight: The Man Who Guards Me". Would have been better if this was a movie. The problem isn't with the story but with how it was executed. It was done in the worst possible way. If you look into it, she never loved ML even at the end. It was just a combination of affection, attraction and greed.
Despite suffering from dozens of problems, this could have been saved (to some degree) if they re-wrote the last 4-5 episodes but they were determined to drag it down till the end.
Around midway point the drama straight up got revolting. The writers pressed the reset button hard on Soo Yeon character for some reason, everything prior to that point was neglected. Her sole purpose and attention now switched to Gun Woo until the last minute of this drama. Gun Woo can kill, plot murder, cheat, lie, hurt, manipulate and commit a dozens of crimes and still Soo Yeon would side with him even when caught red-handed. Even after knowing some truths she still doesn't care!! I wished she shared the same fate as Gun Woo at the end. The drama truly reached the bottom of the abyss. This is easily goes into my "What kind of retarded writing is this?!" Top 3. Speaking of which, this had the same writers as "Giant" How? Seriously!!
It's pure manufactured shit, the purest forms of RAW shit. I was desperate to get at least an okay ending, a passable ending, an ending that doesn't twist your nipples and kick you in the balls, but I would be asking for too much, wouldn't I?
I strongly advise you not to watch it unless you are desperate! Why would you? I promise you nothing of value will be lost. You know who is the "real" monster? It's me. For allowing myself to watch this.
I will give it 1.5/10 instead of 1, you know why? Only because of 'Jo Bo Ah' and 'Kim Won Hae' sake!
Anyway, it was alright although I didn't like the resolution for some characters especially In Hye. It lacks uninteresting characters and a good dynamic between them. The only character worth following was Do Hyun the rest were bland. It's a missed opportunity, they had a lot of room to play with some dynamics. Like Do Hyun's family, Mi Ran, prison inmates, Kang In Sook (who only appears at the end) and a better connection between Do Hyun & In Hye.
It sinks too deep into finance that it ignores almost everything else. Any side story is given little to no regard. The life changing truth about Mi Ran was given only 30 sec at the end, WHAT?
Proceed with caution!
https://www.reddit.com/r/OpenSignups/
The appeal dies really quickly after eps 5 then turns stale. Its biggest flaws is riding on a single concept that is "greed", this results in an endless loop of one dimensional 24 episodes story. Committing crimes and climbing to the top, rinse and repeat.
Some people praise the outlandish crazy unhinged series of events, what kind of wacky shit is she gonna pull next? But due to its long runtime it gets predictable shortly after and nothing will faze you anymore. So how would they drive a 24 episodes? By giving the female lead insanely good luck until they reach the end and the writers turn off the "luck" switch. Pretty lazy.
I was desperately waiting for a good twist. I have an idea for a twist. How about around eps 15 the ML baits the FL to get back together to take over everything after they had had the "documents", utilize that and do all kind of twisted shenanigans. Here's a quick overview: episode 1 to 9 ass, 11 to 16 tolerable, 17 to 24 ass.
Then you got the ending, were the writers trying to show us remorse? One of the most cartoonish stunts was pulled at the end. If you used a test dummy it would had looked more realistic.
Anyway, not a fan of the ending either.
Skip unless you're a big fan of Soo Ae and Sang Woo who did a lot of the heavy lifting.
But there are two big BUTTs that took it down a notch for me. The existence of the actor Ryu Shi Won. And how unnecessary and out of place the "terminal illness" subplot is. It felt like they HAD to incorporate that within the drama because every other drama of that era did it.
I fucking love Namkoong Min but too bad :/
Too bad they made Park Min Young character stupid :/
Reading the synopsis + watching first 2 episodes will give you the impression that it's about action-packed jewelry smuggling con artists heist team but what you get is a melodrama. We were told that ML became a con man but was never shown to be a one other than through his search for the truth.
Characters full of hot air, events are cycled through all the characters and their reactions must be shown one by one. Typical strategies to prolong a series. You get a lot of scenes with exaggerated emotions ugly face crying shouting and fist punching a wall, but none of which felt that it carried an impactful weight. Don't get me started on the last few episodes and the ending, they needed to be re-written.
It's not bad but barely likable.
First 20 episodes are good, then it goes into a loop from eps 25 to 55. That's the thing with every single long drama, hook the audience early and leave them hanging for a while.
I didn't like the time-skip at the end of ep36, it created a big disconnect with everything happening. Since then it got heavy on politics and business talk with less of the earlier humane interactions.
Giving Sung Mo a love interest in the last few episodes felt out of place. Child actors don't translate well into their adult counterpart. Young Sung Mo had a sharp rectangular face while his adult self is a circular puffy face.
The last episode didn't resonate well with me, felt too choppy and boorish. Things moving fast randomly. For this massive runtime, I was expecting a better well executed resolution, especially for the last few minutes epilogue.
Lackluster writing, half-assed and badly executed.