Crime and Thriller
A list about all the shows and movies I've seen with crime and thriller elements.
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1. Monster
Korean Drama - 2021, 16 episodes
Very thrilling, packed with plot twists and a very well-thought plot course. Every episode reveals a new bit of information about the case. The characters have meaning and use for the story and perform well as individuals. The best crime-thriller I've seen so far, the show was so good it actually reignited my passion for tv shows during a low I had with western shows.
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2. Inside Criminal Minds
Korean Drama - 2022, 12 episodes
Dramatic, suspense-packed crime-thriller with a very strong focus on the mental consequences that a profiler has to go through due to his line of work. The show has a somewhat slow pace but also delivers a nearly excessive amount of murder scenes, so highs and lows are spread throughout the season with a good insight on how the leads are working. While I really recommend this k-drama, the amount of killer point-of-view (it's really a lot) paired with the degrading mental health of the protagonist can feel depressing and straining to watch.
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3. No Tears for the Dead
Korean Movie - 2014
Damn, that movie has a high quality. Camera shots were beautiful, events were as logically conclusive as an action film allows to and had a great main cast. I actually liked the female lead for once as her actress was amazing and character well written (which is sadly rare especially in action/thriller where women are usually just a love interest or a sexual object). No romance at all, loved it.
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4. Ordinary People
Korean Movie - 2018
Very well-made, emotional thriller. Ma Dong-Seok is fantastic as always and I also liked Kim Sae-ron, who played the female student, a lot. It's quite violent, the eery atmosphere and deep corruption reminded me a little of The Silenced (2011). For some reason the trailer for this movie suggests that it's a lightweight, comedic movie which it really isn't.
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5. Vincenzo
Korean Drama - 2021, 20 episodes
Unfortunately not as criminal and dark as I thought it would be with all the hype and how the show has been advertised. It does contain crime and mafia elements which play an important role in the show but it's also a comedy. Lots of slapstick-ish humour, over-the-top actions and acting. It's hard to continously take the plot serious when 1/3rd of the reappearing cast are comic relief. The whole mafia thing is more of a running gag and additionally a very convenient excuse for the showrunners to have characters do whatever without consequences, oftentimes with a silly undertone. I still did enjoy the series to some extent as I really liked the rivalling main characters, Song Joong-Ki in particulat is a hightlight as Vincenzo Cassano, and enjoyed many parts of the plotline. The soundtrack is also fantastic. Overall it's alright but too chaotic and inconsequential for me to understand the high praise it gets.
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6. Sympathy For Mr. Vengeance
Korean Movie - 2002
Very interesting plot, I especially liked Shin Ha-kyun's character and his overall performance. Despite also containing unnecessarily strong tendencies for misogynistic violence, which seems to be typical for the director, this first film of the Vengeance trilogy is, in my opinion, definitely better than Old Boy.
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7. Old Boy
Korean Movie - 2003
Had some good scenes and an overall thrilling plot. The Actors did a good job but the film overall didn't really do it for me, especially with the strong misogynistic tint and unnecessarily long, uncomfortable sex scenes. The whole thing generally had a weirdly sexualized tone to it. High shock value, other than that it seems overrated in my view.
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8. Break Through the Darkness
Chinese Movie - 2021
Normally I like to follow the case in crime movies but this one couldn't offer much to follow. I don't remember much of the movie which tells enough about the story, nothing made any impression aside from Shijia Jin's character, he was the best part about it for me. Viewers who are like, super into crime thrillers with lengthy police research scenes, a very slow pace and lots of talking about the events might still get some enjoyment out of it.