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Decent action kdrama with weak writing, fight choreography and visual effects.
This kdrama is definitely good and at least worth of a single watch. The main cast and characters are written well and acted extremely well. They are extremely talented and it shows in their performances.
I would like to first start off this review by pointing out the bad things about this drama. This review will contain spoilers.
--------------SPOILERS AHEAD, YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED ----------------
Bad:
1. The immense plot hole with the murder of Kim Jung Young in Episodes 12 and 13. The characters are told it is a suicide, yet the main piece of evidence against it being suicide is that she was shot from OUTSIDE her car THROUGH THE GLASS, which would have shattered it. She is also facing her shooter, but the gunshot wound is to the side of the head. This evidence is never mentioned. You could argue the police covered it up, but if they did then it was not mentioned at all. At other crime scenes through the series, you see other detectives and crime scene staff there. These staff would have seen the ballistic forensic evidence and would have concluded foul play, not only with the shooting occurring outside the car but with no mention of other evidence such as powder burns, fingerprints, etc.
If you're going to involve police work, crime scene investigation and deduction, then please write it so it makes sense. This will only help flesh out the world of Counters and how they have to skirt around the normal world.
Another plot hole that is not explained is how Dong Pal is also So Moon’s partner somehow? You just see him come back to Yung after Jeong Ju dies, but there are no more Dong Pal appearances nor any talk about how a counter has two partners. This pretty big plot development is just not mentioned again.
2. Fight choreography is lackluster. I kept getting frustrated with how little the fights make sense and are quite boring. They more or less slap each other a couple of times, throw each other around, and get injured when the plot demands it. There is no interesting shots/cinematography or super cool special effects. Yes, they have the Yung territory and some psychokinesis, but that rarely makes the fights interesting. The characters are portrayed training extensively, yet very little evidence of practical striking and/or grappling exists. Perhaps I am spoiled by MMA and martial arts movies, but IMO they could have done so much more with fight scenes, such as using real world striking and grappling techniques, fighting with objects, etc. The final fight scene is just so lame compared to what it could have been. Basically an empty arena and the counters kind of throw themselves at Shin without any interesting plan other than bum rush the guy. Nothing from the environment is really used besides some rocks or something.
3. Mo-tak does not visit Kim Jung Young in Yung. I did not understand how there is no scene where they meet each other while other characters (except for Ha-na) get to do so. This is more of a personal opinion, but I do feel this story beat would have hit harder for both characters had it been included.
Good:
1. Acting is pretty incredible in my opinion. The cast does a good job portraying the comedic and "super serious fight time" aspect in adapting a webtoon to live action. This does mean however you do get the over the top webtoon/anime style emotions and some plotlines.
2. The writing between the main cast also makes their team chemistry organic. It feels like they care for each other and work well together as a team.
3. Visual set design is pretty and varied. The different locations showcase the different worlds characters live in, and there are few times where you feel as though you’re watching something on a set, rather than something that is “real”.
Meh:
1. The overarching plotline(s). I understand that it is a webtoon based drama, and as such falls into the tropes in kind of a predictable way. While the counter plotline felt a little shallow, the real world plotline could have been so much more fleshed out and done better. The RW seems shallow and crafted to be around the Counter’s world, rather than something separate that they have to deal with in their work. Ji Cheong Sin’s duality could have been explored more instead of only for a couple of episodes just to make the heroes fail in that moment. Same with Mayor Shin. Villains here felt quite one dimensional instead of having complex stories that make them more interesting. Their motives and means of conducting their shady business does not seem realistic either. While they may be kind of constrained by adapting the webtoon’s writing, there is an opportunity here to craft a truly impressive world of Counters.
2. The visual effects. The only kind of cool thing is the territory because of its glowy matrix style light, while visual effects in fight scenes amount to nothing more than a couple pebbles and rocks and the “push” psychokinesis effect. With more interesting fight choreo, the VE team could have definitely had room to shine.
Overall:
It’s decent. I would say don’t expect too much besides a decent superhero type drama with some action and plot. It did not blow my socks off, but it did entertain me for a while. Temper your expectations and look past some of its lackluster elements and it’ll be fine.
I would like to first start off this review by pointing out the bad things about this drama. This review will contain spoilers.
--------------SPOILERS AHEAD, YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED ----------------
Bad:
1. The immense plot hole with the murder of Kim Jung Young in Episodes 12 and 13. The characters are told it is a suicide, yet the main piece of evidence against it being suicide is that she was shot from OUTSIDE her car THROUGH THE GLASS, which would have shattered it. She is also facing her shooter, but the gunshot wound is to the side of the head. This evidence is never mentioned. You could argue the police covered it up, but if they did then it was not mentioned at all. At other crime scenes through the series, you see other detectives and crime scene staff there. These staff would have seen the ballistic forensic evidence and would have concluded foul play, not only with the shooting occurring outside the car but with no mention of other evidence such as powder burns, fingerprints, etc.
If you're going to involve police work, crime scene investigation and deduction, then please write it so it makes sense. This will only help flesh out the world of Counters and how they have to skirt around the normal world.
Another plot hole that is not explained is how Dong Pal is also So Moon’s partner somehow? You just see him come back to Yung after Jeong Ju dies, but there are no more Dong Pal appearances nor any talk about how a counter has two partners. This pretty big plot development is just not mentioned again.
2. Fight choreography is lackluster. I kept getting frustrated with how little the fights make sense and are quite boring. They more or less slap each other a couple of times, throw each other around, and get injured when the plot demands it. There is no interesting shots/cinematography or super cool special effects. Yes, they have the Yung territory and some psychokinesis, but that rarely makes the fights interesting. The characters are portrayed training extensively, yet very little evidence of practical striking and/or grappling exists. Perhaps I am spoiled by MMA and martial arts movies, but IMO they could have done so much more with fight scenes, such as using real world striking and grappling techniques, fighting with objects, etc. The final fight scene is just so lame compared to what it could have been. Basically an empty arena and the counters kind of throw themselves at Shin without any interesting plan other than bum rush the guy. Nothing from the environment is really used besides some rocks or something.
3. Mo-tak does not visit Kim Jung Young in Yung. I did not understand how there is no scene where they meet each other while other characters (except for Ha-na) get to do so. This is more of a personal opinion, but I do feel this story beat would have hit harder for both characters had it been included.
Good:
1. Acting is pretty incredible in my opinion. The cast does a good job portraying the comedic and "super serious fight time" aspect in adapting a webtoon to live action. This does mean however you do get the over the top webtoon/anime style emotions and some plotlines.
2. The writing between the main cast also makes their team chemistry organic. It feels like they care for each other and work well together as a team.
3. Visual set design is pretty and varied. The different locations showcase the different worlds characters live in, and there are few times where you feel as though you’re watching something on a set, rather than something that is “real”.
Meh:
1. The overarching plotline(s). I understand that it is a webtoon based drama, and as such falls into the tropes in kind of a predictable way. While the counter plotline felt a little shallow, the real world plotline could have been so much more fleshed out and done better. The RW seems shallow and crafted to be around the Counter’s world, rather than something separate that they have to deal with in their work. Ji Cheong Sin’s duality could have been explored more instead of only for a couple of episodes just to make the heroes fail in that moment. Same with Mayor Shin. Villains here felt quite one dimensional instead of having complex stories that make them more interesting. Their motives and means of conducting their shady business does not seem realistic either. While they may be kind of constrained by adapting the webtoon’s writing, there is an opportunity here to craft a truly impressive world of Counters.
2. The visual effects. The only kind of cool thing is the territory because of its glowy matrix style light, while visual effects in fight scenes amount to nothing more than a couple pebbles and rocks and the “push” psychokinesis effect. With more interesting fight choreo, the VE team could have definitely had room to shine.
Overall:
It’s decent. I would say don’t expect too much besides a decent superhero type drama with some action and plot. It did not blow my socks off, but it did entertain me for a while. Temper your expectations and look past some of its lackluster elements and it’ll be fine.
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