Title: Lawless Lawyer 무법 변호사
Genre: Action, Thriller, Law, Romance, Crime
Release: 2018
Starring (Main Cast):
Lee Joon Gi as Bong Sang Pil
Seo Ye Ji as Ha Jae Yi
Lee Hye Young as Cha Moon Sook
Choi Min Soo as Ahn Oh Joo
Director: Kim Jin Min
Writer: Yoon Hyun Ho
Rakuten Viki Rating: 9.5/10
IMDb Rating: 7.6/10
Audience Rating: 4.8/5
MyDramaList Rating: 8.3/10
Rakuten Viki Synopsis: Click Here
Watch FREE (with ads) on Rakuten Viki: Lawless Lawyer
Episodes: 16 (abt. 1 hour and 5 min each)
Content Rating: PG-13
Violence: moderate to high - fist fighting, blood, knives, guns, falling, death
Sexual Content: Kissing, hugging, image of couple laying in bed together (inferred scene)
Language: Some mild language use in the translation I watched.
Ending: Happy, satisfying
My Synopsis
Raised by his gangster uncle after the death of his mother when he was 10-years-old, Bong Sang Pil (Lee Joon Gi) dreams of returning to his hometown of Kisung. Not for any love he has for the city, but to take revenge on the people that took his mother's life. People who still own and run the city of Kisung as if it is their own toy box. Having studied to be a lawyer like his mother, he plans to use the law to his advantage. For years Sang Pil has secretly watched over the life of Ha Jae Yi (Seo Ye Ji) a girl who shares his past. With the arrival of a mysterious piece of evidence and Jae Yi's timely suspension from her own lawyer duties, the two return to their hometown of Kisung. Bong Sang Pil must convince Jae Yi of the truth of her past. Together they must risk their lives to bring down the most powerful person in Kisung.
Trailer
My Review: 9/10
Main Characters
Bong Sang Pil
Bong Sang Pil was played by the popular actor Lee Joon Gi. The first drama I watched him in (Scarlet Heart Ryeo) I dropped. Not because it was poorly done... because it wasn't. But, I learned 10 episodes in that it had a tragic ending. It was enough to give me an interest in this actor, however, and so I eventually picked up another of his, Flower of Evil, which immediately made it into my top 5 dramas. So, needless to say, I was looking forward to watching another of this actor's dramas. This actor does two things particularly well... the cold dangerous persona, and the gentle loving one. Complete opposites, but somehow he does it. An area I do feel he struggles in as an actor is pulling off the broken spirited version of himself. The stumbling, distraught or emotionally beaten acting. Now I feel he did do better with this in Flower of Evil, but here I found it just a little bit harder to believe. Overall, I feel he has grown in his acting in the two years between this drama and Flower of Evil. I will definitely look forward to watching more of his works!
His character in the story was a boy left parentless with the murder of his lawyer mother, who had the misfortune to end up with incriminating evidence on a prominent public figure. Left to his gangster uncle, he was raised to fight and learned the law well from both sides. But, he chooses to follow his mother's footsteps and returns as a lawyer to his hometown to take revenge, and enact justice, on those who took her life. Due to his upbringing, he can be very cold and hard when needed, but he can also be quite warm. I found him a very likeable character. And, of course, I always like a character that can kick butt.
Ha Jae Yi
Ha Jae Yi was played by the beautiful Seo Ye Ji, who has unfortunately gone through some scandal issues lately. What is true, I cannot know, so I will set all that aside and give my honest opinion of her as an actress.
This is the second drama I have seen this actress in. The first was in Hwarang: The Poet Warrior Youth where she played Princess Sook Myung. To be honest, I wasn't super impressed with her in the drama, but I felt part of that could be that I wasn't a huge fan of the character she played. She wasn't intended to be a real likable character, so that was expected. I did, however, really like her in this drama. This role did provide her some opportunity to be versatile and so we can see her act out many different emotions, which I felt she did a believable job with.
Her character, Ha Ja Yi, starts out as a lawyer in Seoul who loses her job after punching a judge for making a bad call. Also, originally from Kisang, her mother went missing the same day that Bong Sang Pil's mother died. Of course, she does not realize the connection at the time and struggles with accepting that the things she has always believed to be true... well... were not true. She is a strong female character who isn't afraid to throw a few punches. And, in fact decks our main lead a good one pretty early on, as well. I found her character a good fit for Bong Sang Pil.
Cha Moon Sook
This drama doesn't really keep secrets. You know early on who you are up against, and who the bad guys are. Cha Moon Sook, played by Lee Hye Young, is the worst of them all. Being a renowned judge and the head of the criminal activity in Kisung, she has some huge advantages as she controls the law from both sides. She appears to be virtually indestructible. And, she truly believes herself to be. Which may end up being her biggest downfall.
This actress had to put on two faces in her role. First the trustworthy, well-loved Judge Cha, and then the evil cold and calculating villain. I felt she did a wonderful job. Switching between motherly and grim-reaper (so-to-speak), does not seem to be an easy task but she pulled off both believable well. No wonder people were so blinded by her. Overall, I felt this actress did a great job with her role, and it was nice to see the head villain be a woman.
Ahn Oh Joo
And, competing for head villain would be Ahn Oh Joo, played by Choi Min Soo. In truth, he seems to believe he is the head villain the majority of the drama, but he in fact has been manipulated and controlled almost his whole criminal career by Judge Cha. As bad as this guy was, I found myself strangely liking him at times. And I got the impression that if circumstances had been different that him and Bong Sang Pil could have actually liked each other. And some times, I almost feel like they do.
As a weird side note... I don't know why, but I particularly liked this characters name. It just rolls of the tongue in a satisfying way. Haha!
Anyway, I thought the actor that played him did a great job. He definitely emanated that stereotypical gangster vibe. He also had a dynamic role to play. More so I think than that of Judge Cha. His fighting scenes were excellent, and I thought his character a great addition to the drama. In a way it gave Judge Cha an adversary on both sides of the law as she struggled to keep him in check.
Bong Sang Pil and Ha Jae Yi
There seems to be a lot of varying opinions on the relationship between Sang Pil and Jae Yi. My only real complaint would be that the love story was rushed through and then put on the back burner of the story. Personally I like the slow burn, sexual tension, type of love story, so that is more of a preference thing. I don't even mind if it isn't a huge part of the drama, which it really wasn't here. But, it is nice to have a little piece here and there slowly building into a very satisfying conclusion. This is what I am used to in Korean dramas, so to quickly rush through all the stages I almost felt I had whiplash. Haha! Anyway, do I think they have chemistry? Yes, I do. I thought they were very cute together. The loving looks they give each other were very believable. But, in truth, I am convinced that Lee Joon Gi could look lovingly at a wall and make it believable. My personal opinion. Overall, I do like their relationship and thought they were a nice compliment to each other.
Support Characters
There really are too many side characters to mention without dragging this into eternity. However, the most entertaining of them was the little law gang that faithfully followed Bong Sang Pil. Without question, they did his bidding and followed his lead hilariously. They were a lot of fun and added some comedy to the drama to help keep it light. My favorite of these members was Bong Sang Pil's right hand man, Tae Gwang Soo, played by Kim Byung Hee. I thought he did a great job and I was surprised and sad to see that, other than one other guest role, this is the only drama he has appeared in.
Conclusion
To conclude... I would definitely recommend this drama to anyone who likes action-packed thrillers, crime, and law dramas. I felt it well done, and I truly enjoyed watching it from beginning to end. A great addition to the genre!
Awards Won
Lee Joon Gi - 2018 - Best Male Asian Star (StarHub Night of Stars)
안녕! - 줄스
Comments
Post a Comment