Mubeop Byeonhosa

The story just blew my mind. through the 16 episodes, the way the story arced was definitely that I couldn't anticipate. I would say ending was a hasty one but then again it was something you could foresee.

The series purely takes away with the brilliance of the script. Each character was given us a meaty chunk to perform and work on that every character felt like had a valid reason to be on the screen.

well except the ones who were planted for the comedy purpose (the gang that followed our main character). That is the one thing that I couldn't hoot for in the series.

Clearly the writer of the series was made to write thrillers and action and comedy was not the main forte of the writer. The comedy scenes, if you could count them as, was so forceful and plain to watch but other than that the series is absolutely entertaining and engaging

The drama is action packed with Lee Joongi showcasing his talents in martial arts. It's beautiful to watch. The chemistry between the villain and Lee Joongi's character is just awesome. I loved Seo Yeji's character as well since she portrayed a smart, witty and a bold woman, who doesn't hesitate to protect justice. A badass character!

The drama was great in the first half, however, the story becomes hazy from episode 9. Still finishes well. From episode 9 onward, I only watched it for the four main characters and their great acting. The story wasn't for my liking. But, the well choreographed action kept me wanting to watch more and more!

LAWLESS LAWYER (2018) was a fun, fast-paced, slick legal drama starring the amazing Lee Joon Gi (of Flower of Evil/ Scarlet Heart Reo fame). In this series, he is a cunning gangster lawyer, name Bong Sang-pil, out for justice for crimes committed against his mother during his childhood. Being a real life martial arts expert Lee Joon Gi shines in this often action-packed role. I personally really enjoyed the energy of this show, as the action and fight scenes really spiced up what might have become a slow or tedious legal drama.

Actress Seo Ye-ji was also interesting as the courageous moral lawyer Ha Jae-yi, who is paired with Bong Sang-pil. His cheery charisma mixed with her unwavering boldness made for a very entertaining pairing, as the two become unstoppable partners in Lawless Law Firm and eventually grow to deeper levels of understanding.

Ha Jae-yi was a very likable character for me, a strong female lead from the start-fighting discrimination in the legal systems where female lawyers aren't given the same respect. Instead of being a push over, her reactions are sometimes less thought-out but certainly relatable. She was one of those characters who reacted reasonably and often felt relatable. When she did, say, punch someone in the face...it felt justified. Otherwise, she had a lot of character depth and made for a great balance to the character of Bong Sang-pil.

While there were some predictable aspects of this series, the cast was really colorful and high energy, which is what honestly sold me on the show. Episode 2 drew me in and by episode 4 I was hooked...

The "villains" or baddies are believably bad, rather than 2D cutout bad guys. I do wish there had been more motives given, however, as to what drove them to do what they did. Money, fame, power, greed, I suppose. Either way, they were very vividly characterized, especially the gangster thug/Mayor Ahn Oh-joo. He was brilliantly casted/acted and was hugely entertaining to watch on screen. Judge Cha Moon Sook was convincingly devious in her role as well, and very hard to read. She was very subtle, cunning and made for a threatening foe. Nam Soon-ja was another interesting character, brilliantly acted. The way she flipped personalities made her another unpredictable variant among the many puzzle pieces. Overall the casting was great. There are just too many great actors and roles to name. And that's what made this show so watchable for me.

While some plot points are indeed a bit predictable, the series was very entertaining and well casted. It was quirky and had a lot of heart. It was a very fun watch and being a moderate Lee Joon Gi fan, I wanted to catch up on some of his lesser known series. This one was very enjoyable and exciting, though the show was missing something, hard to say what (no fault of the cast).

Besides his usual charismatic charms, Lee Joon Gi offered some really powerful emotional performances in this series as well. Some of those scenes packed a hard punch. As far as the romance, the main leads had great onscreen chemistry that felt natural and convincing. It was great to watch their relationship progress. It made for a fun, memorable experience and overall, it was a very decent and exciting show. Very underrated and worth a chance. No regrets.

STORY: 8/10 CINEMATOGRAPHY: 7/10 ART/DESIGN/VISUALS: 8/10 MUSIC: 7/10 OVERALL RATING: 9.5/10.

I loved every morsel of this series. It was similar imho to Vincenzo or the other way around. Whereas Vincenzo was smooth Lawless Lawyer was rough and gritty and possibly more actioned pack. I stayed up very late so that I could finish because while I enjoy leftovers I wanted to consume it in one sitting.

This had been in my queue for some time, as the capsule description wasn't particularly compelling to me. After watching it, I realized there was no reason to have hesitated.

Overall, a strong crime/corruption/revenge k-drama leavened with a good bit of action and a bit of romance.

If you watch many k-dramas, you will recognize a number of cast members, all of whom turn in good, or at least serviceable, performances. Good cast chemistry.

I noticed a couple of reviewers comment about Min-su Choi's performance with his guttural delivery at times. While I do think he may have slightly hammed it up a little with this, and with his physical acting (his gait for example), I thought it was just fine and not over the top for his gangster character.

My main criticism is around the pacing. As I often notice in k-dramas, it can lag a bit in the middle bits. I also felt the wrap-up was needlessly hurried. They could have easily written the events of the final episode to unfold over two or maybe even three episodes while tightening up a few of the episodes in the middle.

A secondary criticism is that I think the some of the writing around various plot development slightly strains credulity, but by the standards of the genre, in which entire stories often hinge on the most improbable of coincidences, this is a pretty minor point.