Money Heist: Korea

I didn't watch the original Money Heist because of the same old plot or typical theme of heist movies; a brainiac forming a ragtag team of people to steal the money from a rich. There will be love, betrayal, and plot twist. I felt like I had already watched the show. However, the only reason I watched this show is because it's kdrama, expecting something korean. I didn't expect anything plot-wise.

Half way through I like it so far. It's a very fast paced korean show which makes me surprised a lot because korean dramas (and korean movies too) usually have a lot of drag moments, but not in this one.

The show is really not that bad. People just leave the negative reviews because this show is simply a remake. Have any remakes or reboots received good reviews ever? No, never. People won't have that.

It's not even copy and paste because it's worse.

"Mom, can we have Money Heist at home?"

"We already have Money Heist at home"

*Money Heist at home:

I watched original version when it was out. I think i watched first 2 seasons. It was quite a long ago so i dont remember all the details. So i enjoyed this korean remake with their geopolitical twist. So far it was interesting. Not sure i will watch more than 2 seasons tho.

As someone who watched and loved the original Money Heist (La Casa De Papel), this review will be based on both similarities and differences between the two.

The beginning of the series, Tokyo's backstory, is captivating and original yet takes elements from the Spanish (og) version. It was nice to see the screenwriters take on a more Korean style while sticking to the original story. It was fast-paced and not much of the story before the heist was shown which was slightly different from the original series but it's understandable considering the writers tried to squeeze as much of the original story for the first heist in 12 episodes (as the original version had 23 episodes meant for the first heist).

I do wish the remake showed a more original and unique approach as the show was mostly very similar to identical to the original.

The acting was, in my honest opinion, average. There were moments and actors that I adored like Park Hae Soo as Berlin or Lee Joo Bin as Yun Mi Seon (OG Monica/Stockholm) and her chemistry with Kim Hi Joon aka Denver. However, the acting didn't exceed my expectations. I still enjoyed the first half of the show that aired so far.

The cinematography and directing style was something that I truly enjoyed. The shots weren't necessarily long (most of the time) and the brightness and coloring of the show were pretty to watch.

In the end, I will say that the original version is better than this remake but it still is enjoyable to watch.

Of course nothing ever beats the original. But I appreciate the Korean cinematography, culture, politics and corruption infused with the story, especially the characters having their own different backstory in their own way. It's clever. Its objective is definitely not to replace the original but to give tribute to it. However, just expect the excitement to decline a little bit since the very basic story is known. You will expect the expected basically. But Korean culture and their own style of filmmaking has definitely made this different and worthwhile to watch. It's definitely still worth watching.