The Tyrant

This series felt like a bunch of real-life psychopaths gathered together, driven solely by lust and greed, which was revolting to witness. The story was not just disappointing but also outright trash, offering little more than a parade of depravity that left me questioning the creative intentions behind it. Rather than providing a thought-provoking or meaningful narrative, it seems the creators were more interested in shocking the audience for the sake of it, without any deeper message or artistic merit.

At its core, this series appears to glorify the worst aspects of human nature, focusing on selfish desires and immoral actions. There is nothing wrong with exploring dark themes in media when done responsibly, but here, it feels like the darkness exists just to be edgy.

Wow, what can you say about Park's new show! The pacing, acting, script and plot were all TOP NOTCH in the first 3 episodes.

The main heroine plays it cool: fits the role well. The govt baddies all seem 3 dimensional, and also including the Black ops team. The only criticism is Paul, whose English is kinda bad and unbelievable. His Korean acting is a lot better. All other supporting characters have a great script to work with!

Usually for many K dramas, lines are repeated, actors OVER act, and the action is slower paced. Not with Tyrant... layers & layers of tough-as-nail characters that play their roles superbly. Nothing is predictable until we hit the last episode. Some lazy script writing complemented by a vial/virus as black as... Venom from Spiderman comics/movies! A bit disappointed but still a thumbs up.

The long-expected "The Tyrant" doesn't disappoint! Still, there is a small fly in the ointment!

Director Park is juggling too many balls for the first three episodes. He makes it slightly difficult for the viewer to trace them, especially in the dimly lit scenes. So when he catches them all successfully in episode 4, the viewer is already a bit tired. Just as the capsule is missing, something is missing in the storyline to rivet you wholeheartedly to the screen. I have high respect for Director Park. Yet I think he starts telling the story as if he has all the time in this world, while towards the end, he rushes to bring all the loose ends together. Perhaps because of his vast vision? He takes joy in crafting films that reflect his personal vision, paying little heed to traditional storytelling or pursuing commercial success. He offers his perspective and style, leaving it to you to accept or reject. Much like a true modern artist, he indulges in his individual style and preferences. So it takes time to like it or lump it.

However, he has the knack of selecting a brilliant cast, which makes up for the high mortality rate in this movie/drama.

Of course, Kim Seon Ho as the calm reserved and charismatic Director Choe makes the most of it as usual!

"The Tyrant" is a mini-series that serves as a side story to the movie ' The Witch ' and it unfolds into its universe.

The action is, of course, a highlight. If you like pure action and violence, this show is the answer for you. Brutality, gore, blood, guns, whatever you need, it's all here, and in the most violent form.

The cinematography is stunning, with wide shots showcasing the intensity of each battle, and the fight choreography is still on brand with the franchise. While the gore has been toned down, it doesn't take away from the high-stakes brutality that defines this universe.

Now, while the drama delivers on action and performances, the plot itself is fairly simplistic. It doesn't try to reinvent the wheel; instead, it just gives us a fast-paced chase where everyone's after the same thing. And while that's fine for a side story, it doesn't necessarily add much depth to the Witch universe. If you're hoping for deeper world-building about the origins of the Tyrant program or how it connects to the broader narrative, you might leave with more questions than answers.

One of the biggest surprises of The Tyrant is its new female lead Chae Ja-gyeong (Jo Yoon-Soo) is an absolute legend in the role. She really carries most of the show on her shoulders.

If you're deeply invested in The Witch universe, it's worth the watch. If you're just here for great action and don't mind an open-ended narrative, you'll have fun. But if you're looking for major story revelations? You won't miss much by skipping it.

Don't waste your time.

It has no plot whatsoever.

A lot of people are constantly killing each other over some bio-virus in very stupid action scenes that get boring and repetitive over time.

Though during the first episodes you don't even know who belongs to which faction and why they are doing what they are doing - but who cares?

Certainly not the "director" of that desaster nor the "screenwriter" - if you can even call them that.

When they shoot at each other, the winners always hit their targets in one shot from a hundred meters away, while their victims always run right into the line of fire without ducking, taking cover or even aiming at their targets.

But even when one side is only armed with some knives and the others with machine guns, the guys with the knives somehow win.

Then there is an old assassin who, despite his old age, beats up twenty youngsters.

He also manages to shoot through thick wooden doors with a handgun with a silencer (!) and hit his target right in the head without even being able to see it before.

Oh, yes and he also has his magic shotgun (with a silencer no less) he shoots people in the head without any misses from long distances.

Okay, it may help that his targets just stand there, don't take cover and do not manage to hit him once with their long range rifles and machine guns.

That way he manages to kill about 30 heavily armed, trained assassins at the end of the fourth episode.

And then, there is the crazy assassin girl.

She is just skin and bones but manages to take out groups of trained and armed assassins just with a little knife.

She also shoots people without ever missing from hundreds of meters away, just with some short range handguns and while walking towards them.

Okay, it also helps that these guys never think to duck or to shoot back.

There are also many scenes where she manages to sneak up on people on empty, football stadium sized grassfields, without them noticing it.

Or she just appears out of nowhere in some empty rooms.

Though she is that super-assassin at one time she gets stabbed and shot multiple times and then thrown down to certain death from a bridge.

But what do you know - she survives all of that somehow fresh and peachy! (Facepalm!)

How does that little girl manage to do all that, you may ask (apart from a really bad script and directing)?

Well her qualification is that "she is the daughter of an assassin" Ohhhh...facepalm!

The whole plotless show is just an endless repetition of tedious, boring and ridiculous fight scenes and shootouts.

Also, there isn't one interesting person you'd root for - they are all crazy and weird, but not in an entertaining Quentin-Tarantino- way, but more in a really obnoxious, annoying straight-to-streaming-services C-movie way.

When you have no good story to tell, just let people fight and shoot at each other, over and over and over again.

The worst K-show I have seen in a long time.