Bad Guys

Bad Guys

7/10

Bad Guys

Genre: Episodes: 11 Year: 2014

Mystery

Thriller

Synopsis:

After a criminal murders his son, the Police Commissioner forms a specially selected team of criminals whose task is to track down and capture the criminals that the police cannot find. The team is made up of Park Woong Chul- a mob boss, Jung Tae Soo- a contract killer, Lee Jung Moon- a psychopathic serial killer, and is lead by Oh Goo Tak- a police officer who was suspended from the force after the murder of his daughter made him lose control. Inspector Yoo Mi Young is tasked with keeping the team under control.

Cast:

Kim Sang Joong (Oh Goo Tak)

Ma Dong Seok (Park Woong Chul)

Jo Dong Hyuk (Jung Tae Soo)

Park Hae Jin (Lee Jung Moon)

Kang Ye Won (Yoo Mi Young)

Jang Shin Il (Nam Goo Hyun)

Kim Tae Hoon (Oh Jae Won)

General Thoughts:

It’s a nice dark drama that’s not too dark. It has all the anger and pain of a much darker story, but manages to balance it well with a sprinkle of humour. I never found myself really and truly falling in love with the drama as a whole, but the characters were enough to snag me.

Everyone loves a bad boy...or three

I expected to love Park Hae Jin as the cold psychopathic murderer (I think he’s fabulous in anything), but I wasn’t expecting to fall so hard for the hitman Tae Soo. Jo Dong Hyuk nailed it as the contact killer with a conscience and I just adored every aspect of his character.

A badass fighter with perfect eyebrows- what more could a girl want?

He felt dark and mysterious (as all bad boys should), but also had a heavy, easily wounded heart and a lady love he’d leave his bad ways behind for (again, as all bad boys should). Tae Soo was slick, skilled and cool, and Jo Dong Hyuk became the character 100%. Similarly, Ma Dong Seok felt like he and his character Woong Chul were one and the same. I adored him in ‘Train to Busan’ as the zombie-punching strongman and I adored him in this as the people-punching gangster. Honestly and truly, no one does likeable tough men quite like Ma Dong Seok. I loved Park Hae Jin more for Park Hae Jin and less for his character, who I always thought could stand to be a bit creepier. Park Hae Jin acted him well, and when he was creepy he was chillingly scary- but there weren’t really enough of those moments. It was as though the writers didn’t want to make it too hard to turn the character around at the end, so they skimped out on Jung Moon’s over-all bad guy vibe. Kim Sang Joon acted the part of the hero (was he though?) Goo Tak to perfection. His expressions, tone and movements were all so in tune with Goo Tak that he felt like a living, breathing being in the way the other bad guys didn’t (they felt more like storybook characters).

As with any origins story, it started with the death of a family member

The writing and acting really came together in the character Goo Tak- he never came across feeling like a made-up hero the way the other boys sometimes did, and Goo Tak’s loss of morality and slip-ups made him feel distinctly flawed and human. Unfortunately, as real as Goo Tak felt, I can’t say that I warmed up to him much.

Tae Soo and Woong Chul's rapport was probably my favourite thing

My heart was stolen by the loveable, much less realistic prison-boys, and that didn’t leave a lot of love for Goo Tak- particularly when he went against the other three. I liked that each of the guys felt different and had their own story to tell. Their differences were always shown well, particularly in fight scenes- Woong Chul just used pure power, Tae Soo used agility and skill, and Jung Moon just kind of made it up as he went. As well as their fighting styles, their personalities all felt unique and distinctive as well. As for the story, I will admit that I didn’t always feel like I was making sense of it in the way that I should have been. I had most of the big issues figured out pretty early, such as Jung Moon not being a murderer (I’ve only seen one drama where a guy who’s killed 15+ people is painted in an even slightly positive light), and Prosecutor Oh being the Big Bad (I’ve just become used to seeing Kim Tae Hoon as a villain, and that character felt way too slimy). While the smaller cases were interesting, sometimes they did feel a bit like filler while we waited until we were deep enough in the story to get the the final villain. I wish that Prosecutor Oh had been a bit more proactive throughout the whole show, as it kind of reduced his scare factor.

I mean, he's creepy and well crazy but I feel like our bad guys can take him without breaking a sweat

Team Bad Guys never felt like it was in any real danger from an external force- it was more likely that they’d kill each other first. Internal struggle can have its merits, but in a show such as this, I do think the overall villain needed to be a bit more…well…villainous. I always prefer conflicts that are solidly based in the present, and let’s be real- dude ain’t murdered anyone in 2 years (until ep 15). In a similar vein, it also meant that I didn’t really feel what the end goal was of this drama. Like, clearly it’s about clearing Jung Moon’s name (cuz he obvs didn’t kill no peeps), but the idea of that is brought in a touch late to be THE main plot line.

So Jung Moon never killed anyone, but is he still a psychopath or was that a lie too?

What Was Great:

The Darkness:

Visually, I really loved how gritty and dark the show looked. The extreme contrasts in the cinematography really set this drama apart from others. As well as having a unique story line, having such uncommon visuals really made the drama stand out. The drama played really well with light and shadow, and incorporated that into the mystery of the actual story.

The visuals are certainly attention grabbing

The silhouette shots were not only super cool, but further enforced the not-everything-is-as-it-seems tone of the series. The happy flashbacks for all the characters were lighter and less contrasting scenes, and often had more colour than just the various shades of dark that the present day scenes had. It was a subtle way to maximise the impact of our characters’ pasts and exactly how much an event or events have weighed on these men and just how much they have changed.

Bad Guys:

The three prison boys were all delightful. You’d think that you wouldn’t like them much because they’re, y’know, bad guys, but it’s enjoyable to watch their stories unfold.

Bad boys, bad boys

Their backgrounds are revealed in ways that show their mistakes and vulnerabilities, so it’s hard to not like them. Of course it helps that none of the main guys are really all that bad. Sure, contract killing isn’t great, but even the hired hitman knew that kidnapping and harvesting organs was just evil and wrong. The whole idea of these three characters is quite a nice thought as well- they may have made some bad choices at one time or another, but it’s those bad choices that put them in a position to help people, and those who’ve never made bad choices wouldn’t be able to think and mobilise the way our bad guys do. The bonding moments between the three criminals were always pretty sweet, and it was nice to see them draw together as a team- though a bit more teamwork and boy-bonding wouldn’t have gone astray.

What Wasn’t:

Pieces Missing:

I will admit that sometimes I found the story a little hard to follow. I’m not sure if it’s because some things just weren’t explained enough, or if the dialogue simply made less sense once it was translated. The show was absolutely ripe with doublespeak and that could make it hard to follow at times for me as a non-Korean speaker.

Half the time I had zero idea what in the hell the Commissioner was going on about

Like, are the dogs we’re talking about the police, our bad guys or the real bad guys? I’m lost. I’m not against doublespeak here and there but I do feel like the show had just too many metaphors and layered speeches and hidden meanings.

Guuuuurl wat u doin'?

I had no clue why Inspector Yoo decided to change sides from the Police Commissioner to Prosecutor Oh. I actually questioned her necessity in the story at all, but I suppose we can’t have a 100% male cast. Similarly, I struggled to understand what was going on with Goo Tak most of the time as well. While he was a simple guy who hated injustice and would do anything to bring criminals down he was easy to understand, but as time went on I found myself questioning his actions. It wasn’t so much his motive that confused me but more how he went about doing things. Like, if he was so sure that Jung Moon was his daughter’s murderer, why didn’t he kill him straight away as soon as the criminals were released for the first case? And if he didn’t 100% believe Jung Moon killed his daughter why did he suddenly snap and try to kill Jung Moon at every turn? Maybe it’s because I was so positive that Jung Moon wasn’t a murderer that Goo Tak came off as confusing and blinded, but he really sort of stopped making sense when the time came to focus on Jung Moon’s story.

Either shoot him or don't, but make up your mind

Like come on, if you’d made up a bunch of evidence to imprison the guy maaaaaybe while he was out of your way you could gather up some evidence that either supported or contradicted your ‘hunch’. Just sayin’.

All my years of TV and movie viewing tell me you're a big ol' red herring

The series sure didn’t go out of its way to make things clearer either. Sometimes we would see a scene one way, and then we’d see it again and something would have changed. Sometimes we saw things on screen that just flat out weren’t true (such as Jung Moon wiping down a murdered girl’s body when by the end it was clear he’d never done such a thing). It was like the drama was trying way too hard to make us second guess Jung Moon, and that itself pretty much assured me of his innocence. Would they really put so much time and effort into making Jung Moon look like the murderer if he really was the murderer? My previous experience with mystery-thrillers tells me no. 

Recommend?

Definitely. Probably not a drama for the lovers of rom-coms and not much else, but if you like a bit of action and a bit of an underdog tale it’s a great story. I think Korean audiences can probably get more out of it than non-Korean speaking viewers, but it’s enjoyable all the same.

Come at me Season 2