Mickey
This review may contain spoilers
Watch it not for the story, but for its perfectly-amplified tension
Kang In-gu (Ha Jeong-woo) is a simple father who just want to provide the best for his family by doing business abroad. Jeon Yo-han (Hwang Ju-min) is a pastor, who at a first glance, seems to be passionate in delivering the word of God, is actually masquerading not only as a drug lord, but is THE drug lord of Suriname. Choi Chang-ho (Park Hae-soo) is a law enforcement agent who wants to catch the pastor and end specific drug cartel before it enters the Korean market. The three main characters reflect the different facets that were emphasized in this series: money, drugs, and justice, respectively.
After becoming familiar with the backstory of the main characters particularly with In-gu, I was intrigued with how this will pan out in terms of who he would side with at the end. Also, with Chang-ho's stoic character, I was anxious whether he was an ally or another Pastor Jeon. The intensity of having to wait the definite morality of these characters is what made me hooked on the first 2 episodes. Narco-Saints tries to convey that money is really hard to resist as well as the drug (cocaine) business itself, which Pastor Jeon even described as "natural blessing from God."
The plot itself was not really deep and at times, predictable even with the twists. Emphasis on the drug, guns, action, and betrayals though was spontaneous and executed well for the most part. Since this was encapsulated into just 6 episodes (which I think is Netflix standard) suspense and thrill on every character's actions and their next steps towards closing the "deal" were most commonly felt. The action scenes were intense and gripping. Most importantly and I think is this show's highlight, the tension was high all throughout which was amplified more during the last three episodes. It was perfect in that sense and is the main reason I just can't stop watching on the screen.
The production quality was great in that I only found later on that this was actually filmed in Dominican Republic instead of Suriname itself. Imagine the attention to detail given in making the location believable, especially when both countries speak different languages. I was amazed by that fact. Even with the obvious CGI (helicopters, fighting jets), it wasn't really distracting. The color grading though, is very typical in genres like this. One gripe would be the transition between the fight scenes which was passable at best, shaky at worst.
I thought that it would also have an open ending (which unfortunately is now becoming a Netflix Korea trend), but I appreciated that the main story was aptly closed. However, the side plot on the cult part with the other members "trapped" inside it was just forgotten after a build up on episode 3? What happened to the little girl who went to In-gu for help? How about the other members of the church/cult who remained? What happened next to the lady deacon?
Also perhaps an unpopular opinion but I wasn't really able to follow the English conversations with Ha Jung-woo and Hwang Jung-min. At first, I had to increase volume to maximum to hear them, but still wasn't able to fully understand. Had to rely to context clues on specific conversations where they spoke in English. To be fair, English is quite difficult for a native Korean speaker to even learn, and them speaking it despite the "difficulty" speaks their passion and love for their craft. Personally, I ought not judge because English is also not my first language. My suggestion would be for Netflix (or any other streaming platform) to still put English subtitles for English dialogues in the future.
Overall, a seemingly passable action series that was really carried by the characters and their individual goals. I really liked that the main story ended without cliffhangers, yet questions about some aspects of the plot weren't answered (for me, not a reason for a season 2.) Watch it not for the story, but for its perfectly-amplified tension.
P.S. I did a background check on the story which inspired this series, and it was actually more dangerous and even dramatic with what was shown, at least for the real person where In-gu was based on. I suggest you do the same, and do some comparisons between the drama and the real-life event.
After becoming familiar with the backstory of the main characters particularly with In-gu, I was intrigued with how this will pan out in terms of who he would side with at the end. Also, with Chang-ho's stoic character, I was anxious whether he was an ally or another Pastor Jeon. The intensity of having to wait the definite morality of these characters is what made me hooked on the first 2 episodes. Narco-Saints tries to convey that money is really hard to resist as well as the drug (cocaine) business itself, which Pastor Jeon even described as "natural blessing from God."
The plot itself was not really deep and at times, predictable even with the twists. Emphasis on the drug, guns, action, and betrayals though was spontaneous and executed well for the most part. Since this was encapsulated into just 6 episodes (which I think is Netflix standard) suspense and thrill on every character's actions and their next steps towards closing the "deal" were most commonly felt. The action scenes were intense and gripping. Most importantly and I think is this show's highlight, the tension was high all throughout which was amplified more during the last three episodes. It was perfect in that sense and is the main reason I just can't stop watching on the screen.
The production quality was great in that I only found later on that this was actually filmed in Dominican Republic instead of Suriname itself. Imagine the attention to detail given in making the location believable, especially when both countries speak different languages. I was amazed by that fact. Even with the obvious CGI (helicopters, fighting jets), it wasn't really distracting. The color grading though, is very typical in genres like this. One gripe would be the transition between the fight scenes which was passable at best, shaky at worst.
I thought that it would also have an open ending (which unfortunately is now becoming a Netflix Korea trend), but I appreciated that the main story was aptly closed. However, the side plot on the cult part with the other members "trapped" inside it was just forgotten after a build up on episode 3? What happened to the little girl who went to In-gu for help? How about the other members of the church/cult who remained? What happened next to the lady deacon?
Also perhaps an unpopular opinion but I wasn't really able to follow the English conversations with Ha Jung-woo and Hwang Jung-min. At first, I had to increase volume to maximum to hear them, but still wasn't able to fully understand. Had to rely to context clues on specific conversations where they spoke in English. To be fair, English is quite difficult for a native Korean speaker to even learn, and them speaking it despite the "difficulty" speaks their passion and love for their craft. Personally, I ought not judge because English is also not my first language. My suggestion would be for Netflix (or any other streaming platform) to still put English subtitles for English dialogues in the future.
Overall, a seemingly passable action series that was really carried by the characters and their individual goals. I really liked that the main story ended without cliffhangers, yet questions about some aspects of the plot weren't answered (for me, not a reason for a season 2.) Watch it not for the story, but for its perfectly-amplified tension.
P.S. I did a background check on the story which inspired this series, and it was actually more dangerous and even dramatic with what was shown, at least for the real person where In-gu was based on. I suggest you do the same, and do some comparisons between the drama and the real-life event.
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