This review may contain spoilers
A good drama with an interesting concept but with some downfalls
I was REALLY excited to watch The Devil Judge mainly for the cast because all actors are really good and as expected I don't have complains about this. Every actor did an amazing job here! Jinyoung was really good and he definitely proved that he's one of the best idol actors out there (although he isn't an idol anymore), but Jisung and Min Jung are really the best thing here. Jisung as always portrayed the character PERFECTLY, we can always trust him in acting, and Min Jung was fenomenal too. The way her character is sassy and evil but at the same time she's always classy and calm is *chef kiss*. Jang Young Nam as the justice minister was really good too! As I said I think everyone did a good job here so the best thing about this drama for me is definitely the cast and the good acting.
Among the characters in the drama the most interesting ones were certainly Yohan and Sun Ah. They both did what they wanted and even manipulated certain things but with completely different intentions, as Sun Ah did everything for money. I really enjoyed the interaction of both characters and for me they were the main point to move the story and make the viewer like the drama and want to watch it more. Many may think that Sun Ah`s suicide scene was random but I believe it was the only option for a character who would rather die than seeing that everything she had conquered was for nothing. The justice minister was also an interesting character who captivated me throughout the drama. Unfortunately for me, the other characters were not as interesting as these 3. Despite understanding Gaon and knowing that it was necessary to have an honest character among the corrupt ones, Ga On is quite irritating in the drama and takes extremely stupid attitudes for a lawyer. Ga On`s friend and police officer was nice at first but her attitudes also start to bother me in the drama and I honestly didn't feel her death so much. Sun Ah`s poppets were also extremely annoying and very caricatured characters, they didn't show anything new except that old "I`m evil, I don't have remorse and I just care about money" story.
About the plot, I think that The Devil Judge have a really interesting concept. The dystopian world and how the judgments were showed to the entire population was very interesting. Sure, some punishments may have felt forced but we're talking about a dystopian world so in the narrative it makes sense. The different perspectives of Yohan and Ga On were also interesting as we have Yohan, who thinks that following the law correctly does not matter because power and money always prevail and we have evil people everywhere, and Gaon, who is a honest and naive lawyer and he still believes that following the law correctly is above everything. It is interesting that both perspectives, although different, are correct and can be applied in today's world. (altought as I said before, Ga On was a character that bothered me a lot). Other think I liked was that even though those corrupt politicians left the power, the system was still not destroyed and we still have corrupted politicians because we will always have evil people everywhere, for me this part was really realistic. Yohan being considered a god to the society was REALLY interesting as well because it shows how the society can be really blind by the ministry. However I cannot say the plot was well made in the entire drama. We had some scenes which seemed forced and things miraculously worked out, especially in the final episode. I began to lose focus on the drama and the plot seemed no longer as interesting as before, I was only watching for the good acting and Yohan and Sun Ah, but I believe that the irritating attitudes of the other characters may have contributed to this.
Talking now about the last episode, I didn’t really liked, it was almost like an open ending. Both Yohan and Ga On did a lot of things together in the drama and even tho they fought in almost all scenes the plot kind showed us a “bromance” going on between them. But the ending was too “meh” and Yohan walking away looked like he was saying “yep we did what we had to do and that’s it goodbye”. I don’t know I little expected more for characters that had such connection in the drama. Besides that, the final episode did not please me very much as I thought it was quite exaggerated and the scene of Yohan faking his death and then miraculously appearing to save Ga On was kind forced. The courtroom scene where the villains pull each other out to try to leave and then Sun Ah shoots the president was also a bit over the top for me (although I screamed a lot because Sun Ah was a legendary character until the end). The final scene between Yohan and Ga On was kind meh too, I expected a little more.
Overall The Devil Judge has an interesting concept and definitely keeps the viewer stuck. It's not perfect for me because I think the drama lost a bit of quality in some episodes mainly because the characters attitude bothered me a lot and some things seemed forced in the script, but for sure this is a drama that I enjoyed watching and I recommend.
PS: the direction scenes and OST were amazing too, for sure one of the best things in this drama!
Among the characters in the drama the most interesting ones were certainly Yohan and Sun Ah. They both did what they wanted and even manipulated certain things but with completely different intentions, as Sun Ah did everything for money. I really enjoyed the interaction of both characters and for me they were the main point to move the story and make the viewer like the drama and want to watch it more. Many may think that Sun Ah`s suicide scene was random but I believe it was the only option for a character who would rather die than seeing that everything she had conquered was for nothing. The justice minister was also an interesting character who captivated me throughout the drama. Unfortunately for me, the other characters were not as interesting as these 3. Despite understanding Gaon and knowing that it was necessary to have an honest character among the corrupt ones, Ga On is quite irritating in the drama and takes extremely stupid attitudes for a lawyer. Ga On`s friend and police officer was nice at first but her attitudes also start to bother me in the drama and I honestly didn't feel her death so much. Sun Ah`s poppets were also extremely annoying and very caricatured characters, they didn't show anything new except that old "I`m evil, I don't have remorse and I just care about money" story.
About the plot, I think that The Devil Judge have a really interesting concept. The dystopian world and how the judgments were showed to the entire population was very interesting. Sure, some punishments may have felt forced but we're talking about a dystopian world so in the narrative it makes sense. The different perspectives of Yohan and Ga On were also interesting as we have Yohan, who thinks that following the law correctly does not matter because power and money always prevail and we have evil people everywhere, and Gaon, who is a honest and naive lawyer and he still believes that following the law correctly is above everything. It is interesting that both perspectives, although different, are correct and can be applied in today's world. (altought as I said before, Ga On was a character that bothered me a lot). Other think I liked was that even though those corrupt politicians left the power, the system was still not destroyed and we still have corrupted politicians because we will always have evil people everywhere, for me this part was really realistic. Yohan being considered a god to the society was REALLY interesting as well because it shows how the society can be really blind by the ministry. However I cannot say the plot was well made in the entire drama. We had some scenes which seemed forced and things miraculously worked out, especially in the final episode. I began to lose focus on the drama and the plot seemed no longer as interesting as before, I was only watching for the good acting and Yohan and Sun Ah, but I believe that the irritating attitudes of the other characters may have contributed to this.
Talking now about the last episode, I didn’t really liked, it was almost like an open ending. Both Yohan and Ga On did a lot of things together in the drama and even tho they fought in almost all scenes the plot kind showed us a “bromance” going on between them. But the ending was too “meh” and Yohan walking away looked like he was saying “yep we did what we had to do and that’s it goodbye”. I don’t know I little expected more for characters that had such connection in the drama. Besides that, the final episode did not please me very much as I thought it was quite exaggerated and the scene of Yohan faking his death and then miraculously appearing to save Ga On was kind forced. The courtroom scene where the villains pull each other out to try to leave and then Sun Ah shoots the president was also a bit over the top for me (although I screamed a lot because Sun Ah was a legendary character until the end). The final scene between Yohan and Ga On was kind meh too, I expected a little more.
Overall The Devil Judge has an interesting concept and definitely keeps the viewer stuck. It's not perfect for me because I think the drama lost a bit of quality in some episodes mainly because the characters attitude bothered me a lot and some things seemed forced in the script, but for sure this is a drama that I enjoyed watching and I recommend.
PS: the direction scenes and OST were amazing too, for sure one of the best things in this drama!
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