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The Gangster, the Cop and the Devil korean drama review
Completed
The Gangster, the Cop and the Devil
0 people found this review helpful
by Sarann55
Mar 8, 2021
Completed
Overall 7.0
Story 7.0
Acting/Cast 9.5
Music 6.0
Rewatch Value 5.0
This review may contain spoilers

Watch this for the acting and - some of - the story and direction

Enjoyable serial killer chase, with a novel (to me) factor of alliance between (semi-rogue) police officer and gangster.
Plenty of violence, but none of it overly graphic
Well enough written though there is no writer named here, well directed
I enjoyed this : its strongest point are the acting and character work
I find car chases, and chases through random areas rather boring, and of course quite few screen minutes were devoted to these, which I disliked. I also found some of the fight scenes pointless and time-wasting. FF was well used for those.
Some of the plot devices - even though I may not have seen them before in quite this form - felt hackneyed and fake. The internal conflict between police officers suggests (if realistic) that the Korean police system is both flawed and undisciplined. That these were breaking out into fist fights ... well, that felt very artificial and simply like a device to make the film longer without adding any value.
Much more could have been made of forensic investigation, with proper work conducted on the various lairs. and crime scenes. The techniques and lab work didn't need to be shown on screen, but the absence of any such investigation made this drama even shallower
There is no explanation on how the police and prosecution service dealt with the rules of evidence to initially justify retaining the killer, and secondly secure a conviction. Even though the conviction was based almost entirely on the witness statement in court, there were valid arguments to challenge the ID, and that he actually stabbed the witness. No such defence was offered.
So, while enjoyable, the plotting was too shallow for my liking, and leaves the drama less satisfying than it could have been if, say, most of the chase scenes were replaced by evidence, reason and argument.
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