A more or less faithtful adaption of BBC's "Luther" that makes no bold leaps.
Story: Although not as impacting as the original series "Luther", the main plot of "Less Than Evil" is an adaptation of BBC's hit that remains more or less faithful to the core elements, its main characters, and some of the stories and plot lines featured in "Luther" but altered to match the south Korean underworld. For new fans this will be an interesting experience, at least the first half, while for older fans who have watched all the seasons of "Luther" you are not going to be surprised by anything in particular.Acting/Cast: Special mention goes to Lee Seol for her portrayal of Eun Sun Jae even though she got much less screen time than the leading male actor which is one of the main flaws - in my point of view - of "Less Than Evil". Still every time she appears it becomes very clear that Lee Seol and her character are one of the main reasons why you should watch this show. Shin Ha Kyun's role as rough 'n' tough, no moral compass detective may edge around overacting but he, just as the support cast, were well picked for their roles and matched well the story there set in.
Music: "Less Than Evil" has a soundtrack that fits perfectly its procedural, crime world investigation while shifting to more sombre, soft tones during more emotional, heart wrenching scenes. The main song by BLACK NINE is really good.
Rewatch Value: Only the scenes involving Eun Sun Jae are worth revisiting, everything else amounts to run of the mill detective stories so nothing particularly memorable. The ending itself is left on a very vague note, which may imply a second season.
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This drama made 10 minutes feel like 3. It was so good! I loved it. It kept me very focused on the plot, and characters.
I appreciate how the psychopaths are represented, and how all the corruption is shown. It had a story with multiple points of separate "villains". Yet still kept a main large mystery throughout.
It's very cool to see how all the relationships & characters evolve. I had high hopes for this drama when I read the plot + the actors. I was in no way disappointed. Even the way they tied up everything in the end. Just 10/10!
Highly recommend it. I would rewatch it.. numerous times.
I kept my usual spoilers out of the review. Just so many little mysteries that just get revealed so well all throughout. It's like every box you open (episode watched) theres another box with more information and clues that leads to more and more. Hands down I love this show. Only found out later that its based on another TV Show called Luther. I will probably be biased towards this version though... so theres that.
Sara Rojas MARCH 6 2019
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Dissapointment!
Interesting premise but horrible execution. Unfortunately it ended up being disappointing especially with how they handled both leads' characters. Aside from the main story, the side cases, investigations, and side villains all were mediocre anyway. The team doesn't matter, they were rarely shown, they had no existing persona, everything was led by and from the perspective of Tae Seok and they don't have any meaningful contribution even for the small cases. Which is why you can't consider this drama as one of those team investigation ones. Dare I say the drama was "less than average"!Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Started to watch the series cause I needed some dark themed action-filled crime drama cannot say that I did not get what I've wanted. I love stories about serial killers both fictive and real ones so I had expected that this series would fit me quite well and it did. The soundtrack could highten or lower the impact a series can give me and I was very satisfied with this OST, it matched the series well and I could listen to Son Seung Yeon's song on and on. One of the serial killers in this series particularly made me feel amazed (bank teller). The revenge plot only added to the series. Still I cannot say that this series became one of my favourites of all times simply because the story wasn't so exceptional and I would've loved to see more of the crime squad member's personal life not just the main character's. Detective JCM's character was missing its behind story, it felt like he was abandoned by the writer. It would have been great if det. Woo would've been a little more vicious at times after all he is supposed to be the "real bad cop". My favourite scene was the one when JHM fell and I expected him to die on impact but he seemed like he had supernatural powers and risen from the dead too many times. I can understand that his presence was much needed to continue with the plot but still enough is enough, he was like a damn phoenix and the shows effect of credibility suffered because of his repeated revivals. I did not watch Luther nor I intend to do so so I could not compare the two series.
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