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red_string_of_fate

United Kingdom

red_string_of_fate

United Kingdom
Lawless Lawyer korean drama review
Completed
Lawless Lawyer
63 people found this review helpful
by red_string_of_fate
Jul 2, 2018
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed 10
Overall 7.5
Story 8.0
Acting/Cast 8.0
Music 5.0
Rewatch Value 5.0
This will probably be an unpopular opinion so brace yourself.

I can probably guess that most of the viewers of this drama will be major fans of Lee Joon Gi since his popularity seemed to skyrocket after Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo. However for me, I was still trying to find a drama I liked that had Lee Joon Gi as a lead. Don't get me wrong, Lee Joon Gi is a talented actor, but I dropped Scarlet Heart half way through as it just wasn't entertaining enough for me and other dramas such as Arang and the Magistrate were lackluster at best.

Lawless Lawyer was alright. That's the only word I can think of that sums up the drama for me.
The acting was obviously the strongest aspect of the drama. Lee Joon Gi (Bong Sang Pil) had some very intense scenes which is the character arc that suites him best in my opinion, going off the rails and being full to the brim with the need for revenge seems to suite him. Although, I found that the cute, cool dude act that he put on for some of the scenes just didn't sit right with me, to be honest, they made me cringe.
Seo Ye Ji (Ha Jae Yi) is one of the strongest female leads I have ever seen in a drama. I loved her character. She was not afraid to stand up and speak up for what she believed to be right and she batted away all those sexist remarks like a pro baseball player. Unfortunately, I found that her fighting spirit died down a little towards the end, she did still make decisions for herself, but they weren't as well thought out as they had been previously, leading to irritating plot lines.
Lee Hye Young (Cha Moon Sook) played a fantastic villain. She always had the upper hand, unbeknownst to the characters and sometime even the audience. Strong female characters are what I live for and she was the cherry on the cake for me. My only complaint with her was the ending she received but I'll talk about that once I get to the plot.
Choi Min Soo (Ahn Oh Joo). I'm sorry but I hated every second he was on screen. I am aware that if an actor playing a villain makes you hate them, then that probably means they are a good actor. In this drama, I really do not believe that was the case. The way he portrayed his character, with the exaggerated voice and the forced mannerism where he licks the inside of his cheek just distracted me. His acting did not feel natural for me and if it doesn't feel natural, you are reminded that you are watching a drama and that's not what I want.
The other side characters were decent. The one that stood out to me the most was Baek Joo Hee (Noh Hyun Joo). The desperation and fear that she portrayed was outstanding, very well acted.

Now the plot was interesting in the beginning because in the first half of the drama all the information is given to us so we know all the details of the case and who is more likely to win. After the audience knows everything, the drama goes downhill. The second half of the drama is just picking one detail of the case and manipulating it, forging evidence or making up a witness.
The ending felt very rushed as everything was tied together in a pretty messy bow in just one episode. The writers had built up the villain to be extremely powerful but the bullets that shot them down felt like they were made of rubber. I felt the evidence was given in a very vague way that wasn't satisfying enough for the audience who were, by now, seething with rage at the immense influence that the villain held.
To be honest I almost forgot about the romance. It wasn't really necessary. Any "cute" moments they had were set up in a way to promote any of the sponsors that the drama had. Most important of all, I didn't feel the chemistry. I think it would have been better if Bong Sang Pil and Ha Jae Yi were brother and sister that were separated at the origin of revenge. The drama would have benefited from completely replacing the romance arc with a sibling one, that way they wouldn't have to dedicate time, that they don't have, to building chemistry between the leads.

None of the music stood out to me at all.

No, I wouldn't watch it again. It was an alright drama, that's pretty much it. After 16 episodes I'm unfortunately still waiting for a Lee Joon Gi drama that I am wholeheartedly obsessed with. I'm so excited for that drama to come, whenever that may be.

Well done if you've read all of this, I just finished it so I needed to get all of it off my chest.

Thanks for reading!
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