Rating: 7/10
Genre: revenge,
thriller, melodrama, romance, mystery
The Cast:
Kim Nam Gil as Han Yi Soo/Kim Joon
Son Ye Jin as Jo Hae Woo
Ha Suk Jin as Oh Joon Young
Honey Lee as Sec.Jang
Nam Bo Ra as Han Yi Hyun
Lee Si Yeon as Kim Dong Soo
The Plot:
A man
comes back to Korea to fulfill his revenge mission against his lover’s family.
He covers his real identity in order to unravel the mystery surrounding his
father’s death and many unknown deaths. Then he uses his former lover who now
torn between past first love and present husband to bring down his sworn enemy.
Review:
 |
| Kim Nam Gil |
Shark is revenge thriller melodrama by
writer/director duo Kim Ji-woo and Park Chan-hong (the minds behind Resurrection and The Devil). It was also Kim Nam
Gil’s army comeback project so many people anticipate it. The drama however
didn’t live up to the expectations and the ending sealed the deal as
disappointed drama. This drama also has many allegories in form of shark and
Chagall’s painting “Orpheus”. The shark fish symbolizes that life must goes one
as shark has to keep moving in order to live. The “Orpheus” painting features
in some scene to remind us that this is a story between man and woman that
cannot be together. The painting depicting the sad myth of Orpheus where he
travels to the underworld to save his wife, only to lose her in the end because
he looks back before they’ve both reached the upper world.
The
first few episodes are good, gripping and balanced. They provide background
story to romance and the revenge mission. The childhood story is tragic and one
can only hope their life wouldn’t be as bad as Yi Soo. He was poor and his
father was merely a driver in Jo Family where he met his lover, Hae Woo. Then,
someday his father framed as hit and run driver only to murdered days after. As
Yi Soo tried to unravel the secrets behind his father’s murder, he was hit by
truck. Severely damaged Yi Soo had to get reconstruction surgery that changes
his face and his physique gets tainted. As convenient as any other dramas, Yi
Soo just happens to be CEO of Giant Hotel, rival of Jo Hae Woo’s family hotel
and Jo Hae Woo just happens to be prosecutor in charge of some mystery murders.
The secondary characters are nice and sometimes provide comic relief and happy
moments in an otherwise bleak and depressing drama. The story between Han Yi
Hyun, Yi Soo’s younger sister and Kim Soo Hyun is even interesting and
memorable. The main romance is depressing as ever as Hae Woo already has
husband but still play fire with Yi Soo, leaving husband, Joon Young, the
loneliest man all the time. Their romance is passionate made by promises and
kisses but you can’t help but feel sympathy to Joon Young that left out and
clueless most of the time
As the story moves the drama little by little
unravel the mysteries all thanks to Prosecutor Jo-Detective Byun combo and some
random professor in charge of explaining the history of Korea and the
connection with evil mastermind, Granddaddy/Chairman Jo. If there’s one thing
this drama does well it is the creation of the evil character,
Granddaddy/Chairman Jo, Hae Woo’s grandfather and Chairman of Gaya Hotel. He is
truly terrifying and beyond redemption. In early episodes he seems nice and
even Hae Woo cannot believe his Granddaddy would do many evil things. But
towards the end more and more horrendous stories came up and truly justify
Grandaddy Jo position as the evil of all evil.
What totally kills the drama is of
course the ending. The ending maybe the most WTF ending in K-drama history and
really makes me want to forget this drama. Warning!! Spoiler!! So in the end
the hero died with no solid reason why he must die in the closing stage of this
drama. Even when he cannot be with his lover (because she has husband) doesn’t
mean he must die. What makes me mad and angry, he died because of Evil Chairman
who only get prison sentence and still smile in the end. What a way to anger
the viewer who from day 1 roots for the hero to destroy the villain. The
villain doesn’t feel any remorse or even apologize and he still dares to kill
the hero!! End of spoiler. The revenge mission seems moot and at some point you
just want the hero to forget the revenge and live happily with his sister.
 |
| Ha Suk Jin |
It also wastes Ha Suk Jin’s talent
as Oh Joon Young. Most of the time he just seems sad, confused, depressed,
unable to get Hae Woo’s attention. He is clueless and only knows the bigger
picture when everyone in their family already knows. He is supportive, kind,
nice husband and good cook but he just can’t get Hae Woo’s love. Even his own
father only confess to him when it’s too little too late. Poor Joon
Young!! To conclude this drama also
solidifies Kim Nam Gil’s position as “Nation’s Corpse” as he almost always die
in every project he’s in. Poor Kim Nam Gil!!
Life Lessons:
1. Never watch Kim Nam Gil’s drama/film before it
finished just to know the ending. It is painful and depressing to see your hero
die in the end.
2.
Never seek revenge to anyone, especially the one
that higher than you and the one that close to your lover. Your revenge either
fails miserably because your opponent has so much power he can destroy you or
your love distract your revenge mission.
