LAWLESS LAWYER (2018) was a fun, fast-paced, slick legal drama starring the amazing Lee Joon Gi (of Flower of Evil/ Scarlet Heart Reo fame). In this series, he is a cunning gangster lawyer, name Bong Sang-pil, out for justice for crimes committed against his mother during his childhood. Being a real life martial arts expert Lee Joon Gi shines in this often action-packed role. I personally really enjoyed the energy of this show, as the action and fight scenes really spiced up what might have become a slow or tedious legal drama.
Actress Seo Ye-ji was also interesting as the courageous moral lawyer Ha Jae-yi, who is paired with Bong Sang-pil. His cheery charisma mixed with her unwavering boldness made for a very entertaining pairing, as the two become unstoppable partners in Lawless Law Firm and eventually grow to deeper levels of understanding.
Ha Jae-yi was a very likable character for me, a strong female lead from the start-fighting discrimination in the legal systems where female lawyers aren't given the same respect. Instead of being a push over, her reactions are sometimes less thought-out but certainly relatable. She was one of those characters who reacted reasonably and often felt relatable. When she did, say, punch someone in the face...it felt justified. Otherwise, she had a lot of character depth and made for a great balance to the character of Bong Sang-pil.
While there were some predictable aspects of this series, the cast was really colorful and high energy, which is what honestly sold me on the show. Episode 2 drew me in and by episode 4 I was hooked...
The "villains" or baddies are believably bad, rather than 2D cutout bad guys. I do wish there had been more motives given, however, as to what drove them to do what they did. Money, fame, power, greed, I suppose. Either way, they were very vividly characterized, especially the gangster thug/Mayor Ahn Oh-joo. He was brilliantly casted/acted and was hugely entertaining to watch on screen. Judge Cha Moon Sook was convincingly devious in her role as well, and very hard to read. She was very subtle, cunning and made for a threatening foe. Nam Soon-ja was another interesting character, brilliantly acted. The way she flipped personalities made her another unpredictable variant among the many puzzle pieces. Overall the casting was great. There are just too many great actors and roles to name. And that's what made this show so watchable for me.
While some plot points are indeed a bit predictable, the series was very entertaining and well casted. It was quirky and had a lot of heart. It was a very fun watch and being a moderate Lee Joon Gi fan, I wanted to catch up on some of his lesser known series. This one was very enjoyable and exciting, though the show was missing something, hard to say what (no fault of the cast).
Besides his usual charismatic charms, Lee Joon Gi offered some really powerful emotional performances in this series as well. Some of those scenes packed a hard punch. As far as the romance, the main leads had great onscreen chemistry that felt natural and convincing. It was great to watch their relationship progress. It made for a fun, memorable experience and overall, it was a very decent and exciting show. Very underrated and worth a chance. No regrets.
STORY: 8/10
CINEMATOGRAPHY: 7/10
ART/DESIGN/VISUALS: 8/10
MUSIC: 7/10
OVERALL RATING: 9.5/10.
