O Voto de Morte

This is a propulsive, superior Korean thriller about the impact of when justice turning into vengence. It's violent, distrubing at times, but always compelling and thought provoding.

Presenting Korean Justice system as corrupt, manipulated, the story uses todays technology (somewhat exaggerated for effect) as providing a solution that offers vegence as an answer to satisfy the grief/anger of the victims family.

Performances are excellent, quite believable; the storyline will keep you guessing, seconf guessing and even shock. The thrill ride makes it quite entertaining, up to and including the ending, and subsequent prologue/ that sets up what could come next.

What makes it better than most justice/Vengence thrillers (The Devil Judge is in my mind superior) is it doesn't shy aay of the consequences of seeking venegence.

Its a superior thriller, very well made and very entertaining.

What is happening to Korean dramas? It's certainly not the sole responsibility of Netflix as some people think, because kdramas are now more evenly spread over multiple streaming platforms. This show is listed as a drama and a thriller on IMDb, yet some of the performances are bordering on comedic. I get you can't have intensity every minute, but the lighter moments of this show are quite awkward at best and seem very misplaced contextually.

The premise is decent. People who allegedly got away with heinous crimes when judged by the legal system are now being judged by the public. A masked person called "Dog Mask" selects a 'criminal', opens up the voting to the public, and if over 50% feel the 'criminal' needs to be punished, that person is murdered.

Most of the actors are fine in their roles. I know they are limited to the script as written and are guided by a director. The delivery of the dialogue and the accompanying physicality through gestures and movement, however, are usually left to the discretion of the actor.

One person is particular is taking me out of the story in nearly every scene she's in. It's Lim Ji Yeon, who I recognize as the evil sadist from The Glory. In that production, her performance was oftentimes way over the top. I mean, seriously over the top. I chalked it up to her interpretation of the character. But I do recall noting at the time that the performance was almost a caricature. It was difficult to watch her. She just didn't ring true to me. Now she's back in The Killing Vote and once again the physical gestures and the maniacal acting out is far too much for me.

I'm going to try to stick with The Killing Vote, but with the amateurish comedy which never lands as it should, and the lack of talent in some of the performers, I can't promise I'll finish all 12 episodes. I may just read recaps. 2023 hasn't been a banner year for Korean cinematic endeavors. Let's hope in 2024 we return to the high standards we've come to expect.

****Edit. After watching episode 6, I must acknowledge they do a very good job of ratcheting up the tension and most of the cast with the exception of Lim Ji Yeon is excellent. The story seems to have found its rhythm, but we have many episodes left.

This show has been my insomnia fuel for the past week so I'll say at the very least it's entertaining. However, between the poorly written women characters and predictable ending, it doesn't have any replay value. Do I regret my time watching it? Not at all. Would I watch it again? Absolutely not.

There was clearly a lot of money put into this production, but it seems like the writing got the least amount of the budget. There's some serious plot holes and suspending my judgment doesn't change that. The last 4 episodes feel like a different show than the first 8 episodes which would be cool if it was intentional. It wasn't though, and it seemed as though the suspense they built was for nothing. Overall, it was just OK.

The killing vote starts from a very clever premise: the justice system is corrupt and inefficient, the people's justice will find and punish devils deemed innocent. Sometimes the story drags too much, some of the dialogue is forced, but the drama is there, some of the actors are really outstanding, and the others are good. There are many twists and turns, many of which are simply brilliant, while others were unnecessary. But overall, it is a series that will make you want to watch it to the end as the story progresses.

I disagree with the reviews of those who criticize the moments of levity in the series. These moments are well contextualized with the characters. You will never see the "professor" (the most dramatic character in the series) laughing, just as you will never see the antagonists making jokes. The series also lends itself to interesting philosophical debates on justice, the writers have done their homework in that Cesare Beccaria is also quoted in the series, and several references to modern digital rights.

The weak point of the series is the ending, but I can understand the decision of the writers to keep things a little open to propose a second season. I strongly suggest watching it in the original language with subtitles; the Korean language is very expressive, so watching it dubbed would kill much of the acting.

The show is absolutely glorious. I wanted to wait until I have watched the full 12 episodes before i write a review. You know, it can go very bad even if the first couple episodes were great. This is not the case here. The show had me glued to the screen episode after episode. The story unfolded as more angles and details are introduced - but in a well thought out manner, unlike many American shows at the moment. The performance of Kwon Kim was outstanding to me. Very memorable. There is little for me left to be desired in the series. Recent shows like this and The Vigilante are more than one step ahead of recent American tv series. The quality here is on another level.