The acting was good and bad. As usual, the female cast was extremely weak and their characters lacking. I liked Mi Joo's story but Na Ra was really boring. She didn't have enough screen time either. From male cast, my favorite was Park Won Sang as Jong Goo, definitely my favorite character, he came alive on the screen and his story was the most interesting. Lee Bum Soo was great too but his character Heung Sam could have been more neurotic and special. He was kind of too ordinary. What comes to the main character Tae Ho, Joon Kye Sang was okay but Tae Ho was not that well written as a character. At first, he definitely was the main charter but later became dimmed by Heung Sam and Joon Go to the point I kind of stopped caring about him. He was too vague and at some point I wondered if he was working on a plan or if he was just turning bad and thinking about betraying everyone. I wish he was explained better in the story. He definitely changed and grew as a person, I enjoyed watching all the stages he went through but I really wish his character had been stronger.
Another one who really impressed me was Kim Hyung Kyu, he truly was a ruthless killing machine yet somewhere under all that cold surface he actually had a soul. I loved to watch him slightly change thanks to Tae Ho's influence. Somehow his character was really fascinating and also really well acted, I applause. Lee Chul Min made a good gangster too, he always looked like he had something on his mind and really stood out from all the rest. In the end, it seemed like he had learned something after all. I enjoyed watching his facial expressions.
I feel a bit conflicted about this drama. It was well executed and the plot was really polished. There was almost no repetition and everything was perfectly planned to the smallest detail. There were many interesting fighting scenes, the cinematography was good and the flashbacks were mostly different, they were like sneak peaks to the past displayed here and there to intrigue the viewer's interest. I was really amazed that for once they didn't display those same damn flashbacks again and again and again. The story was interesting even if there were slow moments, there wasn't much romance but I didn't miss it. Truthfully speaking, the chemistry was close to zero and I was glad there was more of plotting/gangster stuff. I guess, Last would have been a lot better if it was shorter and more compact, anyhow, it still became one of my favorite dramas.
I wish Tae Ho had been a better written character, I wish there had been more comradeship between him and his group of friends. I wish there had been some episodes about them bonding and I wish he had spent more time with them. I was left missing the friendship part, that part that I usually love about these kind of dramas. I also thing that Heung Sam trusted Tae Ho way too soon and too easy, but perhaps he was just too blinded by greed. After all, others warned him but he ignored.
But okay, this drama was a bit of distant, mellow, and somehow just really hard to approach. It's entertaining if you happen to love gangster stuff, plotting and scheming. And definitely this drama has a soul, it's very deep. There were no simply bad or good characters everyone had a reason to be what they were and that's what I really liked about Last. It makes you wonder about many things on a philosophical level. In fact, I guess the whole plot was not about Tae Ho but he was sort of thrown into a bigger picture and he was the driving force between the other characters like Heung Sam, Jong Goo and Mi Joo, their story was bittersweet and beautiful + it had that feel of the old dramas from 90's and early 2000, that bittersweet atmosphere which actually has the power to pull at your heartstrings. The title Last makes sense and I think it fits this drama PERFECTLY. Because when everyone else had numbers Tae Ho didn't. Why? He was the last one.
And the thing I liked the most about this show was that it didn't try to moralize or show what is right or what is wrong. Both Heung Sam and Te Ho only wanted to have their revenge but the point of the show was not to show that revenge is a bad thing, it only showed us how greed can destroy people. Who was once a good person could turn into a monster because of greed and one who was greedy in the beginning could turn into a human after abandoning that greed. Revenge, well that's all about the goal I guess. If greed is the driving force it could swallow and destroy you, if the goal is to save something precious then revenge could be the only thing that's worth to fight for.
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I loved this drama because it is about homeless people surviving in the streets and demonstrates how
anyone can be useful. But that's not all, because this drama also covers the following angles: revenge,
forbidden love, loyalty & betrayal, rags to riches, self reflection & self worth and death. The entire cast
was amazing. I gave this drama a 9 because of rewatch value & music. I do not usually rewatch dramas
and the music did not stand out to me. If it was not for those two categories, I would have given this
drama a 10. I highly recommend this drama because it was great and because it put a spotlight on the
homeless community. This drama also reminded me of John Wick 2 because they featured the
homeless and how useful they could be.
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Hobo gangsters!!!!! who even knew they existed. Might sound far fetched and too ridiculous for a good story but quite the opposite. Yes of course it has it's flaws but what drama doesn't. I mean homeless guys driving cars and living in a penthouse and maybe there wasn't any homeless women hanging around either that I saw. The story and acting far out weighed any shortcomings this drama had. I mean as for a gangster type feel. You better believe you felt it....no guns allowed, straight brawling oh and of course the occasional baseball bat and plywood. Really great movie directions, angles shots, everything was in its place. I honestly felt no dragging parts. Every scene had a purpose.
OST- totally loved it!!!! I know it's great when i look for it to put as my ring tone :)
actors who were at their best:
Yoon Kye Sang
Lee Bum So
Park Won Sang
oh and honorable mention definitely as preying mantis Kim Hyung Kyu
actually the whole cast was just great!
LAST is definitely first in my book to watch!
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The synopsis of the show doesn’t seem that impressive - in fact it’s probably to avoid giving too much away. Since everyone loves a good rise-and-fall story, it definitely draws us in. As you continue to watch the show, you will be rewarded by the writer’s skilful unpeeling of the story, layer by layer like an onion.
I’m greatly impressed by the combination of the writing and directing. The characters in the show all have deep and complex backstories and I’m utterly interested to find out more about each one of them. There is no character who is completely innocent; everyone has had their bite of the pie. Yes there is quite a lot of violence, but this story is not just about a battle of fists; there is also a great battle of wits at hand.
The show is vastly improved with a stellar cast. Each one of them put in excellent performances. I mean, how hard is it to ruin a great script?! Lee Bum Soo nails the portrayal of Kwak Heung Sam. At times I got confused - is he our villain or hero? At times I was cheering for him; other times, I hated his guts. Yoon Kye Sang also starts out as our presumed hero of the story, but along the way he takes a few somewhat villainous turns. I would say these two characters are the two anti-heroes of the story. And I love stories that don’t have heroes. It’s always the braver path for the storywriter to take.
The cast of supporting characters are all equally interesting, with the outstanding one being Park Won-sang, who plays Ryu, who has fascinating relationships with Kwak, Tae Ho, and Mi Joo.
This show wasn’t perfect; I have to mention that we didn’t get the full back story of some of the more fascinating side characters, whom I was genuinely interested in knowing more about. It’s a real pity because we were introduced to them as characters and I got excited to learn more but was deprived of the opportunity.
All in all, a very entertaining and thrilling watch.
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There is nothing pretty about this drama. It is dirty and probably smelly. There is action until the very last moment.
One thing to prepare for, at the end of this drama you will desperately want yourself a Mantis. You'll know what I mean after you've seen it.
Buckle up and enjoy the ride. It's worth it.
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This review may contain spoilers
First off, if I hear a Vienna Boys Choir song I will go mental. By golly they played the same song over and over in EVERY LAST EPISODE!!! I know in the story it held sentimental value but boy did they play it too much. I could only imagine how many times they played that song during the many takes they did.Now the story. I can't describe the plot because I couldn;t tell if it was strong or weak. I did get a sense of how the main character-Yoon Kye Sang was in the 15th episode. It was loosely portrayed in the beginning but throughout the series it just focused on him being homeless and befriending other homeless people and battling goons who abused their power to the weaker homeless people. I was upset because there was a part in the series where Kye Sang claimed he was going to take care of the worst top level goons and then that scenario faded as quickly as it came so I wonder what was the point of putting that in the series.
There were a few characters that I couldn't stand: Park Ye Jin. Her face was so botoxed that she couldn't even cry right. She looked pasty and too thin. Her annoying one expression through the whole series was nerve wrecking. I also couldn't stand Gu Jae Yi character. She was heartless to the end!
My favorite was Park Won Sang. I remembered him from several dramas and I loved him in every last one of those.
As I mentioned earlier about the plot, sometimes the main character's actions was wishy washy. I don't know if the writers wanted him to play a good guy or a bad guy so they just went for both and at one point I was glad he-well, I can't give away too much of the spoilers.
I liked the chemistry the cast had. It wasn't strong but it was good.
I don't know how I feel about the last episode. At one point they should've ended it but they extended it. I don't know if they needed to fill in some time so they just added another segment or they just wanted to add more to the end just because. Then there's that 'we've done all we could do so let's just end it here' kind of thing and it was over.
I would've dropped this but I dropped two other dramas and I needed something to fill my void until the regular NFL season starts. When it does, I will be putting my Korean dramas on the back burner until the NFL season ends. Maybe by then my drought will be over and I will be able to find better dramas to watch.
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Yoon Kye Sang has to be one of the most underrated actors. This is the second time that I have seen him since Beyond the Clouds and he just blew me away again with the intensity of his performance. Just Outstanding. As for Lee Bum Soo, he always knocks it out of the park every time. What more can I say besides perfection? It was very hard to dislike his character, Gwak Heung Sam. Bum Soo gave so much depth to him that you couldn't help but sympathize with his life story. Now don't get me wrong, understanding turned to hate real quick LOL! but he made it a wonderful ride. Last but not least, Park Won Sang. I have to quote Odilettante, author of the recaps on Dramabeans when she described Won Sang's character, Jong-Gu. "his amazing hair and fabulous cheekbones" He was most certainly that along with being the epitome of good in a place that revolved around so much evil and corruption. This may have been the reason I was fangirling so hard:) In short, Jong-Gu turned out to be the character I invested my time in. He was my main reason for binge watching. The rest of the cast was exceptional. The story couldn't have moved without the awesome acting of each one one the one. The main supporting cast gave plenty of comic relief, tears, anger, revenge, etc etc. They are the ones that made this drama story worth watching.
There is a major complaint that keeps me from giving this drama a 10 rating. It fell a bit short in the rap up of certain character story lines. It doesn't hurt the finale but it would have been good to know what happened to certain characters that had a tremendous impact rather big or small. It's left to your imagination. I think it would have been good to have an extra episode to make it that odd 17 but that's just me being greedy.
The music was good. I gave it a 5 rating. There were only 2 songs that caught my attention but the instrumental for the action segments did them justice. I rarely pay attention to the music unless a vocal song off of the OST catches my attention so the music value will always rate a bit low not because the OST is not good but blame my attention span.
I have yet to rewatch a drama in my 4-5 years of watching Asian Dramas so it's always a 50/50 chance because I have a few on my mind.
I definitely recommend LAST as being one to watch. If you don't watch for anything else, watch it for Lee Bum Soo. That short man can wear a suit:)
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