The Korean Noir 'The Plaza' with a Thrilling, Blood-Soaked, All-Male Cast

Hello, this is Junpu, whose AI-recommended genre is almost exclusively revenge stories.

I finished watching the Korean drama 'The Plaza' on Netflix. It's compact at just 7 episodes.

As you can see, it's a blood-soaked, all-male production. It's a story about a man who sacrificed his own Achilles tendon to leave the underworld, only to return to it to ruthlessly purge those responsible for uncovering the truth behind his younger brother's death.

Honestly, I finished it more because I was drawn to the cast than because I was pulled in by the story.

So Ji-sub plays Nam Ki-jun, the protagonist who once left the underworld. He is incredibly strong. He doesn't do things by halves. With more fists than dialogue, he portrays a revenge demon—or perhaps a killing machine, or an unstoppable bulldozer—with a sense of pathos conveyed through his signature drooping eyebrows. It's similar to Chow Yun-fat, the icon of classic Hong Kong noir, who always fired his guns with a look of sorrow.

Heo Joon-ho and Ahn Gil-kang played the heads of the two major organizations. They always have a sharp presence, but I feel that Heo Joon-ho's character creation, including his visual look this time, really defines the noir tone of the drama. It wasn't just his lines or expressions; the very lines of his back seemed to exude the atmosphere. I've watched 'Designated Survivor: 60 Days' twice recently, which features Heo Joon-ho, but I'm thinking of going all the way back to 'Silmido'.

Not to mention Gong Myung's portrayal of a foolish son, Choo Young-woo's psychopathic performance, and the reliable character actor Jo Han-chul, I found myself doing a double-take every time Cha Seung-won appeared, thanks to a character transformation that made it seem like he was hiding the fact that he was Cha Seung-won. Cha Seung-won is scary. But I love it.

And then there's Lee Joon-hyuk as Ki-jun's younger brother, Ki-seok. I think he is truly excellent at playing characters who suppress their emotions. His inherent stylishness is a plus in any production. Also, there was a scene in the first half of episode 1 where Lee Joon-hyuk and Gong Myung face off, and seeing that their eye levels were almost the same made me wonder if Gong Myung was quite tall, so I looked it up—this drama is a tall-actor drama.

So Ji-sub 183 | Heo Joon-ho 180 | Ahn Gil-kang 185
Lee Beom-soo 171 | Gong Myung 183 | Choo Young-woo 186
Jo Han-chul 182 | Cha Seung-won 188 | Lee Joon-hyuk 181

Almost all the main cast members are over 180cm. The older guys are big, too. Well, except for Gong Myung and Choo Young-woo, most of them are older men. Although not in this image, Lee Jae-yoon is 186cm and Jung Gun-joo is 187cm.

By the way, I realized that Gong Myung was a member of the actor group 5urprise, the same one as Kang Tae-oh, whom I was obsessed with for a while. Kang Tae-oh is like a big dog, but Gong Myung, height aside, seems more like a small dog. He was the beloved youngest member in the lovable, bumbling team movie 'Extreme Job'.

In any case, the weight of rules and honor didn't really resonate with me, and the story was so thin that I found myself thinking it was a good thing it was only 7 episodes, which was a shame. However, I was able to enjoy the actors' performances without any complaints.