Phantom Lawyer Review
- 2 days ago
- 6 min read
This was not the drama where I'm running in excitement to watch every episode, but this has brought me some joy, and I was sad to see it finally go.
It took me ages to sit down and write this review, though.
Did you enjoy the "Phantom Lawyer", or maybe planning to watch it?
I haven't seen any work from Director Shin Jong Hun. It mainly looks like he's working with films, even if it's assisting or both directing and screenwriting. Some of them are around 10 years old, with the most recent film he directed being in 2019, "Going My Home".
After seeing a few directors who worked previously and came back with drama, it worried me a bit.
Usually, you can feel a bit of old-style directing from them, but I did not see this from Shin Jung Hun, or at least it wasn't that obvious.
And on the other hand, we have Screenwriter Kim Cheol Kyu, with his first written drama. However, he had worked as a Director on "Chicago Typewriter", "Flower of Evil" and a lot of other great works.
The scenes mostly looked nice, but there were some questionable choices throughout the drama.
First, the ghosts make up: it looked funny and very visible with a white foundation on; however, as different ghosts came, they barely had the same ghost vibe as the previous ones. The second choice was for some to wear a stunt wire rig, which is alright, as they make them fly above the ground; however, they didn't even hide it properly.
Also, there was a scene where a ghost stands up from a chair, and it moves...
These seemingly small mistakes do take you out of the story.
However, I do want to praise some of the camera work, for example, the transition at the shoe store between Shin I Rang and the ghost. Those decisions felt creative and different.
Directing: 7.5/10
A quirky, heartwarming adventure in which the ghost-seeing lawyer Shin I Rang and the elite lawyer Han Na Hyeon resolve the injustices of very special clients. These "special clients" are none other than ghosts, and as the two lawyers uncover the truth behind their cases.
Shin I Rang, a lawyer who began his practice in a former shaman's house and started seeing ghosts. When he’s "possessed," he becomes temporarily overtaken by the traits of the client he’s trying to help, which leads to dramatic personality changes.
Han Na Hyeon is an elite lawyer who loses to I Rang. It unexpectedly changes her life. She gradually opens up to him and slowly transforms from a cold, calculating professional to someone who begins to heal from her hidden wounds. (Mydramalist)
Spoiler Free:
An attorney seeing ghosts is something we had before, so seeing how different it would be this time is always fun.
Shin I Rang sees different ghosts every two or so episodes, and tries his best to find out what happened to them and help them. Some stories have brought tears to my eyes, while others were quite forgettable.
My only wish was that the grand finale would've made a bigger impact.
However, these characters are the strength of the drama. As much as I don't understand villains here, as they were passive, and barely did anything to stop Shin I Rang. Or why we needed a priest in this shaman drama.
It was so hard to say goodbye to the characters at the end of the drama.
Shin I Rang's family was so wholesome, helping him out with things even though they did not always understand him or were afraid.
And even if at first I had some doubts about Han Na Hyeon, she did come to my heart slowly.
If you're looking for a fun episodic watch with ghosts, this was a great drama. You will like the characters, and have some stories that might make you cry, but it might not have enough law/court stuff as you would expect.
Let's move to a more elaborate review with spoilers...
Overall: 8.5/10
With these kinds of dramas, it's very important to stand out somehow. The storyline like that has been done before, so what will differ from others?
The start felt a bit crazy, with him being possessed by ghosts and yelling things at the court. This disturbance was fun to watch, mixed with more serious moments.
And I quickly found my answer: ghosts are not always here to fight or take revenge. Sometimes they want to do good before they leave.
This was shown in the third storyline, with the scientist who was killed. The way at the end, he possessed Shin I Rang to find a cure for his mother-in-law was insanely unrealistic, but cute. (I don't think they even said what her sickness was)
Another part that surprised me was where, for one episode, he did not see any ghosts, and kind of thought that was the end of his journey.
Of course, as viewers, we know that there's more left, but there won't be an episode like that in a usual ghost mystery drama. That episode slowed things down, and sometimes, especially when you have 16 episodes, it's good to do that.
As emotional as I got during some of the storylines, some of the things didn't feel as believable.
For example, people were so ready to believe Shin I Rang's possession, even though they barely knew him.
He might be just a lunatic!
His power is also somehow connected to the shaman who had the building before, but what confused me the most was that they brought a priest to help deal with ghosts. There was never a search for the previous shaman on I Rang's side, and it was never explained why he was so different from others.
My enjoyment almost faded in the last two episodes. They weren't particularly bad, just very predictable, and did not make much impact compared to Na Hyeon's sister's story,
Storyline: 8/10
Shin I Rang's storyline was very interesting. The way his character grew with the ghosts, realised more about life and himself, was beautiful to watch. Every story has taught him something, and it's not being wasted.
It's not always about revenge, and I believe this was needed for him to face his father's story.
His whole family was amazing to witness. The mother was always supportive in her own ways, and the brother-in-law was there to help, even though he was scared most of the time. Just perfectly shows what a strong family bond they have.
It would have been nice to see his older sister more, and I enjoyed the niece's screentime. She might not understand a lot of what's happening, but at least she's here to push her uncle to his love.
Han Na Hyeon's storyline seemed rushed at first. She was in a law firm that did not care about morals, but all of a sudden, she turned to Shin I Rang, who only sees that.
I wish this transformation had taken longer, or at least we had got a better idea of why she joined Taebaek Law Firm in the first place.
At first, I thought maybe it would have something to do with Yang Do Gyeong's father, as we had some hints, but the answer never came. It's not like she liked Yang Do Gyeong even a little bit; as soon as she left, Na Hyeon forgot he existed.
But her storyline with her sister was heartbreaking to watch.
A bit ridiculous part of the story: Yang Do Gyeong believed that I Rang is weird and sees ghosts, while Na Hyeon didn't believe him at first, but decided to switch sides.
There is not much of a love storyline in "Phantom Lawyer", but it was still quite cute to see those moments where they are yearning for each other. I feel like the episode without the ghosts helped them connect on a different level, and was a nice start to try to understand each other.
As much as our main leads sound nice, they needed to do something more with the villains. Yang Do Gyeong and his father ended up being very passive and barely did anything.
Maybe we shouldn't have seen that the father is shady so early on. Instead, they show his kind side (how he was nice to Na Hyeon), which would have elevated the drama.
I can't believe I also thought the priest was doing some shady things himself, THAT would have been the plot twist (that I would've seen coming).
Characters: 7.5/10
This was an amazing cast for the drama.
Jeon Seok Ho was great in comedic relief, and you can definitely feel whenever Yoo Yeon Seok was possessed by a ghost. Even without the red cheeks, you can see that he was acting like a different person with different mannerisms.
I also enjoy Esom being a great lawyer, and I would have loved to see more scenes where she's acting badass, but her softer moments were also cute to watch.
And all others had done a great job of portraying their characters.
Acting: 10/10
There is one song that was really remarkable for me, Park Ji Won's "Here I Am"; it pulled at my heartstrings and made me remember some of the drama moments.
That's what I usually look for in OSTs.
Other ones are okay too. Yoo Yeon Seok, "Those Days", did a very good job, and it was nice that he decided to do one song himself. And Jin Hyojeong's "Maybe" was great for more romantic stuff in the drama, even if there weren't so many of them.
Soundtrack: 7/10
Comments