‘W: Two Worlds Apart’…A solid idea is transformed into a captivating fantasy thriller that could have been shorter and crisper.
Remember when I had described Lee Jong Suk as looking like he had walked straight out of a manga, in my review of The Hymn of Death? Well, in W, he plays a fictional manga character, existing solely in the world of his webtoon, his life written as a means of plot development, until one day he starts resisting fate, that is, his story being written by someone else.
In popular culture where fictional characters live on through their fans (through fan fictions, cosplays), even after a show, book or movie ends, W visualizes what would happen if the characters themselves wanted to live on, and started acting on their accord, refusing to yield to the will of their creator? Do you root for the tired creator, who now just wants to finish the story or his character who is fighting so hard to live, even though he isn’t technically a living being? (There is even a photo of the famous painting by Goya — Saturn devouring his son, on Oh Sung Moo’s (Kim Eui Sung) table, a motif for the creator devouring his own creation).
Lee Jong Suk plays Kang Chul, the protagonist of Oh Sung Moo’s webtoon W, a former Olympic gold medalist/accused murderer now-turned-millionaire, determined to seek justice for his family’s murder. The drama itself pokes fun at how rich, smart and desirable Kang Chul is, typically expected of a Korean drama male lead, but the show goes one step further by providing a reason for this, as Chul’s character is written as an antithesis to the Oh Sung Moo, an alcoholic with a failed marriage, and he envisions Chul as everything he desires to be, and instils in him qualities and values, he wishes to have.
The first half of the drama runs smoothly, and quite linearly, even with the twists and revelations that keep coming our way. It is mostly world-building and discovering the rules within them, but honestly, I have never seen any drama having this much fun with their fantasy premise. The plot moves in ways we can never predict, and neither do the characters themselves. With both the creator and character having the power to write their own story or mold it to their benefit, the story steers in unexpected directions.
Sadly, this strength becomes a bane, in the second half. The unpredictability that should have lead to a more stable and focused second half only continues, killing the thrill and making the twists and turns as more of a chore. Characters entering and exiting the two worlds, which was initially random and uncontrollable and a hassle, then becomes a convenient exit strategy for whenever they face any danger. Different rules (of the worlds) are discovered whenever convenient and are never mentioned again. It seemed more like a ploy for the writers to continue to steer the plot in whichever direction they wanted, rather than have the rules established at the beginning of the show, lead the way.
The screenplay too becomes sloppy. There are reveals followed by reveals, some of them, just a few minutes apart from each other. The settings created for the characters also become repetitive; even though the story is set in two different universes, we are only shown Yeon Joo’s hospital, Chul’s hotel, the police station, Oh Seung Moo’s house, all which appear the same in both the universes.
I didn’t mind the fact that the reason for the connection between the two worlds is never revealed, as I just thought of the webtoon as the typewriter from Chicago typewriter, which has a mind of its own and has its own reason for doing so, which doesn’t necessarily be revealed to us. But I had wished the antagonists were a bit more rounded and hence threatening. Kim Eui Sang is excellent as the hooded villain, and does his best, even though his character isn’t completely fleshed out. Park Won Sang as Han Chul Ho, the prosecutor turned politician, also tries his best, but is limited by the weakness of the script in the third act.
The sole reason to stay put, even after the plot goes haywire, is majorly thanks to its lead actors. Lee Jong Suk is, without any doubt, diligent as Kang Chul, but I was pleasantly surprised with Han Hyo Joo, as Oh Yeon Joo. There were some complaints about the love story being forced into this thriller-action template, but Han Hyo Joo’s performance convinced me otherwise. Though her comedic timing is a bit off, she was brilliant in the emotional scenes and does hold the drama single-handedly, even in the absence of its male lead.
