IRIS Needs an Alternate Ending

IRIS is a different kind of Korean drama where there’s no girl-dying-from-cancer in the end. It is action-packed but I can’t help comparing it to 24, CSI, and the Bourne Trilogy. The storyline seemed to incorporate elements from these Hollywood dramas and movies but gave it a Korean twist.

Kim Hyu Joon (Lee Byung Hun) and Jin Sa-woo (Jung Joon Ho) are best friends. They are the top of the class in military training and were recruited to join the NSS, where they became its top agents. And like any other Korean drama, a girl must get in the way of their friendship and this is where Choi Seung Hee (Kim Tae Hee) comes in.

IRIS is a suspense thriller that takes its audience through a twenty episode rollercoaster ride. It managed to keep the audience coming back for more but I do find the flashbacks to be tedious, except for scenes with Tae Hee in it. The cut scenes keep on doing flashbacks in my head. I hope Season 2 has fewer flashbacks.

IRIS tackled the unification of Korea and the North-side actors and actresses did a splendid job. Special mention goes to Kim Seung Woo as Park Chul Yung and Kim So Yun as Kim Sun Hwa. Big Bang’s TOP was featured as an IRIS assassin but his role is as forgettable as his acting.

The action scenes were great and this is the first time I’ve seen such special effects in a Korean drama. From episode one up to the last episodes, the action sequences got my attention. I was apprehensive how they can infuse a romance into the plot but they did a good job with the love square.

I don’t know what will happen to the upcoming IRIS movie because one of the leads died in the mall stand-off and another died in the last episode. If it will just be a movie adaptation of the series then I don’t see why it is necessary at all. But if it’s a bridge from the first season to the next one, then I’m up for it.

IRIS might be a groundbreaking drama in Korea but Hollywood has already given  us dramas such as 24, Alias, CSI, just to name a few. Overall, IRIS is good although it could have been better if the ending was not as crappy as the one it had. I don’t know what the writers were thinking when they wrote the ending.