As one of the most famous and successful korean artists, Ji Chang Wook has a long filmography list. However, I have chosen to review my most favourite ones.
"Healer" (2014-2015)
Seo Jung Hoo (Ji Chang Wook) is a "night manager" who with the assistance of a hacker undertakes missions (murder is out of question) for high amounts of money. His clients know him as "Healer" since he gives solutions to difficult cases. When he is comissioned by Kim Moon Ho (Yoo Ji Tae) to collect the blood sample of the insignificant young reporter Chae Yeong Shin (Park Min Young), his life comes upside down. He discovers that his unknown past intertwines with Moon Ho's and Yeong Shin's lives and jeopardizes everything in order to reveal the truth.
The perfect Kdrama that includes action, romance and funny moments.Every episode is full of suspenseful moments that make it impossible to get bored. Flaws??? Definitely there are many, as in most similar series. However, they are easily ignored since the series is totally captivating. Great casting with an excellent Chang Wook when it comes to action scenes. And the proof is his second action drama "K2" but only as far as action is concerned.
"K2" (2016)
"Healer" had set high standards and therefore, viewers expected something equally exciting. Nevertheless, "K2" failed its audience. The first episodes seemed promising but what followed was disappointing. The only positive quality of this drama is Chang Wook's role as an ex mercenary who works as a politician's bodyguard. He has a secret agenda to take revenge for his girlfriend's murder. When he is assigned to protect the politician's daughter, things become complicated since he starts to have romantic feelings towards the girl.
It could really be a very interesting plot but I cannot pinpoint exactly what went wrong. Maybe too much confidence to the cast and storyline led to sloppy work. It's a great pitty since it had all the qualities for a successful drama. So I include it in my list only because I liked Chang Wook's role.
"Suspicious Partner" (2017)
Once again a series with a very promising beginning but somewhere in the middle something went wrong. I believe that the 40 episodes where unecessary. If it was concluded sooner it may have avoided a lot of boring and meaningless scenes.
Chang Wook plays the role of prosecutor Noh Ji Wook. He takes under his wings the young trainee Eung Bong Hee (Nam Ji Hyun) and they try to solve a case of a psycopath serial killer. Somewhere in the process they develop strong feelings for each other.
The chemistry between this couple is undeniable. A very good combination of mystery-thriller and comedy, with top notch acting. The problem was in the too many episodes that tempted me many times to watch in fast forward ... but I didn't do it. It is definitely worthwatching because of the adorable interactions between Chang Wook and Ji Hyun.
I had decided to comment also on "Melting Me Softly", "Empress Ki" and "Lovestruck in The City". But while writing, I came to realize that with the exception of "Healer", all the other series are mediocre compared to other Kdramas.
So why do I keep following Chang Wook's works? I just came to the conclusion that Chang Wook's talent and personality are addictive. While at first sight he gives the impression of an innocent youngster, in the process he reveals a passionate personality combining sweetness and sex appeal in the most astonishing way. I simply enjoy his acting. Nothing more and nothing less. It's probably the only explanation for the fact that I managed to watch all these series which were everything but extraordinary!