‘Seoul Busters’ finds likable underdogs in crime-bungling cops
The Korean action-comedy series “Seoul Busters” owes its instant viewability not only to the easy chemistry of its actors, but also to the breezy treatment of scenes that recall the episodic thrills of Hollywood’s police procedurals in the late ’70s and early ’80s.
If you enjoyed the zany energy of “Han River Police,” the characters’ action-driven quirks in “Seoul Busters” are on the other hand more light-hearted and favor the slapstick sort in style and execution.
While not every joke or sight gag hits its mark, there’s nonetheless much to snicker about as the series follows a bunch of underperforming cops in the Songwon Police Department’s Violent Crimes Unit.
The bungling quartet “with the lowest arrest rate” is composed of former boxer Moo Joong-ryeok (Park Ji-hwan of “The Roundup”), frugal family man Jung Jung-hwan (Seo Hyun-woo of “A Shop for Killers”), hongiljeom detective Seo Min-seo (Park Se-wan of “Doona!”) and enthusiastic but innately clumsy rookie officer Jang Tan-sik (Lee Seung-woo of “Our Beloved Summer”).
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While eager and well-meaning, Joong-ryeok and his peers often end up being ranked among the worst-performing teams in the entire Korean police force every year—an embarrassing “dishonor” that their overperforming new team leader, Captain Dongbang Yu-bin (Kim Dong-wook of “Along with the Gods”)—an elite cop with pristine academic background—intends to change at all costs.
At first glance, Yu-bin’s ways may seem unpredictable and unconventional, but his sleuthing and deduction skills soon prove themselves to be beyond reproach.
His goal to shake things up immediately takes an urgent turn when the team is exiled to a remote office in an abandoned daycare center. Just as they settle into their new post, they’re immediately thrust into action after getting a distress call about what initially looks like an open-and-shut case of suicide involving the road manager of popular actor Kang Min-jae (Chansung of the K-pop group 2PM).
After kicking some red herrings out of the way, Yu-bin realizes there’s more to the roadie’s death than meets the eye. But it doesn’t take long before the case’s degree of difficulty is further complicated by another unexpected death that shocks the whole nation and puts immense pressure on Yu-bin’s team to solve what could end up being related cases.
Will this be just another missed opportunity for Yu-bin and his team to prove their naysayers wrong, or are they ready to finally rise to the occasion?
“Seoul Busters” began streaming on Disney+ last Sept. 11.
