The Drug King is a South Korean crime drama set in the 1970s and '80s following the true life story of a smuggler that becomes a drug kingpin in Busan.
What garners a lot of appeal in the film straight off the bat is the aesthetic. Whether it be cars, music, or costuming, even the lighting and colour grading is done in a way that creates an authentic vintage look. Lead actor Song Kang-ho feeds into this environment himself fitting in perfectly.
Song Kang-ho, in his portrayal of Lee Doo-hwan is the performance that carries the film, and it's not necessarily through a lack of effort in the writing. Jo Jung-suk and Bae Doona do well in their roles too, but the rest of the supporting cast is, in the end, rather forgettable. The problem comes from a lack of character development.
New characters are constantly being introduced and dismissed that it becomes rather difficult to try and keep track of who everybody is. Combine that with the characters being one-dimensional (even Song Kang-ho's Lee Doo-hwan falls victim to this), we get no sense of any characters motivations and it takes away from our ability to empathise with them and care about their outcomes.
While based on a true story, it goes without saying that not all of the facts would not be available for an accurate portrayal in the film. So a lot of liberties would have been taken. As such, there are definitely a lot of similarities to other gangster films that have been released in western films. From 1990s Goodfellas to 2007s American Gangster, but most notably, 1983s Scarface. This is a rather simple story that follows the rise and fall of a drug kingpin but from an eastern perspective.
The film starts with some historical context providing facts connecting Japan and South Korean to the drug "crank" but strangely enough has very little else to do with the film. Perhaps added to bring a sense of legitimacy to the content of the film, but it did end up feeling out of place.
The Drug King has some reasonable pacing but is less than satisfactory when it comes to communicating time passing. Time and location cards are frequently used but are inconsistent and you end up with several montages occurring that leave you with no idea how much time has truly passed.
What is also inconsistent is the tone of the film. Song Kang-ho switches from deadly serious to hilariously comical at the drop of a hat, and it results in the film moving from a dark and gritty gang film towards the lighter cat-and-mouse films like Catch Me If You Can.
The film is entertaining and enjoyable. However, with so little character building and a final act that feels poorly copied from Scarface, it ultimately makes the film forgettable.