Good Boy first Impression: Don’t be fooled by ‘Pouty’ Park Bo Gum, he’s delivering career-best punches

Also read: Park Bo Gum made a request to Kim So Hyun years ago: ‘Remember this when the time comes’; the story behind Good Boy casting

Good Boy cast performance

It’s a feel-good ride to see Bo Gum, who debuted nearly 15 years ago in thrillers like Blind, later delivered action-comedy punches in Runway Cop, Hard Day, Bridal Mask and before casually slipping into his soft-boy era, now return to his action roots right at the peak of his career. His character in Good Boy is getting the side-eye, partly thanks to his recent hit overshadowing things a bit.  Audiences are struggling to digest the comedic start, thinking maybe funny just isn’t his thing. Fair. But action lands. And since Good Boy sticks to elements of crime, sports, romance, and good old friendship drama, Bo Gum fits right in. Maybe comedy isn’t his strongest suit, but the way he throws a punch with grin, taking down 15 goons in one go (felt excessive though) with a chiseled physique carved like it’s seen hours at the gym, it’s hard to remember this is the same guy who played Gwan Sik, the soft-spoken husband from Tangerines with eyes dripped in love.

Also read: Good Boy: After When Life Gives You Tangerines, Park Bo-gum returns as police officer tasked with taking down a crime syndicate

Kim So Hyun as Ji Ha Na was solid enough to convince us that Bo Gum’s casting instincts were spot on. Honestly, it’s hard to imagine anyone else pulling off the role of a sharp-shooting athlete with that kind of finesse. Her character’s bold and straight-up, so we’re not exactly counting on a 12-episode hand-hold or the classic 16-episode kiss. What stings a little is seeing Lee Sang Yi stuck in a supporting role when his grounded acting easily deserves lead status. Oh Jung Se popped up in the final ten minutes, but the way the tone shifted, you can already tell the story’s heading somewhere darker.

Despite a slow, stretched-out start that makes you want to hit pause and choose a nap over the movie-length premiere, the pace thankfully picks up not long after. You can feel the Western influence creeping in, from moodier visuals to the cinematic undertones, that’s a shift from the usual K-drama aesthetic. That said, the thousand-cuts-per-minute camera was a pain to watch. The comedy lands in parts, but the over-the-top goofiness inside the police station could’ve been toned down.

Our Take 

Good Boy might have gone a bit overboard trying to juggle every genre it could find, and while the individual performances are solid, it’s the chemistry between them that’s lacking. Park Bo Gum and Heo Sung Tae’s mentor-protégé bond feels forced at times. And Bo Gum’s behaviour around Kim So Hyun’s character is borderline obsessive, unnecessarily pouty, and just… meh. But just when you’re about to roll your eyes, the show throws in a moment, like Shin Jae Jong flinging a sewer lid like it’s the Olympics again, or Han Na nailing a headshot mid-chaos. MAX’s OST sneaks in at the right time and lifts the mood. There’s still more to come from the rest of the squad. The Prime video original isn’t here to race anyone, it’s here to take its own lane. Let’s see if it holds that ground in Episode 3.