“Unleash the mad dogs again” is the go-to phrase pushed by promoters for “Bad Guys: The movie,” as OCN’s popular picaresque crime drama “Bad Guys” is slated to be remade as a film set for a September release.

Directed by Son Yong-ho, the upcoming film features many of the original cast reprising their characters, from the muscle-bound simpleton of a gangster Park Woong-cheol to Oh Gu-tak, a police official with a reputation for being relentless and ruthless, who puts together a ragtag team of outlaws to stop evil.

“I guess I’m similar to Oh in that I can’t tolerate injustice. While Oh takes action (to do what’s right), I cannot because of the social and legal restraints,” Kim Sang-jung said on his character, explaining Oh’s appeal and why so many fans had adored the story of the bad guys taking down those who are much worse.

“Oh carries out something that we cannot, which gives us satisfaction. Through the movie and the drama, he looks to be trustworthy, and it is satisfying (to the viewers) that (the team) is able to do what cannot be done in real life,” Kim said during a press conference for the film in Seoul on Monday.

Director Son said he felt that the world and the characters of “Bad Guys” could be expanded even further, hence the feature film. The popular TV series has spawned multiple spinoffs on the small screen since it first aired in 2014.

The film takes place sometime after the events of the TV series. When a vehicle transporting some of the country’s worst criminals flips over and lets them loose, authorities once again reassemble the team of criminal-catching criminals.

Don Lee, better known here as Ma Dong-seok, is another actor who has looked forward to the TV drama making it to the silver screen.

“I’m happy to meet Park Woon-cheol again,” he said.

“The film has stepped up a notch from the drama in terms of action. We plan to be funny as well,” Lee said, elevating expectations for the series already known for its black humor and action.

Lee is slated to appear in Marvel Cinematic Universe’s “The Eternals” in 2020, playing the role of “Gilgamesh” and becoming the second Korean-born actor, after Claudia Kim, to appear in Hollywood’s biggest film franchise.

“It’s just unbelievable. I feel tremendously honored. ... If I were a baseball player, it’d be like being called up to play in the major leagues,” he commented.

Some original characters will join “Bad Guys,” including Kim Ah-joong as an attractive con artist and Jang Gi-yong as a rookie cop who will stop at nothing to stop the bad guys.

“I was curious as to how things would change with me in the picture. That’s one of the reasons I decided to participate.” Kim said.

The film hits local theaters in September. 



By Yoon Min-sik
(minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com)