Rating Song Joong-ki's Works. What are your thoughts on him?

I've been on a Song Joong-ki binge these past few weeks simply cuz he's insanely good-looking to me ngl lol. I first discovered him weirdly enough from an advertisement for korean tourism years ago, which is so random considering how apparently well-known he is from other stuff like Running Man which I've heard of the show before but never cared to watch. But those 2-3 seconds of seeing him from that ad was somehow so ingrained into my memory that I recently decided to start my k-drama journey with his filmography.

Anyways, I'm still a stern critic regardless of having a soft spot for SJK so here are my thoughts for any who care to read through them. These are all based on me watching blind for the first time, I'm fairly new to k-drama/k-film.

My personal metric for reference when rating shows/films: 1/10 = Awful 3/10 = Bad 5/10 = Just OK/Average 7/10 = Good 9/10 = Great (e.g. Parasite) 10/10 = Exceptional (e.g. Breaking Bad)

Descendants of the Sun (5/10) - Always heard of this drama when it was hot back then during uni but never cared enough to see it. Was more invested into anime at the time lol. I think this drama is arguably SJK's significant rise to stardom, I overall enjoyed it. I'll start with the negatives first. Laughably bad non-korean scenes that I forced myself to cringe through that never fail to completely take me out of the show. Despite the ML and FL being iconic eye-candy stars of the show, somehow the SML and SFL were better written. The plot was all over the place tbh but I guess it did its job to set up the angst and develop the growth of the two relationships over the episodes. Comedy/punchlines was a hit or miss. Positives - amazing setting, scenery and cinematography. solid OST. solid cast lineup who can act well. Iconic heart-fluttering moments (mine scene, wine scene, broadcast confession scene etc.) and a strong emotional last few episodes. I was ready to give the show 3/10 but the final 2-3 episodes saved it from that rating hahah

Vincenzo (5/10) - Slow start, but I was hooked by episode 4. Episodes 4-8 were great, then 9-16 felt flat to me. Episode 17 onwards we're back to greatness before withering away again by episode 20. The ending was fine, it just felt a little too nice and safe for my liking. The thing with Vincenzo is that I kept expecting for the stakes to get higher and for the two sides to grow more brutal and smarter with trying to outsmart each other, but honestly the feats they pulled off were not that impressive and were just repetitive. It was just a matter of who tails who first or who gets the jump on the other first. Inconsistencies everywhere like Vincenzo being hyper-aware of danger in one instance then being oddly careless in another later which was unlike him. I love Vincenzo and Cha-young, they both carry the show with their strong personalities. But the romance was totally unnecessary. In fact, I'd wager the show would be better if there was no romance at all between them. It's sad to see Cha-young slowly lose her spark and aloofness from the early episodes. Her character gradually faded into being typically serious towards the end which is a missed opportunity imo. Her over-the-top cartoonish nature would have been an asset for the revenge plot against the villains. Side characters and the sense of community from the plaza was ok I guess. Hit-or-miss comedy as well. I still had a good time watching this overall. Great OST and iconic moments like the lamborghini court entry scene, emotional mom and son scene, and Vincenzo's John wick revenge scene. Those were the best parts of the show for me.

Bogota: City of the Lost (3/10) - Love the setting and the acting was good. That's where the positives end unfortunately. Forgettable movie with jarring editing and timeskips. This story could have definitely benefitted in a longer episodic format. The cast did what they could but a story that wanted to cover the whole journey of a kid who grows from a nobody to a mob boss in the span of a two-hour movie is bound to feel rushed. I appreciate the vision but this sadly feels like lost potential.

My Name is Loh Kiwan (5/10) - Compelling story idea and strong peformances from both SJK and the FL. Weird depiction of Belgians where it seems like everyone in the nation is a villain out to get the protagonist. This is another show or movie where I felt like the romance is unnecessary. It could be a decent subplot but by the end it somehow took precedence over the main plot, which was for the protagonist who was on the run to live well for his mom. The whole gang issue faced by the FL was meh. I guess it was the plot device the writers decided to go with to manufacture their romance. Some scenes didn't make sense and felt intentional just to make the protagonist more miserable for no reason, but overall it was an ok watch.

Space Sweepers (7/10) - Ngl as soon as I saw the poster/preview of this movie I though we were getting a second-rate Guardians of the Galaxy copy. But I was pleasantly suprised. This movie while exuding the same vibes and tropes of a space cyberpunk action-flick, actually delivered these themes well and is able to stand on its own. Some of the CGI do look funky tbh but I could manage to look past them after awhile. All the crew members have strong personalities and are memorable in their own ways. They have great chemistry together and most of the humor landed well for me. Action scenes were well-shot, space scenes were beautiful and the plot was simple and serviceable. Overall it was a cool movie to just switch off your brain and have fun with the visuals and chaos. A solid 5/10 but SJK said nah i'm gonna be a well-written character with an emotional scene and make you feel stuff to get that 7/10 and that's exactly what he did to me. man.

A Werewolf Boy (9/10) - Saw this today and wow what an amazing story. I'll just get rid of the one negative before I proceed to gush over this movie which was the somewhat dated werewolf CGI and that was it. The film was amazingly-shot and had a beautiful grounded setting. The way Cheol-su and Suni's relationship slowly yet steadily blossomed was executed so perfectly and made so much sense. That heartbreaking goodbye scene in the woods was emotional and moved me to tears. Same goes for the ending in the barn later. Idk what else to say other than this is a great movie. I almost need an emotional and mental break before moving on to another show or movie. This was a must-watch really with how well-written it was to pull at your heartstrings. Incredible performances by the two leads and it's making me very curious to see more of Park Bo-young's acting in her other stuff.

And those are my thoughts. I'm only subscribed to netflix unfortunately, so I do not have access to SJK's other well-known series like Reborn Rich or Sungkyunkwan Scandal. So for now, I plan to continue the SJK binge with the shows that are on netflix, starting with Arthdal Chronicles tomorrow and Nice Guy afterwards. Overall I think SJK is a solid actor and he's especially good at playing that 'empty shell' character like most of his roles. His acting range is ok I'd say, not quite Gong-yoo level but he still delivers and plays to his strengths well.

Anyways, thanks and congrats if anyone made it this far. Tbh this post was more of a 'getting it out of my system' thing for me hahah. I would love to hear everyone else's thoughts as well. What are your overall thoughts on Song Joong-ki's career and filmography so far?