Man of Virtues is a plot that you won’t be able to understand in one go because of how it has been created. The story revolves around Lieutenant Chansuek, a skilled undercover agent. He is ordered by Deputy Commander Papon to investigate a theft of 300 million “pink diamonds” belonging to Yok. The stolen jewel leads him inside the dangerous world of criminals and powerful figures connected to the crime. While investigating the disappearance of the diamond, Chansuek discovers that Sawang, an influential village leader, might also be involved. In order to uncover the truth, he decides to go undercover and infiltrate his organisation, acting as if he is one of his followers. The mission gets dangerous day by day as he gets closer to exposing the criminal network behind the theft.
During the operation, events start to take an unexpected turn when a confrontation breaks out between the criminals and the authorities. In order to protect himself, he jumps into a stream with the diamond. All of this leads him to Luang Pho Suea, a monk. Will he be able to expose the truth behind all this?
As of now, only the first episode has come out, yet the plot doesn’t leave an impact as one expects it to be. For example, the execution of the first episode was quite lopsided. It took me a while to figure out what exactly was going on. It wasn’t until halfway through the first episode that things started to make sense. The plot, too, isn’t well written at all. It feels as if anything and everything has been happening and there is no direction as such to where the storyline is headed. You will keep on wondering why certain things happened the way they did, yet no clarity as such comes around.
There are many action scenes, but nothing extraordinary. They feel and look pretty basic, like hand combat, cop chasing, shooting, etc. None of it manages to hold on to your attention for more than five seconds maximum. Again, there are jokes, which though might not land that well, still manage to make the plot somewhat funny. Perhaps they were the only saving grace in the whole of the first episode.
Of course, there is a lot to see as the plot progresses, but if this is how things are going to turn out, then Man of Virtue might not be what you want to see in the hope of unwinding. With so many things going wrong, it is but obvious that even the pacing isn’t that grand. The plot has uneven pacing. Sometimes things rush, while sometimes they slow down a bit too much. The slow speed is especially felt when it comes to fighting scenes, where it feels as if the makers took forever to shoot. Such prolonged scenes are highly unnecessary, and I don’t know why they have been made in that manner. Nonetheless, if you are someone who is a fan of Thai drama, then you probably can give this a brave attempt. But if not, then even I don’t know what can and should motivate you to watch Man of Virtue.
Final Score - [4/10]
Reviewed by - Neerja Ch
Follow @NeerjaCH on Twitter
Publisher at Midgard Times