The Korean remake of Money Heist came to Netflix last week and fans have been quick to call out the same thing while watching - that its storyline is exactly the same as the original.
The original - and highly successful - Spanish drama series was created by Álex Pina and lasted three seasons between 2017 and last year.
It traced the process of two long-prepared heists led by the Professor - played by Álvaro Morte. One took place in the Royal Mint of Spain, and another happened in the Bank of Spain.
Told from the perspective of one of the robbers, Tokyo (Úrsula Corberó), its disgruntled mix of characters, real-time-like storytelling and flashbacks alongside Tokyo's unreliable nature as a narrator was a winner for audiences alike.
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Flash forward to 2022's Money Heist: Korea - Joint Economic Area, though, and to say there are a few similarities would be something of an understatement.
The plot of the new season, which has also been created by Pina, sees a group of criminals who are fed up with their lack of wealth decide to rob one of the biggest financial institutions in their country - sound familiar?
Further to that, the whole daring escapade has been set up by a mysterious fellow named The Professor - and there are even versions of much-loved characters Berlin - played by Squid Game actor Park Hae-soo - Tokyo, Nairobi and more.
Although advertised as being set in the same fictional universe, it's clear that the new Money Heist is, in fact, pretty much the same - just moved a few thousand miles to the far east.
It's something that hasn't gone unnoticed by watchers of the show, some of whom have stated they couldn't even get through the first episode due to all the similarities.
"I don’t know why they spent so much on shooting the serial they could have just generate Korean subtitles and they were done" one person wrote on Facebook.
Another added that the show was 'a terrible EXACT copy... couldn't even watch the first episode'.
A third wrote: "Has anyone watched the Korean Money Heist I’ve just put it on and I genuinely can’t believe how they’ve just full blown copied every detail ...I thought it was going to be different".
A fourth said: "I made it about 10 minutes in before realizing the same and turned it off."
However, despite people on social media finding it difficult to get beyond the similarities, the show has fared well a little better among critics.
Currently possessing an 82 percent average rating on reviews aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes, Money Heist: Korea - Joint Economic Area received a good write-up from Vanity Fair in particular.
They wrote: "The end result is a series that’s perhaps best suited for either Money Heist superfans or those entirely new to the franchise. Still, Money Heist: Korea proves to be a compelling watch based on its updated geopolitical context."
So there may be hope for it yet.
Topics: TV and Film, Netflix, Money Heist
Simon Catling