The Wonderfools: Delightfully Silly, Wonderfully Heartfelt

What’s the first thing that comes to your mind when I say “superhero”?

Let me guess: A strong, tall man with a cape and/or a mask who shows up to save the day, am I right? He might be able to fly, and he surely can fight. He has some sort of soppy backstory and, of course, a dual identity. And I’m using a masculine pronoun here because superheroes are, for the most part, men — and I have a good inkling the first person who popped up in your mind wasn’t exactly Supergirl.

But what Netflix’s The Wonderfools asks you to do is completely forget that image. Forget the flying and the fighting skills. Forget the secret identity (maybe keep a tad of that soppy backstory, though). Forget the sacrificing male hero.

Instead, try to picture someone like you and me and give us a superpower of your choice — under one condition: our superpowers only manifest themselves if we manage to be more than our appearances, more than what society imposes on us. If we dare to be more than the prejudices and limitations that are thrown onto us, we can be extraordinary.

The Wonderfools never sets out to be a proper piece of superhero fiction, but a dramedy whose protagonists just happen to have superpowers. It’s a lighthearted, emotionally resonant, and charming journey that genuinely cares about its characters, balancing the darkness of its narrative with unabashedly cartoonish humour and exceptionally warm interpersonal dynamics.

This review doesn’t contain any major spoilers, but it does discuss certain details from the narrative. But if you’d rather remain spoiler-free, why don’t you pin our summary? It’s at the bottom!

Lady Trainwreck and Her Comrades… Save the World?

Created by Kang Eun-kyung, The Wonderfools was penned by Heo Da-joong and (gorgeously) directed by Yoo In-sik. Its eight episodes take us back to late 1999, when cult followers eagerly spread the word that the new millennium could only herald the apocalypse. That’s the sort of fanatical environment we find ourselves in as The Wonderfools presents us to the fictional city of Haeseong with its Church of Eternal Salvation and their creepy leaflets about the doomsday.

But Eun Chae-ni (a phenomenal Park Eun-bin) doesn’t even know if she’ll make it until the 31st of December. Suffering from a severe congenital heart condition, Chae-ni is struggling to come to terms with the fact that she will most likely die at the early age of 27. So does she care about salvation? Not really. “Lady Trainwreck”, as she’s known around the neighbourhood, doesn’t even care about what her neighbours think of her. Spunky and unpredictable, Chae-ni just wants to live, travel, and see the world beyond the confining walls of her grandmother’s restaurant.

Determined to go on a trip at least once before dying, Chae-ni comes up with a… sort of a plan. She asks Son Gyeong-hun (a criminally underrated Choi Dae-hoon), who is infamous at the city hall for his strange civil complaints, and her childhood friend, the timid Kang Ro-bin (a charismatic Im Seong-jae), to help her fake her own kidnapping. Her grandmother, the wealthy Kim Jeon-bok (Kim Hae-sook), will surely pay the ransom money without major questions — or so Chae-ni believes — and she’ll use that amount to finally leave Haeseong.

But things don’t go as planned, and their hijinks soon bring into the mix Lee Un-jeong (a meticulous Cha Eun-woo), a reserved civil servant who has just transferred to Haeseong City Hall with his own hidden agenda.

When the Church of Eternal Salvation turns out to be a mere façade for a much more vicious enterprise, Chae-ni, Un-jeong, Gyeong-hun, and Ro-bin realise that they are the only ones who can save Haeseong from a truly apocalyptic future.

The Organised Chaos of The Wonderfools

The Wonderfools places heart before reason, establishing a thoroughly entertaining narrative that is pure organised chaos. If you’re expecting a group of intelligent, mighty characters who bravely answer their call to adventure and save the day thanks to their sheer brilliance… well, you aren’t going to find this here.

The protagonists of The Wonderfools are always creating havoc despite their good intentions. Their decisions are often foolish, and they always bungle their way to the desired solution, but they have kind souls and strong principles. This wild veneer is necessary to set the tone of the series, which is proudly and resolutely established with the kind of B-humour approach that is becoming more and more popular in Korean television. Some superb production design complements that with the right dose of 90s nostalgia, the special effects are fairly convincing (and surprisingly practical, what an achievement), and voila! The Wonderfools is bound to be fun first and foremost — and it wholeheartedly succeeds at that.

The allure of the series then lies in this kind of comedy — crazy, loud, absurd — which works thanks to the remarkable and effective camerawork of cinematographers Hwang Min-sik and Park Min-hyun, sharp editing by Cho In-hyung, and the impeccable delivery of our main cast. While director Yoo has cited Richard Donner’s The Goonies and James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy as inspirations for the show (which you can clearly notice), there is something undeniably The Three Stooges-esque about the dynamics between Chae-ni, Gyeong-hun, and Ro-bin — and it’s Park Eun-bin, Choi Dae-hoon, and Im Seong-jae’s impressive talent that brings it all to life with unbelievable verve.

With childlike protagonists who are silly in the most lovable of ways, humour in The Wonderfools has a unique and confident identity that creates an engaging dialogue with both the series’ visual language and narrative. The result is a tonally cohesive story whose plot may need a tad of time to find its rhythm, but it is given freedom to explore its events, development arcs, and themes comfortably.

This is a screenplay that establishes clear rules and respects them, mixing and matching internal, interpersonal, and external conflicts to keep its narrative moving forward organically. The passing of time is a bit convenient, but nothing that would hinder our sense of immersion or that feels incongruous with the worldbuilding set. The Wonderfools plays around with its storylines throughout most of its run, but cleverly guides them towards the same goal, both thematically and narratively.

Superhero tales require an evil villain, and The Wonderfools isn’t scared to make scientist Ha Won-do (Son Hyun-joo) into an awfully cruel, ruthless antagonist. While his “Wunderkinder Project” children are offered a tad of compassion, he’s meant to be unforgivable. It’s this darkness that proposes real stakes to the series, preventing it from ever becoming too tacky.

Platonic, romantic, and familial relationships give the series a strong emotional tether: the bond between Gyeong-hun and his family, the friendship between Chae-ni and Ro-bin, the unbreakable connection between Chae-ni and her grandmother, and the eventual romance between Chae-ni and Un-jeong all serve to reinforce the show’s heart, but also bolster these characters’ identity and agency. Our protagonists don’t fight the Wunderkinder because they have grand goals to protect the world, but because they feel responsible for their loved ones. They gain and regain their will to persevere by appreciating how much they mean to one another — they are given a purpose through their sense of belonging to a loving community.

We Are More Than What We Seem to Be

And that gets us to the themes of The Wonderfools, which are so beautifully explored in between these characters’ silly shenanigans. This is a story that examines the relation between fanatical devotion, gullibility, and genuine trust as well as trauma and manipulation. But, most importantly, The Wonderfools is a show about being courageous despite our fears, refusing to let our appearances dictate our limits, and fostering a sense of self-worth.

Chae-ni, Gyeong-hun, and Ro-bin are given powers that reflect their desires or needs, but that can only be used if they dare to be more than they seem to be. Chae-ni yearns to be free from Haeseong, which is why she gains the ability to teleport. But she can only do it if her heart rate spikes, something that was deemed unimaginable under her condition. Meanwhile, Gyeong-hun, who is seen as an annoying oddball when he tells the truth, gains a hyper-adhesive ability that only works when he lies. Ro-bin, known for being timid, overly emotional, and weak, has superhuman strength that is activated when his feelings are hurt.

The trick is: they can only benefit from their powers if they become more self-aware. Chae-ni may teleport to a different place, but she’s bound to return to the same spot. Similarly, she realises that Haeseong accepts her just the way she is, which transforms the city from a place that confines her into a place she knows she can always go back to and feel free to be whoever she wishes to be.

In order to “stick and unstick”, Gyeong-hun needs to be sincere with himself and understand exactly what he believes in, assuredly distinguishing what is true for him and what isn’t — no matter how uncomfortable that truth might be. Finally, Ro-bin can only use his strength to protect those he loves if he transforms his hurt into power, ignoring people’s offences against him and rising above their prejudices.

All of these go back to the idea of acceptance and belonging, which is also explored with Un-jeong’s backstory. Un-jeong yearns to be loved and welcomed into a community that won’t judge or exploit him, something that he can only achieve through his relationship with Gyeong-hun, Ro-bin, and especially, Chae-ni.

Should You Watch The Wonderfools?

In the end, the greatest superpowers these characters have are their wonderfully kind hearts, their charmingly naive optimism, and their cheeky eccentricity. And that’s what makes The Wonderfools such a delightful watch. Its humour might be absurd, and its narrative might follow all the expected beats, but this production has such faith in the story it wants to tell that you can’t help but go along with it.

Blending comedy, adventure, and a good dose of fantasy, The Wonderfools offers a wholesome, captivating, and surprisingly touching journey that celebrates the lovable misfit that lives within us all. In an interview with The Korea Times, director Yoo mentioned, “If viewers finish it thinking, ‘That was a lot of fun,’ I’m satisfied. After all, isn’t that the greatest compliment an entertainment piece can receive?“

Well, Director Yoo, I hope you take this review as a compliment. The Wonderfools is definitely a lot of fun.

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