This review may contain spoilers
I just finished watching this drama and I have so many mixed feelings that I wanted to write something about it. To start with the story line I would say it was there even though it could have been better. The music was good. I liked the action parts of the movie and I liked how the fighting scenes where choreographed and filmed. I did like that the main character was successful in all his actions and that's because I have seen so many movies where the main character is supposed to be this well trained, well prepared fighter just to end up in a lot of scenes being beaten up. So this movie satisfied my liking where the hero gets to be just that: a hero. I did love Choi Yoo Jin character even though she was one of the villains I grew to love her a lot. She was so deeply misunderstood and she missed on so much love throughout her life that all she had left was to make her husband become the president to at least achieve one dream or one thing in her life. Her methods to do that were not the best ones but if you strip her character of all this doings and if you peel all the layers that were making her character, its visible how hurt she was inside, how misunderstood she was. What I didn't like was Go Anna character. For a socially awkward person, phobia issues, locked in a convent for 10 years, she definitely acted nothing like she was having this problems, except the flashing lights thing, but that didn't stop her to participate to a fashion show in her mother name, which by the way nobody even thought about it for 10 years but now they were having a fashion show in her memory. She surely created a few extra problems for Kim Je Ha that made him deviate from his path and always do extra just to protect her, that it was driving me crazy. I wanted to get in and just tied her to a chair or put her on a plain to let him concentrate on his plans first and then he could go to her. As far as the love between them I didn't feel it at all. It felt forced, cold, rushed, strong feelings into a short period of time and I missed that build up to get to those feelings. All in all I just didn't feel Go Anna's character at all. I think the movie could have done just fine with out her character or have some other love interest for the main character. Maybe even a love between him and Choi Yoo Jim but definitely not with Go Anna. Maybe I'm wrong but I just really didn't feel Go Anna character. Not a bad drama since it has a good story but it does at times feel like you want to quit watching it. I stuck with watching the movie for a few characters in the movie and mainly for Kim Je Ha and Choi Yoo Jim characters. Was this review helpful to you?
A little confused but it's got the spirit
The K2 is one of those shows that I’ve seen around regularly since I started watching K-dramas, and while some people seemed to like it, there are few shows I’ve seen get torn apart the way this one does. Then again I mostly see it talked about in Instagram and Instagram comments suck and all but whatever.Anyways, I decided to ignore some of the backlash and give it a shot anyways. I mean it’s got ji Chang-Wook in it, so I’d watch it just for him. But honestly, I did enjoy the show, it did have some issues, absolutely, but I don’t think the extent of the negativity this show gets is deserved.
The first episode started out pretty strong introducing us to all the main characters. I really enjoyed the sections with An-Na and the K2 or Je-Ha, and the episode left me feeling pretty disturbed, which I can totally get behind for a show like this. Unfortunately, the show doesn’t always live up to the standards the first couple episodes set for me. So while I liked it, I do get what people mean when they say it was wasted potential. It was good but it could have been better.
Choi Yoo-jin was one of my favorite characters, she was delightfully horrible to watch on screen. I loved and hated her all at the same time. Most of the other villains weren’t as well done as she was, but I liked most of them well enough.
One of the highlights of the show was some of the action scenes and intense flashbacks, oh and the music. I don’t know exactly what style it was but I thought the music added really nicely to all of the dramatic parts of the show.
I loved Ji Chang-wook’s portrayal of Ja-Ha, he’s a pretty good mix of stoic and kind of soft. Most other reviews I’ve seen liked him well enough. An-Na on the other hand, gets a lot of hate. I imagine that her character was pretty darn hard to portray and I have to give props to Im Yoon-Ah. An-Na isn’t exactly that kind of “strong independent” female protagonist that a lot of people have come to like, but I thought she was interesting in her own right.
One of the biggest complaints I’ve seen about her character is that she’s naïve, which is fair enough. But for someone who has been separated from society for most of her life, it makes sense,
As far as the romance goes, I thought it was fine, though there isn’t much of it. An-Na and Je-Ha spend much more screen time apart then they spend together, what little time was spent on their romance, I thought was cute. Theres plenty of other things to keep your interest outside of the romance though, so it was fine.
Unfortunately, on that note, there might be a little too much going on. It might just be me but there were a few times where I was a little lost, and that kind of took me out of the story a few times.
Also another kind of random note, why are so many shots so shaky? I get that it’s probably a stylistic choice or something, but it was overdone. And I get that this was somewhat of a retold fairytale, but I wasn’t a fan of the mirror. I also wish the ending had been wrapped up just a bit cleaner.
Overall I though that The K2 had it’s problems, I had a good time watching it. And since I finished all sixteen episodes I obviously liked it enough to spend my time on it. So yeah, that’s all.
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Bit cheesy, unrealistic...
This drama probably reflected the true nature of high level corruptor/fraud/villain; watching entire drama was stressing me, as i question our own politician. Even though my first reason to watch this is ji chang wook, the true character spotlight of this drama is CYJ, instead KJH, TBH im much more into her than Ji Chang Wook. But i wasnt falling in love with any of lead characters, even in the end i cannot trust Master Song! I just really dont like the story line, the ending is too unnatural and unreal. The romance is not mature and cheesy. As a big fan of Ji chang wook, What i can say is im disappointed with his choice, as imho the dramas not exposing his best quality (i also disappoint with his backstreet rookie and suspicious partner, seriously Ji chang wook need to hire hu quality and smart consultant to chose his projects wisely)! Although being entertained, the almost-nude scene is cheesy and degrade JCW!Was this review helpful to you?
I honestly watched it because of Ji Chang Wook since I am a fan of him after watching "Suspicious Partner". One of my friend actually suggested me to watch "The K2" while this drama was ongoing in 2016 but yeah, I don't like watching ongoing dramas since I love to watch dramas in one shot without stop.
What I could say about "The K2" is that it gives me this kind of feelings where it is not going to get bored. And when you feels like you're getting bored with the storyline and then suddenly out of nowhere the protagonists mostly really do play the main roles in this drama.
Choi Yoo Jin by Song Yoon-Ah ( you are going to have a love-hate relationship with her in the end ! ) and I am still amazed with her role in this drama! She just gives me so much feelings and I really do love her acting ! You are going to feel amazed with her in the end ;-)
It have been ages since I fell in love with a K-Drama that give me such an impact. The last K-Drama that gives me this kind of feelings was "Innocent Defendant" or "Defendant" (2017) acted by Park Jisung. If you love "The K2" then I am sure you'll love "Innocent Defendant" too ! I think it is because these kind of dramas are my cup of tea so yeah.
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Damsel in distress gets boring after the fifth time...
It is amazing how many times Anna can get taken as hostage in this show, or within one single episode. Also equally unbelievable is how annoyingly dumb the main "heroine" can still be even with all her experiences dealing with and running away from her captors through those years. Not sure how the "romance" even started. Personally, I feel that the show would have been much better without the (nonexistent)romance. The only thing that kept me watching was the incredible acting by Song Yoon Ah. The villain character saved the whole show.Was this review helpful to you?
Definitely a must watch show
I. StoryWhen you thought you have guessed the twists and turns, a new layer is introduced to prove your guesses wrong. This is rare in this genre and the writer, Hyuk Rin Jang, wrote a masterpiece.
While "The K2" was mainly about the political game, it was also about family relationships and the politics that is common in large clans with huge money at stake. This type of story is usually told by showing a dragging drama but in this TV series they approached it from an "outsider" view or as a secondary story. THe family politics was there but they were careful in keeping it from becoming the main story.
II. Acting
Excellent acting from the veteran and younger actors. The fight scenes, especially in episode one was beyond Western choreography, "James Bond" and "Mission: Impossible" can never match what they did.
I was also impressed by YoonA's acting of her character. At first it looked like her role was easy but as we get into the middle episodes, her character was challenging--she had to be a totally different person, someone with PTSD and deep hatred.
III. Music
The background music were perfect. It adds to the impact of an already powerful scene. It was good because BGMs should act as an amplifier for scenes and not as "the scene".
IV. Production
Great production. Clearly every centavo was spent to create a realistic show which captivated the audience and made the boundary between reality and fiction non-existent.
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No more pairing for JCW and Yoona please..
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I started watching The K2 right after Healer, because Ji Chang Wook, and the plot looked interesting. I was not disappointed by the first few episodes. The action scenes are well choreographed and fun, Ji Chang Wook looks great (duh), and there is some nice underlying intrigue with the plot and the characters. If the show had continued like this, all would have been well. Sadly, it did not.
Most of the characters in this show are nuanced and well acted. The initial episodes are compelling because you are trying to figure them out. Most of the characters start out clearly labeled by the show as "good" or "bad," but whether or not they will all stay that way is unclear. A character that the show initially signals is "good" is shown doing "bad" things, but are they being manipulated or is this their true character? Are the characters doing bad things really trying to do good? The uncertainty of each character's position within the spectrum of good and bad is a large part of what makes the plot compelling (besides the action scenes, which are consistently awesome). Song Yoon Ah, in particular, is masterful at her acting within the grey area. Her character is clearly set up to be the big bad at the beginning, but I remained convinced that there was a possibility for her redemption. This was particularly helped by her frankly smoldering chemistry with Ji Chang Wook on screen. This chemistry with the protagonist suggests that maybe she isn't so bad after all.
It is difficult to explain what is ultimately disappointing about this drama without spoiling the plot, but I will try. There was SO MUCH potential with this concept. Unfortunately, the intriguing initial episodes are followed up with the destruction of all subtlety by the ham-handed romance of the destined pairing. The show points out this pair early on, much like how characters are labeled as "good" and "bad." With all of the grey going on in the first few episodes, though, there remains the chance that MAYBE this drama will not play out to the seemingly-destined pair. As we entered the latter half of the drama, it still seemed possible that Wook's protagonist would not end up with the destiny partner; she had a strong reason to love him, but the show never convinced me why his character was really interested in her. Additionally, it seemed that her naive character, clearly outlined as "good," at first, was drifting into the grey area, which seemed to worry her potential love interest. Could he be driven into the arms of the "big bad" instead? This was exciting! Even if the destiny pair did still end up together, having some bumps on the road is always more fun, especially as it plays into the general state of intrigue on the show. That is the show I wanted to watch.
Sadly, I was disappointed. Instead of allowing the protagonist to have some doubts about his destiny partner and letting everyone play around in uncertainty a bit longer, the show throws the pair together shortly after the halfway point in such a way that it becomes pretty clear that they won't be separated. Suddenly, a drama that seemed to be built on the nuance of its characters becomes a straightforward political/spy drama with a romance side plot. Turns out, that's not interesting. I struggled on for a bit, but ultimately stopped watching.
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Plot: a runaway mercenary' a girl whos mother was murdered and has been held captive since a young age' the girls father running for president and his wife the cold hearted master mind. Mercenary caught at the wrong place at the wrong time and is then later teams up with the wife to take down a common enemy. Buy then yhe Mercenary and girl fall in love with each other and desiderate to join efforts to take down the wife. Story of mistrust' betrayal ' cunning schemes paired with awesome fight scenes and heartfelt relationships. Not to mention a good bit a comic relief.
Apparently the story was changed since the audience wasn't having the desired response to the characters (no sure how true this is but I do see it being very possible)
The ending was very bittersweet for me and I am happy about maybe 75 percent of what happened in the last two episodes but I'm biased to my fave character Yoo Jin.
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And i was wondering when jichangwook see yoona cooked ramen happily.
I thought that was the first time he start care with yoona ????
That was the most akward scene ever.
It would be better to have less romance, focus on the plot.
And more revenge with concspiracy.
But i still watch it till the end to appreciate the hardwork of jichangwook.
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The plot was just........WEIRD. it was all over the place. So confusing. I've watched so many dramas in my life and this one was just a NO. I feel so sorry for JCW oppa but I just couldn't watch anymore.
The actresses and actors were GOOOOOOOOD tho. Choi yoo Jin. Omg! She was AMAZING. And of course my oppa was too. It's just sad that the plot wasn't good. *sigh. I'm sad.
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Then the politics hits you and many many uninteresting side characters, no loyalty to anyone, you never know who is with who. then you start to loose interest but still the main story keeps you addicted so you don't want to drop it.
Basically I just FF the boring details and kept watching the parts I wanted. Still I hardly missed out on anything of the main story.
Ji Chang Wook is amazing, Yoona is ok, nothing special, but the main villain vamp is just too good. You hate her for all the horrible things she does, yet you pity and feel sorry for her at the same time.
What really annoyed me was the camera work, it was so shaky, literally making me dizzy at times.
overall: Revenge revenge revenge. Don't expect it to be like healer, then you are ok. Its addictive and the story keeps you interested but it has lots of boring details.
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