This review may contain spoilers
Just finished The K2 on Netflix.Oh.My.God.
I am speechless.
It is now my 6th favorite K-Drama of all time!
An action-packed adrenaline rush with elements of political thriller and sprinkles of romantic comedy.
The epic, choir-heavy, classical inspired music score is the best I've ever heard in a K-Drama!
Action scenes, writing and cinematography were just gorgeous.
There are some notable deviations from K-Drama tradition here: the female lead is the villain in this show, not the love interest (Song Yoon-ah's name comes right after Ji's and she has second longest screen time after Ji), the protagonist and his most of his allies are employees of the villain and most notably, the villain has an unrequited love/attraction to the protagonist!
Acting from the cast is top notch.
Song Yoon-Ah's performance was the standout for me and the best villain I've ever seen in a K-Drama.There are so many gray layers to that character and performance that'll I'll never forget it. She chews up every scene she's in.
Then, we have Ji Chang-Wook, who is a rare gem because he works well in any genre: action hero, romantic lead/heartthrob, comedy, and drama. In this show, he brings charm, laughter and intensity for the serious scenes. His versatility is remarkable.
While the show leans heavily in the cynical realm, there are abrupt, hilarious moments of romantic comedy aided by a classic K-Drama song that will a smile on your face.
There is a scene in the final episode that was so unexpected and beautiful that I started crying. You'll know it when you see it.
The show just blew me away from beginning to end and receives my highest recommendation!
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Great but a little confusing at times
The story of The K2 is great. It's just hard for me to invest in it at times as I'm not sure (with some of the characters) how I'm supposed to feel/who I want to root for. Don't get me wrong, the acting and cast was superb, it was just a little confusing as my emotions for certain characters changed episode by episode. The OST also pointed out to me as quite unique for a drama which at times was very gritty. I liked most of the OST by the end, but at the start it actually quite startled me with the selections of songs/music. I feel like I may have rated my rewatch value too high however as this is another drama I am watching during the lockdown, these dramas have an advantage of a higher rewatch value as I have more time to watch them.The K2 is definitely a solid drama to watch, as long as you are able to get your head around the great but quite-complex-at-times story.
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great action series
I really loved this series and I've rewatched it several times. The action is great and I think that the acting is great also. My favorite characters where the ML and the SFL. I never really got to big of a romantic vibe from them like some people did but their chemistry was awesome. I thought that they gave both characters several layers that made me feel for them and want to see more. Some people thought that the female romantic interest was annoying but she had her reasons and the romance wasn't the point of the story. It's a pretty straight forward, but not boring plot but that's is exactly what I was looking for. So if you just want to turn your brain down for a few hours and be entertained by a great action series with little romance and a strong female character (SFL) this is the show for you.Was this review helpful to you?
Tried to be something it wasn't...
I'm so sad, because this started out promisingly. Then the lackluster romance got in the way and spoiled it all.Whenever I see JCW starring in an action drama, I tend to gravitate to such dramas because I know the fight scenes are going to be great. What can I say, I'm a sucker for flawless badassery. This started out pretty well with some intrigue, our main character being a mercenary, and the female introduced was a woman who gets what she wants by any means necessary. I thought, Oo, a blurred lines drama. I love dramas the challenge black and white, give me that grey. Nope. Not it ladies and gents. There was a lot of potential between some of the lines, but it gradually got lost in the calculated mess later on.
So, we have the Jae Ha who dealt with some sketchy murdery stuff while deployed, and was blamed for killing someone. He's on the run when he collides with An Na, who's also on the run from her mothers lackies. She's the romance interest, but I honestly wanted it to be Yoo Jin. She had so much more chemistry with the ML, and I wanted her redemption ark more than I want potatoes in every form. That woman had so much potential and it got thrown away in favor of a classic damsel in distress storyline. Nothing could save it once the tears started. It's a pretty run-of-the-mill political, money greedy story with some romance and back and forth thrown in. The acting was fine, but like I said, tears. I don't know why, but when a character only contributes tears to the screen, I lose complete interest. However, the OST is absolutely beautiful, so definitely listen to that even if you don't get around to watching this drama.
All in all, maybe not a bad drama, but the romance got in the way of the good bits. I couldn't get back into it, but you might enjoy it if you like the damsel in distress line.
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An Action Hero but also establishes the fact that Strong Anti-Hero Females are a lasting trend
I saw some clips and action scenes of ‘The K2’ on YouTube and became interested in the show. I finished the show within a span of 1.5 days with ample sleep ofcourse. I have to say this is the most action packed K-drama I have seen thus far (DOTS, following second).I wanted to find out why the show is called K2, what is the significance. 15 mins into the drama and there is some punch packed action. My hopes rose, seeing how well it was choreographed. It’s safe to say the action didn’t disappoint and you find it packed around pretty much the whole drama. Although, the excessive pause made it unrealistic to some extent and fast pace of camera sometimes made it hard to follow through. I had to go back a few seconds sometimes to know what happened.
The background music and ending credit song caught my attention from the first go. I searched out for it and found it was the main theme for the drama, furthermore the words that I wasn’t able to grasp (other than all of the dialogues in Korean) were in German. The words had a lot of meaning attached to the story and for a Kdrama having a ost composed in German was much surprising (my initial guess was spanish since that’s where the story began). To tell you the truth, it’s absolutely catchy and is still ringing in my ears. Most of the ost is instrumental and pretty good depicting the mood of the story. Soft for emotional scenes and thriller for suspense or action. Few episodes into it and you could guess with the main theme playing that you will witness some action or dynamic transition in plot.
Coming to the story, it is not something entirely new to the universe. An agent (Kim Jeha) like no other, suffered a tradegy, gone rogue, fighting against the world but still being good and fair to the innocent. He fights for the right, wants revenge and along the way encounters love (Go Anna). However, the intricacies are what makes these stories and characters a bit more unique. It’s always interesting to watch these kinds of stories roll out every time. (Action with a purpose, as I call them are a favorite genre of mine). There are some things I absolutely loved about the drama. If there was a damsel in distress it wasn’t without a strong antagonist and that too a female (Choi Yoo Jin). Not often do we see this gender being given so much authority and control to move the story.
I loved the character of Choi Yoo Jin even though she was evil, very evil but there was something about her that made her vulnerable and deserving of bit sympathy. Amazing acting by Song Yoon-ah, she ruled the show for me. She has so many layers and ultimately turns out to not so bad a character. Infact, she is better off than likes of Mr. Jang (father of Go Anna). I wanted to like this character, giving reasons for his shitty behavior of a playboy or towards his own daughter (he still loves her mother, he is trying to protect his own daughter) but even after his whole sacrifice at the end I haven’t been able to like him. I understand that his political career was the only thing he had left and it was to avenge his love. But you need to draw a line and not hurt and put the only thing you could possibly love through danger and much emotional turmoil again and again.
The character of Go Anna played by Im Yoon-ah is much in controversy. Some say her acting isn’t as strong as her kpop gig, some say she doesn’t compliment well with Ji Chan Wook and there is no chemistry, others say she has improved a lot. Well I have nothing to compare her with, neither her past works nor many actresses. I honestly found her acting well according to the role given to her. I felt the role demanded of her to show less emotions, to act aloof. I felt the sparks between Go Anna and Kim Jeha but I wish they burnt like fire, I wish for more scenes where the chemistry could be explored more. Nevertheless, it
was great.
I also enjoyed the love traingle between Kim Jeha, Go Anna and Choi Yoo Jin. It touched upon a restricted topic of older woman loving a young guy. From the first go I felt that Choi Yoo Jin started liking Kim Jeha but it wasn’t very clear, the show makers deliberately kept it that way I guess and I loved it. The way she should stood strong, caught hold of her feelings amidst her goals and also the way she unfolded and exposed herself to Jeha.
Coming to the titular character, Ji Chang Wook, he has done some amazing work. It was my first drama of Ji Chang Wook. I am completely mesmerised by his ability to induce intensity and comedy equally well into the scene. He has performed some amazing action and was truly the wolf of show. Few of my favourite scenes include the inital fight scene (episode 1), the car chase with Kim Jeha and Yoo Jin (episode 2), bathroom fight (episode 3), taking Anna to infirmary (episode 7), euroem and ding (episode 8), how Kim Jeha looks at Anna through CCTV and then his eye shades episode, all the tiny details make your heart melt, the ending (episode 16) and choi yoo jin’s role in it, she was literally the queen of the forest!
After finishing the show, it was difficult for me to imagine any korean actor that I famously know of other than Ji Chang Wook to play K2. He has done sweet justice to his role. The drama kept me engrossed throughout and due to the suspense attached I was constantly on my feet. The only disappointment I have from the show is not being able to K2’s real name.
The whole soundtrack of the show is so so good it be enough to make you want to watch the show. I love the soundtrack of the show so much that I usually have it playing on repeat. All in all, I love the show a lot and I do keep coming back to it.
Why Watch it?
- If you are looking for an action packed Kdrama
- If you are a Ji Chang Wook fan
- If you are a Im Yoon-ah fan
- If you are a Song Yoon-ah fan, trust me she’s too good in this
- If you like action entangled with romance and suspense
- Amazing Ost
- If you like female anti-heros who move the story forward
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I would first like to say I thought the acting in this was mainly phenomenal. JCW delivered brilliantly, the villains were so twisted you can't help but both pity them and hate them. I find sometimes villains don't have a motive other than just being evil but these ones did which combined with great acting made it amazing. My only negative was Yoona's acting BUT I know she hasn't got a lot of experience and luckily the other actors made up for it. As episodes went on, though, her acting improved.
This show is so full of plot twists you'll be dying to see the next episode. Some parts do /drag/ and are overly dramatic. A dark room filled with villains around a desk. Really?
Although not my favourite drama of the year I highly enjoyed this and will be looking into other works of these actors.
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He's so handsomeeeeeee...so cool.
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It captured my attention at once but left me disappointed
So, starting off this series, I had high expectations, and the first five or so episodes delivered pretty well. But after that my interest began to wane.I have two issues:
My main issue was that the romance aspect wasn't between Kim Je Ha and Choi Yoo Jin. I remember going back and reading the synopsis after the first few times these two characters interacted. Finding out that the story puts Kim Je Ha with the daughter floored me.
I mean the chemistry between Kim Je Ha and Choi Yoo Jin was electric and I thought it would of made for a much better story arch then him with the daughter. Dramas and movies are saturated in the bad step mother, prince saving the princess trope that personally, seeing Choi Yoo Jin getting a happy ending with her young bodyguard would of been great to see. Plus their my two favorite characters in the series.
My second was that Kim Je Ha is Human. Okay, so while i'm a sucker for a strong, powerful male lead, I don't want superhuman (unless that's the genre I'm watching). I love male leads to be incredible but still falter in action sometimes, get hurt, even be on the brink of death if needed. So long as they are human.
Overall, it was good to a point. Recommended if you like a lot of action with political drama and some, eh romance, with little actually chemistry between the two.
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Story:
The basic idea of the story is quite nice. Political affairs tight together with family tragedies and everything evil from the financial world. Sounds great, right? But then there is more. A (subtle?) love triangle, unrequited love, a past love that was killed and someone who needs to take revenge for this killing....A daughter taking revenge on the family that abandoned her...another daughter taking revenge on her stepmother (who is the afore mentioned daughter)...a woman taking revenge on her husband who does not love her one bit, but stays with her due to his career. So, as you see, there is a lot of revenge going on. That's already a little confusing, but then there are all these sudden twists and you think "What the heck just happened here? How? What? Why?" I am sure there are some people that like these kinds of twists, but for me it was simply too much and really annoying. Oh, and one other annoying thing: many of the characters acted like spoiled little children whose favorite lollipop has been stolen. Ugh.
Acting/Cast:
JCW (as expected) did a great job here. He did what he was supposed to do, although there were some really absurd parts (like ten men fighting each other under the shower....yaaay no). I've seen him playing better roles!
Song Yoon Ah's acting was also great. I hated her character to the very end (yeah, sorry, no pity from my side), and I believe that's what the character was supposed to be - a total bitch. And although I hated her character, I was still impressed by her acting.
Im Yoon Ah's acting on the other side....well I don't know. She was a naive and dumb little girl. And I also did not like her very much. Question is only, was she supposed to be this naive and dumb or is she just a bad actress? I haven't seen her in any other dramas yet, but I must say that I am not impressed.
Music:
German classics - liked it and it was always fitting. The music gave this whole drama an ominous atmosphere.
Rewatch Value:
Will not rewatch it, as I am not a rewatcher, especially for a drama I wasn't impressed with.
Overall:
MDL suggested a 6, but I think it deserves a 7. As someone already pointed out: it could have been so much more (and so much better)!
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So yeah I recommend this drama to every kpoper
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Master's opinion
Ji chang wook , fight scene's, the antagonist lady.I have stated what's good about thia drama.
Wasnt really a great it felt quite empty and that Romance( not welcomed by me 😮💨)
Hiyaaa this was bad. Gave me such a hard time to finish it.
If y don care for story or quality Romance then u might like it
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I picked this drama up purely for the casting of Ji Chang Wook. His acting will not disappoint. His character, Kim Je Ha is super cool and steamy, and has a fatal flaw as a soldier for hire. I truly think if you are a Ji Chang Wook fan, this is a must-see.
If you are watching this for the romance, I probably wouldn't recommend it. Ji Chang Wook and Im Yoon Ah have some cute scenes together, but the romance seems more like a supplementary after thought.
My interpretation of The K2 is a modern day fairy tale set in the world of politics. It often tries to be overly complicated and political. Everyone is seeking revenge and pushing their own agenda in an amoral political environment. To watch this drama, one has to be very liberal with their willingness to suspend disbelief ... The drama itself is pretty far-fetched ... Everything considered, I'm still glad I watched this drama.
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