For the sake of... action?!
I guess when I started watching this I wanted to see some action and I guess in terms of action it's a good drama. On the other hand it's not as thrilling as some other dramas with political topics involved (e.g. Mad Dog). The most interesting for me were the relationships between the different protagonists. E.g. between Je-ha and Yoo-jin. It's a rather weird and hard-to-describe relationship and there were even times I kind of felt sorry for them. I suppose it's a good thing if the characters are rather grey than black or white and I sometimes had to remind myself why a certain character should be rather disliked (or not).On the other hand Anna disappointed me to some extend. You can't deny that she's a poor girl, but that's mainly all there is. She's poor and rather dumb/naive all the time which is pretty annoying (to me at least). At the same time she "soothed" Je-ha's character to some extend. Thanks to her he could find what he probably lost over time. Still the love story is a rather weak one, but it's sweet and serves for the sake of motivation.
I found myself comparing Je-ha to Kenshin. Thinking about the thoughts you have if you have the result but completely different reasons to do something. One was rather heroic, another felt more like a coincidence to either make a character more loveable or to enhance possible plot twists.
I have to confess that I liked the OST. On one hand it was weird to have that kind of "epic" soundtrack for this drama, on the other hand it reminded me of playing a video game. Certainly, this could've been a video game I guess. Je-ha would've been a proper protagonist for that I suppose.
Kind of funny was the way some wounds appeared and vanished (while others remained for a long time to suddenly vanish). Then they should rather use a plaster I think. Still I didn't regret watching this by any means and it was worth watching. What's the moral of it? I wonder about that even after finishing it...
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Choi Yoo Jin was fascinating even from episode one. Very few characters were painted in black and white, and as motivations were revealed it was hard to truly loathe them, even if they did despicable things. It made for great storytelling, and yet the characters’ sins left a few scenes without the poignant impact.
In the end, the only people I rooted for were K2 and some of the smaller side characters. I agree with other reviews I've seen that they made K2 a little too invincible so it became highly unbelievable at times. On the whole I though it was worth the watch, but I don’t think it’s one I’ll be returning to.
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K2
If you watch it for the action scenes it is a good watch. Very political. It's a fun watch. I did not like Im Yoon Ah's character portrayal at all. Her and Changwook didn't have any chemistry. Most of the time it felt like the main couple was Changwook's character and Song Yoon Ah. They had a weird dynamic and it was confusingat times. There were alot of things I would have liked to have seen, but weren't really working.Idk. It was okfor an action/political drama. Not too much for a romantic one.
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One of my favorite Action Romance
Kim Je-ha (Ji Chang-Wook) was a top special forces soyldier turned mercenary in the Iraq war. He falls in love with a local and is instrumental in getting her a job as an interpreter. His plan to marry his love and get them both out of the war theater goes terribly awry when she witnesses something she shouldn't and is killed in front of Je-ha's eyes. Worse he is framed for her murder. He is determined to seek revenge and escapes, for a time to Barcelona where he runs across a beautiful young woman who seems to be running from someone and pleads for his help. The girl is Go A-na (Im Yoon-ah) who has been kept as a veritable prisoner her whole life to protect her father's political aspirations.Unsure if the young woman is crazy or indeed in danger Je-ha only half heartedly helps her and she is re-captured by her step mother's guards. As the result of an illegitimate relationship, Go A-na is kept under tight guard.
Fast forward back to South Korea and a series of events results in Je-ha, who is in hiding in his home country, catching the attention of Presidential candidate's wife, Choi Yoo-Jin (Song Yoon-ah) Realizing his skill as a great asset to her security team, she offers to provide an alias for him and ultimately an avenue to clear his name. Je-ha is assigned the code name K2 and is surprised to discover his first assignment is to guard the girl he ran across in Barcelona. Yoo-Jin and Je-ha find they have a common enemy, Park Kwan-soo (Kim Kap-so) who is political rival to one and fiancé murderer of the other. Meanwhile Jang Se-Joon (Jo Sung-ha) has allowed his wife to imprison A-na with the promise to not cause her physical harm.
While guarding her, K2 gets to know A-na and understands that past tragedy has led to her current fragile psychological state which is not completely unlike his own. The two find love but must navigate the danger of a political world full of lies, murder and corruption. Some will stop at nothing to gain the ultimate seat of power. A-na is not the only one who finds K2 attractive A-na's stepmom has been in a loveless marriage as a rich heiress able to fund her husband's political ambitions but having lost his heart to A-na's mother. She has possibly done the unthinkable once to remove a romantic rival and A-na is already a constant reminder of her husband's infidelity so Yoo-jin needs no excuse to eliminate her. K2 must play a dangerous game to free and protect the woman he loves while maintaining the alliance he needs to exact his revenge.
This has everything I love in a good action movie. It was sort of James Bond meets Bruce Lee. I was not sure Ji Chang-Wook could play another character I liked as well as Healer but I have to say he did. He plays this almost super hero level character with a vulnerable streak that has you rooting for him the whole way. The A-na character led such a sad life that it was a happy moment when K 2 entered the picture as you knew he would make things right. The plot was complex and every other character was such a twisted blend of good and evil it kept you guessing to the end. I loved this movie and thoroughly enjoyed it. Chemistry between the leads was perfect and believable. It had a nice romantic element. The only slight flaw was the overly obvious product placement it broke the fourth wall several times. Highly recommend yet another excellent Ji Chang-Wook action movie.
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A hit and a few misses
"Choi Yoo Jin was once an innocent girl too, wasn't she? And it's only after girls grow up, they become witches."The moment women don't allow to be messed with, they become witches. A powerful woman they can't touch is a witch.
Once you manage to see the patterns it becomes clear, they prefer snow whites because they usually prey on their innocence and lack of experience. Women are pawns that become evil once they can no longer be played with.
This is not a fairytale, it's like real life, only we're told witches are evil, we accept that men are necessarily evil but that's a good thing because it means they're strong, and at the same time, every woman should strive to be snow white. They forget the witches are, many times, a consequence of their doings, once the snow whites learn how to fend for themselves.
Instead of having a snow white, however, we got a child (which maybe isn't very far off from who snow white really is). I understand that she was sheltered in a convent but she still got her development as a person as we all do growing up. The innocence they thought they were portraying turned into nothing. She barely was a character, she could have been a pen drive with sensitive information and the story could have been the same.
There was no story between the leads, there was no chemistry, there was no sense, there was no spark, there was nothing. I don't believe it's due to Yoona's acting skills, I believe it was a direction and writing decision.
They tried to find parallels between them but we don't necessarily fall in love with people who share our story or our quirks, there has to be something there other than that, like seeing the person for who they are. Go Anna didn't know anything about the K2, how can you love someone you don't know? Do you love the shell or do you love the person?
In that same line, Go Anna was just a substitute for the love the K2 failed to protect. He wouldn't let it happen this time. That's also not love.
Now, if we're talking about the real lead of this whole story, she did a great job! Song Yoon Ah was fantastic and Choi Yoo Jin was a complex character that deserved a better ending. Everyone seems to agree that there was chemistry between the K2 and Yoo Jin and that would have made this story into a 10. Fairytales should be put to rest. We need stories of strong, complex women we can relate to. She seemed like the evil witch yet she was so much more, a true Queen!
It would also have been extra interesting to see a relationship between Choi Yoo Jin and secretary Kim. They had great chemistry and the whole time I thought there should be something more in that story. Also the actress who played secretary Kim is absolutely amazing, she should be given so much more credit than she does.
To sum it up, it was a great drama in terms of action and mystery, it would have been better if they left out the romance part. It was definitely not a romance drama. The fight scenes were fantastic and the political plot was engaging. The music should have stayed in 2010, in a drama like the Secret Garden, where it belonged.
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quite disappointed
the first episodes were really gold, loved it , but then i got bored i love LOVE the male lead the acting visuals 10/10 but the female leads acting was disappointing she is very pretty and all but sometimes it just felt very cringe and just not realisticalso there could be less political stuff because i didn't understand half of it and just skipped. in my opinion they could have shown more romance and development between the main leads
the drama itself wasn't too bad i liked the plot and the idea but they ruined it at the end
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Okay, so what the hell is his real name?!?!!!! Like let’s be so for real. JUST TELL US ALREADY. The cut off is killing me. I bet it’s cuz they couldn’t come up with a name cool enough to satisfy our curiosity.
The story was intriguing. The plot was there. The acting was absolutely phenomenal, but I had high doubts about Anna’s role. They made her a useless female lead. Her role was purely for plot and less personality. She was important for her relationships and being Jeha’s motivation.
The romance. What can I say. Everyone who said he had more chemistry with the Yu Jin was correct. I think the writers realized that after the first few eps so they rushed to give Anna more screen time. Like, all of a sudden, he’s watching her unable to cook ramen and he’s in love…. HELLO ?!?!
Him and Yu Jin had shocking chemistry. The held at gunpoint, the car crash, even when she was shot. He looked more worried about her than he ever did with Anna. With Anna, it’s like he’s annoyed. He’s like, AGAIN ?!?! This bitch cannot stay out of trouble for ONE second.
Choi Yu Jin was written BEAUTIFULLY. I could never bring myself to hate her. She really did care for Jeha and Anna. All this time, she felt guilty for not helping Anna's mom, so she's playing the bad guy. I did indeed cry when she died. They also tried to salvage the dad by making him die along with her. It was like a last aftempt for redemption. if only the secretary died too, but alas.
The ending scene of Jeha and Anna was the most chemistry they had in the entire series… I was like, where did this come from? Don’t get me wrong, their romance story was still cute, but it was definitely questionable.
Overall, watched for Ji Chang Wook. Did not disappoint. Mans is glorious. I heard the bath scene stirred up some controversy, and it’s definitely stirred up something in my heart. His actions scenes are to die for, and his romance <3
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Best Action Politics
Though i loved this series very much , but even if not I would still recommend it to watch for some hot action sequences by JCW.For the first time I would say that apart from JCW , i fell for the female villain !! She was jus exemplary ! They have depicted some heart wrenching politics and the actors playing them are just indispensable , and cant be replaced ! For a moment i thought that it would have been great if the ML fell for the main villain , coz he was just too good for FL. The only thing i dint like was the FL character , like everybody else . I agree that she was weak , but the character is still acceptable , from the point where she is coming from !
I have already rewatched it for 3 times . Just go for it !
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Choi Yoon Jin's captivating performance
THINGS I LIKE(+) Great action scenes
(+) Amazing acting performance by Song Yoon Ah
(+) Tense political action
(+) Deceptive storytelling
(+) Choi Yoon Jin
THING I DIDN'T LIKE
(-) Romance between leads felt unnecessary
(-) Final arc got a bit ridiculous
(-) Anna is underdeveloped
REVIEW
I was surprised to see many have highlighted disappointment towards the show. This is an action series starring Ji Chang Wook so if you enjoy fight scenes and political battles, the K2 is going to be enjoyable nonetheless. There are tons of intense moments and the fight scenes all take place in different settings. I also thoroughly enjoyed the deceptive elements of the political tension that surrounds the plot. However, the biggest treasure box from this series was CHOI YOON JIN, with her Oscar-award winning performance. Seriously, she is the best villain/anti-hero I have ever seen. Her character is just so power-hungry and spiteful, yet at the same time, charismatic and vulnerable. I started this show for Ji Chang Wook and Im Yoon Ah, but was won over by Song Yoon Ah's amazing character towards the end. I literally became a fan overnight and will definitely be checking more of her in the future. Her character is also the most important character in the show as well. Onto the negatives, yes, the final arc does get a bit ridiculous but I personally can overlook that because the plot was still enjoyable. The only thing that I didn't care much for was Anna. Unsure if it was the acting or writing, but her character just felt flat throughout the entire series. She was supposed to be an important character but she's the only one that never got any development. She's constantly running around or being naive and manipulated by others and was a huge nuisance to all the other characters. Her romance with the lead also didn't feel needed to be in the show and just felt forced.
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only for action
●FIRST IMPRESSIONThis drama is a retelling of the snow-white in the modern world because we have got a sci-fi mirror, an evil stepmother representing a witch, bodyguards representing the 7dwarfs, Kim Je Ha aka K2 represents the huntsman, and Anna as snow white.
●PLOT VIEW
Started pretty great but falls apart in the second half. Because the tension is raised high so much I can't accept that its slow storytelling later only to discover no twists. Also, this series is titled THE K2, the story should have followed up with Kim Je Ha more than his employer's family. Rather it has a clean, satisfying ending but still, I expected a more complex story, because it had the potential. There is a stepmother and stepdaughter with an uncaring father but it is just not used properly. Rather Choi Sung Woon and park Kwan Soo had a good villain arc but it didn’t work well.
Also, there is oozing chemistry between Kim Je Ha and Choi Yoo Jin, feeling so effortlessly intense but left untold.
Well, each episode is full of the action sequence, which is choreographed perfectly that I couldn’t help but rewind and watch.
●ACTING/CAST
Im Yoo Na as Anna has a little less screen time. She is just a romantic interest of K2. she is an Idol so the makers tried to keep her Angel image. She acted well but the script didn’t help her connect with the audience, Neither she could show up the pains of the past, nor become an Angel truly.
Ji Chang Wook is cast to do action and he portrays that part like a pro. and brought plenty of intensity and emotion to those scenes. When given the chance, he draws us into his story with his portrayal of Je Ha’s pain and struggles.
Song Yoon Ah as Choi Yoo Jin, an amazing vamp. She is a vulnerable power hungry woman portrayed perfectly. her complexity is powerful.
●MUSIC
The most awesome BGM I had ever heard. Not the OSTs but instrumental and theme music is vibing me like magic. The wolf song is awesome and even added it to my playlist.
●REWATCH
Not really a rewatch drama but action sequences are surely a treat that can't be ignored.
●APPRECIATION
I would give a bow to action directors. They choreographed and edited it so smoothly that my words won't be enough to praise them.
●CRITICISM
there were a lot of aspects which could have been done better. the Political game and business snatching of the Choi family.
Kim je Ha past exploration rather than being just told in words.
●FAV SCENE
The beach scene where Kim Je Ha and Anna play catch me if you can. This scene had a relaxing feel with uplifting music and great visuals.
●RECOMMENDATION
This drama is for those who love the action genre. The political aspect might be a bit boring though.
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