This review may contain spoilers
FIRECRACKER!
The Fiery Priest is such a firecraker! There's no dull moment in this one... all 20 episodes of it!I got curious with this series when Kim Nam Gil won the Daesang award at SBS Drama Awards 2019 beating Lee Seung Gi who I was fangirling with at that time. Little did I know that it would start my Kim Nam Gil obsession! What with his flawless acting, handsome face, long legs and uber interesting personality!
He got me from the very first scene. He was perfect for this role. His comedic timing is never out of place. His emotional scenes are heart wrenching with those eyes that seems to exude all the feelings he doesnt need to say with words. His action scenes are superb with his amazing kicks and stunts he did himself. Watch out for the fight scenes with his bangs falling back into his eyes and youll know what I mean! He deserved all the best actor awards he received for this drama. Its really really good! Jinja!
The storyline, character growth and back stories were so well written that each of them will grow on you... yes, even the bad guys! There are no extras in this series, all the characters from the leads to the supporting roles were each given their time to shine. I laughed hard with all the comedic parts especially the spoof of Mr. Sunshine and Reply 1988. I liked how the funny takes gave the audience a chance to breathe and exhale from the well choreographed action and devastating emotional scenes. As a catholic myself, I felt Father Kim's frustration against fighting the injustice of society without defying the will of God. I cried when he cried, and felt so proud when he succeeded into changing the people around him without making them do the things they dont want to do. I loved how subtle the life lessons were conveyed yet delivered like a slap to the face. I loved when he said that just like the saints have their past, the sinners have their future. I felt his humanity and faith when on the brink of pulling the trigger he chose to forgive his nemesis not just 7 times but 77 times. I loved that in the end he didnt left the church and stayed true to his character. Theres nothing I didnt like about this series, hey I even loved the soundtrack and will forever feel giddy eveytime I hear that guitar tone theme while Kim Nam Gil enters the scene in slow motion! Along with millions of fans around the world, Im patiently waiting and praying for season 2 ?
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MATERPIECE !!
I'm happy that I completed it without breaking my bones as I always fall down from my chair while watching it .Story: 10/10
This drama is one of the best drama I have seen as it is well written . This drama is so funny that I rolled down on floor and chocked myself with food . So if you want Comedy , Action and Mystery , Give it a try . I laughed so loud that my parents thought that I got possessed . Everything in this drama was perfectly balanced . Character Development was satisfying , Bromance, Sismance and chemistry between all the the characters made me jealous . This drama gave justice to side characters by giving them a good amount of screen time .
Acting/Cast: 10/10
I've been a huge fan of Kim Nam Gil and Lee Ha Nee 's acting. I saw them in their Movie The Odd Family: Zombie On Sale
and Extreme Jobs but I've never seen Kim Sung Kyun before . Kim Nam Gil made this show perfect with his amazing acting , Kim Sung Kyun's character was Well written and Well acted and for Lee Ha Nee 's character , it was annoying but developed after 15th episode so her character setting satisfied me . Go Jun 's character and Geum Sae Rok 's character was good too.
Everyone acted well in this drama even Side characters' actors did a good job .
Music: 10/10
Music was addicting and perfectly fitted the show .
Rewatch Value: 10/10
I never rewatch dramas but will love to watch this one .
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The drama is character-driven, so you can call each person a story to unravel apart from the mystery of a priest's death. It has enough revelations to move the characters through phases for their growth AND progress the story for story's sake. The situations are not thrown is for the heck of it; they tie together neatly in the end. If you are aware of the politics affecting S.Korea at present, you might even appreciate the topics it touches along the way. It made the schemes of the antagonists not as far-fetched as they might seem. Moreover, the drama had social commentary: the concept of forgiveness, turning the other cheek, arrogance of religious folk, and alienating those who are unfamiliar. Presenting it as comedy made it less preachy and more of a subtle jab at the injustice of society. Oh, and the twists are unlike you would expect, and they are hilarious to witness!
Then there is acting. The actors did amazing; let's give them a round of applause. Well-written characters are nothing if the actors cannot become them. Kim Nam Gil, especially, was spot-on with his expressions. Every one did justice to their roles, so much so that I have a hard time imagining another actor being a better replacement. I will now explain why I am singing praises of the characters. There were those who you rooted for since the beginning; then there were those who you felt no sympathy for, yet grew to like. For the latter, the female prosecutor is one of the examples - I thought I hated her, but soon realized she was a favourite. I will attribute that shift to the natural character development. What's more, they were original in the quirks they possessed: there is a hip-hop enthusiast, a scaredy-cat, an abnormally angry person, an impulsive prosecutor, a part-timer who is an embodiment of super powers, and so on. No side character is unnecessary, but have a role. All in all, these were thought-out people who you become attached (or abhor with every fiber of your being) to since they are very real, particularly in their weaknesses.
The OSTs made their way to my playlist. Hip hop? Rock? Yes, please! The instrumental used was mostly befitting for the occasions they played.
Lastly, this is a definite re-watch, I love good action sequences, good comedy, and characters who make that happen. It's almost a sin to not come back to watch it.
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9 Story: An already watched story... corruption, murderes, police that can't do their work... prosecutors... with an amazing element in there... a hot tempered Priest who will do anything do discover the truth.. And that average story became an amazing story thanks the character developments of almost every of them. You will end up loving everyone... even a few of the bad guys!
10 Acting/cast: Amazing characters for how they were written... yeah of course... but with amazing actors/actress! From our amazing priest potrayed by my favorite actor, Kim Nam Gil, so complicated and full of faces... to our crazy Phoenix Honey Lee... to our loveable cute detective and go on....
10 - Music! I've listened so many times the osts! They are so amazing and perfect in every moment!
10 - Rewatch Value... I can't wait to re-watch it... I miss Team Tsunami so much... ç_ç
10/10 is my overall score. A drama about changing in better... with many funny moments and even dark ones. More you go on and better it became. Watch it now!
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The plot itself has been done many times over with underdogs looking to defeat those who are corrupted. But the way this was presented, it brought a nice fresh breath of air to it. This series is one of those who manages to toy with your emotions where one minute you find yourself laughing and the next minute, you're suddenly sober again. Another really great aspect where many comedy-drama fails at, is despite some of the exaggerated scenes/acting, this one feels believable. I loved the added subtle touches that humanize our actors like where our lead leaned against a radiator while having a conversation and jumped up because the heat was starting to burn. There was absolutely no value to the plot with these types of subtleties but trust me, it adds so much value toward drawing you closer to the characters.
The acting for the majority of the actors were on point. Many of them I've liked from other series and one of the female leads, Park Kyung Sun, is now seriously stepped up a notch in my book. The last series I've seen her in was Rebel and her contrasting role-play here was awesome. There's usually a couple of annoying or boring characters but all of them kept my interest in this one.
I'm not religious but have attended church as a kid. A much added bonus for me was the depiction of hypocrisy of those who rely or hide behind religion. But if these were the types of priests/nuns in real life, they would come close to converting me.
I can't find any glaring faults, never feel like fast-forwarding any parts of it, and it sure felt a lot less than 40-epsiodes. It was hilarious, it was touching, it was corny-good, it was intriguing, totally binge-worthy, and one of those rare ones where I think anyone would love no matter what genre they normally lean toward.
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As an intro the review: Most of the run-time is spent ogling, hyping and worshiping the priest's appearance and trying to force-feed the viewers the notion that he's the most attractive thing ever brought to life.
Now for the rest of the drama: The narrative gets inconsistent at times and in all honesty, this shouldn't have been a drama but a movie instead. The overly dragged out plot turned it from a decent premise to a horrendous and tedious experience. The weird part is, it tries to play off the fact that Kim Hae-il's character is 100% fictional and impossible to exist in the real world, but then sometimes it tries to convince your church might have someone with a background like him around.
Now the action scenes were a mixed experience for me. The choreography was really good at times and borderline repulsive the other. And it still annoys the heck out of me that the go-to weapon of crime syndicates is a 2x4 piece of wood. Rarely ever does a Korean drama or movie do a good job with action scenes because they're only trying to appeal to a female audience and majority of the female audience would be more than happy with a few "cool" angles and telegraphed K.O.s.
Kim Hae-il's background makes absolutely no sense. He's made out to be every badass possible in every situation. He's not only A, he is also B!!! He is not only B he is also C, D, E and the rest of the alphabet!!!! Anyone that watches this with any amount of military expertise or background, would be appalled by the depiction of Kim Hae-il's background.
If the production team spent half as much time trying to overhype the character and desperately trying to convert every woman that watches this into a new religion, "Kim Hae-ilism" this might've actually turned out pretty well. Maybe someday there'll be a better remake, but for now, this felt like a waste of my time.
p.s. a lot more I didn't have the time nor could be bothered to mention. But if you personally liked this and disagree: good for you.
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The show is pretty much focused on this main priest character, who is portrayed in a quite over the top badass way. Surely some people are against these things, but I love it. It feels kind of similar to these super cool main characters like Indiana Jones or Clint Eastwood in the Dollar trilogy, or the modern Sherlock Holmes stuff. You know it's kind of silly, over the top, but you just got to love it.
It has its fair share of action, goofiness but also very serious moments. In some episodes these were extremely well-balanced, in some, not so well... I think more well-written goofiness could have been good, it fit the whole thing anyway and it had a very sweet and pure feeling to it, which I missed of more at times.
The story is interesting though, how they investigate and try to go against a corrupt system which is a lot bigger than these few main characters, but they don't give up!
I also liked that a lot of characters are neither just good or bad, they have both in themselves. Doubts, fears, sins, and during the show they have their journey with these emotions.
The priest is pretty much like that too, he tries to make the world a more just place, but maybe with not exactly the best methods and thinking, but these flaws sort of make him more humane and not just a badass guy with amazing fighting powers.
And yes, there is a lot of fighting in the show, which is done in a very good way I think. I'm not really into that much fighting, it can be either overacted or way not convincing... Here it's Perfect! It's done in a very cool way, it feels like a great choreography that was memorized and executed very well, the sound design puts the extra noises on it in a great way, it's not overdone but very believable, professional and satisfying. You gotta appreciate these things.
Which was great: NO fart jokes! (Amen!)
Not so great: lotsa poop jokes... (Well, you can't win them all...)
Also a bit too much slow-motion... aaand a few not very good CGI effects.
BUT
The casting is great, the acting is great, the characters are all interesting and lovable even with their flaws (well maybe not everyone but most). The story is exciting, the music is good! And the priest is fiery aaand handsome! So if you like this stuff, go and give it a watch!
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Dear The Fiery Priest,
If there was an ideal type for dramas, then you would be mine. You got everything which I want in drama.
1 You got the cool male lead, aside from saying he is so cool innumerable times, he is an angry young man too. He
2 has a secret identity and that too my favourite one with a
3 tragic past. I got so empathic and almost tear jerked despite me being a cold person.
4 He can fight. Real action scenes, I couldn't say no to that.
5 He fights for social justice. Bonus, he has soft spot for kids.
6 He can ride a bike. A bikkeeeeeeee. If the male lead is this awesome then often female leads are weakly designed. That wasn't the case here.
7 Female lead, doesn't hesitate to fight dirty, has
8 good character growth
9 brings her own value to the plot
10 can do comedy. Even cringe comedy nonchalantly. Although, she can't do action well. But there's another
11 strong female character who can do fight scenes. Not just her, there are
12 other characters who can fight. How can I forget about the
13 comedy? Comedy was top-notch. There were comical fight scenes, cringe comedy and everything in between. For action genre,
14 Music was really good. Then there are
15 powerful villains or
16 more like good side takes time to score goals.
Nothing is completely ideal. Even ideal types have flaws. What is yours?
Hardly was there an element of surprise. For me,
1 every plot twist was foreseen. Without the comedy, I might have had a hard time finishing the final 2 or 3 episodes. There are
2 all sorts of cliched mass action tropes.
3 There were some plot logic misses. I get it; it was often for comedy and that's why I couldn't
4 take the whole social justice part seriously.
From a fan.
There are certain roles which can change the life of an actor once and for all. This drama offers that once-in-a-lifetime role for the male lead for which any actor could fight for. The very fact that this role ended up to an actor who was definitely a dark horse, for which I'm glad and glad I got to know about this actor. He undeniably succeeded in carrying the charisma of the MC and additionally that of the drama on his broad shoulders.
The fiery priest is the checklist to search future dramas as my type. Despite being a mystery drama, I didn't have to use my brain for this one. I only had to use my mouth to laugh heartily.
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The story was absolutely fantastic not to mention the acting. It was hilarious, serious, had mystery, made me cry, and the fight scenes were killer.
Let me talk about the shining jewels of this drama, the characters.
First and foremost there is the priest Hae Il played by Kim Nam Gil. What an amazing actor, so funny. He made me laugh so many times and watching him fight was awesome. He was just straight up cool and oozing charisma. He even did really well in his serious scenes.
Now for the rest of the cast,
There was Goo Dae Young played by Kim Sung Kyun who I absolutely adore from the the Reply series. He really made it to where you didn't like him in the first episodes but once his backstory came out and his character changed you really end up loving him, he's too damn funny. There is even an easter egg from Reply 1988 you should look out for.
Seo Seung Ah played by Geum Sae Rok, she was Dae Young's new partner, her introduction at the police station was hilarious and her fighting skills were pretty killer as well. when she would get hurt it just made my blood boil, she is a total sweetheart.
Park Kyung Sun played by Lee Ha Nui was also a favorite. At first she was a major pain but later she ended up being a great character. Her English one liners and little arm movements to go along with them was way too funny! It was really interesting watching how the priest changes the characters throughout the series, some definite life lessons.
A big surprise was Hwang Cheol Bum played by Go Joon. He was the main thug you were supposed to hate but was just way to cool. His fight scenes were awesome and he could definitely be a scene stealer. Just by looking at his acting profile I cannot believe he hasn't been the main role in any dramas. He just oozes cool.
Another big surprise for me was Sister Sarah played by Baek Ji Won. I absolutely loved her character, she was so cute and funny especially when she would get mad, omg I cracked up everytime. She seemed so sweet and innocent. Another character while looking at he acting bio where I am totally surprised she doesn't have many main roles.
Really there are just too many good characters to go into detail about, just a wonderful cast and everyone did an excellent job with their part.
For me this is one of those dramas you get done with and your like NOOOOOOOOO why is it over, luckily with the line We will be back at the end of episode 40 there is the promise of a second season which I am really looking forward to.
I would recommend this 100 percent, no doubt!
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These kind of storylines are so my type. I loved everything about this! So beautiful ?The comedy was on point,characters on point, cast on point,acting on point. BROMANCE and SISMANCE on point.
I just have to say the Male lead IS SO HANDSOME, I'm a fan now.
If you're having second thoughts, dont,THIS IS WORTH 20 HOURS OF YOUR LIFE
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This review may contain spoilers
Have to say that this drama was a blessing in more than one way. It's sweet, heart-wrenching, funny, exciting... and you can't help loving (almost) every character whether they are of the good side or bad ones. And it's also a drama that reunites Kim Namgil and Lee Honey ever since their last drama together which was Shark aka Don't Look Back: The Legend of Orpheus. And have to say, that their chemistry was as good and even better together.I love the fact that as much as the series does have a fair share of serious plot from the beginning till the end, there was also a good amount of comedy slipped in between to balance everything out. And while it might not be related, I find it refreshing that this drama somewhat broke the 'tradition' that almost always happen to any serious themed Kdrama that Kim Namgil starred it. As in, his characters ending up dying in the end. (Well, I'm not counting his role as Heo Im since that one was of a completely different genre. But then again, I might as well count Heo Im as well since he did still end up dying a lot of times in the series anyway.) While Hae-il isn't your usual revenge-driven character that Kim Namgil often play, he does have quite a bit of his own dark past that clouded his present life. And because of that, you can't help finding similarities to Kim Namgil's past characters. So yes, I'm really happy to see Kim Namgil character surviving the end of their series lol. Cos seriously, most of his characters that have serious plot always end up dead in the end. The ones that didn't were usually those that are quite comedic. Live up to Your Name was a good example.
I first got to know of Lee Honey from Shark, and as much as I love both her and KNG's characters in Shark; their love relationship was mostly one-sided. Yet I still love the two of them together in this drama as they did have great chemistry together. In which, seeing them together again in this drama was great. Even if their characters still didn't end up together, they do still work well together. Honestly, I love how much Kim Hae-il and Park Gyeongseon work well together and how much the two of them really care about each other. In which in the end, influenced their choices and paths of life. Gu Daeyoung's character also turned out to be quite endearing as well. While at first, he started as a comedic character being paired up with Hae-il, bit by bit he started to change due to Hae-il's influence.
I truly love the writing of the drama; and how some of the tiny pieces of seemingly unrelated details in the drama would somehow turn out to be important later on. The writing was very solid with serious and dark themes while also occasionally make us laugh at the most unexpected situation. This drama is definitely one that I'd want to watch and rewatch all over again for the lovely plot as well as the endearing characters.
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What I really love also is, this is timely for the holy week and timely for the last episode aired on black saturday because this story has shown about making amends, repentance in a light hearted way, overcoming tribulations in life, it communicated well with us audience about second chances in life..it touch us deeply about what it means about forgiving, without too much emphasis on religious cliches but about what it is being human to be humane.
Just so excellently and amazingly amazing. Deserves to have a 2nd season with same casts and crews.
And to KNG , I am your avid fan since QUEEN SEONDEOK, and have always been waiting and always looking forward for your tv series projects and am very grateful to you Kim Namgil for not making us sad , first with LIVE UP TO YOUR NAME and this, please continue to make us not heart broken anymore, yes , we cry in between each episodes but please continue to make us smile after the last episode/ ending. You are really an excellent actor who deserve all the awards in acting.
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