Taxi Driver (2021)

Amateur vigilante wannabes

An episodic story about a group of people who take revenge on criminals on behalf of the victims. This certainly brings to mind Jigoku Shōjo: Girl from Hell but far from the supernatural approach, this drama tries to appeal to the viewers humanity with its propaganda of forgiveness and what happens when the law fails to protect the family of the victims and they decide to take matters into their own hands. Take note that the crimes presented are based on real life crimes committed in South Korea.

The group of vigilante wannabes is certainly equipped to deal with the requests. A rich financier, the muscle/fighter, the cyber technologist, the mechanical engineer and the inventor and of course a secret base. Watching how they deal with each request was certainly fun and entertaining. However, in spite of having done this for several years, the group doesn't seem to have learned much from their experience and even the fact that this is "fiction" is no excuse for their incompetence.

Several times throughout the series you will see them taking actions or making decisions that seasoned veterans like them wouldn't have made. Knowing their potential because of their experience made it a pain to watch them. It almost seemed like their SNAFUs were deliberately added simply to fit into the narrative and keep the story going.

Camera work during fight scenes tried so hard to imitate the shaky technique popularised by the Bourne trilogy but failed as miserably as the Vagabond series. Choreography was already good without the excessive shaking and close ups of the fight.

The last case was the dumbest in that in spite of being based on true events, whoever wrote the episode simply glossed over how the police framed and tortured and knowingly sent an innocent man to prison just so they could close the case - was it perhaps because it would become too realistic? Did the showrunners receive a slap in the hand that they were afraid to include a revenge arc against the brutal police force?
I'm not interested in season 2 so we may never find out.

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Taxi Driver - A revenge drama that's bone-deep satisfying!

Taxi Driver, for me, has been one of the most enjoyable dramas this year.

The script is not perfect or excellent by any means. There are some plot holes, and the villains are pretty one-dimensional.
The taxi team isn't trying particularly hard to keep their secret taxi business private, and they weren't very smart or secretive with how they operated. There were also some illogical fight scenes where the ML takes on around 30 bad guys by himself continuously and still manages to beat them all. The narrative also slightly changed around the episodes when the writer was switched, leading the tone of the drama to become more serious as we moved to the finale. There were a few issues like these peppered throughout the drama.

But so what? I didn't start watching this drama for a perfect script with no plot holes. I watched this show to see bad guys get beat up and our vigilante taxi team get the justice they deserve. I wanted to see camaraderie and friendship, flawed heroes, vigilante justice, fight scenes, and thrilling car chases - and that is precisely what I got.

Taxi driver right from episode 1 tells us what kind of show it's going to be and stays consistent through the 16 episodes. It's not trying to be a smart or complex show, and that is its strength. It promised us revenge, vigilante justice, teamwork, and triumph of good over evil, and that's exactly what it delivers.

Here are some of the things I loved about the drama;

1) The perfect ending - This, folks, is how an ending should be done. No rush; they just spent the last 40 mins of the drama showing us the aftermath and how all our favorite characters' lives have gone on since the big finale.

2) Lee Je Hoon is brilliant. I love him more and more with each show I watch. I think he is one of the most versatile actors, and I loved him in this. There are parts where he disguises himself, and the different roles he plays are such a delight to watch.

3) The fight scenes are well done , even if a little unbelievable. I enjoyed watching Lee Je Hoon beat up almost everyone other than the taxi team. I also read that he filmed the action/driving scenes himself without a stunt double, which made me like him even more.

4) The cases that our Taxi Team deals with are truly heartbreaking. They showed some stories based on true cases in South Korea, which added a nice dash of reality to the show.

5) The camaraderie of the Taxi team is a joy to watch. Their backstories made me feel angry on their behalf. Their motivations for joining the Taxi team and dishing out their own brand of justice for victims similar to them were understandable and made me cheer for their lawless brand of justice throughout the show.

6) The OST deserves a special mention. I love the instrumental BGM themes and the music, especially the songs by YB and Cha Ji Yeon.

I would have given this a 7.5, which is still a good rating for me, but Lee Je Hoon, the OST, and the ending push it to 8.

8/10. Very Enjoyable.

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Sometimes we need bad guys to take the role

cast and acting was outstanding. The unique musical taste added a memorable flair to the entire drama. I truly enjoyed the entire ride The casts were excellent in portraying their characters well.
Lee Je Hoon is truly a great actor with a variety of expressions and feeling that drew people in watching him act. You gotta watch to feel his emotions.
Glad Pyo Ye Jin took up the role of "Go Eun", she portrayed it really well. the sadness of loosing her sister, the anger towards the people who did her wrong, she really made the character alive.
The rest of the rainbow taxi team made a great team, their chemistry were really great and they protect each other well without biased.

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"Where are we going?" "To get revenge."

Taxi Driver was a wild ride from start to finish and I'm glad it was a show I picked up. I loved watching Lee Je Hoon in Signal and Move to Heaven, so it was nice to see him in such a bad-ass role. While he still holds his soft side, this drama is action packed and he is at the front of it.

All coming together from backgrounds of trauma, a group of people make the Rainbow Taxi Service. They do what the law can't or won't and get's revenge on the people who did you wrong. They will do anything and everything to protect the victims and their families and make sure there is some justice for the wrongdoings of the criminals who inflicted the pain. While helping out their clients, most of the employees revenge gets solved as well.

While the Rainbow Taxi is out doing vigilante justice, a prosecutor is doing what she can to help get these criminals behind bars. Although, she is on the hunt for the deluxe taxi and who is driving it. This was one plot-line that I did not really care for in the show and found myself skipping through most of the scenes. After around 12-13 episodes (I can't remember exactly when), my care for that story-line changed as did the heart of Kang Ha Na. It definitely turned around the feelings that I was having and made the whole thing worth it in the end.

The one thing that helped get me so interested in this drama were the side characters. All of the rainbow taxi employees are amazing and the actors/actresses who played them did incredible! They are perfect side-kicks while all shining in their own light and don't fall behind Kim Do Gi too much with how much they do in the service. I can't pick a favorite out of the 4 because all of them were so great in their own ways and I'm glad we got to get more into some of their backstories as to how they ended up together. Every scene of them all together was so heartwarming.

Now to go watch season 2. :)

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Revenge is a dish best served by a badass Taxi Driver

This Drama is a fresh breath of air among so many dramas that have cliché and overused tropes. In here there are no super cups that break the law and bring down the powerful and corrupt CEO and chairman, In here you get to see how a group of civilians band together to stand against tyranny and injustice by taking the law into their own hands.
I thoroughly enjoyed Taxi driver, because not only are the revenge stories satisfying, they are also brilliantly executed. Usually in Dramas like this, the focus is on showing the vigilantes how wrong they are by breaking the law and in the end they surrender and get punished for their "crimes", thankfully none of that was here and are heroes remained steadfast in their pursuit of true justice and to finally impower the victims for once (something we rarely see in Korean dramas).
In regards to the ending; The ending to every drama that I watch is a make it or break it moment for me, and even if I have enjoyed a drama fully until that end scene, if the ending is unsatisfying to me then the whole drama becomes a waste of time, but there are none of that here, for once our heroes are not imprisoned for doing the right thing, but they are rewarded and helped and we can see them getting ready for another case, stronger than before and with new powerful allies.
The only gripe I had with this drama was the lack of any romance for our poor ML, I was hoping someone would try to heal his broken heart, and I was completely disappointed that nothing happened between our awesome taxi driver and the amazing prosecutor, but that doesn't take anything away from this masterpiece of a Drama.
I highly recommend this Drama to anyone that is interested in an action-packed, fast-paced, revenge story full of emotion and thought provoking scenes.

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As with many superhero stories, you go in knowing it will be more entertainment than realism. The concept is great, especially since I have a soft spot for vigilantes but the execution in this one wasn't done well. Because it revolves heavily around the taxi, it does have a hint of resemblance to Batman (which they reference themselves in the series).

The first couple of stories were satisfying and the exaggerations went well with that dab of comedic undertone. However, it just felt more and more lame as they entered heavily into the cloud-based firm revenge. While the script being overly basic can be overlooked, when the characters themselves began to lose their flavor, that's when there's really not much else to look forward to.

- The prosecutor was irritating from the beginning and she could have been written out completely with minimal impact.
- They try to humanize your mains by incorporating some type of trigger that causes them to relive their traumas but the way it was executed just made them again, lame. For a team that is supposed to be superior and calmly collected, and who's been doing this for a while, a whistle from some traffic cop is going to cause your main dude to pass out? Then your female main who's seen that online video over and over again in the past, is suddenly so traumatized by coming across it again during a job that she just abandons ship and locks herself up? While trauma does impact someone for a lifetime, this was incredibly excessive.
- The sister's suicide. They paint her out to be a sweet, loving person. But anyone who has enough right mind to make a last meal for a loved one, tuck a blanket over them, and then decides to publicly jump off a building and plop herself horrifically in front of the same loved one, is just a selfish ass.
- Oh, how the flashbacks were misused much too often. Instead of adding anything to the plot, they were just fillers to prolong the minutes. I also didn't buy into the dramatic music that tried to convince the audience into thinking the scene was eventful.

If they had maintained the same pacing as with the first couple of stories or didn't reduce character developments, it would have been much more entertaining. Unfortunate.

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I really love this series so much!

The first impression I got from this drama was that this show was about a vigilante taxi driver out to serve justice to the bad guys as revenge. And then after watching the drama this is like the Korean version of Knight Rider lol. That said, I went to look at the webtoon that was what the drama was based on. Though have to say that the only thing that was similar between the original webtoon and drama was the concept of the revenge taxi service and Rainbow Taxi. Though to be fair, that was fine with me as the webtoon was more violent and gory and had fewer actual taxi battles. I love how the drama incorporates the whole Knight Rider feel to the whole revenge taxi thing. That was cool. And I love the fact that the drama had Prosecutor Kang Hana's character, which didn't exist in the webtoon but adds an even more depth into the story to include the narrative from the side of the law enforcement people.

Loved the ost and the bg music. The Eurobeat tracks really fit in with the show's movie-like atmosphere. And I love how Kim Dogi and Kang Hana's character being written. And I really love the dynamics between Lee Jehoon and Esom in the drama.

I noticed how halfway through the series the writer was changed to a different person though I'm glad that the change in writers didn't feel so noticeable in the drama. For one, I like how Kang Hana's character started becoming more prominent and become as important as Kim Dogi. Because it'd be a shame if her character becomes underused despite Esom being the main female lead.

I really love how the writing not quite romanticising the idea of vigilante activities yet also admitting that the law might not be fully perfect, to which one might have a need for some kind of vigilante 'hero' to fix the flaw in the law. The overall tone was hopeful and healing and I love the journey from the beginning to end. This is one of the webtoon adaptations that I'm glad that it took a different narrative and give us a great story in return.

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"Revenge isn't completed by ruining the other person..."

This is one of the best crime drama I've watched by far. It got thrills, action, comedy, drama and based on true story crime telling. Try watching it and hope you will enjoy it as much as I did.

One of the saddest story they portrayed a about the murder of an 8 yo girl but a man who was wrongly accused. He was a disabled man that was forcefully and beaten by police to confess to a crime he didn't even commit. The police even stole the girl body to fabricate evidence. (Horrible)
When the real culprit was found, this man was forced to forgive the real culprit due to statue of limitation to the case. Along with the policeman who beat him to confess.
This man lost everything because of wrongdoing of that police.
You can watch this part at the end of ep 15 (spoiler)

The casts were excellent in portraying their characters well.
Lee Je Hoon is truly a great actor with a variety of expressions and feeling that drew people in watching him act. You gotta watch to feel his emotions.
Glad Pyo Ye Jin took up the role of "Go Eun", she portrayed it really well. the sadness of loosing her sister, the anger towards the people who did her wrong, she really made the character alive.
The rest of the rainbow taxi team made a great team, their chemistry were really great and they protect each other well without biased.

As for the villain, Baek Sung Mi is really annoying along with the twin (the big guys). Truly hated their characters (but that means the actors are doing a great job portraying it)

Not forgetting the OST. The songs are great to listen to.

"Revenge isn't completed by ruining the other person. Only when you can live your own life is your revenge complete."
This is my favourite quote in this drama (spoken by Director Jung). Well this drama did teach that taking revenge by ruining your offender is not gonna heal you or give you satisfaction but instead live your own life to the fullest is the biggest revenge to your offender.

I'll definitely gonna re-watch this some other time. It was a great drama and all the time spent waiting for new episodes paid off with a great ending.
If there's a season 2, I'll watch it for sure.
^^

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Taxi Driver (2021) - Watched this one on-going. Never thought I would finish it today and enjoyed mostly all the episodes. It’s not completely a new drama for me as it talks about revenge to criminals but there is something different with this drama comparing to other revenge type dramas I have seen. There are sensitive topics, from bullying, pornography and even organ trafficking and even social work alongside persons with disabilities, best part it's seen in one drama, indeed it was a good drama journey for me. I don’t think I could see a second season with this one but if there is, it's fine with me. They really did wrapped up the drama so fast, I was not aware it finished. Great drama. Recommended.

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Satisfying

Watch this when you are a bit mad and feel frustrated at this unjust world. A revenge drama usually takes the whole series to conclude. Here, there are smaller incidents that take two episodes each to resolve and are sooooo satisfying.

The back ground music score brought the excitement of my child hood when I used to watch Knight Rider. Its not the same but gave similar vibes.

My most favorite part were awesome cool female leads as well a villainess that would chill your blood. I have never been this happy to see such a nice balance of strong male and female roles. All side characters did well.

The ML, Lee Jee Hoon did a great job of portraying varied roles. He has indeed been choosing excellent roles recently and I hope he continues his streak of success.

The female prosecutor worked very hard and stuck to doing what she believed was right and was empathetic with a lot of common sense. Some one who will make you respect her through her grit, resilience and intelligence.

The other female was just as awesome and got me excited when she rode a sports bike (You go girl!!!!).

Excellent lessons learned that you will pay a price if you go for revenge and even the smartest people can make mistakes. The ending was super satisfying. There is a hint of second season but hasn't been confirmed yet.

No romance, just a whiff of attraction.

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