I love Nam Joo hyuk's characters.
Overall Is a very good action drama but I found it a bit slow at some points..Thei main character developmemt Is executed perfectly but I didn't like the way it's too superficial about the characters and makes it hard to connect to them, even the main lead, we barely know their story.
It's very entartaining to watch but nothing special in my opinion like all that reviews I saw.
The acting is great tho, Nam Joo Hyuk is such a good actor, he never misses. And Dare I say his finest role, very differenti from what we were used to see usually with him but he nailed it as always.
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I LOVED IT!
I watched "Vigilante" because of Nam Joo Hyuk (I adored him in "Twenty-Five Twenty-One and Start-Up" )I love the fact it only had 8 episodes (16 is too long for me).
I loved the story and the actors even though a little heavy on the violence side and no romance whatsoever, but I still enjoyed it
However the ending I wasn't of fan of, but then I read they are supposed to be doing a Season 2 (if that happens, then I'm ok with the ending).
For me, it was awesome!
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Aspects for S2
ACTINGI've no complains over the acting of the whole crew. They succeeded to pass the feelings correctly and hold the emotionless mask during the action. I was surprised by the acting of Nam Joo Hyuk, cause I just had completed watching him on Weightlifting Lifting Fairy which was a romcom. So the change of a romance to an action drama was in an insanely correct order. The fighting scenes were good. No guns were used, just raw hands or small equipment which made the fight even more intense. The music was so so good. Especially the ending themes.
PLOT
It was interesting to watch a drama based on this big philosophical question that bothers the human society. The feelings are so loud that you can't choose objectively which side to take as a viewer. The scenes were well adapted by the camera. The quality was pretty good. Ofc many things are unrealistic. The whole story telling would've stopped way sooner irl. Its so sad that the innocent are always the victim in any case. Tbh, it got a little tiring while approaching the end. Although, bc of the ep legth, its still manageable and worth watching.
PERSONAL THOUGHTS
I have to admit that even though I don't agree with that kind of life concept, taking the law in our hands, this show was so worth it. The feeling of the constant rage over the unfair laws that rule our countries/world is so real. The dirt that covers our society is invisible when its right in front of us. But taking this decision, committing crimes to deal with a small amount of criminals, will it change something or just promote that taking the law in our hands to solve the unfairness is correct when it's the opposite?
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This review may contain spoilers
Nam Joo Hyuk's debut thriller lacks substance and depth
For years, I have always watched Nam Joo Hyuk's shows because I find the plot interesting and Vigilante is no exception. Vigilante revolves around Kim Ji Yong living a dual life — studying as a police officer by the day and punishing remorseless criminals at night.The story starts with a young Ji Yong who gets shocked by the court's decision to punish his mother's murderer with a short jail sentence. Years pass and the criminal continues attacking innocent people which prompted Ji Yong to take his revenge and ultimately kill him. Ji Yong realizes his mother's case is not an isolated case and that the justice system is being too lenient on criminals. He starts hunting for repeat offenders who easily get away with their crimes and taking the law into his own hands.
Nothing is groundbreaking here but Nam Joo Hyuk ruthlessly killing criminals and embodying Robin Hood was indeed a pleasant watch. His tall and brooding physique yet having a quiet demeanor makes him the perfect mysterious hero.
However, my main issue for this show is how they keep on adding new characters each episode, all of which are underdeveloped.
Cho Heon, the team leader of the regional investigation unit, is an intriguing character. It only took him a short amount of time to catch Ji Yong yet he lets him off the hook. He believes he can convince Ji Yong to be a competent police officer just like him.
My empathy for Cho Heon's motives goes down the drain when both him and Ji Yong didn't have any character growth. Ji Yong's intentions were also unclear to me since he forms alliances with anyone he likes without a rational thought. I also find Joo Hyuk's acting a bit lackluster since he only growls whenever he is confronting Cho Heon or the criminals.
The violent fights and torture were also unnecessary and exaggerated. It feels like the show tries to be a gritty and bloody noir wannabe.
Overall, I enjoyed the first half of the show but not as much as the second half. Everyone is aimlessly trying to bring down the criminals without a concrete plan. The characters also seem to be one-dimensional. I don't find myself watching the second season, if ever there will be one. Vigilante is an entertaining thriller that lets Joo Hyuk show he looks good as a young action hero but the underdeveloped characters and confusing narrative makes this show hard to recommend.
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Short, Crisp, Spicy: Watch it for Nam Joo Hyuk!
As an ARDENT Nam Joo Hyuk fan, I was a little late to the watch party, but I'm glad I watched this and didn't skip it. Let's get straight into the pros and cons of this series:Pros:
Short episodes: Each episode was 40-45 mins long, and it had just 8 episodes. Quick and easy watch, loved the length of the series.
Acting: The cast had all good actors, lovely job done by the actors. Of course, I must mention Nam Joo Hyuk and how BUFFED UP he's become for this role. Full ogle fest! Also NJH has improved so much... It was so good to see him emote with his eyes throughout the whole drama. One minute, he's got kind twinkly eyes, and the next minute, he has the coldest, deadset eyes, that just brims with anger and vengeance. Brilliant piece of acting by my boy! Yoo Ji Tae also had a strong presence. Special mention to Woo Hyun Joon who played police officer, Nam Yeon Gil. He had a very limited screen time, but in whatever he had, he made his presence felt.
OST: The OST is actually good here. I am not a big OST person, most often I am annoyed by the loud kdrama OSTs, they feel like a hindrance to the watching experience. But here, it was quite muted and appropriate in maintaining the tone of the drama.
Action: Finally, some good action choreography in a kdrama. Also, these guys didn't shy away from showing gore. It wasn't overdone either, so whatever was done, made sense.
Cons:
Story: I understand that it is adapted from a webtoon by the same name, but that's exactly what became its greatest bane. The script had no movement other than whatever was written in the web series, so you can understand while seeing the drama, that it is just stringing together panels into a plot. That's what makes the plot so flimsy. There was potential for more character growth or more development, but the writers didn't bother expanding more on it. Random people appear out of nowhere with just one-line explanations of who they are, much akin to how characters are introduced in a comic. While I like that they didn't explore 50 different things in the series and stayed true to the main plot point (aka the Vigilante and his own ways of serving justice), I wish there was something more to the plot though... it was a little too straightforward at the end of it all. But there's a s2 coming up, so hopefully, they might play on things up a little more then.
Acting: I didn't like Kim So Jin... didn't like her look, or her acting. Her character was an interesting one, I won't lie. But I didn't like Kim So Jin in it, she screamed a little too much, and it didn't look natural enough to me. Also I didn't understand why Nam Joo Hyuk and Yoo Ji Tae had to shout more than half the time to make their point across. Whenever those two conversed with each other, they shouted at each other, which got pretty annoying pretty quickly.
Overall, it was a pretty quick and easy watch. Quick and spicy, watching the show felt like eating a packet of chips. Its good as long as it lasts, and then it gets over quickly, and you move on to watching the next drama. A solid one time watch.
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is it an original plot? No did it manage to make me entirely entrained and hyped over it? hell yeah
It's difficult to start this review without being 100% biased by Nam Joo-Hyuk, I'm completely obsessed with the way he acts with his eyes, you can see the madness and sadness in every look.Well, talking about technical criteria and not just fangirling over him, this Dorama was very good in general. The plot wasn't that original, the characters weren't that well developed, I felt a lack of dimensionality and depth in the personal motivations of each of the characters.
But can I be honest? I fucking love this.
When I evaluate something, I don't just take into account the production itself, but also the entertainment capacity, If it managed to entertain me and leave me excited with each episode, I will overlook all the script and production flaws.
And if we are talking about entertainment, this show it's a fucking great one.
If you are looking for something extraordinary and original, this may be a slight disappointment.
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impressive, worth the watch!
The acting was really top notch, like Yoo Ji Tae actually builded up for this role, i'm really impressed , like wow , what a transformation!!All the protagonists did a really good job, i really appreciated Nam joo hyuk 's acting here, he did improved throughout the years.
Since he is enlisting soon or maybe he has already enlisted, we may not had a second season that soon.
I enjoyed the watch, it wasn't boring.
I was rooting for the "vigilante" lol. I get where he came from, and yes at the end of the day it actually seems like the bad guys win.
9/10 because it was an easy watch, and yes i want to boost the ratings on this one lol!
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You won't be dissapointed
The plot is thick here, the main characters are generally fleshed out well, each with their backstory and own motivations, The acting is generally very top notch and even though I feel there was a missed opportunity by not having the vigilantes and the police officer interact with each other more at the same time, it generally delivered.BUT I feel like it gets a bit rushed, feels like some important parts missed the cut and I think it was remiss of them to not include more episodes, however the director and the producer's still did very well with the episode range given, just feel like 2 more episodes would have allowed them to come as close to perfection as they could.
Also, I have to mention seeing bad guys not getting off lightly realled endeared to me.
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This review may contain spoilers
The differences between Disney/Hulu K-Dramas is interesting
Barring my disappointment that Seonwook was hardly in the show and died anyway (💔) this show was okay for a thriller/action drama. It’s still a bit jarring seeing k dramas with this much knife play, blood, and violence in general. The dramas produced for Hulu & Netflix always feel different.The writing, particularly the scenes about philosophy and morality, were quite heavy handed. There’s a scene where Jiyong and Seonwook play basketball and Jiyong is wearing a black shirt and Seonwook is wearing a white one. We get it; Seonwook believed in reform and second chances and Jiyong thought using crime to fight crime was the answer. I really wish they’d done more to push Seonwook as a character because it just made his death feel unearned (?) because he wasn’t that much of a presence. He was just cute and believed the system could work. Why did he have to die?
Reporter Choi’s character was confusing to me. At the start of the drama, it felt way too over the top. The “okay” thing was odd. I appreciate that she was a tenacious reporter and despite people dying because of some strange choices she made, a lot of things wouldn’t have happened without her.
Honestly, the story beats already reminded me of Daredevil or your average vigilante hero story. The way characters were just tossing grown men through the air, it felt like there was some super soldier serum going around.
Anyway, it’s not my favorite vigilante story, but I thought the lead actor was good and it kept my attention.
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Vigilante
Revenge type of drama - If you like this type then I think that you will be satisfied. Personally I was a little disappointed, I expected more. It was my first drama with Nam Joo Hyuk and I do not really know his acting roles, he did pretty good but he seems to fit more like a romance type of drama. Lee Joon Hyuk's character was really fun and for me he stole the show. If there will be second season I will probably watch this (I like to finish what I start....) but it really can work without it.Was this review helpful to you?
Dark, thrilling, and with real depth.
Vigilante — the story of a dark hero with no superpowers fighting for justice. Sounds pretty awesome right from the start. I really like grounded stories that stay away from the usual Marvel-style stuff.The series blends law and vigilantism and shows how, in the fight against evil, you slowly start slipping into morally gray territory yourself. That inner conflict is exactly what makes it so gripping. The protagonist, with his calm smile and barely controlled madness, has an insanely powerful presence that completely pulled me in.
Episode 5 especially was a huge highlight for me, when Ji-Yong debates the failures of the justice system with his relentless pursuer, investigator Jo Heon. That’s where the massive conflict between morality, the law, and the question of what’s actually right or wrong really explodes into the open. Moments like that make Vigilante more than just another action revenge thriller. And on top of that, it was really cool seeing “The Professor” (Yoo Ji-tae) from Money Heist: Korea in such a badass role here.
And Nam Joo-hyuk as Vigilante? For his first real action role, he absolutely kills it — intense, convincing, and effortlessly cool. The fight scenes feel raw and tense, and the confrontations with the criminals are shot in a really dark, gritty way. Technically, the whole production looks top-notch — cinematography, music, editing, everything works. The strong supporting cast also helps make this webtoon adaptation a success.
Bottom line: if you’re looking for a K-drama outside the endless wave of romance shows, definitely give this one a shot. Dark, thrilling, and with real depth.
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“Maybe I could be a vigilante... if I didn’t have the emotional stability of a cactus.”
Vigilante (2022): 8/10 – The K-Drama That Makes You Think “Maybe I could be a vigilante... if I didn’t have the emotional stability of a cactus.”⚡ WHY IT’S GREAT:
Imagine Batman with zero patience for “right” vs “wrong” and an extra dose of “I’ve got issues, but so does everyone.” The action is solid—punches land harder than your Wi-Fi on a bad day.
👊 WHY YOU’LL LOVE IT:
Fight scenes? On point. Morally conflicted anti-hero? Check. Villains you kind of sympathize with? Yup. It’s a messy, dramatic joyride where everyone’s breaking both bones and hearts.
😬 THE FLAWS:
Pacing’s a little slow in places.
The moral dilemma? It’s like walking through fog—you can’t always see where it’s going.
Some monologues feel like “let’s just talk about justice for five minutes before punching someone in the face.”
🎯 VERDICT:
It’s a dark, action-packed ride full of “Is he a hero?” moments.
Watch if: You want a morally gray, action-heavy drama that makes you question everything.
Skip if: You need a clear-cut good guy and more than 3 seconds of happiness.
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