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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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?
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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Pranjali Srivastava
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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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The K2: A Missed Opportunity That Fumbled Its Potential Due to One Character's Existence...
***Major Spoilers***I try to give thorough reviews, normally of higher quality and good writing/pacing, but this will be a more scattered review. I just want to start by saying I watched it for the first time and I have to say, this show aged too poorly. Korean production has significantly improved in recent years, both in terms of quality and narrative depth. Society has developed in a different direction with its portrayals. So now, watching in 2024 (and as an adult) I have to say that the drama shows its age. This wasn't an enjoyable watch due to the poor plotline, the ridiculous level of disbelief I'm expected to suspend, and outdated character portrayals. What started as a strong political thriller quickly devolved into a frustratingly poor viewing experience.
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A Promising Start That Went Off the Rails
Like many others, I feel that this show was a missed opportunity. This show started out soo good. It truly had so much potential—an action-packed story centered on a framed mercenary navigating political intrigue while battling his own trauma. This premise alone could have carried the entire series. Sadly, the writers derailed this promising narrative by forcing a romance that felt unnecessary and contrived. The transition from gripping political drama to sappy love story was jarring and destroyed the show’s cohesion. From that point the romance was introduced and on, everything in the show became little more than a stepping stone to prop up the most forced romance known to man. So many interesting side characters that likely got their content cut due to the heavy focus on the needless romance that the show could have gone without.
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The Utterly Needless and Forced Romance
The romance between K2 and Anna was one of the most forced I’ve ever seen -- actually, I have to say if my memory serves me right... the WORST I've seen. I'm not being hyperbolic. I have been watching dramas since I was 10, so it's been 16 years now. And in all my time, this has been the most forced. I’m supposed to believe K2 started falling for Anna because she danced with ramen and looked 'pure'? Really? 😂 Give me a break. Watching K2 gush about her while he basically creeped on her through the camera felt more like a blooper and Ji Chang Wook playing himself rather than his character. I think he's a good actor and in that moment, I doubted his skills and thought maybe he isn't so great. I know he is, but those scenes really did him no favors as his lines did seem adlibbed there. Perhaps people think I am nitpicking but I disagree, the show took itself seriously, it wasn't meant to be silly and unserious so such a moment can't really be excused. Moments of comedy do not equal complete lapses of character. Even if you ignore the ridiculousness of that, it's still ridiculous. It was meant to be cute that he made the ramen for her, honestly it was all kind of creepy, voyeuristic and one sided. I get it was his job, but what separates him from stalkers that "bond" with their targets by watching them? If Ji Chang wasn't a hottie it'd honestly be creepy and disturbing, and she should not have any good memories of him at that point. But nevertheless, it was a ridiculous scene that showed his reasons for falling for her were so forced and contrived. Someone argued there's more bonding that happens offscreen, and that time is just likely condensed...fine, and I agree with that. But then don't expect the audience to buy the romance that you failed to sell. That goes for the bodyguard romance too. They all seemed to come out of nowhere. I know the writers are capable, because they portrayed Choi's feelings just fine. Yet they completely failed to sell me on the relationship between the two leads due to the lack of (and delayed) screen time Anna got with him. When you have to show a moment of bonding as a flashback that was an ad for Subway that never even happened onscreen, you've completely failed! I can't blame Anna's actor for this but the writers and maybe editing choices if this footage was cut out or they created too many scenes to cram into the show.
Ignoring the forced weirdness of the romance, the pacing of their relationship was horrible. For a man haunted by the trauma of watching his RECENTLY BETROTHED die before his eyes—a trauma that supposedly defines him and drives his revenge, his reason to wake up in the morning!—he sure moved on quickly. Other than a fleeting nightmare scene and a conversation on the roof, his grief and guilt are barely even paid any mind, making his sudden infatuation with Anna feel wildly inconsistent. This man is willing to live his life for the sole purpose of revenge, no way he should be moving on happily and NOT wary of getting close to people again.
The romance wasn’t just forced—it actively undermined the story and other characters. K2, a supposed ingenious mercenary capable of evading international authorities, suddenly devolves into a fool who makes reckless choices for Anna. He also survives and fights through mortal wounds somehow in order to save her. And Anna is the epitome of a plot-device damsel in distress. Watching her get kidnapped over and over again was both predictable and exhausting. And the incnsistencies in his character due to her existence in the story -- they say he's the guy who can't pull the trigger to kill and yet is fine pulling the trigger (or knife) to harm sometimes or indirectly be the reason for someone's death (the very end scenes, and pulling off some guy's poison gas mask). His character went from bada*s to complete simp that acted senselessly and completely lost interest in getting revenge for the death of his loved one. This all happens due to Anna's existence in the story.
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Anna’s Weak Character
What gets me is the people defending this poor writing by saying it's expected that a girl hidden away from the world is naive. Obviously I don't expect a girl in her circumstances to NOT be naive and weak, or to fight against trained operatives. But just bc it makes sense for her to be weak doesn't make for a fun viewing experience for the audience. Watching this is the same reason why we don't want to watch characters sleeping, taking their transport home, going to the bathroom and all the dull yet realistic things between scenes. None of those things are particularly fun to see on screen. Her portrayal as a helpless damsel dragged down the more interesting parts of the plot. It's not a fun watch but it's also not fair to a character, because she only exists for the sake of showing how great K2 is. It's problematic and the worthless damsel in distress is a painful watch in 2024. I recognize this is hindsight, but I'm finding old comments from when this show first aired of people making the same complaints. It seemed outdated then so it's definitely outdated now.
But worse, her character wasn’t even consistent. I'll bite and accept that excuse, but then you'd better have a good explanation for why a girl with a panic disorder who's been locked away from the world suddenly has great social skills and is giving speeches in front of crowds and at fashion shows filmed for the world to see! If we are chalking her portrayal up to her naivete then it's all or nothing, and this must be criticized as well. She is only a useless damsel when the plot needs her to be. If we are speaking of realism, she probably wouldn't even be able to step outside. Someone essentially imprisoned and isolated since childhood would have severe mental impairment that affects their ability to function normally, learn normally, or even communicate with words...she'd be unable to take care of herself let alone deal with a crowd. if we are speaking of realism, this entire show wouldn't exist as Anna would be mentally fried. You can't pick and choose when to use the realism argument. If we’re leaning on realism to defend her weaknesses, then we should also critique the lack of realism in her sudden competence (and everyone else's subsequent incompetence to give her plot armor.)
Anna’s arc was supposed to be about reclaiming her agency, but we never saw her actually overcoming anything. We never saw her overcome her phobias, or even what happened in that random one-day addiction on anxiety pills. We never saw the conclusion or any closure with the dude who ended up killing her mom. We never saw her character really grow or develop. She was static in the end, despite clearly the writers wanting to portray her as having grown. To the very end, it was K2 doing everything and never her taking fate into her own hands. We never really saw her bond with anyone to the point where her care for them made sense. Like the female bodyguard who spent years talking badly about her, and the "uncle" who she completely trusts for no reason in favor of K2 in a frustrating sequence of events. Perhaps they filmed too much and had to cram, but I have doubt it when in later episodes, they were desperately padding out runtime with long flashbacks of previous episodes. Poor plotting, plain and simple. She drags the rest of the plot down with her as it becomes about saving her over anything else.
A moment fresh for me where this really sticks out is the ending deaths of her father and Choi (not to mention the poor writing to allow the utter foolishness of even bringing Anna there around her "Uncle" and turning their backs to an enemy without subduing him). Characters seem to survive fatal gunshots, the father and Choi could have escaped at the end with Choi able to survive with medical attention. When he put the bomb inside the glass, Choi told him to save himself. But since he already gave the heroic dad speech, even though he had time to spare and get back, he was like..nahhh ima just die here it'd be awk to go back now after I sounded like a cool dad. He decided to stay and die for no reason. He also could have carried Choi and saved them both, and she could have still commanded Mirror to close the glass. What a silly scene with preventable deaths that only happened for the sake of poeticism and plot. I understand the way it wraps their characters up but the writing was poor and didn't convince me that the father and Choi Yoo-Jin's choices here were really any redemption or sacrifice. They were needless deaths, them dying served no sacrifice because they could have escaped with their lives as well and it wouldn't have changed anything. So it, in my opinion, failed to have any narrative payoff or redemption that these characters deserved.
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Choi Yoo-jin: The Star of the Show
In contrast to my critiques, Choi Yoo-jin was an absolute powerhouse. I ONLY, ONLY watched this show really for her. I arrived for Ji Chang but left for Song Yoon. The actress...WOW. Just WOW. Not only was her acting beyond just..AMAZING, but I do have to give it to the writers for creating such a character. I don't consider her a villain but she's the top of my list as favorite kdrama "villain" ever, and one of the best characters overall I've come across. What a beautiful character. Her duality as a ruthless political player and a deeply human character made her the most compelling figure in the series. The tension between her and K2 was far more interesting than anything involving Anna. Some folks might get mad that people liked the romantic tension between Choi and K2, but the show itself is to blame for setting it up. Anna wasn’t introduced until much later, and the original focus was on Choi and K2’s dynamic. Naturally, the audience will become invested based on when and HOW characters are showni. If the director wanted to be more balanced with character's liking Anna, then it was their total failure because checkov's gun is one of the most basic rules of cinema. I see people fussing in comments, but blame the director for the mixed signals, not the audience who only take in what they are shown.
But regardless, even without the romantic tension, Choi Yoo-jin carried the show. Her complexity, ambition, and vulnerability were brilliantly portrayed, making her a character you couldn’t take your eyes off. Her moral ambiguity—doing whatever it takes to survive in a cutthroat world—was more realistic and relatable than Anna’s one-dimensional purity. People who dismiss Choi as a villain probably view the world with tinted glasses that they are the heroes of their own story. But human beings are morally gray; they operate under moral ambiguity and have justifications for their behaviors all the same. Choi often saw herself as a victim. Now, I don't think her having people killed that are trying to kill her makes her a villain, but her using others and targeting innocents isn't okay. My point isn't to glamorize her actions but to point out that it isn't so simple to see her as some wicked villain. (And the comments that sound like this tend to be from younger viewers/ e.g. minors) The context of the world she has been brought up in of corruption and betrayal shouldn't be understated. Her character is a beautiful study on human nature and all its complexities. But yeah I found this character carried the show.
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Conclusion
The K2 might have been groundbreaking in its time, but watching it in 2024 highlights how poorly it has aged. Its outdated tropes and inconsistent writing make it a frustrating experience, especially when compared to the more nuanced and polished K-dramas of today. While it had a few redeeming qualities—primarily Choi Yoo-jin’s character, and small moments of humor or bromance; Ji Chang's good looking self; I liked the music well enough—they weren’t enough to save it from its own poor decisions. What could have been a gripping political thriller turned into a forgettable melodrama weighed down by an unnecessary and poorly executed romance. That's not even getting into the silly (but still entertaining enough) fight choreography. There ARE sweet moments between the leads but in order to enjoy them, I had to think of them as in a vacuum and ignore the rest of the story. For anyone considering this show, be prepared for a lot of missed opportunities. Healer with Ji Chang was much better, I loved it a lot when I watched it long ago (and he kisses better there and has actual chemistry with the FL.) For now, I'm off to find a drama that hopefully gives me what this drama COULD have been.
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