#korean action movie

[icemankazansky86]

I realize this is an extremely niche meme but—

Legend says that Han is still mad about his plane

[theersatzcowboy]

A Bittersweet Life / Dalkomhan insaeng (2005)

This gorgeously rendered, badass cult gangster classic from Korean heavy Kim Jee-woon borrows from only the coolest genres to tell the sobering (and sometimes darkly funny) story of a doggedly loyal, prideful underling (a never better Lee Byung-hun) who just can't obey the orders of his beloved boss when it comes to punishing the man's beautiful, cheating girlfriend...to disastrous, bloody ends.

Director: Kim Jee-woon

Cinematographer: Kim Ji-yong

Production Designer: Ryu Seong-hie

Starring: Lee Byung-hun, Shin Min-a, Kim Yeong-cheol, Hwang Jung-min, Kim Roi-ha, Eric Mun, Lee Ki-young, and Oh Dal-su.

[boardsdonthitback]

Bruce Khan - Revenger (2018)

[absolutebl]

This Week in BL - It’s My Birthday!

April 2023 Wk 4

Being a highly subjective assessment of one tiny corner of the interwebs. Organized by which ones (in each category) I’m enjoying most.

Ongoing Series - Thai

Step By Step (Thai Tues WeTV & Gaga) ep 2 of 10 (MDL says 12, but Gaga says 10) - Baby made a friend! Yay. I hope they stay friends. Up looks so good. Also, drama with exes! Excellent. This is awful grown up for a BL, esp a pulp. I think it may be more just a gay office romance than BL, but I love it no matter what. 

La Pluie (Sat iQIYI) ep 1 of 10 - I love it. Strange premise to get at the fated mates trope but it stars one of my top picks to get his own BL. Been waiting since TT2 for this boy to feature. Tai is cute. It’s good. Except the singing. But we can’t have it all. 

Our Skyy 2 (Star in My Mind) eps 3-4 - Dao is THE MOST SPOILED. But clearly Kluen prefers it that way. This was cute, but frankly a little bit boring. Kluen is clearly Thai for whipped. 8/10 

Future (Thai Sun YouTube & Gaga) ep 5 of 6 - they added an additional ep because, why not? It’s a soap not a story, it doesn’t matter. MOAR softness for usssss! Drama llama boys continue to be overdramatic to the point of melodramatic to the point of ludicrous-dramatic. 

Pastsenger (Thai Weds Gaga) ep 8 of 12 eps - This is not as good as My Engineer but Marc makes for a much better pair with Cooper. It’s still not great but hey… and then HE PICKED UP A GUITAR. NOOOOOO!!!!!

A Boss and a Babe (Fri YouTube) ep 9 of 12 - Is that a character in a GMMTV show actually trying to communicate? Say it isn’t so! Did you notice in order to calm Cher down Gun dropped to pom to put them on a more equal footing? Sweet. Cher is a tiny idiot for taking the blame for some random other coworker. Why? Omg this show. 

The Promise (Thai Weds YT & WeTV) ep 6 of 10 - So it was a real serious total kiss kiss with both very drunk. And that’s why he ran? Sigh. This show sucks. How can we root for this couple especially when the faen fatal (Boss) is THAT HOT and so sweet. (To be fair I can’t decide if I want Boss or his outfits more). Phu should just not come back, who needs him? So they really are going to just keep drawing this one premise out the whole show? 

Tin Tam Jai (Tues Gaga & iQIYI) ep 9 of 10 - yawn 

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

Our Dining Table AKA Bokura no Shokutaku (Japan Thurs Gaga) ep 4 of 10 - They are cutest EVER - charming and awkward and sweet. I love the way the state of the food is used as an illustration for the state of the emotions of the characters. The loneliness of heating up a solitary meal bought from a convenience store in the microwave. The joy of memory of shared meals. What a lovely show.  

The Eighth Sense (Korea Weds Viki) eps 9-10fin - To be honest, I was dreading this one. JH is such a first-time love bebe. I liked how realistic everybody’s behavior was to the university age bracket. We even got some proper boyfriends phase which is too damn cute for words. I do not think that JW should have made up with his evil friend. I love the way JW’s shoulders relax the moment he sees JH. This was really good show... 

One of the longest BLs Korea has given us and (like Blueming) it feels more atmospheric gay coming of age romance than strictly BL. It’s got a bit of an age gap, country boy/city boy, stellar acting, complex characters, and leads with good chemistry and tension. It’s a bit chewy and sticky and less perfect than most KBLs (do I detect a touch of Taiwan?). This one deployed BL tropes (messy eater, shoulder sleep, protective seme, there’s even some hyung-slinging) but front loaded them, with tons angst driving the 2nd half. This isn’t in the KBL bubble, there’s sharp edges and lots of triggers. For a BL the darkness of the content left me feeling unsettled but it did have a glorious ending and that counts for a lot. 9/10 HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Happy Merry Ending (Korea Thurs Gaga) eps 1-2 of 8 - No shade (ha!) but I do think Leo would have been better in the role of the singer (SJ) but I’m okay with Dongwon. JH is a nice flirty bit of sunshine. SJ is clearly the most anxiety-riddled socially awkward broken baby evers. I’m not sure about this kinda angst, it’s not really my thing especially on the back of The Eighth Sense. Look, I’ve never been one for a fixer-upper. We shall see, I guess? This is the beauty of KBL, so short most of the time that it’s low commitment no matter my reservations. 

My Story (Pinoy Sat YouTube) ep 3 of 10 - it’s fine I guess? 

Naked Dinner AKA Zenra Meshi (Japan Fri Gaga) ep 3 of 12 - I guess the fetish matches are finding each other? How v Japan. Of course I like the conversation about names and protocols. 

It’s Airing But ...

Love Syndrome (Thai Sat WeTV) stopped at ep 2 of 12 - I’m just not into any aspect of it (except Lee Long Shi and I can watch him in Tin Tem Jai) - saving to binge if the end is solid.

Venus in the Sky (Sat YouTube) pilot/tester?) 0 of 10 - not entirely sure what’s up with this one distribution-wise, but the pilot was classic university-set pulp. I hope it happens because the leads are cute with good chemsitry and I thought it was fun. However, this pilot holds together as its own little short too.

Make a Wish (Thai Weds ?) stars Fluke Natouch (OhmFluke UWMA etc...) & Judo (The Miracle Of Teddy Bear) in a medical-fantasy. About a doctor who sees ghosts and a deity who resides in a Bodhi tree that earns merits whenever he fulfills a wish, based on a y-novel by Sammon (Manner of Death, Triage). Same as above.

Stormy Honeymoon (Vietnam) - I’m tired of these characters 

In Case You Missed It

Star Hunter dropped all their trailers for 2023 on their YT channel. Bit late in the year IMHO. Nothing really stuck out.

Big Dragon the movie = more of the same

True Moon = yet another loosely disguised attempt at the 2 Moons franchise?

Flirt Milk = standard pulp fodder, but they are cute

Acadex = The Eclipse + Destiny Seeker + Harry Potter 4 + The CW, as a movie that may not be BL 

Sunset Vibes = Big Dragon pair as a one night stand but “uh-oh he’s my boss!” I’m game. Maybe it’ll have a better story? Maybe it will have a plot? Maybe... oh who am I kidding. It’ll be high heat and that’s about all we can hope for. 

City of Stars AKA Fueangnakorn = An actor falls in love with a programmer and the narrative intends to “explore the ramifications of being public figure in the social network era who must endure critics, bullying, and defamation.” Looks like another Lovely Writer/Call It What You Want sort of thing.

The biggest shocker is how few they fielded of their original BL stable.

ALSO:

Love Senior = SOTUS but make it GL (I’m not mad about this one, it’s about flipping time. But it’s GL so I won’t track it, although I will watch it.)

Next Week Looks Like This:

Coming in May 2023:

5/1 House of Stars (Thai iQIYI) - An LGBTQ actor in love with an actor from another company, plus other wanna be stars all trapped in a doom house together. 

5/4 Love Mate (Korea Viki) 8 eps- Office romance between a team leader and a new employee who agree to date for 3 months to find true love, from the makers of Our Dating Sim.

5/18 - Starstruck (Korea ????) - A boy has had a crush on his childhood friend for a long time. Stars Zuho (Kpop SF9 - noted Good Egg) opposite rookie actor Kim In Sung (as the one with the crush). 

5/27 The Luminous Solution (Thai ????) 10 eps - Thana is having trouble at work and in his relationship. He can't seem to catch a break. So he makes a wish to change everything. But every wish has a price.

2023 forthcoming BL master post (see comments, some are inaccurate, NOT KEPT UPDATED)

THIS WEEK’S BEST MOMENTS

I do like a tie (or nametag) grab kiss. (Boss & Babe) 

Our Skyy 2 SIMM ep summing it all up and reviewing itself.

Future the series, I like this reverse claiming thing. So cute. 

The boyfriends eps are the BEST eps. The Eighth Sense. 

I WANT BOSS’S OUTFITS. 

My favorite, “there is only one bed but we slept together on the floor anyway.” (The Promise) 

Now that is a claim that MUST be proved. 

Loves the little babies with their killer communication style. 

What do I always say about a BL that reviews itself? All from Destiny Seeker. (I’m getting caught up, I’ll post a review of the series when I’m done.)

(last week)

Current Kpop earworm? UO’s Restart 

[stuff-diary]

Ballerina

Movies watched in 2023

Ballerina (2023, South Korea)

Director & Writer: Lee Chung Hyun

Mini-review:

I'm a huge fan of Jeon Jong Seo and I enjoyed The Call very much, so I was really looking forward to Ballerina, her second collaboration with director Lee Chung Hyun. Thankfully, it didn't disappoint. It's sleek and visually stunning, and Jeon Jong Seo more than rises up to the challenge. She definitely has what it takes to be an action movie star. Tbh, the script and the story are much weaker and unoriginal than in The Call, but Lee Chung Hyun clearly knows how to direct the hell out of an action scene. Also, the movie is pretty short, so it goes straight to the point and it never gets boring. Anyway, I hope these two keep collaborating, cause so far they've been on fire together.

P.S. There's quite a lot of triggering content, and I recommend looking up some warnings before watching.

[itwoodbeprefect]

one thing i have to hand to people online who leave reviews on obviously low budget westerns is that at least they don't complain that it's an obviously low budget western. it seems that i can't say this for some of the people leaving reviews on obviously low budget queer movies

[tinyreviews]

Tiny Review: Uprising 2024. Korean Historical Class Allegory.

Though the marketing is on the two main characters, their arcs did not feel compelling to me. Feels a lot like hitting the beats for the sake of hitting beats.

I found it interesting that it took a Japanese invasion to potentially, inadvertently improve the slavery situation. But this was never fully explored 😓

Uprising is a 2024 South Korean historical war action film directed by Kim Sang-man, written by Shin Cheol and Park Chan-wook, and starring Gang Dong-won, Park Jeong-min, Kim Shin-rok, Jin Seon-kyu, Jung Sung-il, and Cha Seung-won.

[the-story-dragon]

Officer Black Belt (2024)

Oh man. This movie had me HOOKED. Right from the characters all the way to the plot, it was all very interesting. There was nothing mind-blowing about the movie in the sense that it progressed how you would expect any typical action movie to progress. A protagonist who is kickass at martial arts who seems to have no higher purpose in life apart from having fun. He then somehow gets roped into helping some division of law enforcement by putting his fighting skills to good use. He saves people which finally makes him feel as if he has some purpose in life. He gets injured and is expected to stay out of action until he recovers but he gets together with his friends and they put their heads together to catch a dangerous criminal who is on the run. So, a lot of cliches and a lot of already-seen plots. But, the movie was still entertaining to watch and did keep me on the edge of my seat once in a while.

This is my first time watching something that Kim Woo Bin starred in and I can definitely get behind the hype for this man. His acting is good, the action scenes were pulled off well (though I don't know if he had a stunt double for the more complex choreographies) and he conveyed the emotions of the character really well. The protagonist was not insufferable in his actions and dialogues and the nuances of the character and the character arc did seem realistic.

The side characters were also really likeable. The friend group was super supportive and for once no one ruined the plan/plot by doing something stupid. They were actually resourceful and not accessories to highlight the protagonist's wit and strength. They had their roles to play in the story, albeit small.

The law enforcement officials were also pretty alright. It was interesting to see a straightforward team without the usual plot twists of spies and moles within the department. There was not much slander of the law enforcement. I don't know how realistic that is, but it certainly was refreshing to experience. I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop, for it to be revealed that someone was a spy, but that never happened.

The movie addressed the issue of child s*x trafficking in South Korea, in a tasteful manner that emphasized the seriousness of the matter while at the same time not disturbing/traumatizing the audience much.

The movie was an easy watch. It was interesting to see how a different department of the law enforcement functioned rather than the overdone ones on media. You can sit back, relax and watch the movie with your favorite snacks without the fear of throwing your snacks away in anger, frustration, fear or grief.

Overall, 7.2/10

Definitely would watch again. 100% recommend.

[fuforthought]

Don Lee is back for a third film in the THE ROUNDUP series. And of course, he’s slapping the shit out of people in the teaser trailer.

[jellie-the-aqua-puma]

Everyone go watch Bloodhounds, the Korean show on Netflix, via any means necessary and then come back and talk to me about how fantastic it was and how it exceeded our expectations;

I’m going crazy here trying to wait for it to get popular enough to gush about it.

[boardsdonthitback]

Na Tae-Joo - The Kick (2011)

Directed By - Prachya Pinkaew

[absolutebl]

This Week in BL - When good chemistry goes bad

May 2023 Wk 3 

Being a highly subjective assessment of one tiny corner of the interwebs. Organized by which ones (in each category) I’m enjoying most.

Ongoing Series - Thai

La Pluie (Sat iQIYI) ep 4 of 10 - yes it jumped to the top of the standings, the kiss was THAT good, best of the year so far. So soft and yet so sweet and yearning and with a proper chemistry - body, breath, everything. Also... there was plot happening this ep, but who cares about that? Some additional thoughts, now my brain has rebooted from that kiss. I do suspect Pat of still being a player: he is awful smooth, and he may want revenge for being jacked along for 2 years (I would). Ep 4 is early for a kiss like that, which means pacing-wise we may be in for a separation/break up around ep 8. 

Step By Step (Thai Tues WeTV & Gaga) ep 5 of 10 (MDL still says 12, but Gaga still says 10) - Pat, dear, your gay is squirting all over our screens. Meanwhile… That is the smallest presidential suite bed I’ve ever seen. Lucky for us of course. And lucky for Jeng. Me with the side dishes = UH OH. 

Our Skyy 2 (My School President) eps 9-10 - Alt reality where Tinn is in charge of the music club and Gun is the school president with the crush. Basically, it’s an excuse for them to play each others’ parts (which just highlighted how well they were cast, originally). Ultimately, Gemini is a better piner, and Fourth is a better tsundere. Although the reversed “holding it over his head” was v funny & Fourth IS a decent seme. (I also realized what I like so much about Fourth, like Saint he’s one of those rare full body actors.) Sound was a great uke and I loved how they changed his makeup for the role (did you notice?). TiwPor were as adorably ridiculous as ever. I liked the minor baby pairing for Aun, too. Still my NO SIGNING holds (although there was lots of dancing to counterbalance). In the end, all this really did was make me wanna rewatch the original. Which is not necessarily a bad thing. FYI The MV was a parody of HCTM, BB, 1k*. 8/10 

A Boss and a Babe (Fri YouTube) ep 12fin - It was a cute sappy ending for a cute-ish sappy-ish show. I cannot abide that the mom who condoned the rape of her daughter got forgiven. No. Stop it GMMTV. Review below. 

The Promise (Thai Weds YT & WeTV) ep 9 of 10 - I'm in trouble when I'm rooting for everybody BUT the main couple. I guess Nan doesn’t have a NO SINGING policy. Also I guess Nan was waiting for Phu all along? This show. ALSO could we not have just ended it here? 

Past-senger (Thai Weds Gaga) ep 11 of 12 eps - I don’t understand. What? Where did all these new characters come from? Do we care about the hets? Not even slightly. What is anyone doing? What’s going on? do I care abotu anyone anymore? No. Please make it stop. 

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

Our Dining Table AKA Bokura no Shokutaku (Japan Thurs Gaga) ep 7 of 10 - OMG so adorable, so repressed, so reserved, so soft, so awkward, so special. Heart melting. Also. Hungry. The WAY Minoru looks at Yutaka when he’s eating (now that he knows the history). The way we got to see the exact moment that Minoru realizes he is in love. Perfection. 

Star Struck (Korea iQIYI & Gaga) ep 1-2 of 8 - Zuho (Kpop SF9 - noted good egg) opposite rookie actor Kim In Sung (the one with the crush). icky is being weird about it but it looks like Gaga also picked it up? Depends on your territory I suppose. Anygay: Friends since childhood, jock/nerd, puppy/cat and I sense bi-himbo confusion and pining introvert gay. There’s family strife plus class issues and it has some interesting things to say already about the nature of friendship, romance, and jealousy. I like it, weirdly reminds me of something that might have come out of China. Not early CBL, but some of the later stuff that was censored but hearkened to Addicted. This has the feel of what China could have made now (were things politically different). Because of this feel, I’m not confident in this being an HEA or even a true BL but it is interesting enough for me to bump it way up the ranks. 

Happy Merry Ending (Korea Thurs Gaga) eps 7-8fin - I get why SJ pushed JH away, but I kinda agree that SJ is too much work. Abused or not, I wouldn’t put in the damn effort - so I guess I’m glad SJ took a year off to figure his shizz out? Far be it from me to agree with a year break in a Kdrama, tho. I didn’t even mind that they were separated most of these 2 eps: it was nice to see a Seme told no, who actually backed off and did as he was told. Plus the running of the gays (how Japan of you SK). I’m assuming that this was the final episode and that Viki thinking that there are 2 more is bonkers? Because this felt like a finale. For me this one had a stronger finish than any other aspect of the show (odd when the couple spent the bulk of it apart). Oh! And someone give Shin Myung Sung (the surfer bestie) his own damn BL, m’kay? Review below.

Love Mate (Korea Thurs Viki) eps 5-6 of 8 - Longest elevator ride in the world. Honorifics discussion! My favorite! And, “there is only one bed but they slept together on the floor anyway” trope. A BL staple. Also the tie/lanyard grab. Another fav. Still pushy puppy stalker remains creepy manipulative obsessive warped hotness. Basically KBL version of trash and… I’m into it. We all got our kinks, I guess. 

Vian the series (Vietnam YouTube ) - Such a cat. I’m reminded of Milk. It’s cute. They cute. I like it.

Naked Dinner AKA Zenra Meshi (Japan Fri Gaga) ep 6 of 12 - So is the nude dining meant to be some kind of weird allegory for repressed gayness? 

It’s Airing But ...

My Story (Pinoy Sat YouTube) 10 eps - I bounced at ep 4. Someone will tell me if I should bother with the rest. 

House of Stars (Thai Mon iQIYI) 12 eps - I bounced at ep 3. Will binge if told it is worth it at end. 

The Day I Loved You (Pinoy YouTube) eps 6-7 of 10 - Terminal illness for the sunshine. I bounced at ep 6. DNF. 

Ended this week

Love Syndrome finished its run on WeTV (I stopped at ep 2) - anyone wanna weight in with thoughts on the ending and whether I should binge or not? I do love Lee Long Shi.

Happy Merry Ending - Stars Lee Dong Won (KNK) as an ex-idol turned wedding singer with an abusive ex and a panic disorder + the sunshine pianist who falls in love with him. Timid tsundere & sweetheart gay is an interesting match. They’re gentle together, almost kindly and there is a calm ache to their pairing. However, it lost its way as a BL, being more about the main character’s struggle than the romance. It had a strong finish but ultimately the premise & characters meant this was never going to be one of my favorites. 8/10  

A Boss and a Babe - With an inconsistent narrative and self-sabotaging characters this was not the Thai BL office romance I was hoping for. I spent most if it feeling manipulated without good reason and sorry for ForceBook. They did their best with a shoddy script (AGAIN!) and none of its flaws were their fault. This show was all over the place and so am I about it. It’s better than Enchanté but that’s not really saying much. 7/10 I guess

In Case You Missed It 

BL Express reported that Taiwanese production companies have announced 7 new BLs (4 of these from Vidol.) Stories range from office romance to crime drama. 

Someone did a survey on KBL watchers. 

Build Jakapan has been cleared of all charges. 

Next Week Looks Like This:

Starting this week: 

5/26 Be My Favorite prev title: You Are My Favorite (Thai YouTube) Adapted JittiRain y-novel (2gether, FUTS, ToL, Vice Versa) one of those “rewrite the past to change the future.” Stars Krist (SOTUS) + Fluke Gawin (DBK, Not Me). Expect this to be v low heat, full of LIES and manipulation.

5/27 The Luminous Solution (Thai ????) 10 eps - Thana is having trouble at work and in his relationship. He can't seem to catch a break. So he makes a wish to change everything. The wish has a price.

5/27 Takumi-kun Series 6: Nagai Nagai Monogatari no Hajimari no Asa (Japan) - NO ONE ASKED FOR THIS (but that has never stopped Japan before) and no, I have no idea where to get it, why would I ?????  (Say it with me everyone: Oh Japan, must you?*)

2023 forthcoming BL master post (see comments, some are inaccurate, NOT KEPT UPDATED)

This Week’s Meta Moments 

naturellement (Step By Step naming its trope.)

The Promise calling out the uke archetype, Mary Sue much? 

ALL THE DANCING. Live the dream! Live the trend! Live the trope! 

4 tropes in one! Drinking, piggyback, feed him, product placement. Very nice GMMTV & GeminiFourth. I’m impressed.  

nash

(all My School President’s Our Skyy - kinda a masterclass in using ALL THE TROPES and ALL THE BL references.) 

THIS WEEK’S BEST MOMENTS

The unmitigated irony of so-called fans of ZeeNunew coming after this show for this moment (not to mention the self sabotage). Truly mind boggling. (Step by Step)

The two boys who didn’t win the boy but totally should have. This show makes me wanna drink too. Next week... soju! (The Promise)

Yes please and thank you GMMTV. (My School President) 

I do love the kinkification of Phi. (Boss & Babe) 

These tiny idiots it turns out are, in fact, totally hilarious. La Pulie (side dish friendship group)

(last week)

Current Kpop earworm? Key & Taeyeon’s Hate that... (which if it wasn’t an OST SHOULD have been)

[stuff-diary]

Alienoid: Return to the Future

Movies watched in 2024

Alienoid: Return to the Future (2024, South Korea)

Director & Writer: Choi Dong Hoon

Mini-review:

I'm gonna be honest: I barely remembered anything about the first part, except that it was a pretty fun piece of popcorn entertainment. Now, after a quick recap, I can say this sequel lives up to the first one in that sense. The plot gets more convoluted and some of the twists left me flabbergasted, but the outstanding cast makes it work. As with the first one, my favorite part was the mixture of sci-fi and fantasy elements with the period setting, although the parts set in the present are very entertaining as well. Also, while the CGI leaves a lot to be desired, the sets and costumes are all stunning. Anyway, Alienoid: Return to the Future might not be a landmark in sci-fi cinema nor Choi Dong Hoon's best movie, but it's engaging and fun enough.

[ayahmdeesworld]

Movie Review: A Bittersweet Life

This is a Korean gangster movie. Synopsis: When high-ranking gangster Young Sun-woo refuses to follow his boss Kanga’s orders, things become ugly and turn into a gang war, which only causes several deaths. I watched it together with my husband last weekend. While watching it, I thought it was acceptable in comparison to the director’s other movie, “I Saw the Devil,” which I had previously seen.…

[the-story-dragon]

Badland Hunters (2024)

I was looking to relax after a stressful week of exams and I was browsing Netflix for something to watch. I wanted to watch something in Korean but did not have the energy to commit to a series. So movies it was. Badland Hunters caught my eye because the thumbnail/poster of the movie on Netflix had a young man with a bow on it. And anyone who knows me knows that I am a sucker for protagonists using a bow and arrows. Thus, the decision was made.

The movie started off interestingly, with the frazzled doctor vowing to do anything to save his daughter. Then, the introduction of the dystopian world and the protagonists. I realized that Ma Dong-Seok was starring in this and was looking forward to the action scenes. In the beginning, I was really intrigued by the plot. It was a new take on the whole zombie apocalypse plotline and I was genuinely expecting a lot more than what the movie delivered. The plot being different from the typical zombie apocalypse movies, I was expecting that the plot would thicken. It did not. The movie ended up being your usual action film with a touch of crazy-doctor-gone-wild. I was expecting so much more, but the plot ended up being nothing new. The buildup to something mind-blowing only led to an epic letdown. The movie was no different from the thousands of zombie apocalypse stories out there.

That being said, the action scenes were amazing. They were really well choreographed and carried out. Of course Ma Dong-Seok was portrayed as the undefeatable hero, which got kinda tiring after a point. I mean, I knew that he was gonna come out of that fight alive. There was nothing that kept me at the edge of my seat. Ahn Ji-Hye and Lee Jun-Young also did their action scenes really well. I was especially impressed by Ahn Ji-Hye's scenes and found myself in awe at her 'fighting' skills.

On the whole, not a bad watch nor a boring one. It will definitely keep your attention for the entire duration but will leave you feeling......meh.

Overall, 5.4/10.

Would recommend. Would not watch again.