Vigilante (2023)

In my opinion, the drama gave me everything I expected from the title. It was a vigilante story.
I was completely immersed in the story presented by the creators of the drama. The plot, pace of action, characters, music, cinematography, and finally the final episode were perfect for this type of story.
There was, is, and will be evil, but this evil also creates people who fight against it. A story without end.
From me, the drama received a solid 10 for all elements. Because if there were any shortcomings, the creators of the drama hid them well from me, who was eager for each next episode.

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Vigilante was the perfect action thriller. I binged the whole thing in one day.

If you’re looking for a show with an intricate plot and lots of backstory, this is not that show. Instead, it immediately jumps into the action and the plot goes at full speed until the very end. While I might have liked a little more backstory for some of the characters, the rapid pacing kept things from ever feeling stale.

Nam Joo-hyuk is fantastic (and ripped) in this role and I hope he does more action shows in the future. Even though a lot of his screen time is spent fighting, he gets to show his acting chops through some great scenes with very raw emotions. Similar to a lot of the characters in the show, I was rooting for vigilante the whole time.

The fight choreography was amazing. There is so much fighting in this show but I never felt bored. The show really ratcheted up the tension by having vigilante constantly on the verge of getting caught. All of the escape sequences had me on the edge of my seat.

The introduction of the copycat was genius. His character was hilarious and brought so much humor to a pretty dark show. The relationship between the vigilantes was one of the highlights of the whole show.

Vigilante was a great time and seems very underrated. They really set it up for a season 2 and I hope it happens!

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Vigilante Oh Yeah

This was amazing from start to finish. The action and fighting scenes were fantastic.
I did however didn't like the female reporter even at the end. I was though glad we
got to know why she as she put it through the Vigilante wanted to cause an uproar
in the world because of what happened to her father. I was also disappointed that
his friend had to die. It was hard for him to let his friend be labeled The Vigilante but
it seemed to be what his friend wanted. I liked it at the end that as he stood there at
the graduation ceremony that he didn't raise his hand nor did he repeat the oath. I think
after some got rewarded even in death that was the and what happened to his friend that
was the final and last straw. He just looked straight ahead with a strong determination.
But because of the annoyance of that reporter its a solid 9/10.

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He will show what is real justice

What is this impenetrable line that holds the balance between justice and vengeance? What is the guarantee that the line forever exists? What happens when someone toes with the line? You know that a drama is intricately complex when it asks these types of questions. And as it may be, the audience may begin to ponder over these very questions, perhaps more as the drama moves along.

Vigilante tells the story of Kim Ji Young, a prospective police officer who adopts the identity of a Vigilante to punish those who have been let off lightly by the law, perpetrators who continue to commit crimes, in an attempt to provide a sense of safety to not only the victims of the crimes, but to the general public.

The drama is efficiently character driven, and there is not one character who is morally white or black, most of all our Vigilante. He is surrounded by characters with an equally ambiguous moral compass, a journalist who cares about ratings as much as the vigilante justice system, a vigilante fanboy who's values don't nearly line up with those of the actual vigilante, and a police officer who serves his own version of vigilantism to catch our dark hero.

When each character performs what they believe is right, a web of chaos is created wherein everyone has to now perfect unprecedented actions to achieve their goals. Beneath it all though, the leads have a common goal, the crux of it all: Justice. While their methods may differ, their morality may sway, they strive to protect the public by performing their own form of justice. This creates conflict and leads to confrontation between the characters where everything they believe in comes into question, until it finally bubbles up to create the complicated connections between the characters.

There were some interesting questions the drama asked, all the while blending it with the quintessential K Drama thriller vibes. Most importantly, the story was gripping and there were no scenes I would categorise as filler/unnecessary. I believe there is much more complexity to the story than they actually showed, sort of like barely scratching the surface, and it will be interesting to see the story play out as a result of Ji Young's state at the end of season 1. Overall, a very solid series in all aspects that I would highly recommend to those who want to get a glimpse of sweet, sweet justice.

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Always rooting for the Anti-hero

Nov. 29, 2023

Finishing Vigilante definitely solidified the strength of Nam Joo Hyuk's acting skills. I may have not read the webtoon version of it so my opinion is definitely much different than those who have read it.

But for someone, who only watched Vigilante and not the webtoon. I must say that this is a pretty solid drama. I feel like the 8 episode format was okay. Though, I wish it was a bit longer. I feel like I need more explanation and details in regards to the plot development and structure. Since this is an crime-solving action drama, I was really hoping for a stronger grasp of plot development from the writers. Or maybe a better execution from the directors? Not quite sure but it lacks that type of feeling, I just can't seem to point out.

Nevertheless, this is still a pretty good drama regarding my few critiques. Definitely add on your watchlist!

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Korean batman

vigilante aka Korean batman. now lemme get to the plot. first priority for every movie or drama especially the action ones is having a strong motive behind heros action and the clash BTW the antagonist. now protagonist backstory is quite basic for the plot but now the director beautifully takes time and explains the motive of hero and all which infact is quite likable appealing. now (protagonist) is a cop in trainne who's a vigilante(punishes people which the law fails to ) heros motive is perfect he's portrayed as empathetic, quite a kind soul . now plot goes like this our protagonist whose a vigilante starts punishing people during weekend's and police starts to investigate and people start supporting the vigilante and form groups and start punishing the bad guys but now there's a big issue for protagonist a new police officer is appointed catch the vigilante whose quite strong asf ! and there's another vigilante copying our protagonist ditto who's the other vigilante? will hero get caught? who's the main antagonist? well grab snacks and sleep on sofa and start binging this short mini drama full of adrenaline rush

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BEST DRAMA EVER MADE.

I honestly think that this was made such perfectly like I am in love with this drama, I would watch it over and over again, and I would fall in love with it every single time.This drama had so many emotions as well as action scenes and truth spoken, that I'm just impressed, and I honestly think that everyone who love action, justice, law, police and those categories should watch this instantly. This was such a great drama like I can get over it.!I think that this has a great values and a big big big potential for a bigger drama. Overall, like American industry could never madk this, cause it's such like perfection and just full of emotion. Actions like it has a bit of everything and like the dose of everything that's the best like you could've made it. It made it better. I mean everything can be made better, but this one trust me guys just watch it!!!!😍

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Hot Damn!

The premise is nothing new; Vigilante taking justice into his own hands but it's a really good series.

The 1st episode of this drama is probably the best episode I have seen of a Korean drama this year!! It was just so good from opening scene until the last. Taking names and kicking asses and I was here for it. Every episode was really good and kept the same intensity. I wanted Ji Yong to make them all pay!! I haven't wanted a bunch of people beat up badly in a long time. I have never watched a show with Nam Joo Hyuk, the ML but he was fantastic. So good! I really liked Lee Joon Hyuk he was great as Gangok. Shin Jung Keun as Mr. Bang was excellent as well.

There were some really good scenes and in episode 5 this was one of my favorites. I LMAO during the scene with Cho Heon and that low level criminal in the car. The criminal asked where are we going and Cho Heon said to his last address and he said you can drop me off here and I'll wait for a cab. That shit was hilarious.

This is a quick, bingeable, very enjoyable watch.

12/24/23

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When society allows dark justice to take its own course.

Vigilante is another noir series inspired by a webtoon which tells the story of Kim Jiyong, a young man who witnessed the murder of his mother when he was young by a violent individual and suffered the injustice of the law by only sentencing the murderer to 3 years in prison.
Twelve years later, Jiyong finds his mother's murderer who still roams the streets freely with 18 convictions, and he takes justice into his own hands.

We follow Jiyong who becomes a vigilante, reciprocally punishing criminals. I have to say that there is a familiar echo in the cases we are shown and the reality we are experiencing. So many times criminals have been released because the law worked in their favor rather than that of the victims. That's probably why the show is so enticing, it's a sad reflection of reality.

The series also portrays how this initiative is the start of a domino effect on society, where a debate takes place on justice, its application and by whom. The public seems to support his initiatives, to the point where other citizens join in to give justice for the victims, even inspiring a copycat and reducing crime on the streets when criminals turn themselves into the police by fear to face "the Vigilante".

The plot is introduced more broadly with a bigger antagonist in the corrupt police chief and his links with seemingly untouchable CEO and politician who kill people to hide their dark deeds without repercussions.

I must say that Nam Joo Hyuk had a great performance in the role of Jiyong, this character is complex and sometimes even unnerving, he is so righteous that it borders on psychopathy (much like Batman in that sense). His micro expressions are a delight for the eye while his character is a young man of very few words. Although we don't delve much into his background, and the series weighs very little on the emotional side beyond anger, I manage to feel empathy for his character, when he feels terrible pain and loss, or when he screams his rage. He has some scenes that are gripping. Honestly, I hope Nam Joo Hyuk will give us the pleasure of diving into more thriller productions, as much as he's lovely on romcom series, he has potential for more.

As for the rest of the cast, the actor Lee Joon Hyuk was a revelation for me, it was more the script that worked in his favor than the acting itself, but I liked his extravagant and insane character. It's rare to witness a copycat who is not only supportive of the one he's copying even after being rejected, but who is actively helpful. I can only purely enjoy his character for what he is : entertainment. Although I wished they dived deeper in his backstory.
Kim Sojin is also a standout, probably the first time I liked following a noisy reporter, Miryeo. I like that she doesn't let herself be intimidated and like everyone else in this series, she's a little crazy to actively court and protect a violent man but her personal trauma explains it.
The biggest disappointment remains Yoo Jitae, I definitely cannot be convinced by this actor, I have seen him in many series, and his range remains minimal, his acting decent or even bad at times, I remain unconvinced by his characterization of Cho Heon, who only knew how the crack his neck. I know it's to give an unnerving mannerism but Nam Joo Hyuk managed to do that just by tilting his head, in comparison, Yoo Jitae remains bland.

I liked the overall production, with dark tones, great fighting choreographies and realistic sets, the soundtracks are amazing (they need to release those already), and the plot is simple to follow without messy and overly done plotlines.

The only downside would be the lack of emotional depth overall and backstory for the main characters, I had very little care for the characters who died or suffered (aside from Jiyong) and that is probably due to the limited number of episodes but as the ending is hinting the probability of a second season, I think we'll deep dive into some characters stories (specially Cho Kang Ok).

Overall, I can't recommend it enough, it's a very entertaining series and worth your time.

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Stellar crime thiller! (he didn't do anything wrong)

Vigilante is a fast paced crime thriller, that is perfect for a fast binge. It's not the most fleshed out drama out there, we don't really get to know any of the characters backstories or why they do the things they do. I really liked the main protagonist/antagonist (actually he was 100% right in everything imo). It was super refreshing to see Nam joohyuk in this type of role. I'm so used to him just playing the "pretty boy next door". Actually acting was great all-around.

The drama do lack any type of realism when it comes to injuries, logic etc etc, like why can everyone in this show fight? Why can that guy lift a car? why did the reporter barely react to the crazy stuff happening right in-front of her eyes? This did bother me a bit, but honestly it wasn't a huge deal for me, since k-dramas do tend to go out of the realm of reality pretty often. Also the show didn't really have a emotional punch to it. I did really like the ending of the drama, I would actually be fine if that was it you know? (don't wanna spoil)

It's a drama worth-while if you like these types of shows! A solid 8/10 from me.

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