City Hunter is a pretty typical need-for-revenge-made-me-a-vigilante type of thriller. Complete with the conceit that all it takes is a little strip of cloth over his mouth to make Yung Soon completely unrecognizable. If you've seen Arrow or Batman, this plot will mostly be nothing new to you. It's even based on a manga and has an awesome black and white manga style opening. (Random Question: Why are vigilantes always so wealthy?)
The twist in the story is an interesting one from a character stand point. While Lee Yung Soon wants to avenge his father, he is driven to it mostly by honor and the relentless pressure from his foster father rather than from any sense of real emotional betrayal by the perpetrators. The emotional drive behind the quest is Lee Jin Pyo and Yung Soon's desire to please him and earn his love. Jin Pyo is also still holding a lot of cards close to his chest and is blatantly manipulating Yung Soon. It is impossible to tell what his feelings for the boy are. He is an enigmatic figure and he and Yung Soon's relationship is deliciously complex. Their relationship takes what is a pretty generic revenge-vigilante plot line and bumps it up a notch. The pacing for the plot is really excellent for most of the show's run and even when that fails it still manages to have exciting cliffhangers in key places. The action/fight scenes are creative, well choreographed, well-shot and well- performed and are always exciting. In short, this drama overall is a ton of fun.
It makes sense that a complicated character and relationship are what make this drama stand out. What I've found in my limited experience with K Dramas is that developing characters and complicated relationships - and making the viewer 100% invested in them - is their major strength. They are certainly not above doing a little emotional manipulating but I'm down with that. I love characters that are conflicted in themselves and a vigilante plotline lends itself to that so well. Yung Soon's big conflict is that he just desperately wants a normal life and everything that comes with that. However, his upbringing has insured that he doesn't even know exactly what that looks and feels like.
My first impression upon being introduced to Lee Min Ho in his role as Lee Yung Soon, was that this kid was far too pretty to play a character that is meant to be a super duper bad ass vigilante. I mean look at him. He's really really ridiculously good looking (Zoolander reference intentional) not to mention slim and kind of willowy.
Apparently, Lee Min Ho is kind of a big deal in Korea. His career started as the ('a'?) lead in a hugely popular drama that I have not seen but I have certainly heard of, Boys over Flowers. That role and his good looks have pretty much guaranteed him a spot on every "hottest Korean actors" list you can find on the internet. What I didn't bargain for was that he is not only popular because of his pretty pretty face but because he is also a good actor. Probably the best I've encountered in the handful of K Dramas I've watched.
So it didn't take many episodes for me to realize that he is actually perfect for this role which has a serious bad ass side but also a sad and lonely little boy side (as so many vigilantes do) and he carries off the dichotomy really well. His look really works for this. He can pull off being an arrogant player prick one minute and a damaged little boy the next. Plus I don't know many dudes who could pull off looking and being bad-ass while wearing a pair of salmon colored skinny jeans.
The female protagonist, Kim Na Na (Park Min Young) also has her share of troubles. Ten year's previously, when she was just a school girl, her mother was killed and her father put in a coma by a car accident. She lives very stressfully, trying to pay her father's exorbitant health care bills by working multiple odd jobs like being a designated driver and selling sketchy health tonics. Despite these troubles, her personality is fairly cheerful and things take a turn for the better when she gets accepted to work as a secret service agent/bodyguard at the Blue House (the equivalent of the White House in the U.S.). Also working at the Blue House? Lee Yung Soon as an IT professional and unbeknownst to Kim Na Na, along with his revenge mission, Yung Soon has been asked, for some complicated unknown reasons, to keep an eye on Na Na. Mysteries everywhere! While he hides it well, he is pretty much smitten with her before he even meets her. And it's no wonder because Na Na is really lovely in a stunning but very girl-next-door sort of way.
She is also bad ass in her own right! She really annoyed me at first - there was a lot of over-the-top crying in the first few episodes and she is a little blatantly unfair to Yung Soon, though she of course does not know his secret. However, she eventually turned into one of my favorite female leads - she's strong, fearless, and compassionate. And way more emotionally intelligent than Yung Soon. Unfortunately, the drama seriously drops the ball on her character at a particular point but more on that below because it is tied up with my criticisms of the drama.
And what about the romance? It's development is fantastic. Slow burn, in best K drama fashion. Kim Na Na truly loathes Yung Soon, despite his good looks, until she starts to catch on to his secret and realize he is not quite the selfish a-hole she has thought him to be. And once she falls, she is so forthright and brave about her feelings - it is so sweet and confident and awesome. Unfortunately, once again, the Drama - despite putting a TON of screen time and effort into developing the romance - drops the ball.
Here's the reason why this Drama does not get full marks from me. It does a decent job of wrapping up the revenge plot line and resolving Yung Soon and Jin Pyo's relationship. Mostly. However, somewhere around episode 15ish it just completely goes off the rails regarding its characters and relationships which it has been meticulously developing. The romance and Lee Yung Soon's wanting to be part of a loving family are a huge theme of the drama but it mostly put those aside for the last 5 episodes or so and never really adequately picks theme back up and brings them to a closure. Kim Na Na, practically disappears from the show and her character is boiled down to two minutes of reaction shots per episode. The independence of her character completely disappears. The pacing in the last 5 or so episodes is also out of whack, spending lots of time on unimportant details so then at the ultimate end, everything feels rushed. It's a shame because up until that point the Drama was really hitting everything out of the park, so it was a shame to see it stumble in the end.
I'll end with some technical comments. The production values of the show are seriously top-notch. They are indistinguishable from a big-budget Hollywood action blockbuster and they sustain that for 25 hours of television. It's beautiful and stylish from the opening credits to the last shot.
I've also learned that it is impossible to properly review a K Drama without reviewing the Original Soundtrack. City Hunter's is AWESOME! The music was addictive and used really well to enhance the action. My favorite is the main "Heisty things are going down" theme music. Thence forth this shall be the music to accompany all my heroic ass-kicking. It has this driving jazzy drum beat, lush strings and then some bombastic and ominous horns come in mid way - Yum! The name of the song is Sad Run though as one Youtube commenter appropriately pointed out: " 'Sad Run'? More like Epic Strutting of Lee Freakin' Min Ho":0) https://youtu.be/evDbAajnosg
Finally, I watched the show on Viki.com which uses amateur teams of translators that are either volunteers or likely only paid a little to produce the subtitles. This is a cool system and it definitely allows the site to offer lots of dramas translated into many languages. However, my experience has been that you have to be prepared for a lot of meaning to be lost in translation. The translations are usually literal rather than meaningful and it can lead to confusion. (For example one translation I copied down: "You're sitting on top of your father's head now, aren't you?" Um, what?) Also because it is usually a team doing the translating, sometimes terms that are frequently used throughout the series can switch mid stream. For example there are two characters that are initially in early episodes referred to as ex-boyfriend and girlfriend but later in the show (and more accurately) they are ex-husband and wife. It doesn't effect my overall enjoyment and understanding of the show but I do feel like I maybe miss nuances. Something to be aware of if you plan on watching the show in translation on Viki.
FINAL VERDICT: If you like comic book revenge-vigilante plot lines you will love City Hunter which is well done and so much fun though it loses a little steam towards the conclusion and has a very frustrating ending.
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Skip this show.
This show is NOT worth your time!I honestly don't get why this show gets all that hype. There are tons of other Kdrama that are much much much better than this. This show isn't even a good show to pass the time and I'll tell you why now..
First of all, the story is supposedly about revenge and without getting into detail in order to avoid spoiling for those who actually want to see the show after this review - the revenge is obnoxious. It's not even all that satisfying to watch.
Also this whole story could've ended at its very start if a certain thing (that was a no brainer tbh) happened but the character that was supposed to do it chose not to just for the heck of it and simply for us to have a story.
And the romance was basically forced. There was no chemistry at all and I honestly can't feel that these characters are in love.
The story was moving solely by coincidences which amounts to bad writing. The writer should've thought of better ways to keep the story going but instead everything was on the spot without real coherence.
The acting..oh the acting was horrrrribleeee!
Don't get me wrong I love the actors and have seen them in other roles but this was just..bad..
Lee Min ho the male lead looks nice but just doesn't look right for the role..I can't believe that this guy is badass no matter what I try to tell myself.
Park Min-young was a different person than what I had thought..I came to Kdrama pretty late and have seen her later works and I absolutely fell in love with her but in this one she looked inexperienced with weak acting and I honestly couldn't like her in that role.
Kim Sang-joong and Lee Joon-hyuk were okay I guess..they played their roles well but the writing didn't do them justice.
As for the soundtracks they were okay but nothing special or too good.
Now about the characters, they simply sucked. The main character was your typical righteous hero who has ideals that came of nowhere really. He wasn't raised to be like that so how on Earth did he end up this way?
He wasn't really as badass as he the story made him to be. Instead, he was pretty dumb tbh and didn't actually calculate what he did (this seems to be the theme of the show).
The female main character was so plain that I couldn't care less what happened to her. She was in a job that required strength, intuition and a normal thinking brain...and she lacked all of those.
Whatever really...I feel like I've wasted enough time watching this show and writing this review so I'm gonna stop here after advising you again not to watch this show..It really really isn't worth your time. The hype is unaccounted for and most of the other reviews were simply misleading.
~The End.
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This review may contain spoilers
This drama would have been rated much higher, had the ending not been so terrible.. Everything was wrapped up too quickly and badly paced. The drama really dropped the ball with that ending, pissed beyond belief. Even though I know this is mainly an action/revenge drama, the romance literally just stopped progressing around Episode 12. The acting was pretty good from both leads, and I enjoyed all the side characters. OST is definitely one of my favorites. Action scenes were quite well put together however. Was this review helpful to you?
Pain full story
I can only see the drama through the eyes of a poor innocent solder "jin pyo"....Everything jin po did was right.. everything is good, but he dies as a villain.... Actually he must be done good to his country.... A patriot and good person.
If he doing narcotic business, that is good to cheat back... I'm the side of jin pyo.
The real villain changes his mind... And escapes after using his bodyguards.
Very sadful story. There are many criminal politicians around the world ... Who killls their own soldiers... and escapes
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I expected the revenge plot and the romance, etc. However, what took me by surprise was the way Lee Minho and Lee Joon Hyuk play off each other. They have such amazing on-screen chemistry that transforms their characters' relationship into a whole different league within the story.
I guess the only part that was not perfect, was the ending, which I thought was very sudden and I was left with a lot of questions. Not even questions about the main plot but questions about those ending scene.s They were very weird and random. Plus, there are one or two characters who I think should have died.
The cast! Lee Minho, of course, is always a treat. Goo Hara, my love, it was good to see you again, but also incredibly sad. She was so charming. Lee Joon Hyuk, the moment I first laid my eyes on him in City Hunter, 9 years ago, I was a goner.
This drama is the crème de la crème! You will laugh, cry and scream and when it's over you will not know what to do with your life.
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A different kind of drama!
If you are looking for romance, kisses, cute lines... "City hunter" isn't for you.The center of this drama is revenge. Although we see the involvement between Lee Yoon Sung and Kim Na Na, this is a very small part of all the story. I love see Lee Min Ho on this character, I think is one of the few that he could interpret outside of your comfort zone (the rich boy). (but he is rich here too).
Considering this is a drama produced in 2011, we have good action scenes. The script is also structured and I really liked the fact that the characters are solid. We don't see oscillation in the purpose or smoothing in anyone of them. I won't give spoilers, but I was impacted with the endding and I give extra points for the courage that the writers had.
I would like to see more of romance, but this is my personal taste. Even without this, I was envolved in every moment of the story. Worth seeing.
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Overall, the drama was amazing and I would perhaps rewatch sometime in the future.
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The beginning started out rather tragically and honestly, the ending doesn't have the happily ever after "feel" even though it's not technically a "bad" ending either.
Honestly, there are other dramas that did similar plots with North Korea and South Korea having power struggles, such as Doctor Stranger, that I liked much better. Although, maybe I'm just more intrigued by medical dramas.
Overall, City Hunter was a very good, action packed, drama with a great OST, but I don't think I'd find myself rewatching it or even dwelling too much on the story in my head.
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Action-packed with a lot of heart, this is the best drama of 2011 so far and (possibly, in my opinion) one of the best dramas ever. It wasn't perfect (right--name a perfect drama) but it had everything that makes a drama damn near close all in one tight (entertaining) bundle of 20 episodes. The actors are smokin' (Lee Min HOT ~swoon~) the plot is amazing and well constructed, the soundtrack is off the charts, the chemistry is on fire, and the cinematic pallet is beautiful. Of course, this drama should come with a health warning: not for the weak at heart. It will get your blood rolling, palms sweating, and pulse pounding. I don't know how many times I freaked out during this show. Enough to have me worried about the side effects, for sure. But regardless, it was a great watch and I enjoyed every minute of it. So sad it is over!
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Cast: I began watching this series because of Lee Min Ho. I don't think this is his best series in terms of acting but he does well as the hero on his quest for revenge. The rest of the cast is good as well.
Music: The opening credits for this series is just awesome. It pumps you up and gets you ready for the show.
Weakness: I think the biggest weakness of this series is the ending. The ending seemed rush. I wished they spent less time on one story line to let the ending be better.
Do I recommend it: This is a complicated answer. At the current moment there aren't many streaming options for City Hunter that are legal. I know On Demand Korea is showing it but it is not subtitled. I watched it because I bought the DVD boxset from Amazon. I don't know if it is worth the price of buying it on DVD, although I do not regret the purchase. I do think it is a great series to watch and very enjoyable but at the current moment I would say wait until this series is available for streaming with subtitles. I hope soon Viki or Netflix will get the license because it is a great series.
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its okay
I think if i had watched this first and healer next i would have given it half a star extra. If i have to choose between city hunter and healer its Healer all the way. I couldn't help compare it.Both have excellent star cast. Strong ML and FL. When it comes to story which keeps you on your seat city hunter is not the one. I didn't do binge watching on this. Story is a kind of cliche except one element of his birth parent part. Action scenes are slow and not well performed for someone who is learning marshal arts from young age as per the drama.
I would have dropped this drama if not for Lee Min Ho smile. Another funny thing i find is pronounce of L is R. I slept off many times while watching this drama and i gave my rating for making it bearable.
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