The K2

Can this storyline be any better? No. Can there be such a better strong female antagonist? Definitely not. I loved the fact that this drama kept the typical k drama romance aside and really flourished a UNIQUE COMPLEX never seen before chemistry between protagonist male and antagonist female. Bravo to the actress playing Choi Yoon. Would have rated this drama a solid 6 without her in it. I was confused about what Kim Je Ha actually thought about Choi Yoon though. How come he asked nothing about her to Mirror? Well, I was in cloud 9 after watching this. I hope u will be too!

Ji Chang-wook is just amazing, he carried so hard this TV series along with the stepmother, actress Song Yoon-ah. I think they had better chemistry than K2 with Anna. I didn't particularly liked Anna as a character or the actress herself, didn't move me at all. All in all, great series.

I had to do a lot of math to arrive at my rating for this show. My overall impressions of the plot, script, cast, acting, filmography and soundtrack landed it an 8.5 for the baseline material, which was generally very solid and well executed.

However, I had to add 1 star purely for the absolutely riveting performances delivered by Ji ChanWook (K2) and Song YunAh (Choi YooJin), which propelled the story into a whole new stratosphere. Frankly, Song YunAh could have carried the entire film on her performance alone. I have never seen a more tragic and broken villain, or a more believable portrayal of so many raw and opposing simultaneous emotions (tears+laughter, defiance+betrayal, menace+fragility). I was completely floored!

I also added 0.5 stars for the excellent choreography of the fight scenes (which were plentiful). I would have added a whole star, but sadly, around half the scenes were shot in ways that made it hard to appreciate/follow the action. However, the ones that were clear were quite brilliant. The group shower fight scene in particular was outstanding and original, both in terms of concept and content (all those abs and biceps didn't hurt either!). Watch it on half speed if you want to really appreciate it!

Unfortunately, I then had to turn around and deduct 0.5 stars for the awkwardness of the initial romance scenes (though the later scenes get better). It's not that I found the chemistry to be as lacking as many viewers said. It was just poorly conveyed, IMO (both how it was written and edited). Additionally, Anna's subtle character (who is supposed to be fragile, fearful, and comparatively helpless) just doesn't match the feral intensity of the power-hungry characters around her (especially YooJin), which could in turn create the perception of a lackluster romantic dynamic.

Lastly, I had to also deduct 1 star for all the camera wobble (starting about 3/4 way through). Which is truly sad, because there were so many scenes which were beautifully acted, but it was hard to focus on the emotion coming through or the action taking place because the shaking screen messes with your eyes so much.

So in the end, I ended up back at an overall 8.5 stars (rounded up to 9), though there is 10 stars worth of great content, if you can get through the 7 star moments! Highly recommended!

I've watched this drama a long time ago, and even after all this time there's something about The K2 that just simply remains in the air. What makes this drama taste different is the complex relationship between the hero, lead actor Ji Chang Wook, and the antihero Song Yun-ah. Unexpected. And their acting skills. Superb. Scenography, storyline and cast are ok most of the time, and impressive on a few occasions, the action scenes seriously well done (lead actor is impressive in combat skills and stunts) and the plot really captivating. The antagonists in this drama are interesting and well portrayed, but the real magic happens when the hero K2 and Madame Choi take the scene. As actors, they excelled. On their own and together. The evolution of their relationship in the drama is unexpected, hard to understand at first, atypical. The character of Madame Choi is something you won't forget easily... If you really understand what's going on. One of the most brilliant antihero out there. Worth watching.

I was kind pessimistic that Ji Chang Wook could play well in this movie since his face is too handsome, too friendly, and too soft to cast a highly trained spec ops soldier. I thought So Ji Sub would be better for this role since he is bigger and has tougher face than him. But after I see him acting in this movie my doubt disappear. He must be trained and prepared very well in this movie because I can see hungry predatory stare on his eyes and also showing excellent athletic and fighting skill. Two thumbs up for Ji Chang Wook. Also I give special credit to Song Yun-ah who played the role as smart ambitious beautiful and tricky chaebol heirs which you can hardly tell whether she is truly generous or just a gimmick to get sympathy from people. Ji Chang Wook character was half forced to cooperate with this evil woman but he can not refuse her offer because he need her unlimited resources to revenge the death of her lover. The conflict in this movie is kind of complicated since the "good" side is not that good and the "bad" side is not also that bad. Many grey area shown by character in this movie to show how rotten the politics is.