Vagabond (2019)

Nonstop Action

This was one of the most creative and exciting action/suspense dramas I’ve ever seen. Every episode had me on the edge of my seat. Time and time again the leads found themselves in situations with seemingly no way out. The bad guys kept piling up and you never knew what side anyone was on. The action starts in the very first episode and didn’t sop. Has to be one of my favorites.

I had only seen Lee Seung Gi in a couple of reality shows where he was funny and friendly, but after watching Vagabond, this man has earned my respect as one of the best actors out there.

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extraordinary

Can't believe I started reviewing just after watching 3 ep. Stroy's gripping from the very beginning and its progress is simply phenomenal.
Though I knew it's a pack of suspense and investigation didn't expect it to have me on the edge of my seat. Stunts are well performed and co-ordinated,
I'm falling In love with the character. having a gut feeling is right but how many of us get to reap the benefits of it? this character clearly reaps them unknowingly(which is evidently necessary for the given circumstances).
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don't mind the above text. it's just for word count.

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What a ride.

Well, a journey this series.
As the synopsis suggests, the starting story is basic to dozens of action movies and series, a loved one of the main protagonist - the nephew - dies at the hands of an organization that wields powers over several institutions in the country.
The main character, here Cha Dal Gun, is obviously a capable character, he's a stunman who knows how to fight and isn't afraid to run into a wall - literally.
After his nephew's death appears to be an accident, he quickly discovers that it is not what it seems. He meets Go Hae Ri, a young woman who works for the Korean secret services and who will help him in his investigation.

I must say that my opinion is divided on the series.
I'm not going to lie, the series is very addictive, we quickly want to know the adventures of our characters, and the plot is well done.
The action scenes are to my surprise very well done although there is a bit of fiction when the character heals quickly, but that's the problem with action series and movies. I can't say that we are bored and the rhythm is very fast until the end, no break and therefore the audience is captivated.

The plot as a whole, although very fictional and basic, where corruption reigns and our characters cannot trust anyone because everyone is lying, remains in a fairly realistic and mature tone. Sometimes, we can also see the criticism of this series towards politicians, the media, and we say to ourselves at the same time as our characters "You are destroying the country you claim to want to save".
So overall, a good story that goes from twists to twists.

What bothers me are the characters.
I must say that Lee Seung Gi who plays Cha Dal Gun did a very good job, although we don't explore so many layers to his character who remains stubborn and sometimes impulsive until the end, he shows the desperate side correctly, a side that is often missing in the characters of the series who interpret the same kind of roles.
But it's still mainly an action series, so I didn't expect a lot of character development. However, I would have liked him to be less hot-headed and to be a more strategic and thoughtful character.
But I liked discovering him in this role.

However, this is where the problem arises, the bad LF syndrome. That's what I'm going to call this habit that actresses have of being FL and annoying.
Here, we supposedly have a young spy and secret service agent, okay it's quite realistic that she can't fight because in reality, all over the world, secret agents are sent for their intellectual abilities and not physical.
But her character remains annoying, when in the middle of a shooting, every time she finds that it's time to discuss and impose her opinion, namely - to stay still until she dies - and to prevent the main character to change the situation, it's annoying. Also her insane craving for recognition, looks like a kid who needs to be complimented all the time, while most of the time she makes the problem worse, she is naive and trusting, which is ridiculous for a supposed spy.
I know it's hard to find the middle ground between the clichés of the badass and the cute, weak FL one, but her performance just makes her annoying.
She's more the type to be the cause of someone's death than the one who saves the day.

The secondary characters are passable, no characters that shine in particular, the cast gives a performance that is believable but not breathtaking.

So, to sum it up, it's a series where you shouldn't expect incredible acting from the cast - except the action scenes and Lee Seung Gi. It's a series in realistic tones and is primarily made to make you feel the action, I mean, the action scenes are not overplayed but on the contrary well done.
The ML so, Lee Seung Gi is perfect in this role, the little romance with the FL is really realistic on this point, they take their time even if the acting of the FL overall is not the best.
It is therefore a series that I would say to see absolutely for entertainment, the comic moments are rather rare because the series has a serious tone but the action remains the center focus.

I hope a season 2 will see the light of day, I know that the two years that we had of Covid-19 did not help the projects in the industry and a lot of them were canceled, but knowing that the main actor said he himself wants a second season because season 1 ended on a cliffanger. And also that since the series is available on Netflix it has gained a fair amount of popularity, I hope they give us a thrilling sequel.

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I usually don't comment while watching a series...

...but this time I am, because I'm hoping that my MDL peers who have seen Vagabond will weigh in on my assessment.
Of course, Lee Sungi is amazing (his patented yelling at someone is in full effect...for reference, see the Gu Family Book), and all the actors are excellent. Except Suzi Bae. I don't know whether it is the script writing, her portrayal of the character, or both. The character seems really out of place for what should be a high-intensity drama. The story is excellent, but the execution of it sometimes seems to vacillate between seriousness, and foolishness. But that's only my view. Maybe something at the end of the series will help me understand why the character and / or her performance is so weak? I hope so.

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WTF ending?

I just want to ask the writer that if you are making thriller why not end it means why would we watch thrillers so that we can find conclusion of every happenings i was all satisfied with the story the cast and Lee seung gi is the main reason i started this drama because he is perfect with scrip selection but this is the first lee seung gi drama i was disappointed he was perfect in his role the story was good but i have just wasted my 16 hours and got no results and there is no second season????
So if someone want to watch this drama i will recommend you if you are fan of the cast and don't mind open endings

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A Solid Action thriller with an unconvincing climax

Vagabond is exceptional in terms of it's script writing the writers are their own ways to shock,mesmerize and worry with their unpredictable twists. Right from the beginning the writer tries to make us connect hard with the agony of the protagonist with the death of their nephew that actually worked pretty well right from the beginning we want the protagonist to win badly which in turn builds up a lot of tension in every moment.The writer shocks us with a lot of unpredictable twists and the character developments and makes the antagonists stronger as the story proceeds which makes the main protagonist more sympathetic. The chemistry between the Lead pair basically between the NIS agent and the stuntman was excellent throughout but the way it progress towards the end is quite disappointing. The whole point of the writer in the final portions is to make up as many twists as possible eventhough it's quite illogical. The reveal of Samuel was very shocking but digging deep into it can get me a lot of Loopholes. "How can Sameul be so confident on getting the main witness to the court to win this case when the entire government is stopping them? " It's quite illogical and portrays Samuel as lucky in winning the case rather than making him a master planner. Apart from these Loopholes and an unconvincing ending Vagabond is an edge of the seat thriller with great action Stunts, twists and dramatic presentation.

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I’m still relatively new to kdrama having only watched a handful. And this show was reasonably good.
Starting off with the story, the concept was really good. But the execution was extremely poor and this was the only major drawback of the show. It starts off with a stuntman trying to find out the cause of his nephew’s death with the help of a bunch of NIS agents. He is a stuntman but still, the action scenes shown the show are way too exaggerated for a stuntman to pull off, I mean you can’t just write whatever you want in the script and expect the audience to just accept it. Don’t get me wrong, the action scenes were brilliant, just the dynamics behind them were an issue. Now the main issue where the plot holds weak is, how in the world is the stuntman just being allowed to do whatever he wants involving the NIS. Can they just accept the stuntman carrying out his own investigation and do nothing about it? Not just that, they infact start aiding him with the work after he just imposes himself onto them. And here begin the plot devices. There’s a plot device in almost every other scene. I don’t want to name them cuz I’m trying to keep this review as spoilerless as possible. Everything happens in the show too conveniently.
Coming to the characters, another place where the show is lacking. The characters are not well made. And there’s very little to no development in characters throughout the entire show. The protagonist remains the same aggressive thick headed guy who just barges into works done by others on the basis of getting revenge and justice. The female lead’s character must’ve been annoying to many and she was annoying in many places, but this was one of the few characters in whom we see some development in the entire show.
Acting was a positive part of the show. The actors were all decent in their roles. I have read a lot of criticism about Suzy’s performance but I thought she did fine. It’s her only show that I’ve watched so I can not compare her previous works but she was fine in how she acted, probably a little scope for improvement in the seriousness of her role. The main lead in the show was good, and all the other side actors were decent with their performance. I guess nobody was eye catching and awe inspiring but there’s nothing much to criticise either.
Coming to the music, I know it wasn’t the kind of music where we go and listen to it over and over again, but I thought it was certainly music that suited the scenes to perfection. Especially the action and thriller scenes. The songs were fine as well.
Inspite of all this, I’m still giving this show a 7 cuz it is extremely engaging and doesn’t get overloaded(This is the greatest positive in the show). The episodes were not at all monotonous, unlike in memories of Alhambra, where there’s the same style of achronological direction of the episode. Every episode is engaging and the pace is maintained which only dropped towards the later episodes like 14-16. And the show had a decent timing of humour and Other such moments which didn’t seem all too forceful. This made the show the perfect binge material. Coming to the romance, this was fine in the starting half of the show where it didn’t seem forceful at all. But towards the part where the pace slowed down, it gets really awkward and forceful. Another positive that I noticed was that there was not a lot of usage of emotional scenes in the show to manipulate the audience.
Overall I would like to conclude saying that it’s a very good show if you keep your mind switched off regarding the excessive plot devices used. It’s the perfect material to binge over a weekend. Hope this was helpful.

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Lots of Acts, Unbelievable Story...and Suzy!

I think I laughed more during this serious drama than any other one I have watched. The story was so far fetched and so many twists and turns that it was hard not to shake your head. How most of the main cast did not die in all those different violent scenarios was so unbelievable. With that said, I really did enjoy this series. There was plenty of action, and although mostly all over the top, it made for very entertaining viewing, Isn't that what most action movies are like- highly unlikely scenes, unbelievable stunts and explosions. I was never bored or turned off, even during the most outlandish scenes.
For some reason, this drama reminded me of one of my all time favorites, Descendants of the Sun. The feel and location filming gave me the same vibe. Very effective method to pull you in.
Lastly, got to give it up for Suzy...she is awesome! This is my 2nd Suzy series- finished Start Up a couple of weeks ago and I thought she was great in that. This was a different role of course, throwing Suzy in many physically demanding scenes. I think she pulled them off in a great way. I am going to watch her past series to get more of this great performer.
probably been over 3 years since i switched to Asian Dramas and i still haven't tired yet. I look forward to seeing even more entertaining shows.

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I REALLY wanted to like this drama

The action was great, the actors even better, special effects were good, production values were top notch, and I'm throwing a serious shout out to the stunt performers. Everything worked except the script.

I loathe plots that rely on the stupidity of the protagonist because the scriptwriter couldn't be bothered to find another way to move the plot. When that stupidity is mired in mach 10 sexism I'm even less forgiving. I watch enough kdrama that I'm resigned to the sexism that pervades its stories, but even with that built in allowance, this script leaned too heavily on bimbo stereotypes to drive the action.

I won't spill anything that will spoil your experience if sexism and stupidity aren't deal breakers for you, and sadly they aren't for many people - that's why there's so much of it, but I will point out a few of the details that had me trotting back to my watch list for something more worthy of my time: A trained covert agent of the a Korean National Intelligence Service hides her multiple fake passports and IDs in her underwear box, because who would ever rifle through a woman's lingerie to find evidence? She keeps her gun unloaded, presumably because she's never heard of a gun safe, so it's never ready when she needs it. No matter how many times this recurs, her behavior doesn't change. It seems even superstar Bae Suzy did not have the clout to plead for a production that didn't make her character an idiot.

And, yes, I'm calling it sexism because, unless it's slapstick comedy, a script for a male agent would not have his go-bag tossed in with his underwear, his gun unloaded when he needed it, or his hands shaking too badly to load that gun; nor would he be the only character in the series that didn't qualify for at least a semi-automatic weapon. The script wouldn't have a male agent hand off his weapon to an untrained civilian to do the bang-bang stuff, even if that civilian IS a manly Mary Sue who could do everything but don a cape and fly - although he did some impressive parkour that was close to flying. Finally, I'm pretty sure the scriptwriter would not have a male agent advocate to flee the county where ALL the known suspects are because "our lives are at stake," like that's not in the job description.

The sexist stereotypes and dependence on stupidity are not, by far, the only saboteurs of a script that stretches credulity on so many levels, but if you're still undeterred, those things probably won't bother you either.

The actors, all of whom delivered on their performances, deserved better than they got. So did the viewers. Life is short and there are too many wonderful kdramas to waste time on a contrived story line with a Swiss cheese plot. I dropped the series after three episodes.

I won't hesitate to find other dramas these actors are in, because every one of them was excellent in their roles, but I'll avoid the scriptwriters like they're patient zero for the plague.

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Well... I decided to watch this drama for two reasons: action, and Bae Suzy acting.
Firstly, I would like to say that I've enjoyed this drama. It had a really nice plot and seemed to head somewhere. In my opinion though, at some point the pace of a story became too fast and it was hard to keep up with the storyline.
Luckily, the cast didn't dissapoint me. The way relationships were created is the best thing about this drama. As I expected, I was amused by Bae Suzy. I also appreciate Lee Seung-Gi acting in this drama.
Sountrack makes another advantage. I actually love it. The two song appearing with the end credits - "Breaking Dawn" and "Open Fire" are my favourites.
Summarising, I've docked my rating due to the not-the-best plot twist.

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