City Hunter (2011)

I saw this drama in 2011 and I have to admit that I never expected to enjoy it as much as I did despite the fact that I am a self-confessed non-fan of Lee Min Ho (although I *do* have this noona admiration for Lee Min Ho 1993; he stole my heart in TMTES as a young prince suffering from a one-sided love).

THE GOOD
The beginning was heart-stopping and explosive. The groundwork for the revenge arc was established well in the beginning for Lee Yoon Sung's adoptive father to pursue. Despite the constant nagging and pressure from the father, Yoon Sung never followed his wishes. He never became a cold-blooded murderer; instead, he pursued the corrupt politicians who wronged his "real" father through justifiable and legal means (never mind the technical procedures though). I liked that Kim Nana was such a kick-ass heroine who was willing to fight and protect the guy herself. She was pretty, smart and sassy, a great combination for a loveable heroine. We seriously need more K-drama female leads like her because it's nice to see strong women in shows once in a while. Did I mention how much I loved the way most of those slimy, corrupt men were brought to justice under Yoon Sung's skillful machinations? Prosecutor Young-joo was one of my favorite characters and it was such a tragic moment when he died. And I have to admit that I was lapping up Min Ho's fight scenes. He really looked good doing those stunts. LOL. This is by far, his best Korean series to date because we got to see his acting range getting pushed a little bit although I do think he still needs more experience to put more depth to his acting. My issue with him is that he is too much of a pretty-faced, insanely popular idol that for me, it's hard to distinguish him from the characters he portrays, if you know what I mean. To be a true actor, I think, one must disappear completely into his character. In Lee Min Ho's case, his charisma as "Lee Min Ho" often if not always overshadows his performance.

THE BAD
My goodness, the ending of this drama was such a hot mess I don't even know where to begin. Honestly, what really happened in the end? There was no actual closure to Nana and Yoon Sung's 'romance', or his relationship with his real mother. There were a few confusing time jumps in the last episode which left me scratching my head and wondering whether or not a second season was coming. It felt rushed and disorganized.

THE WEIRD
I don't know how to classify this drama's genre. Sure it was quite serious with the revenge thing but I don't know, somewhere along the way, these weird beats and occasional bursts of humor and cute made me feel a bit off. I guess it's because I'm not used to this kind of atmosphere in revenge/action dramas. Perhaps the romance was supposed to control the reigns, I don't know. Also, I find it hard to believe that Yoon Sung had never been influenced by the cynicism and callousness of his adoptive father. I mean come on, the man practically taught him how to KILL since he was a baby; he was exposed to the violence and bitter hatred of his father for many years. Wasn't there any reasonable side effect to his psyche at all? Experiencing this kind of childhood SHOULD have some negative effect on any kid. I was expecting to see him slightly jaded and cynical. Anyway, I loved the internal conflict he had between his sense of morality and his duty to his father.

Would I recommend this? Yep, I would. City Hunter was highly entertaining and enjoyable to watch.

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This is the second drama I saw and fell in love with Lee Min Ho immediately. This show came very useful to me when I was idle and depressed because I had nothing else to do on a lazy weekend.

The story line and plot were engrossing right from the first episode. I loved a political thriller. It had amazing action and marvelous performances by Lee Min Ho and Park Min Young. I think they are the best pair of any drama I have seen so far. Most importantly, the characters were as good as the actors.

This show has the best characterizations I have yet seen in a kdrama. The guy isn't a jerk and the girl isn't lacking in brains or pride. I love that she doesn't need saving from a guy every time because she can fight for herself pretty well- both physically and emotionally. I wish we had more strong female protagonists like Kim Na Na in all kdramas. If that happens, kdramas would be unbeatable.

I was constantly interested in how the revenge would take place and how each operations would be carried out. I was excessively bored because of the plot of the sick mother. The show had much interesting things for me to care for, so I don't think it was a necessity. It was just a plot device for the emotional factor to lure female viewers. Other than that, it had a great ending and I never felt let down. There were some dull moments here and there, but it was never beyond my patience to skip it altogether.

I recommend this show to everyone who is tired of cheesy romances in dramas.

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Sigh, after watching Iris, this drama was a complete disappointment. I started watching under a recommendation from a friend, and did not like the drama overall.
Story - Well thought out, I like the whole revenge plot, and taking down their enemies one by one, but I feel as if the story goes off into a tangent most of the time. The main problem I have with this is that it's under the category of "action", and while I know the beginning episodes are mainly for set up, there has to be a point where things get back into rotation. In one of the episodes, there was a 4 minute scene involving some sort of "action", while the rest of the episode revolved around other things. Now, I do admit that the subtle hints within the episodes help lead up to the overall storyline, it's too much to spend one full hour for a 30 second hint and the rest with what I feel like is filler. I also admit that this drama does have its moments, funny, dramatic and action, but theres too many parts of an episode that I'm painfully aware of the time and I wish for the episode to be over.
Love plot - ...Too much. Much of the episode just shows the two leads together. I find it pretty annoying honestly.
Acting/Cast - Good acting, I have to say. Much of the hype from this drama comes from the main lead being "hot", while his acting is nothing great.
Music - Decent, it gets you into the mood of things when it calls for it.
Rewatch - I can't even finish.
Overall - Meh. Which is a score of 5. It's just so slow at too many parts for me to try and salvage finishing the last episodes. I know its supposed to pick up towards the end, but I wont be able to stand watching this much further.

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the story was great, it reminded me of bridal mask where there is a masked vigilante who protects the citizens and punishes the law breakers. i had put it in my ptw list for a while so i decided to watch an action drama since my favorite is IRIS and i dint think any other would match it. min ho was really awsome in this i only saw him in BOF. there were alot of good parts esp at the triangle with all the fight scenes but then there were some parts that dint reach the mark for it to be a 10/10 drama. some scenes were fake and unbelievable like hanging on the wall and the main girl dint quite please me like she did in sungkyungkwan scandal. it was fast paced which i liked and it had no bitter exes or parents which was a plus. my eye candy was actually the prosecutor who i am currently stalking. anyways good show

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This drama started off rather confusing - I wasn't sure if this was my kind of drama. I had never watched an Asian drama along the lines of action / suspense / politics. I was happy when it all became a lot clearer towards the end of the first episode.

Actually, my first priority in Asian dramas is romance and love. But while watching City Hunter, I got addicted to the fighting scenes (sheez Lee Min Ho looks good in those D:) and the constant suspense. I watched the entire drama in just a few days because I was so curious to its story, and eventually its ending.

The use of music was magnificent. The instrumental scene music was used very well, the OST fits the drama well. I was glad to notice City Hunter did not get your typical dramatic romantic soundtracks - but actual good songs that differ from the typical ones. I listen to the OST once in a while to remind me of City Hunter, I'm very keen on Kim Bo Kyung's 'Suddenly'.

I rewatched the drama three times already. I always discover new things I didn't notice before, I love that City Hunter will always be interesting. Every time I watched it, it gave me many feels too. You'll notice (or will have noticed) that some scenes really are tear jerking. On the other hand, other scenes will have you watching every single second of it, not daring to look away to miss something.

I recommend this drama the most of all dramas I've ever seen. I hope you can enjoy it (or have enjoyed it) as much as I have.

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I watched City Hunter immediately after having finished Boys Over Flowers. Since I was pretty much clueless on K-Dramas and what to watch I only picked City Hunter because it had Lee Min Ho in it. Also, it was the first suggestion on Hulu after I rated Boys Over Flowers so highly. It was a lucky happenstance that I watched this next, but I’m pretty sure that I would have gotten to it sooner rather than later anyway. This is in my top three best/most favorite dramas so far. I’ve only watched fourteen dramas in the six months since I discovered Korean Dramas, so I’m sure that as I delve further into dramas my top three will change.

As with Boys Over Flowers it is difficult for me to look at City Hunter with an objective eye. And since this review is just my opinion anyway I’ll just gush over it as much as I want. I really enjoyed this one. Prior to K-Drama’s my usual genre of movie/show was action and adventure. So the fact that this is an action/spy based story line, well I fell in love even more. The basic story is South Korean Spec. Ops group is sent to North Korea by politicians, once there a deal is struck with the States and the South Korean politicians end the mission and hide any evidence of its existence. Then they kill off their own people, only one man survives. He then steals his friend’s baby and raises the child for one purpose, revenge. When the baby, now a man, returns to Korea he completes the revenge for the man who raised him.

I’m not even sure where to start because I loved everything. So I suppose I’ll start with Lee Min Ho. He did an amazing job. The character grows from a rambunctious teen to a young man with a purpose and he truly did a fantastic job showing that. Additionally, Lee Yoon Sung (Lee Min Ho’s character) is being asked to do some truly despicable things by the man who raised him. You can really see the pain Yoon Sung feels at disobeying the only man he’s ever known as family. And that pain only intensifies as Yoon Sung’s past comes to light. He really pulled me in and I felt his suffering with him.

Kim Na Na is my favorite female lead in any drama so far. So often when a ‘tough girl’ part is being cast the actress is not right for the part or just way over acts in order to appear strong. It can ruin a show when the ‘tough girl’ is trying too hard or not believable at all. Kim Na Na was just perfect. She was an excellent mix of strong and tough woman with vulnerable and soft. I truly believed that she could beat the snot out of anyone attempting to harm her charge (the president’s daughter). Though on the other hand when she’s home alone I believe that she just wants someone to lean on and make her feel safe too. Park Min Young did such a phenomenal job portraying Kim Na Na.

Sometimes the chemistry between the leads falls short, but not here. The main leads and their secondary counterparts just had the perfect mix of tension, aggression, attraction, and sensual interplay. Along with that, the supporting cast was perfect. I especially enjoyed Ahjussi, he added just the right amount of comic relief to a story that was intense.

Lee Jin Pyo, who went by Steve Lee when he returned to Korea, was the man who stole Yoon Sung and raised him. Oh I just loved to hate this man. He was so focused on his revenge and so set in his ways that he didn’t care what it was doing to Yoon Sung. He was an evil and horrid man who I hated with a passion. Yet, he’s my favorite villain to date. I loved him, he was so broken, but had such a strong will that he didn’t let his broken heart stop him. And then at the end he redeems himself and I loved him even more.

Additionally I really loved Yoon Sung’s City Hunter look. The face mask and the clothing he wore. It was simple and easily obtained which makes it realistic in the sense that anyone could have those items. He wasn’t wearing anything that was cumbersome or tacky just for the look. It was clean and simple and functional. Also, for me this is my favorite look of Lee Min Ho’s.

The only criticisms that I have are minor and really just a few nit-picking items. Yoon Sung is supposed to be a genius and the Blue House is very pleased to have him there. However, he just comes and goes whenever he wants without a word or a reason. I would assume that the Blue House is tightly guarded, scrutinized, and watched. It seemed a little improbable that he would have such free reign to do some of the things he did while there. Additionally, speaking of improbable. Being raised on a drug farm and then somehow managing to enter the US with valid identification to fabricate a past and go to school. I understand that with most action flicks you need to suspend your disbelief, but this just seemed like to much. Though I’m not sure what they could have done to make it a little more believable.

The last thing that I could possibly say as a negative was the fact that it felt like the characters were written to be particularly slow in figuring out who the City Hunter was. Yoon Sung didn’t exactly cover up his actions very well. I thought it would have been much better had they discovered his identity sooner and we could see the struggle they had in deciding what to do with the information. They had the epiphany too late in the series for my tastes.

However, even with those few small things this is definitely in my top three best dramas of all times. I would absolutely recommend it to anyone and will most definitely watch it again.



Noona's Rating
Overall: 9 (I rated this 5 stars on DramaFever.com)
Story/Writing: 9
Cast/Actors: 9
OST: 9
Sets/Costumes: 9
Feels: 9

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*DISCLAIMER: I do not fangirl over pretty protagonists.

I'm pretty sure the Korean pronunciation would perfectly illustrate how I feel about this drama.

To start! The story:
It's a pretty basic story of revenge,"romance" and a game of cat and mouse that... really ends all unsatisfying like - seriously, it hardly felt like anyone was chasing anyone.

The pacing is pretty poor, and most episodes are heavily padded. Your general episode would go like this:
10% plot
10% glaring
80% needless drama between the two leads.
Really, they went hot and cold so often that it gave me the chills. The needlessly forced drama between them (as well as the forced relationship) was kind of bearable to start, but the writers decided to repeat it over and over.

Actors!
To be fair, I enjoyed the performance of a few characters, but people like Nana's agent pal were so. very. wooden.
The way it was directed was all too saddening, as well. The characters were blatantly out in the open, as inconspicuous as a white van outside a villain's house and had the disguising skills of a pigeon.
Why bring up disguises, do you ask? Lee Yoon Sung's go to disguise was either a pair of glasses, a hat, or even a pair of glasses and his hair paired to a different side!

I personally thought LYS was utterly unlikeable. He had very few decent qualities, and was rather an unpleasant person to many. I guess his most appealing quality was his looks, right?
A lovely guy that doesn't want to kill but will take every opportunity to mess with Nana.
"Don't come near me!"
"But... you keep coming to me... like all the time..."
"I TOLD YOU, DON'T COME NEAR ME!"
"O...kay?"
"MAKE ME COFFEE! :@"

Another point that I disliked was the thorough destruction of Nana's character. To start she was feisty, independent and quite a nice opposite to LYS's typical bad-boy-that-treats-women-like-trash-until-they-like-them-a-whole-lot attitude. Then... then she just became a puppy eye'd female that never seems to back up what she says when she threatens LYS with leaving. I guess we needed that for the forced romance, right?

Music!
It was catchy, fitted the mood more often than not. It was the highest rated aspect, for me.

Overall:
A poor man's cat and mouse game with needless drama, poor pacing and a glaring dad that appears every time someone is going to say something that would put him at a disadvantage.
I take it back - the glare was the highest rated thing for me.

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I was expecting a slight wind but i was swept by the hurricane that this drama brought to me

Lee Min Ho has this magnetic pull but in this one this pull was increased to a whole new level.throughout the drama my eyes rarely left him.He silenced his critics with this drama,that being handsome is not all he is.he's got talent too.

This is a fairly refreshing drama dealing with action and romance at the same time.it did its job perfectly.the action sequences were good
the acting by Kim Sang Joong is amazing.i loved him as yoon sung's father.He was very convincing as the bad guy in this one.Park Min young did her job well too.the best treat out of this was lee yoon suk who as Kim young Joo won my heart.he stood out as the upright lawyer whom we could trust to always stand on the right side of the law

Min Ho as Yoon Sung was far more than a treat.it was like getting icecream topped with chocolate.He sure knows how to kick,always being one step ahead of the law.the story is pretty good too with every episode's ending we'r always kept on hanging by the cliff.its full with twists and turns where one can never guess the end.One of the best things about this drama was i saw for the first time the more than twisted love-hate relationship between a son and a father.it was intriguing.

The chemistry between the leads is full of spark.the tension between them is so palpable that the room could probably light up in fire ay moment.their romance is filled with cute moments and some bickering too.This drama has the right amount of everything-romance,action and a solid story

The OSTs are simply amazing the best one being'suddenly'.
i would not want to rewatch this because the mystery and the suspence is gone the 2nd time around but i just might watch the romance parts again because the romance bit is jst too good for words

the only flaw i found in this drama was at some point it lost all its cuteness as the romance fizzled out in the end and i was dissapointed with a few things that happened in the last few episodes

apart from this thing the drama touched all the right spots with me and remains one of the best i've seen so far

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This drama started out just the way i never thought it would. I thought the drama would have a love line, a bratty girl, and a villain. I was way way off. I fell in love with the drama in the first 5 minutes of episode 1.
the story pulled at my heart from all ends. I would cheer and be happy when the main character got to be with each other. I would get excited when Lee Min ho came in and kicked some butt here and there. Then i cried at some scenes. The way the drama made me cry....I could just feel the way each actor felt in the drama. The pain and suffering was played out well. it was not over whelming, just the right amount. I liked how the drama was never at a predictable moment because it kept me on the edge of my seat.
Oh the acting was amazing. I personally have never shipped more than one couple in a drama, but this drama had me loving the main and second couple. Gosh the second couple were so cute together. the Music went along perfectly with each scene.
The only let down in the drama would have to be the ending. I mean it was not so awful it was just.... wasn't what i wanted.
that's the only thing i swear. even with a 'bad' ending the over all drama was crazy amazing. i feel like if you have not watch city hunter then you cannot truly love all kinds of drama :)
i truly hope you enjoy this drama as much as i did. :)

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It's was the first drama I've ever seen. I even don't remember why I started to watch it but I fell in love with it after only 15 minutes! It's just the best ever!

First thing- story: When I was watching the drama, I was so excited! It really keeps in suspense. I must admit I rather don't like anything what is connected to politics but this time it didn't annoy me. It even makes me want to watch more. What was very important for me was that there was no character in this drama who was only good or only bad. The advantage and faults was mixed in every single character so it made them more human.

Acting/cast: I can't imagine anyone else than Lee Min Ho as the City Hunter. Since I watched the drama, he's my favourite actor. He was totally amazing! Park Min Young was also good- she could make Kim Na Na very positive and strong character. I liked also the rest of the cast- they're really good actors.


Next thing is music: I must admit I rather don't pay attention to music in films and dramas but music in City Hunter was 'jinjja' cool, especially when City Hunter stared to fight haha

Re-watch value: I'm not a type who re-watches films or dramas but City Hunter is not a common drama for me and I'm sure I'll watch it at least once again.

Overall: 10!!! This drama is really worth to watch! I can highly recommend it. Everything in this drama was perfect for me :D

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