Model Taxi (2021)

Decent show. Great action. Hilariously blatant advertising

The show itself was pretty enjoyable. The acting and action is the stand out by far.

The story was more compelling at the beginning, particularly when the focus was on individual cases. The main plot was wrapped up with a couple episodes of the season left so the extra plot felt like it came out of nowhere, was rushed and didn't have the same impact as the main plots or even some of the one-off plots earlier on in the series.

I appreciate the attempt to shine a light on where the system fails in supporting victims and protecting those who are guilty, including excessive force used by authorities to force confession or statutes of limitations. I don't think I've seen that tackled in a show before - especially with the post-credit real life stories of those affected.

Also I've never seen such blatant advertising in a show - I genuinely burst out laughing in the final episode with how many ads were back to back.

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If the law won't help, do it yourself.

A story about people helping other people take revenge. An action packed show with stories that tugs your heartstrings combined with laughter and funny moment and a soundtrack with 80's vibes is how I would describe this show.

It starts of strong, dark cases with lots of violence but with some funny scenes to cut the heaviness. It does go downhill for me in the middle but goes back up towards the end, even if the heaviness from the beginning that I really liked never truly came back. It went from individual cases from different characters to cases involving the team, which isn't a bad thing per say, but I really liked learning the different stories and then see the team help them take revenge. That and seeing the gratitude after the case is done. That being said, the cases involving the team aren't less dark and gruesome, but you can feel the shift in the show.

The acting was superb the whole way through. Lee Je Hoon is great as the main lead and Esom did a really good job as Kang Ha Na (a character that for some reason got a lot of hate, which I do not get). Though all the actors did a great job Cha Ji Yeon really stood out. What a great performance.

I really liked the soundtrack on this one. When the synth part comes on, you know you are in for a ride. A taxi ride. (I'll show myself out)

Though the show had its up and downs I think it ended on a really good note which is why I still rated it quite high. And since it ended with an open ending, here's hoping for a second season!!

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Do-gi is goated

Be prepared for an extremely intense 16 episodes which has several sub-plots interconnected. I felt that this series did a really good job illustrating ‘morally grey’ characters (which definitely fits in with the entire plot itself) that the audience would feel extreme sympathy for yet be not able to justify their actions completely.

Personally, a factor that definitely made me root for the crew more despite the illegality of their actions was the fact that they have all experienced deep trauma themselves as well, which makes them all the more driven to help others heal.

On a side note, Do-Gi must possess superpowers for being able to take on a group of 20 men (mind you, they are meant to be bodyguards) at once, and effortlessly so.

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Such a great work!

one of my favorite shows!! such an impressive work.

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Revenge

Vigilantes! A team of victims who search to make justice.
Scary cases that make your skin crawl. I watched only to see the revenge.
Be prepared to see everything and more: beatings, bullying, violence against vulnerable people, exploitation, prostitution, the distribution of pornographic films, illegal organ harvesting, injustice, corruption... They didn't leave anything out.
Creepy, you're heart-heavy in the end. The only glimmer of light, this guy.
From 8th episodes I wanted a mythics revenge for this psyco and there wasn't.
In 9th, Swat and prosecutor are "chicken".
In 14th, I would have something to say! He want to fight towards a team of killers all alone? What a shitty idea!
He take the driver who get an accident where his friend were seriously injured and stay to watch him and let the villain escape and then chase him in a taxi? In the "prison" he beats everyone, there is no one left when he goes out into the square, then all at once they all arrive together nice perky and surround him? He follows the villain to the pier with the prosecutor on his heels but strangely he has time to drift with the car, beat, chase the bad one and only then help arrives. Timing that doesn't add up.

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The cast will definitely woo you to watch this! ?

For those of you who have not watched this drama is missing out big time!!!! A webtoon adaptation, this one's a brilliant series. Each 2 episodes follows up with a case of justice and not a repeated storyline. The initial Opening OST is so mesmerising that gives you an adrenaline rush. An amazing cast, great harmony amongst them with details pertaining to each character's individual growth as well as screen time, it gives justice not only to the perpetrators but also to each actor and a message to each one of us. The cameos are to watch out for as they are brilliant too. I had a great time watching this drama and would definitely recommend it to all. Loved it throughout.

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Story that Explodes into a Thrilling Adventure but Concludes by Flickering Out Like a Weak Candle

It's impossible to discuss this show without talking about spoilers. However, I will be clearly marking when I start talking about specific plot points with a separator. Until then, I'll be discussing the overall feel of the series.

The beginning of this show establishes an addictive, semi-formulaic, action-thriller that you can't help but become pumped for. Bad guys do bad stuff and get away with it, leaving behind victims. The law isn't able to prove or punish the bad guys. Good guys don't like this. Good guys go full-Batman vigilante by infiltrating the evil operation and taking revenge on behalf of the victims. It sounds really simple but it is an amazingly fun roller coaster ride that has you saying "yeah!!!" when the good guys succeed. The action set pieces, such as the car chase/battles or fistfights are fun on their own right, but the OST dials up the excitement to a million. There is a video-game sounding, retro track that plays when the background of the victim is being explained and they are making the decision whether or not they want the protagonists to get revenge on their behalf -- as the viewer, you quickly become conditioned to say "oh man, stuff is going to go down now!!!". Then, the phrenic action music starts and your emotions go full adrenaline overdrive as you hear the theme song. It is ridiculous how excited I was for this show.

The acting was fully on point, as expected from a Korean drama production. Some people complain that Lee Je Hoon overacts, but if he does, it fits him perfectly in this series because he needs to exaggerate himself when he disguises himself in order to sneak into the baddies' lairs. Some of the action sequences might have been a little better, but overall, I thought his performance was stellar. The rest of the main cast is amazing: Pyo Je Jin was pulled in last minute to replace a controversial actress, and I did not notice at all - if you had told me she was planned to be a female lead all along, I'd have believed you. Esom and Kim Eui Sang also play their roles excellently. Cha Ji Yeon is notable for playing the shady, underground character, very, very well and I thought her maniacal laugh fit her very well. The acting was mostly amazing.

But unfortunately, that is not the end of my review. This show was almost a 10/10, but unfortunately, it was marred by a really jarring tonal shift midway through the series. Episode 9 and 10 felt like filler since we had gotten some real, longitudinal story arc as well as character backgrounds, but they just kind of went back to the "same old formula". But, at around Episode 10, the lead writer left due to creative differences and the change is really, really noticeable.

It is at this point that I need to address plot specific points in order to explain why this was not the greatest event.

WARNING SPOILERS AHEAD
IF YOU DON'T WANT TO READ PLOT POINTS STOP NOW
SERIOUSLY THIS IS YOUR LAST WARNING
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In the beginning half of the show, each main character's backstory is revealed and is very consistent with their motivations. Kim Do Gi's mother was killed and he never got the chance to get revenge on the killer. Anh Go Eun's sister committed suicide after a sex tape was leaked by a man who secretly filmed her. Kang Ha Na is a stubbornly righteous prosecutor who refuses to bend the rules and relentless. Even the characters who are not as initially well developed are consistent: Jang Sung Chul is the wealthy taxi service owner who also suffered from lack of ability to take revenge, so he bankrolls the operation under the guise of his legit business. Baek Sung Mi is a shady business owner who controls the prison they send the captured baddies that the protagonists successfully take revenge on. It is all very clear what everyone's roll in this universe is.

And then, all of a sudden, some of the characters just completely lose themselves and some of the writing stops making sense. Kang Ha Na's character is the most guilty of this: even though she was initially frustrating to viewers, I think her role was to show us the failure of the "righteous, lawful way". Her colleague's death pushes her to start supporting the Rainbow Taxi protagonists, which I thought was fine, but then she suddenly forgets how to do her job: there is one scene in particular where they are holding Kim Do Gi, and she flagrantly and straightforwardly lets him go, which is noticed by her coworker and that is just somehow...fine? I think at minimum, her coworkers might have some ethical concerns about her actions, and might, you know, start raising questions about whether she is fit to continue doing her job. There are additional problems of this nature: for example, she would use insider information obtained by the Rainbow Taxi team and just send a huge task force to an unknown location...on a hunch? How would she explain how she knows this info? The writing just stops being sensible.

This culminates in the ending, which I am going to call the "maximal happy ending". The ultimate baddie is identified: the true killer of Kim Do Gi's mother, who is already jailed. Therefore, the team is going to take revenge by....tricking him into beating up his own son, who is coincidentally a jail guard, coincidentally has no idea who his father is, even though the Rainbow Taxi team didn't do anything to ensure that the baddie would FOR SURE beat up the son. I watched that scene and it made no sense to me: they couldn't know that the baddie would trick the son in getting close. And this gets worse in my opinion: the team decides they will turn themselves in. However, Kang Ha Na lets Kim Do Gi go and she tries to resign, but her boss inexplicably resigns instead in order to ensure that they bury the investigation they have on the Rainbow Taxi team while the team members themselves agree to shut down the operation....and then one year later, all of the taxi crew have ridiculous new jobs (one of them is a rocket scientist 'cause...you know), and have somehow revived the operation with Kang Ha Na as one of the new members of the crew. Did I also mention that her boss, who resigned, somehow charged the big baddie with framing an innocent man, even though we had already established earlier that the statue of limitations had past? It doesn't make complete sense.

So the verdict? This show has a lot of excellent, amazing elements in the first half to first two-thirds of this show that make it worth your watch. However, the real life creative disagreements of the production team can clearly be felt in the latter part of the show. It was SO close in being a 10/10, fun show. Try it out -- you won't be disappointed.

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Alternative to a crap legal system

With a high budget feel, great stunts, bags of action and a credible cast, this was a pretty thrilling drama.
Plenty of revenge providing satisfying viewing when a multitude of incredibly unsavoury characters, got their judgement calls.
I honestly felt like this drama was giving a pretty big finger to the country's very flawed legal system, which favours wealthy and connected citizens over guilty ones.
It was a little odd, therefore, to include details and phone numbers for various crime departments at the end of episodes. A Premium Taxi Service one would be better.
Some of the cases made for very disturbing viewing, from violent bullying to rape, sexual assault and murder.
It is a very violent series, so those affected by realistic cases and cruelty, should avoid it.
It's pretty OTT, but for the vast majority of the time, gets away with that comfortably. It feels weird to say I enjoyed it, but I did, more than not.
I only rolled my eyes up in disbelief a couple of times and was made to laugh occasionally too.
One episode near the end even made me cry; because the hurt was understated and realistic, not melodramatic.
At one point, when the initial storyline was wrapped up, it did drag/dip somewhat and I thought they shouldn't have stretched it to 16 eps. However, it then picked up again and I enjoyed it to the end.
There is one factual case in a latter episode's epilogue, involving a trumped up, wrongful conviction. This resulted in an innocent man spending a long time in prison and it also really disturbed and angered me, because it involved an 8-year old child. What the police back at the time did, was shocking, shameful and unforgivable.
It really is like the writers (they were changed part way through following a disagreement between the original and director) want the country to recognise how flawed and corrupt their systems are, and how they let people down. An argument for the statute of limitations being dropped was also featured, which is applied by many countries and enables perpetrators of older cold cases to get off . Same applies to double jeopardy really.
I loved both Lee Je Hoon and Esom in this; perfect for their roles. Not a weak actor in it.
Whilst the action was often pretty fantastical, it's still a thought provoking watch.
The OST was suitably heavy rock orientated, in fact sometimes a little too much so, but overall pretty good and appropriate.

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Jolly Good Fun

Looking for something sweet and happy? TURN BACK! Do you believe the criminal justice system is always right? YOU'RE IN THE WRONG PLACE! Are you in the mood for a butt load of action, suspense and revenge? LOOK NO FURTHER!
This show is so much more than what I thought it was going to be. You're emotions will run wild with this series in all the right ways. The plot twists were outta this world with satisfying bolts of craziness and you can't deny this is something we need in the real world, which is what makes this show so relatable and "fun". lol It's action packed from beginning to end with all the heart racing punches and winching uppercuts you could ask for. If you don't think the criminal justice system is warped this is NOT the show for you but I whole heartedly am convinced you'll love it none the less.
Enjoy...

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