Taxista (2021)

Let me just say, if you plan on starting this, prepare yourself, it's going to be hard to watch. Not because it's bad but because the stories being told will get you angry and break your heart. This was the hardest part for me, see the stories of the innocent lives of them being mistreated and abuse by evil people. I won't go into details on what these are. You'll just have to watch and find out yourself.

When the law fails at providing justice and safety for the victims, you as a victim just want somebody to turn to. In this case, that's the rainbow taxi, since they all have been through that feeling of not receiving that justice and how criminals goes free or get not as harsh punishment. It all seems well and all and even their actions seems reasonable. Revenge seems sweet. I mean watching this, I enjoyed seeing the revenge but it does come at cost as well. Was everything done by them was right in their eyes or did they miss some crucial pieces with their actions?

Then you have the other side, Prosecutor Ha Na, who believes in finding justice through the law. At first, she's a character who solely follows by the law and believes everything through the law. She's a hardheaded character with nothing else in mind other than solving and winning cases. For me and many others, she was a difficult character to like as she had that kind of snobbish personality for 11 episodes of this drama. However, she was the one with the most growth in my opinion once that hard wall of hers broke and she finally sees the flaw of the law, along with having consideration and feelings for others. I really enjoyed her character afterwards as she works hard to fix this broken system of a law which does involve teaming up with Do Ki and the rainbow taxi crew.

If it's one thing I wasn't too fond about this drama, it's that there are plot holes within the sub stories. Now they did a great job with concluding each sub story in the beginning but towards the halfway mark and the end, there were a lot sub stories that's just didn't have a full end conclusion as I would've liked. I say this because the clients are what makes Rainbow Taxi and the cases. Without them, you wouldn't have any of this to begin with. So that being said, I'm disappointed how this drama didn't have a full conclusion some of the clients with their sub story plot before moving on to another client or sub story.

Besides that, I still liked this drama. The buttkicking scenes from Lee Je Hoon and also his all around personality his character were my favorite. But also the realness of cases that were presented in this drama as well.
Let me just end this off with my favorite quote of this drama.
"Do not be overcome by evil but overcome evil with good"

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A different perspective

Overall, the premise was interesting, cast and acting was outstanding. The unique musical taste added a memorable flair to the entire drama. I truly enjoyed the entire ride, though there were some major flaws which did not sit well with me. I'll focus on mainly the negative points as most of the other reviews here are positive.

- I don't watch too many action movies as I'm not a big fan of fight scenes, and this drama really reinforced that in me. The main character, Doki, just seemed invincible to the point where there was no conflict during any fights. You were not rooting for him anymore because you just knew he would survive. Too many times he would go 1 vs 15... and win... Even at one point getting whacked by a baseball bat over 20 times, then escaping and going 1 vs 15... TWICE, and winning. Another time getting stabbed in the shoulder and taking down an entire legion of men with baseball bats, solo. Not humanly possible, no matter what level of military experience.

- Judging from the title, you'd expect more involvement of the taxi or the taxi driver. I loved the style of the first two revenge cases - the factory and school violence cases - picking up the client in the taxi and hearing their stories. From the data centre case onwards, it just became so convoluted. The agency picked up cases where they had no stakes in, and it felt like the drama shifted more to focusing on the content of the cases rather than the agency's role in protecting the victims.

- Potential spoiler ahead! The last episode left a sour taste in my mouth. I interpreted the last scene as the gang getting back together, DESPITE already agreeing to part ways just 20 minutes before (1 year in the timeline). So what was the purpose, then, of building up the whole 'Revenge begets revenge' narrative? I felt like it was a clear money grab at securing a second season, and, speaking of money grabs, the product placement was a little over the top that that was all that stuck in my mind after watching the finale.

With all that being said, it was definitely an enjoyable ride as, after all, it's just entertainment. In terms of Kdrama quality, this was undoubtedly an extremely well-produced drama, with a memorable plot as well. I wouldn't call this my favourite crime/thriller, but I'd give it bonus points for going beyond just the mundane cat and mouse plots typically found in police dramas.

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