Interesteg
What makes it different from others?
Ketrivie
It isn't all that great, actually. Really cheesy and very predicable of how certain scenes are gonna turn play out. However, I guess that's the charm of it all, because I would consider this one of my guilty pleasures.
Micah Lloyd
Excellent characters with emotional depth. My wife, daughter and granddaughter all enjoyed it...and me, too! Very good movie! You won't be disappointed.
Ortiz
Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.
Multipleh
Whose who of Korean dramas and films are featured here-some aging stars, some pretty stars, some mediocre stars and some rising stars. But only one truly shines and that was Cha Seung Won who played the super villain Son Hyuk. Not only does he have a menacing voice, but he runs and shoots his gun like a true villain. It is a great portrayal-intelligent, witty and charismatic. Jung Woo Sung plays the quiet gentle NTS agent who is the main character and the hero. He does not quite match up to Cha Seung Won's magnetism. A hero role can be rather bland at times and it maybe the hardest role to play for an actor. A hero role requires a bit more imagination and passion. While watching Athena: Goddess of War, I couldn't help but be on Son Hyuk's side. Even with all his evil villainy, he made the scenes captivating and worth watching.
Vultural ~
Disappointing spin off of the ground breaking IRIS. South Korean security branch, NTS, squares off against international energy terrorist cabal. Poorly acted, wrong headed direction, and a script with more holes than a rat infested wheel of Swiss cheese. The main lead is too young, and early on grins and mugs as if auditioning for teen boy band. A team captain is inept and foolish, as is a North Korean ex-elite agent. Don't get me started on the bane of K-dramas. The tears. Weeping, crying, sobbing like six year olds. Yet these blubbering basket cases safeguard the nation.There are exceptions, the chief being the Son Hyuk rogue baddie who excels.The director obviously knows action sequences, which are showcases. With actors, he seems clueless. As much as I blame the series director for foolish comic relief and histrionics, however, the main culprit is the ridiculous script. Long, gorgeous episodes in Italy - for no purpose. Two episodes in Japan, guarding a pop star - for no purpose. Double agents exposed, and then the duped side shrugs and says, "Well, they're sorry, so back to work." Initially, the main villains are USA agencies, which is a wonderful twist, only that thread is abandoned.
martin-fennell
I haven't read all the reviews, but I read most of them. So I would say I'm in the minority, when I say that Iprefer this to Iris. The main reasons being, I think it has better characters, and to use words the director of nts uses, it has more light and shade in storyline and acting, The best acting came came from Kim Min-Jong and the actor who the aforementioned employs after in a very funny scene hitting him in the face a number of times. There is a delightful scene between the two of them where they try to gain information by pretending to be who they are not. i also liked Oh Yoon-Ah. This is the third thing I've seen her in, and the more I see her, the more I like her. She is not a great actress. But she is game, and wiling to try different things. She seems to like characters more than lead roles. She reminds me a bit of Cameron Diaz. Looking at her picture on Asianwiki, she looks a lot different. In Iris, a lot of the performances were rather one note. In this drama, at least some of the actors are given a chance to show they can do more than look very very serious. I thought there were some terrific gunfights Yes it has it's faults. There were too many people being saved in the nick of time. who the hell was oh yoon ha talking to on the phone after she had been out drinking with Soo-Ae's character. A major theme of this drama is redemption. Some viewers might not like the fact that a character who they would probably prefer to be killed isn't, and another character who it would have been nice if they had lived doesn't. As regards the plot about the north Korean agent from Iris. There are also some very funny lines in this, mostly coming from the characters i said i like. The director of Nts also said something i found amusing.He says says something about NTs upholding justice, and then says "you may find that cheesy and boring" You would never hear the director of homeland security in 24 says something like that.Regarding the special. It reminded me of the what was to me the best action scene, the one between the main villain, and another guy. in the first episode in the bathroom.
ebossert
An agent (Woo-sung Jung) is transferred to the National Anti-Terrorist Service and must stop a secret organization from committing acts of terror. This series (20 episodes, 60 minutes each) is a spin-off of the "Iris" series (with different actors) and is similar in terms of its budget, high production values, and slick presentation. The difference, however, is that the first few episodes set things up as a brainless, high octane action flick with generic scriptwriting, bland scoring, and weak characters. It severely lacks the dramatic intensity that made "Iris" so addictive, but the major positive here is the action, which provides some excellent shootouts that are on par with (or even better than) most theatrical films. It's amazing what they did with a mere $17 million. Soo Ae and Ji-ah Lee provide some exciting "girls with guns" action early on, but grow passive afterward, which is kinda disappointing. The pacing is blistering fast thru the first 10 episodes but runs out of gas during the second 10 episodes when the action becomes sparse and of a much lesser quality. It's almost like the director got lazy and phoned it in, because things actually get pretty damn boring at times. This would have been awesome if it had ended after episode 10.