REVIEW: ‘Mercy For None’ Ups The Action Ante For Netflix

A suit-wearing former killer leaves his old life and is forced back into it for revenge when someone he loves is murdered. It’s a tale as old as action cinema, and ultimately, South Korea’s take on the revenge thriller is one of the most revered. Still, Netflix’s Mercy For None boldly embraces the formula and executes it by unraveling a mystery in near-perfect fashion.

Based on the webtoon of the same name by Oh Se-hyeong and Kim Kyun-tae, Mercy For None is directed by Choi Sung-Eun and written by Yoo Ki-sung for television. The series follows Nam Ki-Jun and stars So Ji-seob, Choo Yeong-Woo, Nam Yeon-Woo, Jung Gun-Joo, Lim Hyung-Guk, and other fantastic actors.

A former mobster who cut his own Achilles tendon to get out of it all, Nam Ki-Jun, is forced back when his brother Nam Ki-seok (Lee Jun-hyuk) is murdered. But this isn’t your traditional, “former killer got out and has to come back” story. As Ki-jun searches for his brother’s killer, his goal is to hunt down everyone responsible, no matter if they’re friends or family.

Mercy For None takes the traditional action-revenge formula and executes it perfectly.

Actor So Ji-seob is terrifying and empathetic as Ki-Jun. His resolve is unwavering, and his attention to tracking down every thread connecting to his brother’s death is haunting. To call Ki-Jun brutal would be an understatement. Mercy For None is easily one of Netflix’s most violent series from Korea or otherwise. But the violence is treated with shock. Instead, every bone break, every stab, every bat crack, all of it goes to build Ki-Jun as a character with such a stalwart take on justice that you can’t help but root for him.

Additionally, just because the violence is intense doesn’t mean that the action is good, right? Well, for Mercy For None, that’s not true. Because the show runner doesn’t invest in making the violent moments voyeuristic shock and awe treatments, the audience is more focused on the action.

The fight choreography that actor So pulls off is astounding. In fact, every actor who partakes in a hand-to-hand fight sequence is stellar to see on screen. While there are quite a few jump cuts, the series does not lose its action in its stylistic choices.

The action has room to breathe, and the singular-minded Ki-Jun always makes sense. He is on a path of vengeance, and like a wrecking ball, he smashes through every single body in his way. Unlike some of the other suit-wearing vengeance-seekers, Ki-Jun isn’t regarded as a boogie man. Instead, he’s underestimated repeatedly. His limp is pronounced, and his metal ankle brace should slow him down. However, he is never deterred from moving forward.

Nam Ki-Jun exists to get under the skin of everyone in power, and he does.

In the latter half of the season, Mercy For None gives its audiences one of the best revenge sequences in film or television. Ki-Jun finds that the son of one of the leaders, whose hand was not directly responsible for killing his brother, is still involved and, more importantly, running rampant and ruining the organization. Which, by their rules, means he has to die.

Ki-Jun comes into a compound with a reinforced metal baseball bat, repurposed after his target killed Ki-Jun’s friends, and he weilds it through a corridor. A one vs many fight scene that will go down in actioner history, actor So understands how to use his body and stay the focus of the sequences despite being surrounded by bodies.

The “hallway scene” has become a mainstay in action, and one-upping or at the very least standing out in the crowded filmography of the time isn’t easily achieved. Still, actor So Ji-seob rips through the corridor with his bat. The combat is weighty, the sound design isn’t for the squimish, and ultimately, the climax of the fight sequence is unmatched.

So Ji-seob is one of the best physical actors on Netflix, but his emotion rises to match the action. 

In it, Ki-Jun is lifted into the air by bodybuilder Thanos (whom you’ll know from Physical 100), and he wins in a fight for his life. It’s a moment that showcases that Ki-Jun may die, but not until his mission is complete for him and for his brother.

As Mercy For None maps out the betrayal and mystery, the bureaucracy and greed of the criminal organizations come to the forefront. It makes Ki-Jun a hammer of justice across everyone, even outside his retribution. Every step that Ki-Jun takes rips away a piece of the facade that the organizations have hidden behind, and civility erodes between the two young men. One, a spoiled brat who loses money and can’t be trusted. The other, a prosecutor with the power to take over his family.

Mercy For None captures the ripples that one choice makes, and the violent consequences that come from them. Ultimately, Ki-Jun’s adherence to the reality that the only way for anyone in their life to leave crime is to die makes him a reaper of sorts, but his own fearlessness and acceptance of a future death are what make him dangerous.

While it would be easy to classify the seven-episode series as just one path of revenge, Mercy For None is as much about the politicking in a criminal organization and power grabs as it is about action sequences. Each episode, we see Nam Ki-seok’s murder from a different perspective, learning more with each scene about what came next, until the person who built the web that killed him comes into focus.

Mercy For None has built a heavy world of crime and power. 

Actor So is the heart of Mercy For None, and this is sure to be one of his best roles in his career. Still, the extended cast, particularly Gong Myung, Choo Yeong-Woo, Cha Seung-Won, and Jung Gun-Joo, make this series untouchable by other action series in Netflix’s filmography. The amount of action other characters take, no matter how fleeting, helps build up the world they inhabit.

The crime that Ki-Jun unsettles is deep, and the power vacuum is deeper. Because the series visibly shows the fault lines that Ki-Jun shoves open, the weakness that even the powerful hold comes to light. While My Name established itself as one of the top action-revenge series on the streaming service, Mercy For None surpasses it.

Mercy For None is an astounding series that ends with a silence that carries weight. Top-notch action, well-plotted intrigue, and the most violence in a Netflix series, this action-revenge story deserves to be on every “top” list this year and beyond.

Mercy For None is streaming now, exclusively on Netflix.