REVIEW: ‘Agent From Above’ Falls Short Of Greatness

Agent From Above (Chi Shen), a Taiwanese modern-day fantasy thriller series, follows Han Chieh (Kai Ko), an agent of the Third Crown Prince of the Heavenly Realm (Bo-Chieh Wang). He fights the servants of a great demon and works to keep their foul master from returning to the Earthly Realm, finding help along the way with an oddball group of humans and ghosts that stumble into his orbit. 

From a personality standpoint, Han is a familiar character. Struggling along under the weight of past failures, he comes off as distant and uncaring, at least until you get to know him. The show uses the arrival of Yeh Tzu (Buffy Chen), a young woman haunted by ghosts, to introduce and explore the layers of its lead protagonist. 

Agent From Above’s characters are all enjoyable, even if they aren’t very memorable.

Much like Han himself, the dynamic between this duo is familiar. Yeh manages to work her way into Han’s inner circle, where her charming demeanor quickly begins to thaw the agent’s cold exterior. The gentle nudges she gives him to go that extra mile, and the eye rolls he gives just before caving in, form a warm interaction that is fun, but nothing groundbreaking. The larger supporting cast fit into other archetypal roles nicely as well. Each character brings an enjoyable presence to the series, even if they aren’t overly memorable. 

The various stories that Agent From Above sets before its protagonists are clever, with some memorable moments along the way. With a good mix of hostile enemies and ghosts who are more confused than bad littering the narrative, the series explores a broad range of the world’s metaphysical spectrum. Even some of the villainous personalities are given more depth than they seem at first glance, further expanding the variety of encounters the heroes face.

The visual effects throughout the series are eye-popping, and the fights are solid.

While individual stories can be engaging, the larger plot frequently fails to fully come together. While the series tries to create a thriller atmosphere as the demon king’s return draws near, it’s hard to get pulled into the plot when you understand so little about what is going on.

The supernatural elements are frequently underdeveloped, leaving the viewer with little context for how bad a thing is or how likely something is to be stopped. This undercuts much of the tension, leaving you just along for the ride. 

The ride that Agent From Above goes on features a fair amount of action throughout its supernatural investigations. These sequences deliver solid fight scenes and eye-popping special effects. The designs of malevolent spirits and monsters are fantastic. The fire-based nature of Han’s signature abilities also looks great, providing some cool visual moments in the combat sequences. 

Agent From Above delivers an enjoyable story, but the final battle stumbles.

While the final battle delivers the series’ best visual showcase, it greatly hurts Han’s arc in how it does so. The final bout is the biggest spectacle due to the intervention of the Third Crown Prince, as he takes over to face off with the big bad.

Taking the final bout away from the protagonist—denying him the chance to best the villain that has been tormenting him—hurts Han’s place in the story and all the struggles he went through to reach the end, even if it gives a valid excuse to ratchet up the visual flair. 

Agent From Above delivers an enjoyable story. It presents a good variety within both its narratives and personalities, even if neither ever truly stands out. The visual effects and cool combat encounters help to give the series some extra pop, making for some exciting highlights. A solid watch, but certainly not a must-watch.

Agent From Above is streaming now on Netflix.