REVIEW: ‘Agent Kim Reactivated’ Is Looking Like The Action Series Of The Summer

Agent Kim Reactivated (Kimbujang Hangu), the limited series from directors Lee Seung-young and Lee So-eun, is an engaging story about a father’s love. While on the surface, it appears to be nothing more than a revenge-fueled action series, Agent Kim Reactivated is so much more. In its first two episodes, the groundwork is laid for a riveting story that captures hearts as much as it pumps adrenaline into them.

Agent Kim Reactivated is an adaptation of the webtoon, Manager Kim, by Jeong Jong-taek and Toy. Incidentally, Manager Kim is the direct translation of the series’ Korean title, Kimbujang Hangu. Agent Kim Reactivated was produced for the South Korean television network, SBS Network.

In Agent Kim Reactivated, Kim Do-hyeon, aka Mr. Kim (So Ji-sub), is a former covert-ops agent from North Korea who fakes his death and defects to South Korea on the day his daughter, Min-ji (Seo Su-min), is born. As his wife lies dying after an especially difficult childbirth, her last wish for him is to leave all of this behind and just raise Min-ji.

Agent Kim Reactivated Episodes 1-2 lay down the groundwork for an exciting story.

Mr. Kim devotes his life to that purpose. He takes on a mundane day job and is concerned with nothing more than raising and providing for his daughter. For her part, Min-ji proves that valley girl-types exist in South Korea. Min-ji is dismissive and even rude to her father, caring more about how she’s perceived by the mean girls at school. It’s an altogether relatable story about how parents sacrifice endlessly for their kids, and their kids don’t know how to appreciate it.

Min-ji is more like her father than she realizes. While Mr. Kim is soft-spoken and respectful, Min-ji is a scrapper. She stands up for herself and is always ready for a fight. This ultimately gets her into trouble as she takes on her personal bully, a girl from a very powerful family. When the bully and her friends take revenge, and it goes too far, Min-ji is suddenly missing.

Agent Kim Reactivated does a phenomenal job in the first two episodes to set the stakes high. Ample time is given to Min-ji so that by the time she goes missing, she’s not some faceless character that the audience doesn’t care about. Instead, she’s been humanized so that the audience doesn’t just understand Mr. Kim, but actively roots for him. Enough ambiguity about her fate is created that the audience can root for her not just to be found, but to dare to hope that she’s still alive.

The setup of the relationship between Mr. Kim and Min-ji builds natural stakes once she disappears.

When Mr. Kim realizes something terrible has happened to his child, he immediately turns back into Agent Kim, using his wealth of knowledge and skill to follow every lead, leaving no stone unturned in search of his daughter. Joining him on this journey will be Park Jin-cheol (Yoon Kyung-ho) and Seong Han-soo (Choi Dae-hoon). Jin-cheol and Han-soo are also former covert ops and will bring their own skills to the search for Min-ji.

At the same time, a viral video of an incident involving the trio at a restaurant gets the attention of North Korean intelligence, which believes Agent Kim has been dead all these years. So while Agent Kim and his friends are looking for Min-ji, the North Korean government will be looking for Agent Kim. Everything in Agent Kim’s life hangs in the balance, including his life itself. It should be interesting to see whether he can find Min-ji and escape from the North Korean Intelligence unit once and for all.

With the trio of former ops agents going viral, the clock is now ticking to see who gets to Agent Kim first.

Agent Kim Reactivated makes a strong impression in the first two episodes, and there are eight more left to watch. The series could have easily landed in a space that was simply mimicking Taken, John Wick, or anything starring Jason Statham. Instead, it is paving its own path, as a hybrid of both an inspired drama and a brutal action series.

Can the series deliver a memorable journey on the shoulders of the excellent foundation that it’s created? So far, Agent Kim Reactivated has been heartwarming, heartbreaking, and wildly intense. If the series continues to use this framework, I suspect Agent Kim Reactivated will be one of a kind.

Agent Kim Reactivated Episodes 1 and 2 are now streaming exclusively on Netflix, with new episodes dropping weekly.