REVIEW: ‘Agent Kim Reactivated’ Is A Must-Watch Action Series

Agent Kim Reactivated (Kim bu-jang) is a bizarre hybrid of brutal action and unserious humor with a surprising amount of emotional depth. While the premiere is a very emotional look at Kim and the life he’s built since leaving his life as a spy, the series overall is built on a brutal brand of action that, combined with over-the-top humor works even when it feels like it shouldn’t. Agent Kim Reactivated takes every common expectation from the genre and throws it out the window and somehow crafts a compelling story that’s more than it appears to be.

The story follows a man only known by his surname, Kim (So Ji-sub). Kim is a former operative from North Korea who defected to South Korea and continued to work as a spy. Kim now lives as a widowed father to his daughter Min-ji (Seo Su-min). In the opening episode, Min-ji is targeted by the daughter of one of the most powerful men in South Korea, Chairman Ju Gang-chan (Joo Sang-uk) of Juhak Construction.

The premise is set in the first two episodes that Kim, a man with highly specialized training, will stop at nothing to find his daughter. Unfortunately for Kim, his face’s appearance in a viral video has complicated matters by alerting North Korea to the fact that he’s still alive. Between trying to find Min-ji and evading South Korean and North Korean operatives, Kim has the odds stacked against him.

One man’s devotion and love to his daughter sparks the action in Agent Kim Reactivated.

At first glance, Agent Kim Reactivated seems like a very straightforward premise. Girl goes missing, Dad turns into Liam Neeson, Dad finds girl, and all is right with the world. There are certainly elements of that basic story, but Agent Kim Reactivated is so much richer than just a girl-gone-missing tale.

Officially, Agent Kim Reactivated is listed as an action thriller, but it may be more accurate to call it a revenge thriller. In the same way that Bryan Mills in Taken goes beyond finding his daughter to making her kidnappers pay the price, Kim will work tirelessly to ensure his daughter’s freedom and safety.

Along for the ride are Park Jin-cheol (Yoon Kyung-ho) and Seong Han-soo (Choi Dae-hoon). Both of them are also former operatives who worked in South Korea at the same time as Kim. They view Kim as a brother and Min-ji as family, so despite serious reservations about getting involved, there is never really a question about their loyalty or willingness to put it all on the line.

The relationship between Manager Kim, Park Jin-cheol, and Seong Han-soo is something special.

While Jin-cheol and Han-soo are presented as being nearly as lethal as Kim, they are the primary vehicle for humor in Agent Kim Reactivated. Han-soo and Jin-cheol banter endlessly throughout the entire series. Han-soo comes off as exhausted, and like he’s simply had enough. There’s this great dichotomy where Jin-cheol and Han-soo, in one scene, are shown to be absurdly dangerous, and in the next scene, just being absurd.

Han-Soo is a martial arts instructor. He spends nearly the entire series in a dobok. Characters, especially Jin-cheol, regularly tease him relentlessly, asking him if it’s the only thing he owns. Still, Yoon Kyung-ho and Choi Dae-hoon effortlessly portray two men with deep admiration and affection for each other, the result of decades of brotherhood likely forged in fire.

Yoon Kyung-ho is the biggest stand-out in the entire cast. Jin-cheol is a former marine who is widely regarded as South Korea’s most dangerous operative. He’s retired now, but he still wears his military fatigues everywhere he goes. He’s loud, abrasive, and at times, can even come off as stupid. Despite that, he’s also fiercely loyal, incredibly selfless, and he still has every skill he ever learned, even if he’s old enough to be waking up already in pain.

Yoon Kyung-ho is an absolute standout in Agent Kim Reactivated.

Yoon Kyung-ho brings Jin-Cheol to life, and he steals every single scene he appears in. The series may be named after Kim, but Jin-cheol is who people will remember for a long time to come. Whether he’s using a stolen credit card to buy a literal truckload of snacks or cowering to his very patient wife, Jin-cheol is outlandish every time he appears, and Agent Kim Reactivated is better for it.

So Ji-sub as Kim is a much-needed tempering to Jin-cheol and Han-soo. While their antics are hilarious, the series avoids forgetting the important work of finding Min-ji by having Kim be almost the complete opposite. While he may occasionally smile at the carefree attitude his friends have, Kim is soft-spoken and yet lethal. In the opening episodes, Kim is almost timid and avoids confrontations at any cost.

That carries over into the less pedestrian lifestyle he immediately begins living when Min-ji goes missing. He remains calm, but now, instead of soft-spoken, Kim is cold, calculating, and willing to do anything and everything to reunite with Min-ji.

The absurdity of his friends and copatriots balances Manager Kim’s eerie calm.

The score lives in a weird space where the same song both works with the less serious nature of Agent Kim Reactivated and at other times enhances the deadly action happening on screen. In particular, the theme song has a chord progression of three descending notes that are played on an electric guitar. The song has an 80s vibe that is pulled directly from the original source material.

This callback to Manager Kim does a lot of work for Agent Kim Reactivated. It both enhances the violence, often being played as Kim is turning into a super spy at the expense of whatever unlucky soul is getting in his way. That same dramatic motif surprisingly actually acts as a reminder that the series does not bother to take itself too seriously.

What keeps Agent Kim Reactivated from being a near-perfect masterpiece are two major structural issues. The first is that the series is 10 episodes long, but in Episode 7, the biggest narrative piece is resolved. While it’s far from a happy ending, the story reaches what feels like a natural conclusion to a harrowing experience for everyone involved. Instead, with about 10 minutes left in the episode, the story pivots and starts setting up new plots from within that resolution. These new story beats aren’t bad, but they’re also not necessary.

Structural issues towards the end of the series make a perfect story less so.

The other is the same issue in a different place. In the finale, the biggest conflicts are resolved with over half an hour left in the episode. They spend an excruciating amount of time tying up loose ends and wrapping everything in a neat bow. Agent Kim Reactivated even sets up for a possible second season. While it’s not uncommon to see longer epilogues after the main conflicts are resolved in K-Dramas, in Agent Kim Reactivated, it doesn’t serve the story and even drags the finale out.

Fortunately, Agent Kim Reactivated isn’t written with a second season being necessary. Netflix originally billed this as a limited series, and so while there’s certainly a setup for more, it’s already a fully realized story with nothing missing. There are already talks of working on another season, but if it never happens, it won’t take away from the story that’s already been told.

In spite of its flaws, Agent Kim Reactivated is a series that deserves a chance. From the violent action to the insane humor, and all the way to the emotional story underneath, Agent Kim Reactivated succeeds in nearly every facet of the story being told.

All episodes of Agent Kim Reactivated are streaming now, exclusively on Netflix.