With a decreased rate of trust in the police worldwide, it makes sense to make Vigilante at this time. The violent takedown of criminals that successfully evade the law can be cathartic, which is why shows like this are common. However, this live action adaptation feels like a defanged version of the original webcomic. With the episodes released so far, there seems to be less blood, less violence, and overall less righteous vengeance than the original story, which already suffers from a lack of mystique. The show feels almost too hesitant to stick to the tried-and-true formula of violent entertainment, which makes its moral quandary feel pointless.
Kim Ji-yong leads a double life as a Korean National Police University student by day and the Vigilante by night, personally punishing criminals who evade the law. He is surrounded by people who all possess different ulterior motives.
After the system failed to deliver justice to his mother’s murderer, Kim Ji-yong grows up to be a model police academy student by day, and a tough and violent vigilante by night.
As mentioned, Vigilante is a webcomic adaptation. Given the original story, the series is tagged as film noir, along with its police and drama tags. However, other than the shadowy fight scenes, there’s nothing particularly noirish about the series. Like the webcomic, there’s no mystery as to why Kim Ji-yong pursues vigilantism, it’s already been spelled out through internal monologue. But the show lessens the violence, leaning more on the procedural aspects in the police and media. This defanged direction might have been made with respect to the actual Korean police – after all, leading man Nam Joo-hyuk has become a military police officer shortly after filming – however, it does take away the one thing that made this story compelling: the almost sociopathic obsession of Kim Ji-yong to perfect the law, in retaliation for his mother’s death.
Man, I can’t believe I’m saying this, but this is a show that needed more violence.
