While South Korean television, or K-Dramas, continue to find growing success with the international public, a genre that they are particularly excellent are vengeful thrillers. A recent star is “Taxi Driver”, which is not based on the ultra-violent criminal film by Martin Scorsese, but rather the webtoon series “The Deluxe Taxi (Red Cage)” by Carlos and Lee Jae-Jin. In progress in 2021, the series proved to be extremely popular with the Korean public and was renewed for two additional seasons. Available to broadcast on Rakuten Viki, “Taxi Driver” has a unique premise that makes its visceral sensations all the more convincing for viewers around the world.
“Taxi Driver” follows Kim Do-Gi (Lee Je-Hoon), a former special forces soldier who is starting to drive for the company of Taxi Rainbow and is haunted, testifying to the brutal murder of his mother. The Do-Gi taxi company offers a unique “revenge” service, the drivers who were sold on behalf of the paid customers who were injured in their own way. The company is headed by Jang Sung-Chul (Kim Eui-Suun), which brought together a crack team ready to face criminals that have escaped the law. There is an underlying story involving Do-Gi’s past, while the revenge cases undertaken by the Rainbow Taxi Company generally cover two episodes.
More than a simple procedural series with a unique premise, there is a surprising amount of inspiration from the real world behind “Taxi Driver”.
Which makes the taxi driver an exceptional revenge K-Drame
There is a real real element of “taxi driver”, because many cases of revenge supported by his characters are based on real crimes. This practice is not new for American crime procedures – “Law & Order” was inspired by real cases for years – but not so much for South Korean television. This creative base helps found the series, especially with some of the episodic developments and premises that may seem a little exaggerated at first glance. And with his pace with two episodes per case, “Taxi Driver” gets more space to breathe for his episodic stories, rather than trying to resolve them too quickly and collapse in the underlying story.
Aside from the strong rhythm and the inspiration of the real world, “Taxi Driver” is a very written spectacle with a lot of closely choreographed action. Lee Je-Hoon is absolutely magnetic as DO-GI, not only to deliver the reserved anxiety of the character in his calm moments but also as a power plant in the action parts. Given the premise, the spectacle can become quite black with its stories, which makes the reimbursement of the company Rainbow Taxi all the more cathartically triumphant. There are a lot of great dramas K-Revenge, but “Taxi Driver” gives the public avenges accomplished more with success by inhabitant than his contemporaries.
Perfectly accessible for the first time as K-Drama viewers, “Taxi Driver” expertly balance an exhilarating action with issues anchored during its race.
