I Am Legend is a Korean drama about women empowerment. It’s about one woman’s struggle to get her life back. Jun Seol (Kim Jung Eun) just got a divorce from the rich lawyer Cha Ji Wook (Kim Seung Soo). She felt that she’s losing her own identity with the way her in-laws are treating her.
She got together with her old friends and started a band, The Comeback Madonna. Jun Seol as the guitarist/main vocalist, Park Soo In (Jang Shin Young) as the drummer, Ah Reum (Hyeon Junie) as the guitarist, and Hwaja (Hong Ji Min) as the bassist. They got help from a former rock star Jang Tae-hyun (Lee Joon Hyuk).
At first I thought that a drama featuring a band composed of old ladies or ahjummas would be boring but I was wrong. They all have their own personal problems but when they’re with the band, they forget about these problems and just enjoy making music.
The pacing of I Am Legend is perfect. In just 16 episodes it managed to show the strong friendship between the Comeback Madonna members, love/hate relationship of Jun Seol and her ex-husband, and solved individual problems.
Although at first I Am Legend focused mainly on Jun Seol’s divorce and finding herself through music, it somewhat deviated into Jun Seol becoming a Korean Erin Brockovich. Just like Erin, she worked as a lawyer’s secretary who helped a group of small folks fight against a big corporation. I was expecting I Am Legend to be a musical romantic comedy but it became a serious legal drama. An original concept of an ahjumma band just became a Hollywood copycat.
I Am Legend is all about girl power up until the end even though Comeback Madonna disbanded. Jun Seol didn’t end up with either her ex-husband or Tae Hyun, which shows that she’s an independent woman who doesn’t need a guy by her side to survive. She continues on helping poor people as a lawyer’s assistant.
The rest of Comeback Madonna also moved on. Hwaja gets an award for best employee. Ah Reum is now part of a coed band and being managed by Soo In. But during their free time they still get together in the studio as Comeback Madonna. (Cue in Comeback Madonna Song… ~we will comebaaaaack~)
To sum it all up, I Am Legend is an enjoyable drama. Comeback Madonna’s songs are catchy, and I especially like their Tell Me Your Wish (Genie) cover. I just wish that they didn’t insert the legal stuff and just focused on the music.
