I especially liked this well cast and stylish Korean action thriller for its engaging and off beat characters including a couple of strong female leads. Kim Nam-Gil brings laughs to his twisted psycho-killer villain which makes him an effective foil to the stoic hero. He's an Asian version of Batman's Joker. Jung Woo-Sung frames his action sequences with such an assured and arresting eye that they are almost beautiful.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
It does not have a high body count, but it has explosions, car chases, gun fights, etc., and most everything I came for was satisfied, so I'm not sure why the critics are such haters. The plot is not deep, but the side characters are surprisingly distinct and fleshed out, and it's a fun ride. It's in the vein of "The Man from Nowhere" or "The Ganster, the Cop, and the Devil" albeit a small and understated plot, with the slick style of "Shiri" and atmosphere of "Drive" (2011), following a man on a dark quest, with a handful of twists. The writing is fine, the dialogue is fine; it's a lo-fi, subdued thriller with a simple plot that showcases everything other than the writing, which itself is actually fine. Use of props is very good, with some great use of color, architecture, and some nice cinemographic shots. I don't know why the critics are panning this, so far, because it's quite a lot better than most action-genre fluff that comes out of Hollywood.
