I'm very happy I clicked on this movie. I'm not one who typically seeks out foreign action films. I'm not sure why, exactly? But this one caught my eye.
The best way to pitch this movie, would be a hybrid between Die Hard and John Wick. One man against the world who has a dark past he wishes would have stayed there.
Ma Dong-seok plays the Wick type. He's much more brawl than anything else. Not so much martial arts (that I'm aware of), just bare knuckle punches. Him being a pretty unassuming guy, it's very cool to see him kicking ass.
Song Ji-Hyo plays his wife, whom is in peril. It would typically be a thankless role, but she's a tough, no BS woman. Plus! The main vengeance plot is not predicated on some sort of sexual assault. Tho, human trafficking is the main scheme, at least the filmmakers didn't feel the need to put in a r*pe scene or the like.
The true standout was Kim Sung-oh as the villain. He could have gone full Nicholson's Joker, but was able to deftly balance between over-the-top comedically evil and dangerous and unpredictable enough to warrant tension.
The tension is amazing, in my opinion. There may have been a few jokes I would have cut from the two comic relief characters. Because, you really only need one and having the other character (Bear) was really unnecessary. He was the tracker - why was he going with the main characters at all?
Great direction from Kim Min-Ho. He too, from what I gather, is at stunt performer turned writer/director. This is much like how the John Wick movies began. If I see a film of his again under my suggestions, I'll happily watch.
Excellent film, truly. Great story, great cast, fantastic action and a universally important story.
