[3.0]
Disgustingly sadistic, slyly misogynistic, and, worst of all (from a narrative perspective), repetitive to the point of emotional dullness. I am pretty upset with how disappointing this film is, not only because of the enthusiastic reviews by other critics, but also because of the amazing first thirty minutes of THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE WEIRD that I saw and fell in love with. And with a track record that includes the highly acclaimed TALE OF TWO SISTERS and the fairly good A BITTERSWEET LIFE, I guess I expected some more imagination from director Jee-Woon Kim. Instead, he delivers a modernized, gorier revenge flick that is on the same level as I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE. There’s no deep characterization in this film, no deep emotional connection with plot or people, no unique insights into the mind of a man wronged. The theme, hammered into our heads over and over again, is the danger in believing “the ends justify the means” and the strong possibility that the “hero” will become just as evil as the “villain” in his revenge. These are the most boring and overdone ideas; I mean, how anti-hero movies have been around for decades, and done with far more subtlety and intelligence than here. Sure the film has a great style, but given the degenerate nature of the plot, I might argue that I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE or any of those ’70s revenge tales have an equal claim to superior visualization (in their dirty, low budget feel). With all the money at his exposal, Kim shows us a slick, dark world in which serial killers hide in every corner. In fact, that was one of my favorite moments of the film: our main serial killer, Kyung-chul (played with fanatic gusto by OLDBOY’s Min-Sik Choi) gets picked up on the side of the road by a friendly taxi driver, only to discover that this taxi driver and companion are ALSO serial killers bent on killing the passengers they pick up. After disposing of these two, Kyung-chul heads to the home of his old serial killer buddy and his accomplice/wife. And its anyone guess how many people our “hero”, a special agent played by the sexy Byung-hun Lee, has killed in the line of duty.
One of the main problems with this story is that our lead character has almost no backstory. We don’t even know exactly what he does as a special agent. We see his pregnant fiancée get killed (in the marvelous, seductively suspenseful opener set in a broken-down car in a field of snow), and yet all of Byung-hun’s emotions seem to be directed at himself. I never believed that he really cared for his wife, and he does very little to prove otherwise. All we know is that he is intent on revenge, and somewhat miraculously manages to track down three suspects in the murder, one of which is right (the suspension of disbelief in this is high, as Byung-hun has no trouble finding all of these criminals, and no qualms with torturing the “innocent” ones). Byung-hun has complete tunnel vision: it doesn’t matter who is harmed along the way, so long as his wife’s killer suffers. We are shown scene after scene of Byung-hun torturing the killer to a certain point, and then letting him escape, just so Byung-hun can chase after him again and repeat this pattern. Why? To prolong the pain, I imagine. But Byung-hun must be an idiot if he doesn’t see that the serial killer is enjoying all of this, as he is still able to kill and torture people when he is free. Look at the scene where Kyung-chul visits a doctor’s office: he kills the doctor and is on the verge of raping the nurse, when Byung-hun finally shows up to take down the killer (and then let him go, of course).
Kim’s story is not afraid of showing women get tortured; my problem is that none of them fight back. None of them have a voice. Even the serial killer’s wife/accomplice doesn’t have much of a spine to her, and doesn’t utter a word in the movie, and her lame attempt at attacking Byung-hun is easily thwarted. No, it takes REAL men to fight back (thanks Korean gender stereotypes!). Probably the most outrageous scene is the final one, in which Byung-hun sets a trap with Kyung-chul’s body, so that when his mother and son come home to look for him, they open the door to the cellar, releasing a guillotine that decapitates Kyung-chul right in front of his innocent family. Lovely. Good job Byung-hun. Kim doesn’t just bring his characters to an ambiguous edge and leave us to judge them; instead, he sends Byung-hun way over into the realm of unforgivable and unsympathetic sadist. I hated him. He was a moron and just as viciously cruel as Kyung-chul. I am sure this was Kim’s point, but why? What is the purpose of this? Revenge films typically offer both catharsis and repulsion over the bloodshed needed for this emotional release. I felt no satisfaction in any of Byung-hun’s activities. And for the actor himself, I am sorry, but as beautiful as he is, his acting was wooden and difficult to watch. Trying to cry and be emotional, Byung-hun just came off as a high school drama student. There were certainly inventive torture moments in the film, but really, did we need another version of SAW that offered all of the blood, but none of the sick fun?
burning retina 