[3.5]
A pretty solid Korean gangster movie, with some great cinematography and flashy action scenes. Its major failing is its attempt to show the emotional arc of its hero, which is admirable but ineffective. Hunky Byung-hun Lee (from JSA) plays Sun-woo, a seemingly loyal henchman for bossman President Baek. Baek instructs Sun-woo to look after his woman when he’s out of town, and when Sun-woo discovers that the girl is having an affair, he ignores Baek’s instructions to kill them and instead lets the man go and has the girl promise not to say anything. Of course, Baek finds out and has Sun-woo brutally tortured. Feeling betrayed by his boss, Sun-woo embarks on a campaign of revenge on his old employers. It’s a simple story, but its supposed to be backed up by the implication that Baek’s girl is the first woman to break through Sun-woo’s heart, and that his love for her is shown in his desire to protect her. But, I didn’t really care for her or Sun-woo’s stoic personality. And when another gangster (who I didn’t recognize) appears at the end and kills Sun-woo, I don’t particularly care. Sure the ending is nice, the flashback of Sun-woo staring out of the apartment window at the city beyond, while punching the air. Its an interesting study of masculinity, but leaves me cold to all the characters involved. Viewing it as an emotionless gangster movie is much easier, as there are several noteworthy scenes: the suspenseful meeting between Sun-woo and the arms-dealer, in which they race to disassemble and assemble the pieces of their guns is my favorite. A solid, if unremarkable action movie and, in my opinion, vastly overrated.
burning retina 