Save the green planet

This is one movie that almost succeeds in blending the most genres I have ever seen in a movie! What I like here: editing is top notch keeping the pulse on the suspense all throughout. Expectation that I had about each turn throughout the movie was mostly subverted. This movie being of a South Korean origin also succeeds in being bloody more than most of the other English movies I have seen. Is it as bloody and gory as "I saw the Devil"? No. Does it serve the story line and does the violence feel justified ? Yes. Story in a nutshell ? Guy believes that a rich industrialist is actually an alien and has been sent to earth to perform experiments on humans, guy is also a meth addict, nice curve thrown in to make the protagonist point of view an unreliable one, but is it really that unreliable and would the reveal of each truth along the way go to prove the protagonist as more of a nut job or will it finally reveal us the unbelieving viewers as audiences lacking faith ? Well both. Trust me you just have to watch it to know what I mean.

Tell me now was it good ? Think as I may I can't answer that. There are just too many genres mixed in here for me to blanket everything under one answer. It mixes thriller, crime, sci-fi and horror all rolled into one giant salami and serves it to you. I can tell you this, for me it really worked as a thriller keeping me on the edge most of the time with it's brilliant editing. Really could care less about the Sci-Fi ending that it took a turn to which seems almost comical and for me that sort of brought it down a notch. I must say though the ability and the gall of the director plus the writer of this movie to attempt something like this is definitely worth the price of admission for me! 3.5 stars out of 5

I saw the devil (2010)

After OldBoy, The Chaser, JSA and The Three Extremes I became a fan of Korean movies. Theirs is a different brand of movies which often do not shy away from violence and the protagonist in them often bear the burden of conflict (The pimp cop in The Chaser). They play up conflict really well and subvert the audiences expectation at every turn so much so at the end you would find yourself rooting for someone which usually is a slimeball. This was done especially well in OldBoy and The Chaser. I really liked The Chaser so I was eager to see if I saw the Devil would be like something in the same vein as that movie. Well is it ?

This is a story driven movie with a cop played by Byung-Hun (The Good The Bad the Weird) whose fiancee is murder by psychopathic killer (Oh Dae-Su from OldBoy) and vows revenge wanting the killer to "feel as much pain" as his fiancee did. Director Ji-Woon Kim explores just how far one can extend and bring revenge and also the consequences of doing so. Min-Sik Choi or better known as Oh Dea-Su here plays a totally unredeemable killer which kills anything that moves in a dress. There is totally nothing good about his character and through the movie you will find yourself wishing as much pain as Byung-Hun can inflict on this character and he goes through much pain.

Anyway, back to the story, I enjoyed the first 30 minutes of this movie where it was more of a traditional cat and mouse chase movie as Byung-Hun tracks down and kills the 4 suspects of the murder of his fiancee and does away with them. This is the embodiment of Dirty Harry where he is more interested to kill them rather than bring them in for questioning. I thoroughly enjoyed this chase and was the edge of my seat. The story takes a strange turn though when he finally catches up with Min-Sik and things do not turn out as we expect (I too felt a bit strange looking at the timer for the movie when at the 30 minutes mark Byung-Hun was plummeting Min-Sook with a large rock). "What are they going to show next" I thought .... Byung-Hun lets Min-Sook go with a bit of cash if you can believe it! This is where it got a bit strange for me. I guess the enjoyment you can get from this hinges on the fact if your mind can accept the fact that revenge prolonged by causing pain on you prey is better than just killing him the first time you get the chance .. For me I could see that but it was at this juncture too that I felt the movie sagged a bit and it could have been shortened to greater effect. Let's just say the first 30 minutes was 5 star stuff but the prolonged story line took me out a bit and it became 3 stars there on. Things start picking up on the final act when the prey finally figures out the game and plots a revenge of his own by biting back.

Is this movie good ? Well the general feel of it was not as good as say something like Chaser and I felt that certain plot lines were questionable but as a watch I would say that it still is a good watch especially the 1st and 3rd act. 3 out of 5 stars for this one.

Joint Security Area (2000)

Another effort by one of my favorite directors Mr. Chan-Woon Park. This tale that starts out which seemingly going to be a male testosterone induced shoot out fair twists into a tale of friendship, honor and war. I was watching this expecting an action flick but I was not disappointed. I liked how this movie with it's Rashomon-esque story telling is able to bring us from scene to scene glued to the edge of our seat.

Probably the only thing that would stop me from giving this one it's usual gold star rating is the ending that seems to be a tad too convenient (no spoilers here just watch it) and the final act that devolves somewhat into over the top acting and melodrama. Minus a few points there, but then as that takes points off from this movie the talented Mr Kang-Ho Song who plays Sergeant Oh. It's a nuanced performance who can only be pulled off by a an actor in his league good stuff +1 point there. I just loved all his screen time (as with all his movies).

Some other colleagues of mine says that this movie is unfocused, unbelievable with a humanist message. Is it all of that ? Yes. Does it make it any less better for me ? No.

In summary I give this a 7.0/10.0. It's a good watch and would trump most of the usual hollywood bs coming out these days. A word of thanks to the Korean movie industry for keeping this reviewer interested in movies :).

The Chaser (2008)

Haven't written for quite some time, but after I saw this gem of a Korean movie, just felt so compelled to write so here I am. This is one good movie! Whether it's taken as a cop movie, a movie of redemption, a sarcastic look into the Korean police system, this movie excels in all departments! I was kept glued to my seat right from the beginning when one of Joong-Ho a cop turned pimp goes in search of the person he suspects of selling his girls. Check that out for the part of the protagonist. The movie brings you on the ride as Joong-Ho tracks down the killer and arrests him, but all is not over ...

With a lead role like that one could have easily gotten it wrong by either making the switch of caring pimp to hero either too easy making it unbelievable, but here I bought it totally. Given the background of of Joong-Ho and his relationship with his girls and the relationship he builds with with Mi-Jin's daughter his transition from bad-pimp cop to the only cop capable to bring down the killer is deliciously good. The normal dependable police department here is seen to spot a clown's mask and there is even a scene during interrogation of the main suspect one of the policeman is standing on top of a desk in his pagodas!

The pace here is tight and the pace frantic as Joong-Ho unrelentlessly finds his target battling his cops ex buddies getting to his man ... not giving anything away just to say the climax of the show might be too devastating for some (it nearly was for me) ... The final fight scene while nothing as fanciful as Jackie's romps is some one the most memorable one for me. I nearly wanted to jump out of my seat and help Joong-Ho deliver the killing blow! Trust me, no matter how hardened you are on the US action movies just watch this last fight scene and tell me you feel nothing. I went in to it that way and I found myself wanting to participate in the last fight! That is how good it is! Kudos to the powerful action sequences. For the squeamish among you, you might want to give those last few scenes a miss as it gets really painfully bloody to watch. Here the excitement is not so much watching the choreography rather these are real action sequences and something you would expect to happen in real situations.

Also, here I would like to add I really enjoyed how the direction of the movie seems to challenge the audience about the stereotypical ending and proceedings of events in the movie. Everything from events happening to even the main characters themselves. The killer once caught initially appears to be this mild mannered good looking young guy who wouldn't or couldn't even hurt a fly given the chance, and at a lot of points the audience is sort of left wondering if this could be the killer while the protagonist in this movie is a good hearted pimp. The message that heroes in this day and age are flawed individuals who chooses to do the right thing effectively sent here and never heavy handedly shoved down our throats instead the situations presented here forces the audience to re-evaluate the role of hero and villain. This 'encouragement' of the audience to think outside of normal stereotypes kept me constantly on the edge my seat and elevated the movie from a normal cop or cat and mouse movie.

Reminisce of oldboy the cinematography here is beautiful but has a certain bleakness to it which beautifully accentuates the main characters plight and fight. It's great. Checking on imdb, the director Hong-Jin Na has another show in pre-production called Yellow Sea. I will be eagerly waiting to check that out. The Chaser has made me a fan!

Check out the trailer !



Easily ... 4.5 out of 5 stars!