SYNOPSIS
A quiet pawnshop owner (Won-Bin) gets tangled up with a gang of criminals after getting involved with his neighbour's daughter.
SPOILER-FREE
This movie are one of those rare movies that managed to get a 100% (yes, you read that right) on Rotten Tomatoes. The story starts with how this quiet pawnshop owner somehow managed to bond with his neighbour's daughter due to her mother's very own lack of care of the child. The movie starts slow before going on a spiral fast pace upward after the settings are placed in.
I would say that Won Bin played his role very, very well. Heck, I don't even recognize the guy until after almost hafway through the movie (I stumbled into this movie through my friend's viewing). He mostly just used his body language, or his expression to convey his feeling, a true testament to his acting range. Not until halfway through the movie do we even have a sniff into his character's backstory. It's what made me glued to my seat. The curiousity to know what happened with his character.
The action is also very violent. They're not too reliant on guns so they would make do with other things like knives or anything sharp or blunt, which makes for some very good fight scene spectacles. It's what make Korean movies stand out from other countries. It's very well crafted, well choreographed. That final fight scene is one of the memorable scenes in the movie. They won't hesitate to show you anything, whether it be violence, nudity, or even worse. They don't hold back or shy away from any ugliness. It shows any grim thing at its core, it shows the visceral truth.
The chemistry between him and the kid also shows. They are a few very touching scenes between them that might get you. Sure, the range of emotions doesn't hit you as hard as say another Korean movie, Oldboy. But it did just enough to tip the balance of your mental state while watching the movie.
The antagonists in this movie also provided you enough motivation for you to love to hate them. They basically have no morals, no code, and will do anything to get what they want. Name anything you could think of regarding the mafia, the movie pretty much shows they do it. The only downside of this movie is probably the plot. It is a bit predictable at times. Though, the way they executed them makes you forget about it.
All in all, a very very good movie. It's Taken (if its good) + Logan in a way. There's not much that I can say that doesn't involve the plot. It is an entertaining, gripping, well constructed, violent thriller, bloody visceral, dark and grim at times but filled with hopes and rainbows movie.
A quiet pawnshop owner (Won-Bin) gets tangled up with a gang of criminals after getting involved with his neighbour's daughter.
SPOILER-FREE
This movie are one of those rare movies that managed to get a 100% (yes, you read that right) on Rotten Tomatoes. The story starts with how this quiet pawnshop owner somehow managed to bond with his neighbour's daughter due to her mother's very own lack of care of the child. The movie starts slow before going on a spiral fast pace upward after the settings are placed in.
I would say that Won Bin played his role very, very well. Heck, I don't even recognize the guy until after almost hafway through the movie (I stumbled into this movie through my friend's viewing). He mostly just used his body language, or his expression to convey his feeling, a true testament to his acting range. Not until halfway through the movie do we even have a sniff into his character's backstory. It's what made me glued to my seat. The curiousity to know what happened with his character.
The action is also very violent. They're not too reliant on guns so they would make do with other things like knives or anything sharp or blunt, which makes for some very good fight scene spectacles. It's what make Korean movies stand out from other countries. It's very well crafted, well choreographed. That final fight scene is one of the memorable scenes in the movie. They won't hesitate to show you anything, whether it be violence, nudity, or even worse. They don't hold back or shy away from any ugliness. It shows any grim thing at its core, it shows the visceral truth.
The chemistry between him and the kid also shows. They are a few very touching scenes between them that might get you. Sure, the range of emotions doesn't hit you as hard as say another Korean movie, Oldboy. But it did just enough to tip the balance of your mental state while watching the movie.
The antagonists in this movie also provided you enough motivation for you to love to hate them. They basically have no morals, no code, and will do anything to get what they want. Name anything you could think of regarding the mafia, the movie pretty much shows they do it. The only downside of this movie is probably the plot. It is a bit predictable at times. Though, the way they executed them makes you forget about it.
All in all, a very very good movie. It's Taken (if its good) + Logan in a way. There's not much that I can say that doesn't involve the plot. It is an entertaining, gripping, well constructed, violent thriller, bloody visceral, dark and grim at times but filled with hopes and rainbows movie.