More of a Taken lite
If you're here for a movie with MDS, you got one. Full of action, and a movie that doesn't take itself too seriously. It can get dark in some areas but it never gets as deep as some of the more serious contenders in this type of genre.The story is ok! I wouldn't nominate this for any awards but the premise holds itself up for most of the film. Some situations are a bit ridiculous but since the movie isn't as serious as other high rated Korean crime films, you can excuse it in this movie.
Without giving too much away, I think one of the things that brings the story down is they try to throw in multiple elements and angles into the story and you can feel they don't flesh them out as well as they could've by the end of the movie. I think they could've done without some of the scenarios as well.
It kind of feels like they pitched all these ideas in and decided to only spend enough time on a few of them.
The actors are also just ok. Again, while this movie isn't as serious as other Korean films, it would've been nice if secondary characters from both the protagonists and antagonists were given a little more to do during the film. There are points where they help out for the most part and they did focus on the main good and bad guy but maybe it was a little too much you kind of just forget about most of them at the end.
For what the movie is, the music is fine. Nothing breathtaking or something I would nominate for an award but nothing memorable either.
Would I watch this again? Not likely but I wouldn't delete this off my list forever.
From the poster design, I think they made the right call by having it look like a serious movie since most of it is. There's some comedy sprinkled in that doesn't break the theme too terribly but the movie would've been fine without it.
Come in with low expectations. If you just need some time to kill, want to watch MDS beat people up, and don't want to get too invested in the movie, this movie is perfectly fine for that.
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It had potential with capital HAD.
Damn, I wanted to like this movie so bad but sadly I didn't. To be honest the storyline isn't new or refreshing, but if executed well, this could be another 'man from nowhere' but it failed. The story wanted to intertwine too badly, there were scenes that were out of place in my opinion. I would have loved to see way more of Song Ji Ho's perspective instead of focussing on Ma Dong Seok (whom I love). I didn't like it either that I saw some tiny movie mistakes (scene starts in the evening and the next shot is brigh day, too bad).The cast however is well picked, they were not the one to fail in my opinion, its the storyline and overal directing of this movie that had failed the cast. Also the movie was quite predicatble.
The music is what I expect from these kind of movies; a little bit dark and mysterious.
I would not rewatch this movie, only if someone would ask me to watch with them.
Watch this if you like kidnapping movies.
Skip this if you expect top quality.
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PROS
+ Well-paced story that has everything you'd expect plus a little bit of emotion
+ Clear character motives and a very likeable protagonist
+ While there aren't a ton of fight scenes, the ones shown are very satisfying
+ Nice balance of comedic relief and serious moments keep the plot interesting
CONS
- Although the runtime is 2 hours, it seems short
- The movie feels very comfortable, but lacks anything completely new or unique
- - - - -
This is a good intro to Korean movies, since it feels pretty familiar to some American action thrillers.
Don Lee is too cool to be missed.
8/10
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Disposable entertainment about a non-disposable wife
Some HUGE dude has his wife kidnapped; the villain offers a sum of money that would turn the huge dude's life around, but he wants his wife back. Apparently, it's a first - everyone else took the money!The huge dude then puts his size to use, one-punch-manning most minions who stand in his way of tracking his wife down and retrieving her. There's some failed comedy relief, the fights are realistic but not too great and the story isn't anything new, though it manages to hold the attention for the full running time.
To be honest, I'd much rather see tanks of men on screen than steroid freaks, so the lead in this is kind of refreshing and his stoicism made him always interesting, but this really is the typical middle-of-the-road kind of tale we've all seen before and there's not much to recommend it by.
That said, there's plentiful worse out there, so it's not a total waste of a film by any means.
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background movie
I mean, you see Ma Dong-seok, you kind of know what you're getting into. Beat up some bad guys, and have a happy ending.There are some funny scenes. But for the most part this movie will be forgettable.
It was good to have on in the background, and look up every now and then. Even though I don't speak Korean, I would still know what's going on after not paying attention for a while.
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Awesome
Awesome❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
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