It lacked a big brain energy.
It’s not like I expected realism - I went in to watch a fun action flick and it is more or less what I’ve got. Yet, it still bothered me how little it took for the main character to infiltrate the scammers and how the scale of their project did not match their security.What’s more, the movie lacked interesting characters. Gwak Pro had some personality and that’s where the list of interesting characters ends. Everyone felt painfully flat and boring.
Truly the best part of On the Line was the behind the scene of how voice phishing works and how many victims may there be with just one fake call center. It’s a good watch for everyone who is on the more gullible side.
That said, the movie serves more as a criticism to the government and the lack of effort and work put into catching the criminals, over a valuable lesson for the viewers. There are no real hints on how to deal with similar issues if they happen in real life, except “hang up” - the issue is, you only hang up when you know something is a scam, and figuring it out is usually the problem.
Acting was fine. Since everything was rather flat, it’s hard not to deliver decent performance.
Overall, I would say a documentary on the similar subject would be a more interesting watch.
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Be Careful to Not Being Scammed, Before It's Too Late
On the other hand, Byun Yohan is here! And it's A Day (KMovie) 2.0 again *evil laugh*A compelling storyline that touches on issues regarding voice phishing. Total propaganda schemes are exposed by the devil organization (sub and main) itself. It literally hurts seeing the victims being scammed without anyone's realization (me included ofc). But to resolve this matter takes a long time to get the owned money back
Looking at these involved scammers, including all arise mighty above bosses and below workers... made me boil to the core, due to their not being felt guilt while engaging these propagandas, of their own will... which is totally wrong, clasp my both hands into fists, for not being a part for returning respective money to the victims. I can't help but cry watching them helpless, not knowing how to resolve to claim theirs back
And do you know what I really detest them the most? When they seize opportunities in no time: whether the victims are happy, grateful... even also in a vulnerable state
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This review may contain spoilers
Watch and enjoy
, or its Korean title, , is a crime film revolving around voice phishing scams, and I’m not sure as to why they decided to have a different English title from the Korean, as the Korean title is also in English… Nevertheless, both fit the movie and its narrative well, but I’ll refer to the film as , as that’s the official English title.》The Good《
Right off the bat, Kim Mu Yeol was absolutely incredible. He fit his role so well, and made it really believable that he was a con artist. I can’t say that all roles were good fits, or that all actors gave their best performances, but I can for sure say that Kim Mu Yeol was extraordinary. He’s an astounding actor and his performance in this was the best I’ve seen of his in recent years.
Stepping back a little and looking at the film on a more macro sense, is about an ex-cop taking revenge. Does that sound familiar? , , and all have a similar overall theme. Of course, there are numerous differences and identifying details that make each movie what it is, but they all fall under the umbrella of ex-authority going after evil and getting revenge.
And zooming in on a micro sense, this is a small detail but the opening title sequence left a noteworthy impression on me. It was like an American crime drama series opening, with its text, music, and transitions. Moreover, there were a few chuckle-worthy points in the film, but overall the movie didn’t have much humor.
And most importantly, does an incredible job showcasing in a very realistic way how voice phishing scams take advantage of vulnerable people during unstable states. It’s extremely cruel. There’s a quote in the film that goes something like “Let’s show them a taste of hell,” and this is quite literally the case, as the scammers display a short glimpse of happiness and joy to the victims, but it’s actually cold-blooded evil in disguise. Extremely cruel and gruesome, and makes you wonder how a human being can do such wicked acts to another human. The scary thing is, this is all true and happening in real life. There are victims every day of these scams every day.
》The Bad《
With about 30 minutes left, the movie kind of goes south all of a sudden. It felt like they rushed to conclude, which is quite unfortunate because I feel like what they were able to accomplish prior was quite good. Nevertheless, I will also say that the overall progression was on the faster side. A sequence, after a sequence, after a sequence, without much deeper engagement. So I guess that’s why it felt like the movie rushed to finish even more, since the overall momentum of the film was on the quicker side.
Furthermore, it’s sad to say, but the ending was pretty unlikely, or very unlikely. However, with a movie like this, a hopeful ending and conclusion is almost kind of necessary. It’s just that it’s probably really unlikely in real life that victims will get their money back in whole.
There were also other parts that didn’t make sense. Minus small details, there were also parts that had me questioning some parts, like how Korean cops are taking the lead, especially when entering the call center building, when they’re in China. Shouldn’t the Chinese authorities be in charge?
And lastly, I said Kim Mu Yeol was incredible, but I can’t say that all casting were good. Most notably, Park Myung Hoon. Park Myung Hoon had his breakout performance in , who played the man that lived in the basement of the Park family’s home. He has a freaky look in his eyes, which shined in , and he had it partially in this as well, but it wasn’t half as notable. Personally, I think it was a missed casting call with him, as we weren’t able to see him at his full potential. He didn’t leave a big impression in this, and was like a comedic/parody character from .
》Verdict《
Good action, thrill, an intriguing storyline, and suspenseful moments were all found in . Movies like these are needed to raise awareness. The more aware people are, the less victims there will be falling for voice phishing scams. If the movie helped prevent even one more person from falling victim to these scams, one less victim, then I say job well done. If you are a fan of crime actions, or the main leads Byun Yo Han and especially Kim Mu Yeol, I recommend giving this a go. (○_<)
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More BYUN YO HAN PLEASE
Lol I think my slump is making me rate things higher xDSo the good:
Byun Yo Han as a 1st ML
Byun Yo Han with long hair and a beard
Byun Yo Han action scenes
Byun Yo Han and Won Jin Ah as a married couple
The story and development did keep me engaged
The bad:
Short yet long
The last fighting scene got too comical
I actually wished for more undercover activities
It was kinda like squid game cop guy's pov, not much depth and too much "action"
Like I wished for the MLs to form a bond so the betrayal got deeper
I did not hate BYH not turning evil to be undercover but I also would've liked a bit more, it all felt like it happened in 2 days
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