I wasn't really sure what to expect before I started watching "Confession of Murder". The story had all the right elements for an awesome action-suspense movie, but at the same time the story had all the wrong elements. CoM could have gone either way- it could have been really really good, or it could have been really really bad. I'm glad to say that even though it might not be narratively perfect- it is suspenseful, action-packed and very smartly written.
Story: The premise is ripe with conflict and possibilities, but all those possibilities mean that there is a pretty high chance that a story like this could go wrong. Of course, CoM might not work for some people- in fact, in the beginning I was more than a little skeptical- but as I continued watching the movie I became more and more invested in all the characters. I found it really interesting how as the movie went on, my loyalties to different characters shifted. You might wind up liking some characters at first, and then hating them later, or vise-versa. The story is also very... thought provoking? It walks a very fine line between being completely unrealistic and being *too* realistic. The public's reaction to the Confession of Murder comes across as a bit much, but as the movie progresses, it's not difficult to see that happening in real life. Also,since I have absolutely no idea how the police or law works in Korea, I can't say either way if "Confession of Murder" did that realistically, but it seemed okay to me. The psychological aspect was dialed down, but there was a lot of action and mystery. The directing here was pretty awesome, and the chase scenes were nail-biting.
Acting: Let me just start out by saying that Park Shi Hoo was perfect for his role. I haven't really seen him in too many roles, but I've noticed that he can pull off the slightly crazed type pretty well. However, Jung Jae Young stole the show here. It helped that his character was so layered, of course.
Music: I can't really remember if there was an actual song to go with this movie, but there was a really awesome instrumental that was used once or twice. The music here was really important in setting the scene and creating the mood.
Rewatch Value: Half the awesomeness of this movie comes from it's suspense. If you already know what's going to happen next, you're not really going to be as in to it.
Overall: Wow. "Confession of Murder" was brilliant. If you're looking for a high-stakes action movie, then this is it. I wouldn't exactly recommend CoM to you if you were looking for something psychological or a straight-up Sherlock Holmes-esque mystery, though.
Was this review helpful to you?