The movie opens by saying that it's based on a true story. Don't know how much of it is true, but the action packed thriller written and directed by Lee Won-tae played at Midnight Screenings section at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival. It opened in South Korea in May. The slick crime film has been picked up by Sylvester Stallone's production company for an American re-make keeping the lead Korean-American actor Don Lee a.k.a. Ma Dong-seok who had the break out performance in Train to Busan.
It's the summer of 2005 police detective Jung Tae-suk (Kim Moo-yeol) investigating a stabbing death finds a pattern matching a couple of other previous murders. He brings his theory to his boss who wants him to leave it to another crime unit. Jung is a bit of a loose cannon (think Mel Gibson in Lethal Weapon). He wants to follow up his ideas. When crime boss Jang Dong-soo (Don Lee) is rear ended and attacked by the serial killer (Kim Sung-kyu) he doesn't realize that he picked the wrong victim. The muscular Dong-soo, despite the multiple stab wounds inflicted by the killer manages to fight him off. Jung comes to question Dong-soo in the hospital telling him that the killer's M.O. is to rear end the victims before he does them in. Dong-su has his reputation to uphold. His gang attack the rival gangs as they are circling for a take over, so he must seek and destroy the killer. The cop and gangster make an unlikely alliance to work together. Whoever finds him first gets to do him in or take him to jail. To keep Jung in line and not betray him, he records their agreement. Meanwhile the killer is leaving a wake of bodies behind as the the gangster and the cop are in pursuit. The cops use their technical resources to analyze the hair, fingerprints and blood.
Most of the characters are fairly stereotypical for this kind of movie. The insubordinate cop, the motiveless killer that they sort of say was abused as a child, and the gangster who uses a punching bag with a person inside is pretty over the top. It's Don Lee who pulls the interest as he internalizes the character while trying to maintain his image against being the victim of a random attack. In his world he's the top guy. He's got an army of gangsters at his fingertips. It's bad for business as investors are worried that he's become vulnerable. It's imperative to take this guy out and if that means he's got to work with this wild card cop, then so be it. There are car chases, foot chases, two guys battling multiple bad guys. The action is endless and satisfying. It will be interesting to see where the American version will take this movie. At least we will get to see him as he has recently joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe film The Eternals
(Review by reesa)
Movie opens June 7 at AMC DINE-IN Grapevine Mills 30
No comments:
Post a Comment