Slick, ultra-professional crime thriller from South Korean writer/director Lee Won-tae (just optioned for Stateside remake*), a dandy slice of violent police procedural mayhem that lifts off when a brainy serial killer (your standard super-ego sociopath) chooses the wrong guy as his latest victim since inside the pricey car he regularly targets, no thick-set CEO to stab at will, but a thick-set mob boss who fights back. Injured, but alive after the killer takes off, it means the cops already on the case at last have an eyewitness to interview. If only the survivor weren’t also a wanted criminal, a top player in the city’s gangster scene. Played by vet villain Ma Dong-seok (shades of old-time movie star Wallace Beery, he reluctantly winds up playing ‘down-low’ partner to cock-of-the-walk police detective Kim Mu-yeol (shades of now-time movie star Brad Pitt. Both men outstanding, each with his own reasons for finding the serial killer first. They also have lots of backup and lots of rivals to fend off. A neat set-up, and Lee Won-tae directs the hell out of it, much helped by Se-Seung Park nighttime lensing. For once in one of these things, you can really follow the plot along with the elaborate fights. Too bad Won-Tae cuts so much when the pace of the film would benefit from a few one-take/two-shots when the leads are working out who’s gonna get what out of this unusual collaboration. Maybe the English-language remake will keep that in mind and vary the pace as big changes would probably just hurt things.
SCREWY THOUGHT OF THE DAY: *A cleverly satisfying have-your-cake-and-eat-it-too ending begs for a follow-up. No doubt visions of franchise helped set-up remake rights. Did they try a sequel in Korea?
No comments:
Post a Comment