Korean

COLD EYES ‘Gam-si-ja-deul’ (2013)

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This South Korean remake of the Hong Kong film Eye in the Sky is a well made thriller about surveillance cops and specialist robbers. It’s slick, pacey and well choreographed.

Where it fell short for me was in the fleshing out of the characters. Or lack thereof.
The cops got a little chance to become three dimensional but the robbers are denied any opportunity. I have to be invested to care and that usually happens when the writing is clear and the characters are real. Don’t get me wrong, the acting was fine, believable but I was left as the audience wanting to go deeper, psychologically, into the whys and whos. This aspect was missed, unfortunately. No real stand outs but I enjoyed Lee Jun-Ho as Squirrel.

I just read that there were two directors, Ui-seok Jo (1st film) and Kim Byeung-seo  (3rd film).
For a first film (and third) it’s not bad but what it ultimately lacked in character it made up for in the set pieces. There is a lot of action and it’s a whole lot better than most films of that ilk from the holiest of woods.

I would be interested in watching Eye in the Sky and they do a little nod to it by giving Simon Yam (a big Hong Kong star) a cheeky cameo.

IMDB describes it as ‘A high-tech police surveillance team attempts to take down a gang of ruthless bank robbers.’
Translation hi-tech=Enemy of the State, ruthless bank robbers=Heat, very good films (especially Heat) but they delivered a truer emotional foundation.

So the equation goes:
Enemy of the State + Heat –Taking of Pelham 123 – Dog Day afternoon = Cold Eyes

Well that’s all a bit of nonsense isn’t it? The equation, that is.

A sturdy enough action film that will entertain while not breaking the bank of emotion.

3/5

BUY IT ON DVD HERE

NEW WORLD (Sin-se-gae) (2013)

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Cops, gangsters, deceit.

From the writer of I Saw the Devil (a big South Korean hit in 2012), and starring Oldboy himself Choi Min-sik, New World takes us into the intricate political world of cops and robbers, this slick thriller starts off brilliantly but meanders in the last hour.

Everything that happens in it is justified and interesting it just needed a little finer editing.

Performances are solid, standout is Hwang Jeong-min as gangster Jeong Cheong, whom I’d seen before in the excellent A Bittersweet Life.
Choi Min-sik is always on it bringing to life the world weary cop who is not much different morally than the main gangstas. Lee Jung-jae as our protagonist delivers a sturdy rendition of a man trapped betwixt 2 worlds.

It’s still a gangster film that has quality plastered all over it, the costumes, the music, the performances but this is the director Park Hoon-jung’s second film and I feel it lacks experience especially in the composition.

(Although Ridley Scott has had a bunch of experience and he still churned out American Gangster, so what do I know?)
Some of it was too protracted and it took too long to say what it could have said in much simpler, clearer terms.

I’d much rather see an above average South Korean film any day of the week as opposed to a Liam Neeson/Jason Statham thriller.
Not the best film in the world but if you dig a classy gangster tale told in a way only the South Koreans are bringing it then chickety check it.

3.2/5

BUY THE BLU-RAY DVD HERE