THE MAN FROM NOWHERE

"The Korean version of TAKEN"

What would you do if you lost your only friend, to a viscous underground mob. Cha Tae-sik (Won Bin, Mother (2009) is a lonely man with no friends and no one to care for him. But when he befriends his next door neighbor (a little girl), he soon finds his life interesting once again. For the little girl's mother is a drug addict and  prostitute who is controlled by the mob. One day the mother gets into deep trouble with her superiors, so they hunt her down and take her kid up for slavery.  Cha Tae-sik witnesses the young child's capture and goes after her. Cha Tae-sik goes to an extreme amount to try and save the kid. For example he goes undercover as a Currier to get information on who took her. Although once he is found out the man behind the ordeal sends his top assassin to track him down, as he gets closer and closer to the cause.

 The new Korean directer Lee jeong- Beom develops a film with overused cliche's, and a generic theme.  Although with these problems he somehow crafts an exceptional and watchable creation. He uses these cliches to establish amazingly choreographed fights. The acting is great coming from Won Bin and the little girl (Gladly her acting is not the least bit obnoxious).  The plot is fairly simple, although the beginning is kind of confusing and slow, it Fortunately heightens after the frothy- five minute mark.

With the same idea as the movie Taken, the viewer would think there would be no huge underlying message. Well think again The Man from Nowhere has a heart and soul, that makes the viewer care for the lose of friendship. The innocent relationship between man and child, is identical to that of father and daughter. For Cha Tea-sik finally has a meaning in life, to care for this poor forsaken child.  Sure people might say that's exactly what Taken's message is about. While it is similar, The Man from Nowhere actually goes deeper into the hearts of the human soul. While Taken is just your normal here and back again revenge film. The Man from Nowhere makes viewer actually feel the pain and sorrow between each character.

People who are looking for a extravagant action/thriller will get one, but people who want a sophisticated unpredictable plot will be slightly disappointed. Overall it's a great film to just sit back, relax and enjoy.

 Godly, 8/10 

I SAW THE DEVIL

"What if your vengeance was more vicious then the devil."

What if you got so caught up with vengeance, that you forget your place in the world?  In I Saw the Devil Kim Soo-hyeon (Lee Byung-Hun, The Good, the Bad, the Weird) is a secret agent who's is out hunting for the killer who murdered his pregnant fiancee. He tracks down the killer Kyung-chul (Choi Min-Si, OLDBOY) to unleash his revenge in a different way, through the game of cat and mouse.  The way this is filmed adds substance to an overplayed genre by achieving: a different take on revenge, the amount of hard work put in, and the overall feel.

The way the game of cat and mouse is played is phenomenal, and takes the genre of revenge films to new heights. This is not you typical cliche revenge film of the good guy hunts down the bad guy, then they finally meet up at the end, and battle to the death. This film lets the viewer watch as Kim Soo-Hyeon finds Kyung- chul and decides to toy with him, by playing catch and release. Kim Soo-hyeon's ultimate goal is for Kyung-chul to experience what its like to feel fear. But eventually Kim Soo-hyeon's plans get out of control and we find him webbing his own path to evil.

The director Kim Jee-woon (A tale of Two Sisters, A Bittersweet Life, and The Good, the Bad, the Weird) uses stylish direction and pushes his actors to achieve their highest form of acting. Which really shows in  legendary Korean actor Choi Min-si performance as the psychopathic/cannibalistic serial killer. His performance is so convincing, he makes other serial killers in films look like nothing. Other then Chio Min-si putting out an outstanding performance, Lee Byung-hun gives a strong amount of passion as our hero. He shows us what its like to go through an unsustainable amount of grief, and develop a certain amount of anger that makes him go off the rails.

The feel of this film can get extremely tense and at some point (if the viewer has a week heart) over the top disturbing that some have to look away. The soundtrack of the film works well and can be adrenaline pumping at some points.  Although The run time is two and a half hours long some may find it unbearable especially with subtitles, others who are used to these types of films wouldn't mind one bit.

Overall this film is probably the best korean film i have seen and Kim Jee-woon is now listed among my top favorite Korean directors next to the great Park Chan-wook (The vengeance trilogy, Thirst, and JSA: Joint Security Area). Although the only problem with it is the long run time. I didn't mind it one bit but as for watching it again, probably won't happen unless i see it with somebody else or wait a couple months.

GODLY, 9/10.

DRIVE

" The 21st centuries Art-House version of Taxi Driver."

A loner named Driver (real name not mention) is a stunt driver for action films by day, and wheelman for thieves by night. All is going well until he meets his next door neighbor Irene (Carey Mulligan) and her son one afternoon. The Driver (Ryan Gosling) and Irene Eventually fall in love with each other, but everything goes to hell when Irene's husband Standard (Oscar Issac) returns from Prison. The husband is in deep trouble for he has to pay his debt for the mob. So he enlist Driver to help him pull off a Pawn Shop heist. Suddenly the heist goes wrong and Driver finds himself hunted down by the mob.

Director  Nicolas Winding Refn (Bronson, The Pusher Trilogy) crafts a very unique piece of film. Drive  is not your average run of the mill action film. The directing is brilliant and steadily paced, The cinematography is as beautiful and arty as it gets for a mainstream film. The acting  and the dialogue on the other hand can feel either very emotionally well play to some, but to others it can get extremely awkward and sometimes boring. The way the plot unfolds has been done so many times before that you can easily know whats going on. Although the tension is so nerve racking it can be hard to handle or some, or extremely genius to others. the way it resembles the film Taxi Diver, is a lone driver tries to save the women but eventually gets caught up in bigger problems.

The bottom line is if you are looking for a high adrenaline pumping action film (like The Fast & the Furious series)  in which the trailer persist on resembling, you are going to be disappointed. Many mainstream audiences will think that it is and might walk out wanting their money back. But for the patient artsy film goers this is the movie for you.

GODLY , 8/10 

13 ASSASSINS

"A highly stylized, pulse pounding, blood squirting, samurai film that keeps your eyes glued from start to finish!"

The cult filmmaker Takashi Miike (Ichi the Killer, Audition) climbs even higher in the film industry then he has done ever before, with this bloody action packed samurai remake. Adapting from the original The Thirteen Assassins by director Eiichi Kudo, Miike strengthens the story and updates the visuals to the age of the 21st century. The plot grabs the viewer right from the get go, with the Akashi Clan elder Zusho Mumiya committing seppuku in order to protest to the shogun that Lord Naritsugu needs to be stopped. Thus he committed this act to stop his loyalty to the savage lord for he couldn't take being part of the all the useless killing. Lord Naritsugu is the antagonist, he preforms senseless acts of killing and he seems to always get what he wants.  But when an informer in the akashi clan Sir Doi can't stand what he has seen, and there for seeks to put a stop to all this madness. He sets out to find Shinzaemon Shimado a masterful samurai and informs him of the lords evil deeds; and how to put a stop to it. Shimado agrees and forms a team of twelve samurai and one bandit to vanquish the evil sadistic lord.

The direction, cinematography, and plot are what makes this film strive for victory. The way Miike's directs is outstanding, he seems fully focused on making this film great. The cinematography on the other hand is a class of it's own, for it is beautifully shot from start to finish. Miike really achieves great honor in making such a outstanding movie. The actors involved are so into it that they make the viewer feel like they are right beside them fighting on this mass suicide mission.  Although the plot is very straight forward but it doesn't seem to be distant in terms of substance. For the action never gets tiring even at its 40+ minute run time, plus there are some shocking parts within the film.

Takashi Miike as really made something special here and deserves a viewing if not multiple viewing. It's a 100% buy and ranks among the top of it's genre. Therefore it gets a 9.5/10 and is by far GODLY status.