Review South Korea

Troubleshooter (해결사), aka Trapped, is a South Korean movie that was originally released on 9th September 2010, the duration is 1 hour and 40 minutes.

About

When Private Eye Kang Tae Shik enters a motel to take pictures of a couple for an unknown client he finds someone who has been murdered. At the scene a video plays of the actual murder. The video will show Kang Tae Shik’s innocence but a disembodied voice blackmails him into doing a “job” before he is able to get the evidence. Then life turns very chaotic for the ex-Detective.

Cast

Sol Kyang Gu (설경구) as Kang Tae Shik
He has been making files since 1996 and has won numerous awards.

Lee Jung Jin (이정진) as Jang Pil Ho
He has appeared in more TV shows than films, as far back as 1998. I see that he was in the daily comedy/sitcom SoonPoong Clinic which ran for 682 episodes.

Review

The movie was actually pretty good.

The script was good. The film explains bit by bit what the “job” entails. I wasn’t quite sure where it was leading up to but I will give a hint, dodgy politicians are involved.

There was quite a bit of action and anybody wanting that would be satisfied with this movie. There wasn’t any unique elements of action as I’ve seen it all done bore but it was enjoyable and most of it family friendly.

The best bits for me were the comedy especially from actor Lee Sung Min. At first I was really fooled into thinking he was a scary character then a little later he turned into the comedy element. That part was well done.

All the actors did a pretty good job especially the cute daughter taking no nonsense from her incompetent Father.

I don’t actually remember the theme score or the incidental music.

I’m not sure I would watch it again.

I will give it a 4/5.

Where To Watch

This movie is available on Tubi. I haven’t seen it anywhere else.

Trailer

Black Knight (택배기사) is a Korean Sci-Fi drama created for Netflix and placed online on 12 May 2023.

About

The year is 2071 and toxic air has left the world in devastation. People rarely leave their homes and they receive deliveries through the legendary drivers. While many people live in the devastated world many also live in a domed city in comfort. The truth starts to come out about the other world.

Cast

Kim Woo Bin (김우빈) as 5-8
He is an actor and model. We haven’t seen him in any other productions but has a mix of TV and Movie related work.
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Song Seung Heon (송승헌) as Ryu Seok
He has had quite a long career, since 1996 in both TV and film. He is an actor, model and singer born in Seoul.
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Kang Yoo Seok (강유석) as Sa Wol
He has appeared in many TV productions since his career started in 2018, and he’s been busy.

Review

This show reminds me a little bit of Circle: Two Worlds Connected, however, Black Knight didn’t do so well.

The production quality and special effects were good, I cannot fault it at that. The actors did a good job too.

The show wasn’t written well though and it was tough going at first. I would say things started to come together after the 4th episode and the last episode was the best. I was expecting more, a little bit more context to the show. It felt as though they rushed to put it in a 6 episode format but left the action and the story out.  It appears Netflix-created South Korean content is very much like this, I do better with non-Netlfix shows, maybe it’s just a coincidence.

It can be enjoyable if viewers lower their expectations and want entertainment where thinking is not required.

I give it a generous 2/5.

Where To Watch

As far as I’m aware this can only be watched on Netflix.

Trailer

Cheer Up, Mr Lee (힘을 내요, 미스터 리) is a movie from South Korea that was released on 11 September 2019.

About

Cheol Soo has a perfect appearance, but he is a bit slow. One day, his daughter Saet Byeol appears in front of him. Saet Byeol has been sick and she has been in the hospital. They start on a trip.
via AsianWiki

Cast

Cha Seung Won (차승원) As Cheol Soo.
He received an engineering degree before embarking as a model and then into acting which established him as a major star. I don’t recall seeing him in any other show. His performance in this movie was amazing.
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Uhm Chae Young (엄채영) as Saet Byeol
She must have only been about 12 years old when making this movie, what an amazing performance. Haven’t seen her in other productions but has a long list in her resume.

Park Hae Joon (박상우) as Young Soo
Another great performance, he began his career in theatre arts in 2007 and has been in many different productions since. I haven’t seen him before this film.

Kim Hye Ok (김혜옥) as Hee Ja
Long list of credits to her name, and she started her career in the 1980s. She was in the TV series Manhole which I saw a few episodes of but don’t recall her. She was born in Japan.

Review

This was a brilliant film. Such an emotional roller coaster too of comedic, sad and emotional uplifting scenes.

The story was very well done, at first I thought the script was leading us to one place in Cheol Soo’s mind but was in fact reality. It was such so cleverly done.

As an avid fan of daily Korean dramas it helped me understand some of the tongue in cheek scenes. Those who are watching their first Korean from might not appreciate the references.

The whole movie script and production was so cleverly done you felt emotionally drawn into and part of what was going on. I would want to watch out for other work by the Director Lee Kye Byuk and Jang Yoon Mi.

On many review sites people were scoring 10/10 for this movie and I totally agree. This is a must see film. Totally family friendly.

Where To Watch

The film is available on Viki and Tubi. Also on Netflix and Amazon depending on the region.

Trailer

Jung_E (정이) is a South Korean movie released on 20th January 2023 commissioned by Netflix.

About

From IMDB:
Set in the 22nd century, climate change has caused the planet to become uninhabitable and humans live within a man-made shelter. A war takes place within the shelter. Jung Yi is the elite leader of the allied forces. She becomes the subject of a brain cloning experiment. The cloning experiment is a potential key to win the war.

Cast

Kang Soon Yeon (강수연) as Yoon Seo Hyun
Sadly she passed away from a cerebral haemorrhage on 7th May 2022, while the movie was in post-production, she was only 55 years old. She is a veteran award-winning actress with her first film being in 1977 and TV drama in 1979. The Korea Times has this interesting article.

Ryu Kyung Soo (류경수) as Kim Sang Hoon
He is best down for drama series such as Itaewon Class and Confession. Jung_E is not his only Netflix production, previously in the 2021 series Hellbound in the upcoming series Glitch.

Review

The best thing about this film was the special effects. Very interesting landscapes and the robot scenes were faultless, including the fight scenes.

The film was let down by the script. They should have focused on improving that.

I take this as a more action movie than anything. So, don’t expect Shakespeare.

With the exception of Kong Soon Yeon the acting wasn’t that great either. The three elements of the film just didn’t come together ie CGI, story and acting.

Unfortunately, when we started watching the movie Netflix defaulted to the English dubbed version rather than the Korean voice and English subtitles. I never watch anything that is dubbed in English because the voices they use are patronizing. This was the case with this film, it was just dreadful, especially the voice of the character Kim Sang Hoon.  Later on, I did watch parts of the film that hadn’t been dubbed and it was much better.

Summary

I don’t want to rate this movie since it was all over the place, I suggest viewing it and deciding for yourself.

Where To Watch

This film is only available on Netflix, it’s in their Top 10 in Canada.

Trailer

6/45 is a military comedy movie from South Korea that was released on 24th August 2022.

About

This a story of South and North Korean soldiers meetings up secretly when the wind blows a first-prize lottery ticket, with a substantial win, into Korea’s military demarcation line.

Cast

The cast seemed very familiar but don’t recall where we have seen them, certainly not in any of the productions that are listed in their bios.

Go Kyung Pyo (고경표) plays Chun Woo
He has a decent list of TV shows and films in his bio. He did his military service between 2018 and 2020.
Instagram

Lee Yi Kyung (이이경) plays Yong Ho
A longer bio than Go Kyung Pyo. He has been in comedic roles before. Not sure if he has done his military service. His father is the CEO of LG Innotek.
Instagram

Review

Although I’ve seen South and North related TV shows and films before this one feels very different as it has a comedic aspect and the story is very well written with more than one meaning.

The film did go into a small number of cultural differences between the South and North. They did seem to learn from each other regarding each other’s good points.

While it is a comedy film I think there is a more serious part of the film seeing the South and North work together on a common goal and they all were in agreement that they look forward to unification.

The best moments of the film were the animal scenes in North Korea and the German translation in South Korea. These scenes were just so well done and very memorable moments.

This film couldn’t have been made by any other country as the scenarios just don’t exist.

One of the best Korean films I have ever seen, I will give it 5/5. It is a must-see movie, great for family holiday viewing.

Trailer

Secret House (비밀의 집) is a 124-episode South Korean soap-opera style show that aired between 11 April through 10 October 2022.

About

Lawyer Woo Ji Hwan, who comes from a poor family, goes against a rich family to seek revenge for the dreadful things they did to his mother who is suffering from dementia. He discovers many life-changing secrets along the way including revelations about his past.

Cast

Seo Ha Joon (서하준) plays Woo Ji Hwan
He was the main character in the show which some have said to see a male leased is unusual for a daily soap. It looks as though he was the main driving force behind the scenes too. The media tried to make a big deal of a recent controversial event the actor went through but fans wasn’t having it. He has been in soaps more than any other shows.
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Lee Young Eun (이영은) plays Baek Joo Hong
She has been in a large variety of soaps, regular TV shows and movies, I haven’t seen her in any other of her productions.  She won the New Star Award at the SBS Drama Awards in 2007.
Instagram

Jung Heon (김정헌) plays Nam Tae Hyung
He is an actor and model and appeared in a number of soap opera’s and TV shows, plus some movies.  I’ve not seen him in any other productions.
Instagram

Kang Byul (강별) plays Nam Tae Hee
She appeared in Rooftop Prince, one of my favourite Korean shows, but I do not recall her in it but it was just a support role. She has played in 3 other soap type shows and a variety of regular shows.
She hasn’t updated her social media since 2019 and it looks as though her Instagram page has been deleted.

Lee Seung Yeon (이승연) plays Ham Sook Jin
An actress and talk show host who has had a lot of experience.  She won third place in the Miss Korea beauty pageant and was South Korea’s representative to the 1993 Miss World pageant, she ended up in the top ten.

Review

There was something about this soap opera that just didn’t click, maybe it was just COVID making it difficult to film and keep things together.

The storyline was good, plenty of twists and turns. However, I don’t think there was enough content within that story to keep the pace going for the first 80% of the show.

At first I got the perceptions that the acting just wasn’t that good. Some actors just stood there like wooden planks and didn’t have much to contribute, such as Jo Yoo Shin.There was the nurse of the grandfather, played by Bang Eun Hee, she played an odd character who seemed to periodically talk to the camera to give commentary on what was happing on the show. Then I thought, well, maybe, the directing was pretty bad. It was difficult to pin point.

So, the musical score. There was little of someone singing the end theme, it was more dramatic like western soaps. However, the music was over dramatic for some scenes, or there was a gap when people were staring into space before the closing sequence happened. Kind of odd.

There were the usual product placements through the series, mostly the same brand of health supplements seen in other soaps. Also, some kind of vibrating bed and a food company where they send you the ingredients then make at home.

Overall, I did enjoy the show though. Certainly a memorable soap opera. It’s tough to score as some parts were a little dull but others were outstanding.  So, I will be coward and don’t score it at all, just watch it.

Trailer

Alienoid (외계+인 1부) is a Korean science fiction movie that was released in July 2022 and received great reviews by fans.

About

Chaotic situations occur when a time door opens between the late Goryeo dynasty and the present day when aliens appear. Someone wants to seize the legendary divine sword in the Goryeo period.

This is part one of two films, the second of which will be released in 2023.

The movie is 2 hours 22 minutes in duration.

Cast

I’ve not seen the main cast in other productions but many have, some for which they saw the movie in the first place.

Ryu Joon Yeol (류준열) as Mu Reuk
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Kim Tae Ri (김태리) as Yi An
We did see this actress in another SciFi film called Space Sweepers
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Kim Woo Bin (김우빈) as Thunder
Thunder is the car/computer in the film.
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Review

This film is completely bonkers, in a good way.

This film had everything in it; UFOs, time travel, drama, comedy, wuxia-style fight scenes, shape-shifting robots, flying time travelling talking car, sleeper aliens planted in human brains and plenty of CGI. There wasn’t a single boring moment in the film, something was happening every minute. With so much going on a lot of credit must go not only to the actors but everyone behind the scenes, it must have been difficult to execute.

There is a good chance that any SciFi enthusiast will love it.

The negative for me was the movie moved so quickly it was quite confusing at times. Some commented that they thought the producers tried to squeeze so much in within the time allowed. I wondered if I had just missed some key elements of the plot. If at all possible I would recommend watching it at the cinema.

Asian movies always score lower points on Internet Movie Database, so it didn’t score well there but did better on Asian review sites and I agree with the latter. Can’t wait for part 2 to come out next year. It received a “critics pick” from the New York Times. I will give this movie 4.5 out of 5.

Links

• IMDB
• Official Site
• Rotten Tomatoes

Where To Watch

As I write this I’m unaware that it’s on any of the usual online services. You can, however, check out your local cinema listings, it is playing here in Vancouver, Canada in selected theatres.

Trailer

The Outlaws (범죄도시) is a Korean action movie that was released on 3rd October 2017.

About

The movie is based on real events in 2007 named the “Heuksapa Incident”. For a summary of this event please go to Korea JoongAng Daily.

The story is about a turf war between a local gang that runs Garibong-dong in Guro District, Seoul, and the Heuksapa gang from Yanbian, China. The Chinese gang use brutal methods and make a move to take over.

Cast

Ma Dong Seok (마동석) plays Ma Suk Do
He is the central character and adds much-needed comedy to the film. He is also one of the most popular actors in Korea. Known also by Don Lee, his nationality is American; before acting he was a personal trainer, he lived in Ohio, attended the Columbus State Community College then moved back to Korea. He made his Hollywood debut in Marvel’s Eternals.
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Yoon Kye Sang (윤계상) plays Jang Chen
He is an actor and singer, he started his career in 1999 with the K-pop band g.o.d. He won the Best New Actor Award in 2005.
Instagram

Review

The movie appeared to be very popular as they have released a sequel, called The Roundup, and planning a third movie.

If it hadn’t been for the entertaining Don Lee I might have given up on this movie before the halfway point.

The violence in the movie was continuous and relentless, in fact, after a while, it became a little tedious. Even the police were violent with each other at some points. The light relief came from Don Lee, very dry sense of humour, which broke up the monotony.

The story was kind of typical for a gangster movie. Lots of fights and smashing up people and places. Evidently, it was filmed in Seoul, maybe all the seedy areas that you wouldn’t see in soap operas.

The film won 12 out of 14 awards which is amazing. I notice the awards were mainly “Best Actor”, “Best New Director”, and “Best Supporting Actor”.

So, what did I think of it? It was ok. Not really my thing. More on violence than story, I would prefer the other way round. I will give it a generous 3 out of 5.

Where To See It

Prime Video (not in Canada by the looks of it). Viki and Tubi.

Trailer