Commitment

The teenage son (Seung Hyun Choi)of a failed North Korean spy, is given the ultimatum to work as a sleeper spy in South Korea or face death for he and his sister. Along the way, there are choices to be made. Commitment is not the best spy movie by far, but it has a certain fresh earnestness and heart to it, as exemplified in the performances of it's lead actors Seung and Han Ye-ri. There's a poetic kind of coming of age theme against the backdrop of the obvious hard life choices of the plot similar to a Le Femme Nikita.

A Hard Day

Writer and director Kim Seong-hun's A Hard Day is a pretty modest crime thriller starring Lee Sun-kyun as a crooked cop thrown into an even more crooked situation. At times, the plot is a bit bombastic and unfathomable, and Kim seems to relish in it by comfortably showcasing the black humor of it in moments against the  dangerous desperation of the characters.  Coupled with Lee's performance, it's that type of varied adeptness throughout that keeps the film thoroughly engaging to the end.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

I remember standing in line as a kid to see the first Star Wars and the excitement that ensued in seeing it.  Star Wars: The Force Awakens is definitely the best one since the original trilogy. (Episodes 1, 2, & 3, forget about it really) The title is certainly appropriate on all levels, as it reboots and redeems the original story and turns it on its head. Much credit to director and co-writer  J. J. Abrams, who has certainly now proved again that he knows how to perform movie CPR on classic film franchises.  Daisy Ridley and John Boyega are the lead newcomers and they more than hold their own here. The villains here could have been more formidable, I thought. But bottom line, it was damn good, especially in a time when cgi, special effects, and other successful competing movie franchises dominate the waters.  It's an incredible feat to compete with those elements, but more incredible to compete with the original from 38 years ago and make it relevant to a new generation.

The Admiral: Roaring Currents

Starring Choi Min-sik (Old Boy) and directed by Kim Han-min (War Of The Arrows), The Admiral: Roaring Currents is another historical epic by South Korea that is superb in audience engagement and captivating naval battles and strategy. Yi Sun-sin, as would be expected, is great in the role of the weary and infamous Admiral Yi Sun-sin and the film moves in a heightened pace that is similar to John Woo's Red Cliff films. However, it could have taken a cue from Woo and benefited with a longer viewing time, as the battle strategy were very muddled in certain parts. Not to mention, a historically, subtitled account at the conclusion of the film to match the opening, would have rounded the film out all the better.

Kundo: Age Of Rampant

It's no Magnificent Butcher, but a mediocre and at times enjoyable Korean period tale that borrows heavily from the Kill Bill movies, spaghetti westerns, and other genres sliced together (pun not intended).

War Of The Arrows

It took me a while to finally viewing 2011's War Of The Arrows, (stuck in the my list of Netflix forever) but it proved to be a rewarding wait. Written and directed by Kim Han-min and starring Park Hae-il, Kim Mu-yeol, and Moon Chae-won, it's a great Korean period action drama in the tradition of Musa The Warrior. What sets it apart from other martial arts films, is the obvious delving into the world of the ancient Korean archer warriors and the engaging and suspenseful action of characters you actually come to care about. Where it lacks is in investing enough time in the backstory and interaction of the 3 primary characters and their relationship to each other. That certainly would have filled out the story even more on every level, without digressing from the film's nationalistic stance. Irregardless, it's a great film that to it's credit, is not overblown with the sometimes heavy handed trappings of Asian aesthetics that can over saturate and take away from everything else.  Story, character, setting, and action all serve to underline the themes here.

No Tears For The Dead

No Tears For The Dead is your typical hit man seeking retribution for his actions, type of Korean action film starring Dong-gun Jang (Dangerous Liaisons and Tae Guk Gi: The Brotherhood of War and written and directed by Jeong-beom Lee (The Man From Nowhere).  Considering it was made 4 years after The Man From Nowhere, I don't know if Lee was trying too hard to duplicate his earlier success with a similar story or what.  The international cast was used especially well here, too.  It has heart and great action, but throughout they are misplaced flashbacks and cuts that undermine much of the film's heart and plot particulars.  This left me to largely only relish in the nice action sequences and acting of Jang.