The Plot: I'll give you just the beginning of the film therefor not spoiling more than the first 15 minutes, the trailer gives you more. The film starts out in the snowy night, Soo-hyun (Lee) is talking to his soon to be wife Joo-yun on the phone, she is soon murdered by serial killer Kyung-chul (Choi) Soo-hyun wants his revenge and so begins a sinister game of cat and mouse. It may sound un-original, but let me stress it is one of the most original films of today in how it plays out. Utterly enthralling.
The Performances: Lee Byung-hun is utterly bad #ss but in a subtle, more toned down way, he mixes emotion and depth along with it. There is a reason to care about him. Choi Min-sik is just incredible as the villain, he's repulsive and menacing. Both performances are brilliant, as are everyone else in the film.
The Technical Aspects: The cinematography has it's own, very unique style, it keeps the film captivating, almost changing tones throughout, but never seems disjointed, always remains fluent. There is a stand out scene, and one of my favorites of the film, in which involves a fight with Choi and a couple of people in a car, it's astonishing the way the camera is rotating around the car as it happens, it's utter genius.
The Writing: No complaints whatsoever, there is some brilliant scripting in the final scenes. Other than that it never fails, it's not the greatest script, but it's still brilliant.
Re-Watch-Ability: Endlessly re-watchable, I can stick it on anytime and am always impressed.
The Verdict: Overall a flawless gem of a film, never fails to amaze, remains consistently hypnotic throughout, with brilliant cinematography by Le Mo-gae, amazing set pieces and a poignant and awesome tale of loss and revenge. 10/10, one of my all time favorite films. Thank you for reading my review!
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