my first korean movie

Rating: 8/10 (21 November 2006)

After reading the article in Wizard about the top 100 best movie fights that featured the fight in the hallway as number 50 or something like that, I figured I'd have to see it. Than seeing as how it came with the Tarantino seal of approval, I got a little worried seeing as how his last movie (Kill Bill 2) was a stinker. But my worries were unfounded.
Intense, realistic and having the best and most perverse twist ending I've seen in years (although I could do without the last scene), it gave me hope that more Korean movies were this good. The fight scenes were well choreographed and featured real fighting, ie street boxing, not insane flying string work that he could never possibly pull off. There's a sense that he will not stop even if his a$$ is being handed to him and that makes it all the more intense. Plus he beats up 20 dudes with a knife stuck in his back, and that is cool no matter who you are.
As for the acting, the people saying it was terrible obviously watched it with the dubbing. Worst voice-over work on the planet! Even worse than some of Jackie Chans old Hong Kong films. But in Korean it's almost perfect. The relationship and how men and women interact in Korean society is spot on and Dae-Su's scowl and maniacal grin is perfectly befitting a man stuck in a room for 15 years.
I'm just glad I watched the film before reading the other comments left on this site, because those who call this a bad movie only watched it to badmouth Koreans and they should be ashamed, because this is a fantastic movie.