Well, after hearing so many positive things about this movie before watching it myself, I'm glad that thanks to the IMDb I can find some other people and reviewers didn't think so much of this.
Okay, it's not the worst movie ever made. Certainly not the worst action movie ever made. But it just doesn't work. Why? Well, off the top of my head:
(1) Though I am impressed how much they managed to get out of a $2-3 million dollar budget, there are parts of the movie that look really cheap, with the quality in these parts making the movie look like a low budget Canadian TV show.
(2) The frenzied camera movement. Maybe this was a deliberate ploy to ape popular American blockbuster directors like Michael Bay. Though this is one American film "innovation" that foreign directors SHOULDN'T imitate. The camera shakes around so much at times, often it's impossible to figure out just what is exactly happening! Other times I couldn't help but notice that it seemed to be an attempt to liven up some dreary action.
(3) Speaking of action... not that much of it! No, I don't want wall-to-wall action, but the action was really sparse. (And what was surrounding the action was pretty slow-moving.)
(4) Most of the action sequences have some really idiotic elements to it. Are we supposed to believe that 20 or so South Korean cops or military members will have to die for every North Korean they take down? (Well, if they keep doing stupid things like running out in the open...) If the South Koreans are so incompetent, how have they been able to keep the North at bay for 50 years? It's one reason why I wonder this went down so well in South Korea - do the people of S.K. like seeing themselves portrayed as idiots?
(5) The action in general was just generic shooting. Yawn.
(6) A lot of stuff that's stupid and/or not explained. For example, in one scene two terrorists take a woman hostage, while a number of South Korean authorities are pointing their guns just a few feet away. It seems they board a bus when the scene ends. The next time we see them, they have escaped. HOW THE HECK DID THEY GET AWAY IN THIS SITUATION, IN THE MIDDLE OF DOWNTOWN SEOUL, A CROWDED METROPOLIS? Also, how the hell are the North Korean terrorists able to CONSTANTLY get new uniforms for whatever job they need, keep sneaking past various security setups, etc. etc.? Oh - I forgot that apparently everyone in South Korea is an idiot, so that explains part of this mystery.
(7) The "human drama" - nothing we haven't seen before. There's the older partner who has the inevitable fate of (guess), for one thing, the big clue that's right under the hero's nose, etc.
(8) The "love" subplot. The actor and actress have NO CHEMISTRY! Even in the bedroom scene, one of them keeps their clothes on!
If this is what Koreans consider top cinema, it's no wonder we have seen virtually nothing else come out of their country!
Okay, it's not the worst movie ever made. Certainly not the worst action movie ever made. But it just doesn't work. Why? Well, off the top of my head:
(1) Though I am impressed how much they managed to get out of a $2-3 million dollar budget, there are parts of the movie that look really cheap, with the quality in these parts making the movie look like a low budget Canadian TV show.
(2) The frenzied camera movement. Maybe this was a deliberate ploy to ape popular American blockbuster directors like Michael Bay. Though this is one American film "innovation" that foreign directors SHOULDN'T imitate. The camera shakes around so much at times, often it's impossible to figure out just what is exactly happening! Other times I couldn't help but notice that it seemed to be an attempt to liven up some dreary action.
(3) Speaking of action... not that much of it! No, I don't want wall-to-wall action, but the action was really sparse. (And what was surrounding the action was pretty slow-moving.)
(4) Most of the action sequences have some really idiotic elements to it. Are we supposed to believe that 20 or so South Korean cops or military members will have to die for every North Korean they take down? (Well, if they keep doing stupid things like running out in the open...) If the South Koreans are so incompetent, how have they been able to keep the North at bay for 50 years? It's one reason why I wonder this went down so well in South Korea - do the people of S.K. like seeing themselves portrayed as idiots?
(5) The action in general was just generic shooting. Yawn.
(6) A lot of stuff that's stupid and/or not explained. For example, in one scene two terrorists take a woman hostage, while a number of South Korean authorities are pointing their guns just a few feet away. It seems they board a bus when the scene ends. The next time we see them, they have escaped. HOW THE HECK DID THEY GET AWAY IN THIS SITUATION, IN THE MIDDLE OF DOWNTOWN SEOUL, A CROWDED METROPOLIS? Also, how the hell are the North Korean terrorists able to CONSTANTLY get new uniforms for whatever job they need, keep sneaking past various security setups, etc. etc.? Oh - I forgot that apparently everyone in South Korea is an idiot, so that explains part of this mystery.
(7) The "human drama" - nothing we haven't seen before. There's the older partner who has the inevitable fate of (guess), for one thing, the big clue that's right under the hero's nose, etc.
(8) The "love" subplot. The actor and actress have NO CHEMISTRY! Even in the bedroom scene, one of them keeps their clothes on!
If this is what Koreans consider top cinema, it's no wonder we have seen virtually nothing else come out of their country!