The Spy: Undercover Operation (2013)

About an agent who is undercover in a foreign country while his wife has no idea what he does for a living.

Directors:

Lee Seung-jun (as Lee Seung-Joon-I), Lee Seung-jun

Writers:

Su-jin Park, JK Youn (as Je-kyoon Yoon)

Stars:

Kyung-gu Sol, So-Ri Moon, Daniel Henney

Cast

Credited cast:
Kyung-gu Sol	...	Chul-Soo
So-Ri Moon	...	Young-Hee
Daniel Henney	...	Ryan
Ye-ri Han	...	Baek Sul-Hee
Chang-Seok Ko	...	Department Head Jin
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Dean Dawson	...	Head C.I.A. Agent
Seol Kyeong-gu	...	Cheol-soo
Eun-woo Lee	...	Flight Attendant
Mi-ran Ra	...	Yogurt delivery woman
Kahlid Elijah Tapia	...	C.I.A. Agent 2
Troy Zitzelsberger	...	CIA Agent

Storyline

The Spy: Undercover Mission is an espionage comedy that follows Chul-Soo, a super spy whom is hiding his true identity under the cover of working as a civil servant, not even his wife Young-Hee knows about his true identity. Come the bombing at the heart of Seoul, Chul-Soo is sent to Bangkok to investigate a lead that could prove to solve the case. While on the job, Chul-Soo comes to find his wife Young-Hee, whom is supposed to be in South Korea, with a handsome foreigner named Ryan. Chul-Soo is now facing two difficult tasks; a mission to save his beloved country, but also to save his own marriage.

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Plot Keywords:

missile | helicopter crash | helicopter | fertility clinic | sperm sample | 

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Genres:

Action | Comedy

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

CJ Entertainment [South Korea] Official site

Country:

South Korea

Language:

Korean English Chinese Japanese

Release Date:

5 September 2013 (South Korea)

Also Known As:

The Spy

Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$22,468,512

Company Credits

Production Co:

CJ Entertainment, JK Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

121 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

'Myung-se Lee' (0497934) was originally set to direct but dropped out due to creative difference and production cost.

User Reviews

Good times with a Korean super spy and his oblivious wife

It was a very enjoyable and fun movie reminiscent of the old Arnold Schwarzenegger movie True Lies that was also a remake of a French Film called "La Totale". There are very similar elements between "The Spy" and "Trues Lies" but "The Spy" is far from a copy. In both, it features a super spy/counter-terrorism agent who goes on missions while his wife thinks he's just a normal man holding a boring, ordinary job. The wife eventually gets involved in a case. She's a flight attendant desperately wanting to get pregnant as apparently that's very important in South Korea. She's obsessed with that goal seeming one-dimensional even annoying at times, but she eventually turns out to be perhaps the best and funniest element of the film. The action mostly takes place in Thailand where, through sheer coincidence, or is it, the husband and wife are there at the same time. She doesn't know he's there but he keeps tabs on her as a tall, young and handsome man (actually a "terrorist") tries to subtly woo her for reasons unknown. The jealous and awkward reactions of the spy/husband make for some of the funniest bits. Very funny also are the reactions of a female agent at base regarding the handsome "terrorist".

It's a very dynamic movie with good action pieces and decent special effects that didn't really look computer-generated (as often happens in modern action/fantastical Asian movies). The plot itself involving a pretty North Korean nuclear scientist wanting to defect to South Korea is quite entertaining and full of twists, better than most action movie plots, as several agencies (from different countries) compete to get or keep her. Parallel to all that is our hero more interested in what his wife does than the mission at hand and having to secretly protect her because she keeps getting in the thick of things. I saw this at the Montreal Fantasia Festival. There were several laugh-out loud moments and I laughed too although I'm usually quite difficult when it comes to humor. I enjoyed the acting (except for all the Caucasian people who seemed bland and amateurish) but keep in mind it's played broader and sillier than what we're used to in North American movies, especially for the wife. The Spy: Undercover Operation was a very entertaining film from start to finish and I'd recommend watching it for a good time.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10 (Very good)