Uahan segye

"Uahan segye" (Korea, 2007) tells the story of Kang In-Gu (award-winning Korean actor Kang-ho Song, who also played the lazy dad turned monster-fighter in "The Host"), a senior member of a gang called "Dogs". He is already planning to retire from his violent profession to lead a peaceful life with his family, mainly because his daughter (So-eun Kim, popular as Ga-Eul in "Boys Over Flowers) is already growing apart from him. In-Gu's success in his last "job" draws him closer to the boss. This in turn makes the boss' brother very jealous. This jealousy causes a series of professional double-cross and personal misfortune for In-Gu which derails all his noble retirement plans.

This is a different kind of gangster movie in that it packs a smorgasbord of varying movie genres within its 109 minute running time. It is basically a black comedy. The action starts off light and downright funny, but later it becomes seriously bloody and violent. There are also some scenes which were tear-jerkingly dramatic about a father's plight about losing the family he loves.

Direction-wise, it felt as if the reins could have been tightened a bit as some scenes felt repetitious, prolonged and confusing. A more rapid pace would have improved overall appreciation of this film. But overall, it was still a good and worthwhile movie to spend time on.