O compromisso

I watched this movie with no subtitles. This film is so well written that you can follow it even without subs. Really good film.

Commitment is very decent in everything it does and makes for an enjoyable two hours of spy games, just don't expect any really outstanding moments.

The son and daughter of a falsely-accused North Korean traitor are imprisoned for their father's crime; one day, the son is given the chance to not only earn their freedom, but to erase the stain on their family name by becoming a spy.

Sparing us the needless training scenes, our anti-hero enters the South, the Republic of Korea, as a refugee, where he is "adopted" by North Korean handlers (despite being an adult) and sent to school. Okay, so I've no idea at what age Koreans leave school, but this seemed weird... but not as weird as teachers bullying pupils with a wooden cane before leaving them unsupervised. Still, carry on...

The lead soon develops an attachment with a classmate, and even though there's never any romance per se, there is a genuine chemistry, which makes their relationship feel more meaningful than just two horny teens bonking. And this is important, because we already know she'll most likely be kidnapped - but certainly used against him - later on by his enemies. This is an action flick, after all.

But what's this? As our spy sets about his duty, a rival faction's bumping his fellow spies off as a major player seeks to usurp power in the North.

Yeah, I really liked this part of the plot, just as I really liked how our young spy understood none of it, being naive to the ways of the world. Anyway, the story twists and turns, there are shoot outs, plenty of kick-arse fights scenes and then we get to the ending, which is either going to be the typical Hollywood ending (the hero rides off into the sunset with the girl) or the typical Korean one (i.e. everybody dies), because so far, the film hasn't broken any seriously new ground to elevate it beyond being a merely good action-thriller. And South Korea knocks them out by the dozen.

So, if you're new to Korean cinema, you'll likely love this flick, but for fans who have seen it all before, there's really not enough here to recommend, even though it is very enjoyable while it lasts.

While this movie has not as much impact as other Korean action movies, this still has quite a lot of punches in it. The movie itself stars with one big punch that hangs over the movie the whole time. It's about suppression and blackmail and it is about the late North Korean dictator too. But some of it is just facade.

There are motives to some of the characters that come off as clichés and you'd be excused if you didn't like this because of that. But look beyond that and you'll see a more than decent action movies. The action stunts are really good. The main character could have a bit more flavor though and some story strains get left behind to get to the whole picture. Good, but not great then

A teenage N Korean spy is sent on a mission to the South he has to kill some targets but then gets betrayed and his sister is used as a hostage. The killing was confusing at times- who and why. Still it's the kind of film that you can watch without getting all of it. The action is quite well done and the fights are intense. Some school bullying and some romance helps with the human element. Why he had to go for the final fight seems questionable. T.O.P. acts well enough and his action is okay. Not great movie but watchable.