Hunt

Wow, this was a surprise. I knew about Lee Jung-jae's directorial debut but I thought this was an average and messy effort. At least, that was what American critics made me believe. I should know better by this time.

In fact, I didn't find the story hard to follow at all. There is a dictatorship in place. Some people are fighting and want the President and the regime down. Some in the streets, some in covert operations. At the same time, North Korea wants him down for totally different reasons. On the N. Korean side, some people believe in reunification and other people only want to erase S. Korea. Americans, as usual, try to interfere and want the President down, even if at the same time they keep the diplomatic relations. This is basically what is happening and, of course, our guys have many secrets and we are always trying to find out who they really are.

I'm a big fan of political movies that work like chess games, especially when they have a big espionage component, and loved how Lee filmed some of these scenes, reminding films like Munich when this is about spies, reminding films like V. I. P or New World when this is a full action movie.

The editing is great and it's impossible to keep quiet during that incredibly final act. The acting was outstanding as expected and I'm really curious about what Lee does next. Great debut.

This action-packed film of non-stop double crossing was amazingly the work of a first-time feature film director, none other than lead actor Lee Jung-jae himself. Lee is a veteran leading man since the mid-90s, in acclaimed films like "The Affair" (1998), "Il Mare" (2000), "The Housemaid" (2010), "The Thieves" (2012), and "Along with the Gods" (2017, 2018). The hit Netflix series "Squid Game" (2021) made him a household name worldwide.

Lee was able to maneuver the complexity of this script (which he also co-wrote) like a pro. The story also went back and forth in time for both of the two lead characters to further elucidate (or maybe confuse) their relationship with other supporting characters (like Park's protectiveness for a certain college student) or their motivations for present actions (like Kim's experience as a soldier during the Gwangju massacre).

Lee also proved to be very adept in directing his major action scenes. Beginning from that fracas chasing the gunmen down in an American auditorium, the frenetic car chase and shootout in the streets of Tokyo after failing to secure a North Korean asset, and the climactic explosive showdown of assassins in a Bangkok palace. The way Lee executed the various scenes of violent interrogations and outright torture was realistically disturbing.

Lee Jung-jae and Jung Woo-sung have been very good friends since they were both cast in "City of the Rising Sun" in 1998. Therefore, even if they portrayed bitter rival KCIA operatives who hated each others guts, the two charismatic actors have a powerful screen chemistry together. It would seem that Director Lee allowed Jung to play the showier role of Kim. Lee made sure that even if both lead roles were flawed, you will empathize with both. You will keep hanging on undecided who the real good guy or bad guy was until the gripping finale.

Saw this in the cinema today. The movie is entertaining throughout, never short of action but both me and my friends are confused about the plot and what really happened. I think complicated story telling is not a good thing, it means the director has failed to explain something to the viewer. We were all not entirely sure what actually happened.

Acting was good. Action as well. You can stop reading here. And now I just have to fill up this text so that this site accepts my review which is annoying because I don't want to say so much more and you already read the important parts so that's it.

Initially I find it a bit confusing and scattered as there is a huge espionage and political plot here crammed up in 2 hours. Very confusing for someone who has not much history of South Korea situation in the 1980s. I had to pause to read up before I continue with the movie. I understand the movie is fictional but based on real events. It is entertaining and full of surprises, twists, double agents, secrets but it doesn't gel properly. The acting is believable and good. Thankfully the subtitles are good too but one must read rather fast as there's lots of fast speech and action and noise. Would have scored higher if the story flow wasn't so messy.

I think the story line is too complicated for a 2 hour movie, may be better for a 6 episode series so that the story can develop at a slower pace and viewers have the time to process and understand. Maybe it's ok for Koreans, but for me as a foreigner with little knowledge of their history, I find it difficult to take in the whos and whys. I have many questions while watching, why he is doing this, why he is suspecting them, etc etc.

On the whole this movie is not bad for a first time director. Action scenes and acting are great. I like the 2 male leads and other supporting actors are good too.