The Movie - Deliver Us From Evil / 다만 악에서 구하소서
The Director: Hong Won-chan
The Cast: Hwang Jung-min, Lee Jung-jae, Park Jung-min, Choi Hee-seo
The Story: An assassin goes to Thailand in order to solve a kidnapping case linked to him, and finds himself chased by a man whose sibling he killed.
The Review:
Well, that was unexpected. I was hoping this action packed crime thriller would be good for a couple hours of solid entertainment and I should have known that Korean director Hong Won-chan's second feature film would absolutely knock it out of the park. The story features two of the most badass killers on a collision course, the build up is packed with tension, and the inevitable confrontations pay off in every way you want them to. The action and the fighting kind of feel like both of The Raid movies but more stylized and less focused on the brutality of specific martial arts styles.
Visually the movie is absolutely stunning with most of it filmed in Bangkok and other parts in both Busan and Tokyo. Hong really brings out the vibes of each individual city and takes advantage of some of the most beautiful and natural lighting you will find. Since I watched this on a copy of the Blu Ray, I'll mention that the bonus features on the disc are pretty solid and do a good job of highlighting how the director created the visual backdrops as well as some of the crazy fight scenes. There really is a lot of innovative stuff going on and it was cool to see how some of it was put on screen.
the badass characters I mentioned are played by Hwang Jung-min and Lee Jung-jae and both do such a good job developing their characters and also kicking some serious booty. Hwang Jung-min's character reminded me a lot of John Wick in how he's a retired hitman brought back into the game to do the things that only he can do. There is an inevitability to his character that makes the interactions he has with his daughter very emotional and, in typical Korean cinema fashion, leads to a heart wrenching finale that quite honestly had me all up in my feelings.
The Verdict:
Deliver Us From Evil delivers the goods and director Hong Won-chan raises the bar for Korean crime thrillers. This is definitely a movie you want to add to your collection.
Recommendations:
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