The Childe / 귀공자 - Movie Review

The Movie: The Childe / 귀공자

The Director: Park Hoon-jung

The Cast: Kim Seon-ho, Kang Tae-ju, Kim Kang-woo, Go Ara

The Story: In a desperate attempt to secure funds for his mother’s surgery, an amateur boxer searches for the wealthy estranged father he’s never met. But after a lead takes him from the Philippines to Korea, he is relentlessly pursued by a quirky yet highly dangerous man.

The Review:

Okay, so I wasn't sure what to expect from this movie, it kind of seemed like a prety basic, run of the mill action movie, the type that are jumping on the John Wick style gun-fu bandwagon. What I wasn't expecting was a really fun movie filled with great action, a genuinely interesting story, and a plot twist that I really didn't see coming. I guess I should have known considering that director Park Hoon-jung is also responsible for the two The Witch movies (The Subversion and The Other One) which are equally adept at providing great action sequences and a story that could fit into the same world as The Childe.

One of the major highlights of this movie is the performance by Kim Seon-ho who plays a character simply titled The pursuer or The Nobleman, a quirky, extremely dangerous, and seemingly invincible assassin type person who is hunting Marco, the main protagonist in the story. Marco, played by Kang Tae-ju is a Korean, Filipino boxer who finds himself thrown into a situation that escalations in intensity at every turn. Kang plays Marco as more of an every man which works great against Kim's super villain type persona which allows the two actos to play off of each other really well.

While there is a lot of spy stuff going on and some pretty intense drama, what really sold this movie for me is the non stop nature of the chase scenes which are equally exciting on foot as they are in super fancy cars. I don't think there's anything super innovative or game changing in nature, it's just all executed really well and definitely kept me on the edge of my seat all the way through. Any time I thought I might have a chance to catch my breathe from all the action, Park would drop a plot twist and then it was off on another chase with the stakes slightly altered and taken to a higher level.

I don't want to say much else here because of the nature of the story but I do have to mention that, by the end, Park has successfully set things up for possible future adventures from a couple of the key players. I won't even hint at which one because seeing who survives and who doesn't is half the fun of this movie. If you have an opportunity, definitely check this movie out in a movie theater, there's plenty here to warrant a big screen experience.

The Verdict:

The Childe is filled with non stop action and a compelling story that will keep you on the edge of your seat. Highly recommended as one of the better action movies of the year.