Swiri (1999)

Good but not that good
3.5 stars

Lotta hype on this biggest Korean box-office grosser, but it's really just a well-made Hollywoodish thriller with Korean politics inserted. Some good moments and performances, but hardly the genre-bender I was expecting. When I watch foreign films I want the feeling that I'm learning about their culture. This felt like a Hollwyood propaganda-type film, only made in Korea. Communists bad, "freedom-fighters" good. Love good, hate bad...unless it's hate of the bad guys. Then hate good!
Whatever.
Overrated but with moments of eye candy and decent thrillerish tensions.
But then again, Titanic is the US's top-grossing film, so there you go.

The fan
I bought the movie because it stars Korean actress Yunjin Kim. I think this film surpasses most asian made movies. Being a fan of several CSI type television shows, this film is of good qualitiy for being made from the far east. But I have to say that asian suspense movies seem to dwell on making movies that end depressing. Someone you come to like or love always dies in the end. This movie was so depressing, it almost made me want to put a bullet in my head if I were the agent in love with the female sniper. Overall, the movie was entertaining to watch.

Through an Aquarium
Director Kang Je Gyu won a Special Jury Award at the Asia Pacific Film Festival for this movie. I appreciated the fine work he did on this film. He kept the pacing brisk, the plot developed with unusual twists and the actors turned in great performances. Kim Yun Jin who has been on the first three seasons of "Lost" TV series plays the lead, an expert assassin, committed to her goals. Choi Min Sik is a familiar face from [[ASIN:B0009S2T0M Oldboy]] for which he won a Best Actor Award from the Grand Bell Awards in South Korea and at the Asia-Pacific Film Festival & Blue Dragon Awards. As Park Mu Young in this film, he's the committed North Korean operative of the Special 8 Forces who capture the powerful CTX liquid bomb material and intend to foment war by blowing up leaders at a sports stadium. Han Suk Kyu or Johnny Kim plays agent Yu Jong Won who has fallen in love with a girl named Hyun, who also happens to be the sharpshooter Lee Bang Hee. Yu's partner Lee Jang Gil played by Song Kang Ho figures out the plot. Images of fish abound in the film. I liked the romantic scene shot through an aquarium as the lovers embrace. Criticisms about the fight scenes are valid. Similar thoughts ran through my mind as to how an amazing amount of bullets could not hit one Special 8, until the climax shifts and they all start going down like grass in front of a lawnmower. One minute they're invincible; the next they're dead. The thing I liked most about this film was the jealousy of the starving folks in the North of the affluent people of the South. I could see how these issues would resonate well with Korean audiences. While not perfect, this 1999 picture is well worth hunting for on DVD. Enjoy!