Yaksha: Ruthless Operations

But nonetheless still a very exciting action packed thriller. I don't think this movie would be allowed to be released in China, 'cause most of the incidents happened in a north-east China city. Both South Korean and Japanese were involved in non-stop battles against each other, trying to get a top secret from the North Korean chief of intelligence. The acting part from the South Korean actors were absolutely great. The screenplay was also carried out perfectly. All the fighting scenes also looked quite real and seamless. This movie also carried a hidden message that both North Korea and South Korea seemed to realize neither Japanese nor American government would like to have a unified Korea and, of course, neither CCP China like North Korea united with South Korea. This hidden message is just an open secret that most of the people in the world, except those naive ones, already knew such fact. This is a very unique and exciting thriller, even it's a bit absurd, still highly recommended.

Scrolling through the Netflix catalog, I bumped into this fairly new entry. I'm into Eastern movies in general, so I decided to give this one a try after seeing the trailer and synopsis.

Yaksha: Ruthless Operations (YRO) is a spy action thriller about spy agents from different countries fighting and a seemingly conspiracy in the air. In the middle of this mess, we have Ji-hoon, a prosecutor that got demoted because his team messed up one investigation to bring down the leader of a major company for corruption.

This movie is not stereotypical. The action scenes are ok, although you get hints of the often-used martial arts in Eastern movies. The shots are nice and colorful enough to keep you hooked.

Plot-wise, though, I dont know. I found it too convoluted for no reason. The plot revolves around Ji-hoon getting demoted to an investigator. His mission is to investigate a Black Ops Team operating in Shenyang, China, led by Kang-in, notorious for being ruthless and whatever. The movie focus on the bound between Kang-in, Ji-hoon, and the team, while they fight their way to uncover a master conspiracy. The problem is the conspiracy, although serious, seems kinda overreacted. When you get your answers, you see it is a pretty straightforward plot that twists itself over and over to seem complicated. Some characters come and go too quickly, leaving you confused as to whom is the actual vilain (and why.)

YRO is lenghty. I believe this is mainly because they overcomplicated the plot.

Overall, ok. I don't know if I would recommend as a great movie to watch, but if someone wants a fresh taste of movie, go for it. It is not bad, just regular.

While some of the action scenes were filmed rather poorly, the action scenes were acceptable. It is a nothing special, solid enough spy movie. The background is very visually cool. And the writing was fine. There is nothing wrong with this film, its just not a special movie or a movie that stands out. But thats not always bad. Overall if you like spy films this is a solid enough spy film.

...except that it only cost a fraction to make, that it was made by filmmakers who seem to still believe that movies should be fun, and that it employs every cliché in the spy movie playbook, including probably some not yet invented.

The movie stars the veteran Sol Kyung-gu as Ji Kang-in, one of these rugged agents whose standard operating procedure indeed seems ruthless. He has a pre-credits teaser in Hong Kong at his disposal to prove his worth looking for a double agent and leaving bodies everywhere.

If I attempted to write a plot summary, I would most likely be writing well into next year, so let's say that the action shifts to Shenyang in northeast China four years later. The former Seoul prosecutor Han Ji-hoon (Park Hae-soo) comes to the city now representing NIS - South Koreas answer to CIA - to check out a supposed information leak. Is there a mole in agent Ji's team? Agent Ji sure hasn't found the one he been looking for himself.

The banter between Sol Kyung-gu and Park Hae-soo as polar opposites makes for some good fun in between a lot of shooting and a lot of plot. The movie's politics is equally offensive to everyone, from the North Koreans to the Japanese, while the Chinese apparently couldn't care less as the Shenyang police is mostly nowhere in sight despite all the gunfights going on in broad nightlight.

The idea of Shenyang as a hotbed for spies is a bit like Istanbul in "From Russia With Love", so maybe this is what the 1960s Cold War spy thrillers have developed into for the 2020s?

It's fast-paced fun, anyway, full of blood and guts. But it's not a movie to think too deeply about.

Well directed and written, excellent S/VFX and fight choreography, perfectly cast and performed with great pacing, score, cinematography and landscapes/sets. Another Netflix win!