Mission Cross

MISSION: CROSS is kind of the Korean version of MR & MRS SMITH, following the story of an unhappily married suburban couple. The wife is a top police officer while the husband stays at home and runs the place, but of course he holds some secrets too and eventually the characters collide in a typical spy/action/suspense plotline. I found this one a bit of a disappointment as although the action is okay, it's too mannered and hyper-stylised to really work. Hwang Jang Min is a reliable screen presence but the actress playing his wife overacts horrible and the repeatedly forays into slow motion just look silly. It's an entirely forgettable action comedy.

Park Kang-moo is a sincere and kind house-husband to Kang Mi-seon who is a top detective in violent crimes division. What she doesn't know is that Kang-moo is an ex-spy and was forced to leave his past life after a failed mission. As he leads a boring yet satisfying life of an house-husband, a chance encounter with Jang Hee-joo, his junior will make him to go back to his life as a spy in order to help Hee-joo save her kidnapped husband. This case gets entangled with the one Mi-seon is investigating on and she soon suspects Kang-moo of having an affair with Hee-joo. As they both get into the game without knowing the players, the danger that follows will bring them closer. How do they get out of the mess and save their marriage, forms rest of the story.

The writing is basic at it's best and after the only big reveal about the mysterious villain, half way into the film, Mission: Cross literally is devoid of any intriguing moments and the action too is quite generic to stand out. All it leaves is the two main leads to kick up the spark and the comic timing to salvage what's left but that just proves to be not enough. Even with the runtime of barely 100mins, the film gets boring and the half baked screenplay doesn't really offer anything to remember. Spoiler, the film does end on a note opening up for a sequel but there is hardly any interest left to care for it.

Keuroseu or mission cross is a netflix orginal korean comedy film. I think it does very well and actually mixes comedy well with the crime elements. It has a pretty good cast that all work well together and the action elements are both fun to watch and funny, especially when the detective uses her knuckle taser. This film focuses on a couple, kang mi seon the detecitve and her husband park kang moo and she does not know about his previous life, so while investigating something major its not long before the unlikely heroes team up to protect one another in the ultimate test to their marriage. This was overall a pretty fantastic film.

That enjoyment is largely drawn from the relationship between the married couple at the centre of this drama. Their misadventures provide plenty of room for sparky dialogue amid a journey of mutual discovery.

The action that otherwise dominates the film is well-staged but not remotely believable. So if you like slick action it might do it for you. If, like me, action gains from emotional investment in the plight of those involved or a sense of palpable threat, then you will gain less pleasure from the shootings and explosions.

But I did still enjoy the husband and wife in the middle of it all.

A tough female cop is married to a house husband who secretly turns out to be an agent with skills. When he is lured out of his retirement to help rescue another colleague. His actions overlap with his wife's investigatio. The story is fast actually too fast. It is not confusing just if they had slowed things down now and then I would have understood the jokes better.

The action sequences are inventive and original and funny. Generally the humor is quite good with some laugh out loud moments amidst the fighting and shooting. Hwang Jung Min is versatile and adept at comedy. Look out for a homage to his other roles.