Silent Assassin

Pretty solid overall movie that's less known, unlike those overrated by fake and pretentious reviews, this is pretty well made in all aspects like the story, acting and actions. This movie is underrated by critics, while silly movies like parasite is being overrated.

While this movie has not as much impact as other Korean action movies, this still has quite a lot of punches in it. The movie itself stars with one big punch that hangs over the movie the whole time. It's about suppression and blackmail and it is about the late North Korean dictator too. But some of it is just facade.

There are motives to some of the characters that come off as clichés and you'd be excused if you didn't like this because of that. But look beyond that and you'll see a more than decent action movies. The action stunts are really good. The main character could have a bit more flavor though and some story strains get left behind to get to the whole picture. Good, but not great then

A teenage N Korean spy is sent on a mission to the South he has to kill some targets but then gets betrayed and his sister is used as a hostage. The killing was confusing at times- who and why. Still it's the kind of film that you can watch without getting all of it. The action is quite well done and the fights are intense. Some school bullying and some romance helps with the human element. Why he had to go for the final fight seems questionable. T.O.P. acts well enough and his action is okay. Not great movie but watchable.

Commitment is a spy drama that takes place during the change of guard in North Korea where forces in the North are jockeying with forces in the South. Into this struggle, the son of a murdered spy is recruited to go to South Korea as an assassin, his reward being that upon the successful completion of his mission he will be reunited with his sister.

The acting is uniformly good, especially from Seung Hyun Choi as the spy, Ye-ri Han as the girl he meets, and Park Ji-Il as the South Korean agent who hunts him down. Most of these actors will be unfamiliar to U.S. audiences.

In recent years Korean films have been able to master the art of action sequences - "OldBoy" (2003), "The Chaser" (2008), "Bittersweet Life" (2005), "The Man from Nowhere" (2010). The current film does well, but at the heart of an action film one must believe that the hero is capable of performing the feats ascribed to him. In this case, it's only partially true. Neither by dint of his own physicality, nor the back story, are we able to believe that Seung Hyun Choi is capable of the martial arts skills he displays. In fairness to Choi , he does do OK, so it's not a question of disbelief, but neither is there an unquestioning acceptance.

Apart from some good action sequences, the film is an interesting travelogue about life in South Korea, as well as a look at police work in that Country.

The son and daughter of a falsely-accused North Korean traitor are imprisoned for their father's crime; one day, the son is given the chance to not only earn their freedom, but to erase the stain on their family name by becoming a spy.

Sparing us the needless training scenes, our anti-hero enters the South, the Republic of Korea, as a refugee, where he is "adopted" by North Korean handlers (despite being an adult) and sent to school. Okay, so I've no idea at what age Koreans leave school, but this seemed weird... but not as weird as teachers bullying pupils with a wooden cane before leaving them unsupervised. Still, carry on...

The lead soon develops an attachment with a classmate, and even though there's never any romance per se, there is a genuine chemistry, which makes their relationship feel more meaningful than just two horny teens bonking. And this is important, because we already know she'll most likely be kidnapped - but certainly used against him - later on by his enemies. This is an action flick, after all.

But what's this? As our spy sets about his duty, a rival faction's bumping his fellow spies off as a major player seeks to usurp power in the North.

Yeah, I really liked this part of the plot, just as I really liked how our young spy understood none of it, being naive to the ways of the world. Anyway, the story twists and turns, there are shoot outs, plenty of kick-arse fights scenes and then we get to the ending, which is either going to be the typical Hollywood ending (the hero rides off into the sunset with the girl) or the typical Korean one (i.e. everybody dies), because so far, the film hasn't broken any seriously new ground to elevate it beyond being a merely good action-thriller. And South Korea knocks them out by the dozen.

So, if you're new to Korean cinema, you'll likely love this flick, but for fans who have seen it all before, there's really not enough here to recommend, even though it is very enjoyable while it lasts.