Killerdeului suda

Guns & Talks is the third feature by multi-hyphenate Jang Jin, who wrote/directed Someone Special, an off-kilter romantic comedy that I really liked. Like Someone Special, Guns & Talks is a rather off-kilter film, being a genre hybrid between comedy and crime film, with comedy winning in the end.

The story deals with four assassins, bachelors and friends that live together in a rather simple existence when not going around murdering people for money. Of course, eventually, their lifestyle leads to complications with the police as well as their targets. That said, the film's story is rather scattered and it's hard to figure out what the story is about in a larger sense. The characters (at least three of them) do undergo growth and development and the story does move forward as their jobs take them into the aforementioned conflicts, but I guess my issue with the story is that there is no real overarching themes.

There are two points where this film is impressive:

1. Style: When this film decides to flex its stylistic muscles, it can be quite stylish. In fact, part of the joy of the film is watching how genre styles can be upturned as crime collides with comedy. But when the film is trying to pull cool, it does. There are a few amusing and enjoyable applications of split screen and some amusing use of alternate reality scenes as well.

2. Comedy: I really found myself quite amused during this film, actually breaking out into laughter on many occasions. Even though the overall story is a little unfocused the comedy is tight and appreciable. The setups are great, the payoffs are amusing and everything is rooted in the situation and the characters.

So, the film does have some considerable overall story issues, due to the unfocused script, but the film does well enough in comedy and in putting together some suspense that it still remains surprisingly enjoyable, despite its obvious flaws. As such, I can recommend it as an enjoyable film, but can't really compare it to similar hybrids by Guy Ritchie or Quentin Tarantino. You should think of it more as a comedy featuring four assassins. Good stuff. 8/10.

This movie is about four professional assassins living under the same roof and their tribulations with some of their clients, targets and run-abouts with the police.

This movie deserves to be seen since it is very well made and conveys a lot of emotion from all of the actors. It'll make you laugh, shed a tear and think. Although it never uses excessive gore or violence, it still has a very real feel to it. I recommend this movie to every action fan who has a sensible cord!

If you listen to all the promos and previews, you'll be told to expect a "Reservoir Dogs" clone. And you'll be disappointed. This movie is meant for people who like their violence semi-realistic and totally screwball. Fans of "Buckaroo Banzai", "Six String Samurai" or "High Risk" will love this. (I'm *not* saying it's wrong not to like "Guns and Talks"; I'm saying it's the wrong movie for you.)

The film is a lot of fun, with characters of varying morality that you never hope to be, but sometimes want to be. Leader Sang-yeon (Hyeon-jun Shin) is likeable and charismatic, a good moral opposite of the Detective (Jin-yeong Jeong). The rest of the cast are funny and well acted. The only flaw with how people are used is the strong and silent assassin, Ha-yeon (Bin Won) who is horribly underdeveloped.

Humourous bit worth watching: of the two men hiring the group at the end of the film, the man with glasses is the director in an uncredited cameo appearances (his imitation/homage to Alfred Hitchcock, who made cameos in all his films). ("How do I kill a man from cancer? Make him smoke?") Some bits are implausible (the escape, for example) but this is comedy, not high art.

A note on the Korean movie scene: prior to 2001, foreign films revenues were used to subsidize the Korea movie industry. But in 2001, Korean-made films *outgrossed* Hollywood and other foreign films. The quality of story, acting, direction, action, and effects have equalled European and Hong Kong films, and I think are worth watching, having seen a few.

When I first watched this film about two years ago, the first impression I got was 'silly rubbish'. However, I now think this is the best Korean film ever. I can understand people who say this film is rubbish because I once thought that too. You think this film is totally inconsistent. Sometimes it tries to make you laugh, sometimes it tries to make you touched, and sometimes it turns into action film. People who think a film has to stick to one genre might hate this film. Yet you have to know that this film didn't fail in anything. Sometimes this film makes you laugh, sometimes this film makes you touched, and sometimes it does turn into action film when it's needed. So, what I want to say is that if you want to know why some people are so unsparing of their praise towards this film while you think it's real rubbish, just watch one more time. Jang Jin's unique wit cannot be fully understood by watching it only once.

Plot brilliantly sequenced. Action scenes violent enough without being sickening. A story well told. Well worth watching if you are tired out of Weley Snipes and Co. Cast are supposed to be Korean superstars and you can see why. Shooting at Hamlet performance truly exceptional.