El hombre de ninguna parte

"This Man" is about as standard plot-wise as action movies get. A lone wolf type takes a little girl under his wing, the kid gets kidnapped, and he ends up having to go through heaps of bad guys in his quest to save the girl.

By all accounts, the movie should have evoked little more than a shrug. After all, anyone who has seen even just a moderate amount of action movies will have seen countless movies with variations of this basic plot. One might think of "Leon" or "Man on Fire" for some closer examples, or movies such as "Taken" in other respects.

What made this movie into my favorite action movie in a long while is the execution of that basic plot. "This Man" manages to create just the right dark, gloomy mood to match the story and all the characters are believable. None of the scenes appear contrived or overly tear-jerker. Another vital aspect for an action movie is, of course, that the action sequences are very well done. The movie is quite graphic, but not gratuitously so or for its own sake such as in many a recent horror movie (the Saw series comes to mind).

I guess the movie could be likened to a good apple pie - certainly nothing revolutionary, in fact quite the staple of its genre, but who would want to turn down a really good apple pie with quality ingredients?

When I first saw the trailer to this movie, I wanted to go see it but wasn't like super hyped up for it. It basically looked like the Korean version of "LEON: The Professional". But this movie is like the Korean version of "Man on Fire" with fight sequences that are similar to the "Bourne" movies. I heard this film really skyrocketed Won Bin's popularity, especially in Korea and I could tell why. He really is a badass in this movie and his charisma is overflowing in this movie. One of the girl in the audience couldn't help but say "he is so cool" in Korean during the scene where Won Bin's character is driving angrily while on the phone with the bad guys while showing some intimidating emotion. The plot isn't super original or anything, basically "Man on Fire" with a better flow and more dark and gritty with better action in my opinion. Overall this film was a lot better than I expected and also kept my interest from beginning to end while also being entertained. The style of this movie reminded me of "A Bittersweet Life" in a good way which is a plus with saturated colors leaning towards the dark and blue. Some people might get a bit irritated by the constant camera shot to Won Bin's face while he takes a pose like in some magazine or something. But I could tell it's to sell the movie to female viewers as well. Excellent casting, pretty good story with some slick action scenes make this movie really worth seeing, there is something for guys and girls.

8.3/10

Let me start off by saying that I was skeptical whether I should watch this movie because of all the comparisons here to US productions. Because while I did enjoy most of the ones named, not enough to want to see a basically South Korean copycat at the theater.

If you fear the same thing: Don't worry! This movie is exactly what you would expect from great Korean cinema, comparable to the likes of "The Chaser", "Memories of Murder" and "A Bittersweet Life". In this movie, there is lots of rather believable tragedy, little kitsch (there is the occasional unsuitable one-liner and the girl sometimes says things that in my opinion are too mature for her age and yank a little too much at the emotional chain - these are basically the things that brought my rating down to 9/10) and a fair amount of graphic violence and realism in the fighting scenes. There are also some wacky characters just like they appear somewhat frequently in east Asian productions but I think they fit in quite nicely despite the otherwise very serious tone.

If one were to compare it to a US production, I would go with e.g. "A History of Violence" because of the serious tone and the realism but still, the overall style is drastically different.

The whole experience is nicely rounded off with a very beautiful score and the only thing I considered negative besides what I already mentioned was that the plot is moving very fast. At various points I was not sure whether I didn't pay enough attention or whether details were left out. Meaning for instance how one character got the information about another character. These connections of information between characters are not always clear in my opinion but it does not really hurt the story and I am sure that it would be clear with a second viewing - something that this movie absolutely deserves.

Have you ever thought how lost and distraught one can be following the loss of his/her loved ones? I guess this is a point that is worth pondering over, especially when we are witnessing such a tragedy unfolding in Japan.

" The Man From Nowhere", widely known as "Ajeossi" in South Korea, essentially depicts a man who has withdrawn himself from the society and lost his sense of worth and living due to the lost of his loved ones. However, he finally began to show affection and fondness in the little girl lives down the street; it was just like how tin man finally found his heart. They were each other's only friend. So when she is taken away, he fights with all his might and wit because he cannot possibly handle the loss of his only beloved friend.

This simple plot is very well executed. In terms of the pacing, it was just right and through subtle interactions between Taesik (played by Won Bin) and Somi (played by Kim Sae-ron), they show their high interdependency and chemistry. There was not a single part of the movie that is boring. Your tension is constantly kept at high, and you will be sometimes treated with some tidbits of laughter.

The narrative is definitely not the only attraction to this movie that eventually became the top selling movie in South Korea in the year 2010. Possibly the other main attraction is the film's cinematography. This movie has superb fight choreography (underscores superb). Brace yourself for a bloody massacre, but one that is not just of a bloody mess but of mission and gracefulness. This, coupled with creative angles and excellent sound effects, you get a movie that is of high production value. This alone assures you that the money that you spend on the movie is worthwhile.

How can one forget the other important factor? It's the protagonist. Won Bin has made several breakthroughs in his acting career that started back in 1997. However, this is probably by far the most successful role that he has taken up. With this single role, he has bagged 7 awards. Is that justified? Certainly! From the initial bizarre look and stare, to later on how he soften his look towards the little girl he wants to protect, to the flashback where it depict his downfall and devastation, to the ruthless and merciless look that was fuelled by hatred and despair when he was in search of the little girl… they were all effectively delivered to the audience. You can get so drawn into his acting that you may feel the sheer violence is justified. One moment you grief with the man who lost his loved ones, the next moment you crease your forehead at his brutality. The balance of this multi-faceted character is definitely not easy, but Won Bin did it. Also commendable is that there was no stuntman that stood in for the combat scenes. All the fist, knives and guns action were executed by him. His black belt in Taekwondo definitely comes in handy for his role. Indeed he has proved himself to be more than just an eye candy.

As the movie is coming to an end, it takes on a twist that prevented another episode of tragedy. The ending scene was definitely perplexing at first, but it turns out to be the man has finally found his 'home' for his heart, where he can pour out his affection and love once more. With the calming ending track leading into the credits, you cannot help but be affected, that is being moved to tears. To sum it all: great acting, great production, great movie.

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The man might be from nowhere but this film could only come from Korea, the land of a million stories of revenge.