Typhoon

Many of the tearjerkers and romantic dramas by Korean film-makers have definitely been appealing to many Asian movie fans. Winter Sonata, Autumn Fairy Tale, Lovers in Paris, First Kiss, just to name a few. Koran actors and actresses appeared in those movies have enthusiastically been accepted in Japan, Hongkong, China, Singapore and in other Asian countries. Jiwoo Choi, Yongjun Bae, Hyegyo Song, Bin Won, Jeongeun Kim, Shinyang Park, Jaewook Ahn, Byunghun Lee are such celebrities, or rather, idols in those countries.

Bun it's quite a different story in the U.S., where 'a man carrying a big stick' is respected. They don't go much for some ticklish romantic episodes played by Asian performers.

Typhoon is an answer to this situation. It has daring hoopla, alertness, conspiracy, betrayal, red-blooded revenge and heartbreaking family tragedy stemming from the tragedy of divided two Koreas. For Dongkun Jang, a North Korean escapee as a child, politics has no meaning at all. His parents were killed when his family were escaping from North Korea to South Korea seeking freedom, by way of China. He and his sister survived the massacre by the North Koreans, but separated---separated for 20 years. All he wants is to find his sister and save her from the hand of North Korean and Chinese 'bandits'. Any means justifies the end for him. He would gladly steal secret weapon from South Korea and the U.S. to trade his sister with it.

His wrath and fury was well and timely expressed in his retort to his opponent: "Comrade, have you ever eaten human flesh?" Jungjae Lee, South Korean navy officer, has a mission to stop him and retrieve the weapon from his hand. Inevitably, the two has the fate to tackle with each other. But Jungjae Lee feels for him and says: "Tonight we will fight to the death, but in another life I would have liked to have been his friend." All the emotions and feelings are melted down to the electrifying scene when Dongkun Jang finally meets his sister and shouts: "(20 years ago) Didn't I tell you to just stay where you were!" Tight and tighter embraces follow.

Fast change of sequences, realistic plot, almost zero-defect photography, compact movements of actors, especially those by Dongkun Jang and Jungjae Lee. Hey, you both are great, Jang and Lee! Not many goofs could be found in this film.

Here comes another solid movie from the country that currently produces the best films in the whole wide world which happens to be South Korea.

Don't worry about the critics. The economical, political and social component of a divided Korean peninsula is an issue in this movie and one should at least have a basic knowledge about this conflict to understand this movie. But this delicate topic doesn't dominate the movie and makes the whole thing too melodramatic. It's rather a positive elements as it adds some spicy ingredients to a promising melting pot and it adds some depth and development to many characters in this movie as you will see.

The movie still stays a tension filled action movie about a lonesome pirate that wants to attack the Korean peninsula with nuclear garbage. The acting of both the main villain and the main hero is authentic and unique to both of them. The supporting actors such as the main villain's sister also do a great job. The amazing thing about this movie is that the bad guy is more than just your average terrorist. There are many reasons why he has become the one he is and sometimes good and evil are not clearly distinguished. When it comes to the confrontation between the good and the bad guy, one realizes that they have a lot in common and could have been big friends in another situation. This is what makes this movie emotional, tragic and not too expectable at some points. Towards the end, the flick becomes a true tearjerker but I mean this in a positive way. The movie truly touched me because the stories behind the characters are really well thought out. They are dramatic, emotional and tragic.

The story is not complicated but still detailed enough to remain interesting and demand a certain kind of attention. The movie just has the right mixture of dialogues, narrative flashbacks and explosive action scenes. The settings are also amazing. The movie plays in several countries from Laos to Russia and exposes many beautiful landscapes and different cultures without being too educational.

The only two small flaws during this joy ride are a little bit confusing beginning as too many different characters are introduced at the same time and you need a lot of concentration to get out who's doing what. The second point is a too predictable ending that reminds a little bit too much of many Hollywood movies. I really felt that I have already seen similar stuff a couple of times before at that point. A final showdown on a ship during a storm including terroristic pirates and a courageous military special unit that refuses to obey any orders to save the world on their own is a thing that uses too many stereotypes. Nevertheless, this movie still remains quite underrated, should get more praise and I would definitely watch this again.

This new film by Kwak Kyung-Taek is dubbed a blockbuster, having used up the most expensive budget in Korean cinema history. The money does show up on screen and the locations are nice and exotic. But the movie is somewhat disappointing in other respects.

The first hour is very boring, one that had me restless. The music sounded like something from an expensive video game and many scenes dragged on far too long. After witnessing the most uninspired car chase I've seen in a while, I was ready to give up on this movie. However, Lee Mi-Yeon managed to save the film single handedly with an incredible performance. It's a shame she's on screen for such a short time but with her introduction, the film suddenly finds energy and was entertaining from then on. The film could have used some better characterization and more interaction between the two protagonists. It is mostly the flawed screenplay that is the blame here concerning our lack of emotional attachment to the main characters not the actors themselves; they both do a suitable job. More of Lee Mi-Yeon could have always helped as well. As it is, this movie delivers somewhat as entertainment but it could have been much better.

One scene that will remain in my mind from this film is when the two protagonists meet at the train station. This is one of the few times when the music complemented the scene and the result is truly cinematic. Only at this turning point does the movie find its mark but when it does, it's more than watchable.

Typhoon tells the story of a North Korean man who with his family had previously failed in an attempt to defect to the South because of the existing political position of South Korea. The failed attempt occurred, according to the insight of one character in the story, because such things weren't possible until a year after this antagonist's attempt. Embittered over this turn of events, the man decides he will kill every South Korean since his mother was killed and his sister was humiliated due to unfavorable political circumstances. A South Korean agent enlisted to interdict this would be terrorist chases leads around much of Asia in his effort to stop the North Korean's plan.

The actor playing the would-be terrorist provides a completely over-the-top performance, with the terrorist character at times nearly foaming at the mouth when he is confronted by his enemies. His intense bond with his sister, whom he hasn't seen in 20 years by the way, borders on the psychotic. The South Korean agent assigned to find him is cool, analytical and competent, yet the agent somehow manages to feel a strong bond with his deranged prey, being reluctant to kill the terrorist despite his clearly murderous intent. While this plot development does not work on the screen, it plays directly to pan-Korean nationalist sentiment in its target audience, and I'm sure it is appreciated by the home crowd for exactly that reason. Ohterwise this film is a bit mediocre in spite of the production values it clearly has.

If you like your typical American movie, with your typical over-the-top-ness & your typical unnecessary love scenes: go by the commentary above..

I have to agree in that is very much a Korean movie; the acting is solid, the lines make sense and the scenes aren't dragged out too long.

The movie in a nutshell: A boy bittered by the massacre of his family grows up into a modern day pirate, aiming to destruct 'the evil south'. Queue lots of killing, an amazing amount of Russians, your fair share of beautiful scenery and torn emotions as the two leads' understanding of each other grows.