New World

There are very few movies which makes you jump from your seat, clap (even though you are watching it alone in your laptop), entertained, excited and happy. I was lucky enough to go through all the above emotions on multiple levels while watching 'New World'. 2013 was a big year for cinema lovers. We saw the son of krypton resurfaced, we saw the Iron Legion and even the Wrath of Khan. Yet, 'New World', is the best movie I have seen in 2013, till date.

Now what makes 'New World' beat the big guns which came out this year. It certainly did not have the leverage of breath taking CGI, nor mind bending plot lines. It did not have any particular fan favorite tags like the super hero genre, apart from Min-Choi of Oldboy and I Saw The Devil fame, no one in the Western hemisphere knows the actors. The director cum writer, is relatively unknown. So what is so great about it? It is the actors, the characters, the screenplay, the haunting BGM, the cinematography, the art direction, the story and every single piece of this movie. It was epic for me. It was just lying around in my hard drive since last 3 weeks. Did not even care to go for it, even though Min-Choi was in it, and today I wanted to see a Korean flick, and bang!

The story has shades of 'The Infernal Affairs' trilogy, yet it differentiates itself with its characters and screenplay. It is enjoyable to watch. You get to see a lot of twists, more importantly enjoyable twists in this movie. It is shot stylishly and supported by an amazingly haunting background score. Cinematography and art direction are astonishing. It indeed makes you wanna stand in rain in front of the towering skylines of South Korea.

The acting is top notch. Every single major characters have been portrayed by the actors flawlessly. Min-Choi is 'just' and 'corrupted' just like a the 2 sides of a coin, and he gives a solid performance. This guy should go to Hollywood, he will own them. Lee Jeong is the one who plays the protagonist. I was surprised to learn that, this is his first movie ever, and at no point, he looked like a novice. The performance, I enjoyed the most was of, Jeong-min Hwang. As of today. I am a fan of this dude. Every single scene he is in, he steals the show. The friendship between his and the central character kinda managed to squeeze in a tear from my eyes.

This is the best movie I have seen this year. 10 on 10 Period!

A highly gripping portrait of Korean crime syndicate, New World is arguably the best mob film to come out from South Korea since Kim Jee-woon's A Bittersweet Life & is an ingeniously structured, stylishly filmed, firmly composed & violently told cinema that shares a similar thematic structure with Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather. Opening with a bloodied face of a person being tortured as he is suspected of being the mole in the gang, this crime-drama sets the tone for what's to come & as the film progresses, becomes more & more engrossing until it all culminates on a rousing high with an expertly executed finale.

The plot covers the conflicts between the police & the mob through the eyes of an undercover cop who has worked his way up over the past 8 years to become the right hand man of the second-in-command for the throne of Goldmoon; the biggest crime syndicate in Korea. When its leader is killed in a car accident, the crime ring is thrown into a succession struggle of which both the police & the mob wants to make the most of and which in the end comes down to our undercover cop, who must finally make a choice that'll decide the fate of this crime organization.

Outstanding well written & directed by Park Hoon-jung who does a superb job in shaping the story & even better at illustrating it on the screen, skilfully photographed too with fine use of close-ups & camera angles, tightly edited as the film flies through its 134 minutes of runtime, spectacularly scored with music making its way in or out of scenes at the right moments & strongly performed by its stellar cast, New World works because of a combination of many things it does right & is one of the best films of last year plus one of the most impressive mob films in a long time. Do not miss it.

I am surprised that more people (especially my friends from South Korea) haven't reviewed this excellent movie so far. Perhaps they know of better Korean cinema to view and review!! I for one am from India (settled in the US) and big fan of Korean films, which were introduced to me by a Korean friend of mine during my graduate school days here in the US. Anyhow, this is the only Korean movie I could lay my hands on in a theater close to me (I generally see Korean movies on Netflix or home video). Perhaps it is my excitement of having watched a Korean movie in a movie theater after so long which has me biased in favor of this film. But I think not, as the rating right now on IMDb is 7.7/10. Anyways, here goes.

This is an amazing movie. Like the only other reviewer here has said, it mixes elements of "The Godfather" with "The Departed". It also reminded me of a Hindi art house movie which is not so well known (unfortunately) called "Droh Kaal" (1994 by director Govind Nihalani). Park Hoon-Jung being an accomplished writer (I loved his "I saw the devil"), does craft an original and engaging story. Violence is heavy handed when it is depicted and makes you cringe, but I don't mind that personally. I loved the costumes (every gangster in the movie wears designer suits which should be the envy of Wall Street executives). In fact, its the law enforcement officials who are comparatively shabbily dressed. The feel and atmosphere is subtly captured by cinematographer Chung Chung-hoon. I love his camera work, which was only recently at display in "Stoker" (by Park chan-wook), which I saw the day it was out. It was also a treat to see Choi min-shik ("Oldboy") again after "I saw the devil".

Overall, the movie kept me on the edge of my seat and was really entertaining. It is definitely much better than what Hollywood is churning out these days (with a few exceptions of course). Let me hope they don't butcher my favorite "Oldboy". I would highly recommend "New World", please do go and see it in a theater to really get the feel (like I said earlier, the cinematography is top-notch and needs to be seen on a big screen to be believed!).

When the leader of a crime syndicate called "Goldmoon" gets assassinated, there are three potential followers who battle for absolute power. Caught in between the growing tension is undercover agent Lee Ja-Sung, played by the extraordinary newcomer actor Lee Jong- Jae, who wants to retire after eight years of service with his girlfriend being pregnant. He has become the right hand and even good friend of one of the three potential followers who is the provocateur Jung Chung, played by a superb Hwang Jeong-Min, and is suddenly in the middle of the action. Chief Kang, played by one of Korea's greatest actors ever, Choi Min-Sik, wants his undercover cop to do one last dangerous mission called "Operation New World" and intervene in the selection process for the next crime syndicate leader. Soon, people all around Lee Ja-Sung are dying and the rumour is spread that at least one undercover agent has infiltrated the syndicate. Lee Ja-Sung has to quickly take several important decisions before he gets uncovered.

"New World" is a very well played gangster movie with addicting characters and much better than last year's "Nameless Gangster" that had no gripping story line and too many slapstick elements in it. This movie is dark and tension filled but especially the acting is outstanding. Several characters develop throughout this movie. The old and tired number two in the syndicate suddenly develops some new ambitions and is ready to do anything for it. The other two potential followers are a naive and obscene character and and a cold and dangerous one but both of them also change throughout this film with the first one becoming more brutal but mature at the same time and the second one becoming too arrogant and uncontrolled.

At the beginning of the movie, the viewers have a clear idea of who are the bad and who are the good guys but this also changes throughout the movie. While the police risks the lives of their agents without pity, you begin to see that some gangsters are more human than others as well. All these developments lead to a spectacular but also predictable ending. Those who don't know the genre might fall for some minor twists here and there but those who are experts of the gangster movie genre won't be taken by surprise.

This is maybe the weak point of the movie. It adds nothing new to the gangster flick genre apart of the emotional acting. The story is very predictable and you feel as if you've had watched all of this before a couple of times. That's why this movie also has a couple of lengths. After an intriguing opening and a few exciting scenes in the second part of the movie, director Park Hoon-Jung maybe takes too much time to introduce all characters and employs too many dialogues. Maybe this was necessary to understand who is who but the whole thing could have been more dynamical in my opinion. That's where this movie is too traditional against its own good and not a far call from many American gangster flicks. With all these great actors involved, one could have created a true masterpiece but this film is ultimately only a very good and realistic gangster flick which is still great to watch but there is some wasted potential as well.

Fans of crime and gangster movies should definitely try out this film. Those who have liked the actors involved in here before should also dig this flick even though the amazing Choi Min-Sik is a little bit under- used in my opinion. In the end, it's hard to tell if this movie is worth a seven or a eight star rating. I would probably choose the middle of it as many users on this site. As the acting in here is quite exceptional, I though decided to go for the more positive evaluation in the end.

'New World' is an epic gangster film from South Korean director, Park Hoon-jung. With actors such as Choi Min-sik (probably most well known for his role as Dae-su in 'Oldboy'), I was expecting this film to deliver something spectacular. And, well, it did. For the duration of the narrative, I could not tear my eyes away from the screen. While the pace of most films of this length tends to slow, or get a little dull, 'New World' kept a steady rhythm, full of political intrigue.

Undercover cop, Ja-seong (played by Lee Jeong-jae), leads a dual life. He has his job as a policeman, and the role of a gangster in a large crime syndicate that goes under the name of 'Goldmoon.' When the boss of the syndicate is killed in a car accident, Chief Kang (Choi Min- sik) puts a new project into effect called 'Operation New World'. The purpose of this operation is to ensure that one of the undercover cops in the syndicate will rise to a position of power. The ultimate aim is for the syndicate to be in the hands of, or at least easily manipulated by, a trusted law enforcer.

Ja-seong finds himself torn between his duties as a cop, and his loyalties to 'brother,' and gang member, Jung Chung (Hwang Jung-min). Putting more hours, and more effort into his work, Ja-seong finds less time at home with his pregnant wife, and more into the syndicate 'family'. Acting as a bridge between the law, and the underworld, the loyalty of Ja-seong is rarely questioned by his acquaintances. Yet, it is apparent that Ja-seong beings to question the nature of loyalty, and of betrayal. As he prepares to dive further into the syndicate, his confusion becomes ever more apparent.

Some of the conversations in 'New World' were gripping, and the portrayal of violent acts was just spectacular. The use of blood in these instances, paired with close ups, were some of the most aesthetically pleasing moments in the film. While not extremely violent, 'New World' uses violence in a manner that complements the pace of the film. The ruthless nature of the law, and the syndicate, was highlighted in these instances, and it is apparent that both sides can be as manipulative, and as corrupt, as one other. All the while, in the midst of this corruption, Ja-seong must find a place of power to call his own; he must create a whole new world.