Smugglers

After a chemical plant steals their jobs, rendering the fisherwomen well...out of fish to catch, they indulge in smuggling to meets ends. A gang of 6 women who are expert sea divers start fishing out smuggled goods and their popularity lands them on a bigger hunt. As this dive goes south, both personal loss and betrayal break the women, as one of them escapes while the rest get arrested. Years later, they once again meet for another Fortune but this time more harsh truth gets revealed. How they get their revenge on the ones responsible forms rest of the story.

Setting the story in the 70s, the retro feel is well captured. However, the funky music as well as the cinematography ensures a humorous narrative, the emotional scenes however don't gel well with it. This takes time to get used to the proceedings. Also, a team of six yet only two get full fledged roles which stuck out as a sore thumb. Add to that, the women power initiative leads to the male characters predictable character arc which undermined the reveal.

But to speak of positives, Kim Hye-Soo and Yum Jung-ah single handedly carry this film, making the drama work. Then there is the action sequences, pre-climax and the terrific underwater climax action which instantly made this a paisa vasool watch. The non-linear narrative, going back and forth to make multiple reveals elevated the drama even if the reveals were to be predictable. The whole double cross, triple cross sequence was fun throughout. It is indeed the second half that saves the film, firmly aided by the performances of the duo female leads and the two action sequences.

This film isn't really about how smuggling worked in the past in South Korea, but rather how ordinary people found ways to share the profits. In this process, there were lives lost due to the risks stemming from legal sanctions, prison sentences, and power struggles among different factions. Essentially, it's about changing the routes. When direct imports became illegal, similar to the current U. S.-China trade war, some underground gangs engaged in third-party intermediaries to earn profits in between. In 'Smugglers,' the movie depicts the use of female divers and fishery vessels for transportation. It also realistically portrays various aspects like repackaging and customs corruption. It reminds me that even if you have a unique skill, you often remain a cog in the profit supply chain, and it takes determination and vision to become a leader or boss.

Ryoo Seung Wan, known for previous box office hits such as Veteran, The Battleship Island, Exit, and Escape from Mogadishu offers a new addition of aquatic crime action genre that's refreshingly great...

The plot is actually about betrayal and diving, but the story is delivered very well by the tension of the dramatic action sequences and the great actings of all the lead characters...

Smugglers have a larger-than-life feel from the very first shot, when a grand drone shot shows us all the striking beauty of sailing the sea on a sunny day, and every further scene maintains that energy...

Kim Hye-soo proves why she remains one of the country's most popular actresses, while Yum Jung-ah manages to stay subtle & underplayed...The fight before climax proves what Koreans are capable once again when it comes to gangster genre...will definitely raise your eyebrows... The two leads have incredible chemistry even when they are at each other's suspicion leading to double or even a triple crossing making a unique script to relish...

Do take note that this adventure turns entirely on the diving ability of the women. Wonder why none of the men take to the waters to collect all the cargo. Think about that for a bit. The film may not be perfect but it does lay bare the blatant exploitation of the women divers by all the men running their con games. And while the polluting factories killing off the marine life which sustained everyone is mentioned as the source of the fishery woes not much is done with this ongoing reality---though that would make this a very different movie indeed. Soo it's down to just how much evil treatment the women can endure before trying to turn the tables on all the corrupt men. Yes, this does boil down to a war between the sexes by the end--quite literally. And kudos to all responsible for recreating the unique vibe of the seventies from the kinds of cancer sticks, the clothing, to the cars. Plus, who doesn't appreciate great teamwork? Hmm? PS, It's a visual delight.

I have really liked Korean cinema has been quite interesting within the past years with some great flicks like "Train to Busan, Parasite, Burning, Oldboy, and many other great Korean movies. Unfortunately, despite good performances and a good concept, "Smugglers" just wasn't for me.

Director Ryoo Seung-wan has made movies in the past like "Veteran, The Crying Fist, and Escape from Mogadishu" which I haven't really liked and here, his direction feels all over the place with themes and structure going all over the place. The narrative about 6 women becoming badasses and being smugglers is quite an interesting concept but unfortunately, the narrative is really basic and predictable that makes things uninteresting and lacking. The action had some moments that were pretty good but there were also some really bad action and editing moments. Including some poor uses of green screen during some underwater moments and special effects.

The performances from the cast members were pretty good especially Kim Hye-Soo and Yum Jung-ah as they brought the best energy with their roles. Even good performances, they aren't able to save the movie due to the characters not really being interesting and most of the time, pretty annoying. The dialogue from the characters are pretty bad, the soundtrack is annoying, and with the movie taking place in the 70s, the movie didn't really do a good job capturing the retro feel and there were moments I had completely forgotten that the movie took place in the 70s.

This movie feels like it's trying to be Hollywood but in the worse way. Overall, this one isn't for me.