Ribolbeo

Given my love and fascination with the Asian cinema, then of course I opted to watch the 2024 South Korean movie "Ribolbeo" (aka "Revolver") as I stumbled upon it by random chance. I had actually never heard about it, so I didn't know what I was in for.

Writer and director Seung-Uk Oh delivered a rather slow paced storyline, and I have to say that I managed only to endure a mind-boggling 40 minutes of absolute boredom here before I turned off the movie out of sheer and utter boredom and hopelessness. There was nothing interesting happening in the narrative, and the pacing of the movie was sluggish and dull. And it didn't help one bit that there was so many names being tossed about casually, making it difficult to keep track of who was who, and what their agendas were.

The cast ensemble in the movie was good, I will give the movie that much. Just a darn shame that the actresses and actors virtually had next to nothing to work with in terms of script, storyline, character gallery and dialogue.

"Ribolbeo" was a boring swing and a miss of a movie. And running at 114 minutes, I only made it 40 minutes in, I can honestly say that I was bored senseless, and I have zero intentions of returning and attempting to watch the rest of the movie, despite the fact that there were some good names on the cast list.

My rating of this boring crime drama lands on a three out of ten stars.

I think the low rating (currently 5.4) is due to the fact that many viewers are used to getting a lot of hard action, combined with a fast pace from a South Korean movie.

In this movie, however, you get neither, and this seems to be absolutely unbearable for people whose attention span has been completely stunted, thanks to TikTok and other trash.

Of course, a slow narrative pace and relatively little carnage are not automatically a sign of quality. It always depends on what the director and the actors do with the script.

Thankfully, the best has been made of it in this film, so if you are prepared to engage with a slowly unfolding plot, you will be rewarded.

So if you want to see something other than a constant adrenaline rush in a South Korean movie, you should definitely go for it.

More of this, please. Much more!

P. S.: As always, I give a 10 to a movie whose rating is ridiculously low, just to do my part to at least minimally influence that rating.

My actual rating would be an 8/10.

The Korean film directed by Seung-uk Oh will be primarily remembered for the remarkable performances of its two lead actresses: the resolute Jeon Do-yeon in the role of Ha Soo-yeong and the charming Lim Ji-yeon as Jeong Yoon-seon.

The narrative unfolds gradually, dedicating a significant portion of the first half to untangling an intricate web of betrayal and vengeance surrounding the police officer Soo-young, who is on the verge of moving into her ideal new apartment. However, she becomes embroiled in an unforeseen corruption scandal involving her partner and ultimately accepts a considerable bribe to take the blame for the offenses. This aspect of the film may be considered its weakest point. The film improves significantly as it transitions into a thriller filled with suspense, culminating in a dramatic finale that is quite impactful.

Regrettably, the conclusion lacks clarity, yet it still managed to maintain my full attention throughout.

Some people have it out for this movie and I don't understand why. There must be something more to it, there's almost like a campaign against it. They say it's messy or boring and it makes no sense to me because I have seen much worse that got a lot more praise. Well, that got praise, because there's no praise for this one. At all. So there must be something wrong with me then. I found it easy to follow, pretty straightforward and quite satisfying on a number of occasions. Of course the highlight is the cast and I don't think it's wasted at all. Jeon Do-yeon plays her character just right, poker-faced and closed-off so that we get a few surprises out of her and she has yet another unique look for her single-minded ex-convict ex-cop out to get her due. She is very resourceful with her apparently one-note characters. Lee Jung-jae makes a surprise appearance in the beginning. Ji Chang-wook is a despicable weasel.

Yes, it was a satisfying watch and conclusion to this ordeal.

Revolver spends much of the first half unraveling a complex web of deceit and revenge; but having started so promisingly as a mystery/thriller, rapidly changes gear into mystery/drama and ends in rather an understated note.

Arguably this is more realistic to how real life plays out in such criminal feuds, but does not make for the most satisfying movie experience. All the various plot strands and overlapping relationships introduced in the first hour ultimately count for very little as the storyline becomes increasingly simple for the rest of the run time.

If you're a fan of Korean thriller/dramas, this is a good watch, just maybe don't expect a classic - which is a shame because with a better second half that's exactly what this might have been.