Sin-ui hansu

A professional Go player is asked by his brother to help him win a rigged, high-stakes underground match and things go bad quickly.

Sent to prison (I'm still not quite sure why), the humble Go player uses his skills to win favours from the gambling warden, and he soon uses those favours in exchange for fight training, so that he can become an absolute killing machine when he gets out! Yeah, it all sounds pretty dumb but it's a film, so carry on...

Having served his time, our Go master - now a kung fu-fighting master to boot - doesn't waste time in tracking down the men who killed his brother and swiftly exacts revenge on one... it's then that the tone of the film changes, taking a potential 8 star flick down a couple of notches.

See, so far the tone had been very dark and gritty, but the Go player opts to put a team together, woo the hot chick who plays secretly for the gangsters and the realism really goes out of the window. Had it either been somewhat lighter from the beginning or stayed bleak, this could have been really great, but with the tone hovering from this point onwards between the white-toothed smiles and happy endings of Hollywood-type films, and classic, gritty revenge thrillers, I was never quite sure what I was watching... but that doesn't mean to say it's a bad film, as I did enjoy it (it just could have been a lot better).

I'll admit though: I've never played Go and dismissed it as just an Asian version of draughts (checkers, to Americans), but the love for the game is clear in this film and might just change a few people's preconceptions. That said, please do NOT read this as being a sports film, because Go is just the unique backdrop that this unbalanced thriller has to separate it from the pack.

This movie is marketed as an action movie, but it really isn't one. It only has a couple of fight scenes, and only the final one actually lasts a while (the fights are all well coreographed though, and the final fight is awesome). It is a revenge-thriller first and foremost, but the larger part of the movie actually focuses on the board game "Go", so the movie is actually pretty slow, which got kind of boring to me. The plot itself is okay enough. Standard revenge-thriller fare. The music and the acting were both good.

Great movie from start to finish, it does not fail in the action and a necessary revenge that is emitted through comedy, drama, action and the necessary blood. It is a correct, entertaining film, I couldn't expect more from South Korea, which I dare say they have a very specific universe within the action genre, it is something that only they can captivate. Please watch it and enjoy. Also Jung Woon Sung is such a beautiful man.

This is a must-see movie. There's never been any other movie like this before.

The main line through this movie is the board game Go (also known as igo in Japan, weiqi in China or baduk in Korea). Go is a mind game and it may come to a surprise that this movie is so violent. However that's exactly what makes this movie so brilliant.

You can feel that the person who wrote the script of this movie is somebody who loves the game of Go. The movie perfectly respects the spirit of the game: the aggression, creativity, scheming, ...

As for people who are not interested in the board game at all. You will not be disappointed neither. Top actors, an exciting script, humor and blood. What more could you possibly want ?

You have a board of "Go", some dirty tricks and some cowards. You found an underground gambling squad, commited some crimes and then revenge will bite you soon. This revenge theme is so played out so the plot is predictable. The presentation is what matters in this film. It lives up to the expectations. This kind of film is worth giving a try on your Sundays. My title says it's much better than Hollywood flicks of the same theme and yes you read it right. Hollywood has become repetitive and cringeworthy when it comes to this kind of movies.