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'No Blood No Tears' is the only film I've seen so far of Ryoo's (and I had never heard of it; I simply found it for $3 at a department store that was going out of business, thought it looked interesting and decided to take a chance on it). It was a very satisfying blind-buy, a contemporary and Asian spin on the 'Thelma and Louise' motif. The action and comedic touches are surefire, and the irony of who ends up with the loot was compelling. The friendship mix of the two women (older night owl taxi driver who's deadbeat ex-husband owes everybody money and makes her life miserable, and who desperately wants to find her daughter, with the young girlfriend of a ex-boxer hood who likes to beat her to a pulp) who desperately need each other is well-written and portrayed, and there is truly something for everybody in this successful entry in the legion of Quentin Tarantino/Guy Ritchie-inspired films of the past generation...

Although at times I found the movie too dark to see what exactly was going on, I thought it was well written and well played.

The cast of characters is wide, but like Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels, it all makes sense in the end. And it's funny, too. The action scenes are...quite intense, and not being knowledgeable about martial arts beyond 'that's cool!', I was really impressed.

All in all, I recommend it!

Mix several parts "Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels," a dash of "Go," a smidgen of "True Romance," and fights as brutal as "Fight Club" (but with women giving and taking beatings as much or moreso than the men) -- put it all through the filter of a Korean gangster film and you have "No Blood, No Tears," a tour de force by hot young director Seung-wan Ryoo ("Die Bad"; "Crying Fist").

The plot is complex. But not so that you can't follow what is going on as it happens. Don't plan on being two jumps ahead, however. Just let the movie come to you and you will be rewarded.

The whole issue of the heist and most of the fights (which are pretty brutal) don't really come into play until the second half of the film, but there is plenty of good stuff in the first half to get you there.

The story is centered around two good female leads. Hye-yeong Lee plays Kyeong-seon, who owes the local neighborhood loan shark a lot of money. She's got a certain past and tends to solve problems by a beer bottle across the head or a kick to the gut. Then we have Su-ji (played by Do-yeon Jeon)--the frequently smacked around moll of a low-level gangster. A chance encounter puts them together and gets the wheels turning on how they can make off with a whole lot of the high-level gangster's money.

There are double crosses, triple crosses, and lots of surprises along the way. A multitude of other characters play important roles. Inept police detectives; idiotic street punks who switch back and forth from being informants for the police and trying to get in on the goods themselves; loan collectors who don't know if they should start taking off fingers or sit down and eat lunch with the debtor. Perhaps most impressive is a gangster tough (credited as "Silent Man") played by famed martial arts action director Doo-hong Jung. He has a great fight scene where he really gets to strut his stuff.

If you are tired of the same old Hollywood plots, fights, and chases, do yourself a favor and seek this film out.

Dok-bul is a gangster who runs dog fights. He abuses his girlfriend, Su-ji, and so she decides to steal a bag full of money from him. She gets the help of Kyeong-seon (Hye-yeong Lee), a taxi driver who used to be a safe cracker and has been trying to go straight. The other significant character is Kim Geum-bok, who is generally referred to as "KGB."

While the plot has been compared to "Bound," with the two women leads ganging up on the boyfriend, this film is far less coherent than that film. Basically, everyone is after the money, and the film revolves around a number of very well done Hong Kong-style fight scenes, complete with slow motion with water and/or dirt in the air, wire work, and some swirling camera moves. If you can forgive the simplistic story, these scenes plus the performance of Hye-yeong Lee make the film worth seeing.

Seen on 11/6/2002 at the 2002 Hawaii International Film Festival.

It's got a lot of hot and heavy action. Cops versus criminals. Criminals versus criminals. Two women trying to escape everyone. Dodgy deals. Backstabbing. Violence. Dogfights. Underworld gambling. Money-making schemes. Power and greed. Oh and the union of disabled gangsters. WHO I LOVED!

There is a pivatol moment where the lead protagonist; a female cab driver's taxi; is hit by the mobster's girlfriend in his car and they crash at an intersection! They start arguing and the girlfriend wants to pay back and she gets the cab driver's contact details.

From there they end-up hanging out and becoming 'associates'. Except it gets really messy as the girlfriend is betrayed by another gangster and it all explodes on action in huge fights!

It's really well-made and the choreography is exceptional. The stunt team did a staggeringly-good job and the hotel escape is one really technically-proficient piece done superbly! Editing is also accompished and efficient.

The car chases are a bit ott but the style is sequenced well. The banter between characters is fabulous. It's very dark humoured. There's lots of chraacter-development.

Script-wise it is not a unique movie but it is executed very well and the professionalism of the team to keep it entertaining and fun for nearly 2 hours deserves praise.

It's a really fun movie with some excellent hard-hitting performances. Out on the amazing Third Window Films. Their very first release in the UK on digital video disc. Thank you!