Gangster Sem Nome

This one is my first review, the only reason is that there is not much attention on this movie.

Namless Gangster, as usual, Min-sik Choi is filled with passion, and your acceptance to his personality in this movies isn't any different from Oldboy, and I Saw The Devil, you can't just stop love to despise him and still, feel sorry for him, this is a hell of a role and he just took it to the maximum, loved every second of it.

Jung-woo Ha, on the other hand, nailed it for me, the progress and development of this character through the movie is simply amazing, I always admired this guy, and after this one he just made it so clear, that he can just be as catchy as any other superstar actor in the universe, with his "Gangster" mood, this was simply incredible.

The movie, is a Korean Gangster flick as you guys call it here, still I find it underrated, but maybe due to the fact that it is considered a new movie and still needs time, the atmosphere, the progress, the conflicts in interest, and the personal feelings, they all come in a way that will keep you through a roller-coaster of emotions! Loved it and I recommend this one!

A tale of crime, corruption & power, Nameless Gangster concerns a Busan customs officer who along with his corrupt colleagues doesn't mind bribes but when he's on the verge of getting fired & accidentally discovers around 10 kg of crystal meth which he, with the help of a colleague, later sells it to a gangster who turns out to be of the same family clan as his. The rest of the film is about him leaving his customs post & teaming up with this vicious gangster in what later becomes the most powerful crime partnership in Busan.

There isn't much to talk about this film so I'll try to point out the likes & dislikes. Starting with the likes, Choi Min-sik delivers a brilliant performance here as a wannabe gangster whose rise & fall is chronicled in this tale. The rest of the performances are no slouch either. The action is nicely choreographed, the characters are intriguing & overall, it works as a fine gangster film. And as far as the dislikes go, the story could've been more tightly structured, the flow of events could've been smoother & it could've worked with a reduced runtime.

On an overall scale, Nameless Gangster might work for some of its viewers but it's not as impressive as what the other Korean films of its genre has to offer. There are many noticeable flaws in here & the story is just not that interesting either to keep one emotionally invested. It didn't manage to meet up my already mediocre expectations from this film but its family themes & the choice one has to make when faced with loyalty vs own's life are nicely explored. Worth a watch? At least once for sure.

Totally agree with all the positive reviews, quite original plot and very very entertaining!!

9/10

There is quite a bit of similar aspects to this movie to "Goodfellas" except "Goodfellas" is a way better movie. This just has constant cursing and random beatings thrown in to the point it loses it's flare and quickly becomes formulaic and repetitive. Now Min-sik Choi is a good actor but he has been playing these similar character type roles for a while. Who is the epitome of a blood sucking leech that manipulates and use people for his own benefit. Now the real world maybe like this as well but his character Choi Ik-Hyun takes it to a whole another level. There is elements to the gangster world that keeps it interesting, like certain codes and hierarchy. But Choi Ik-Hyun is not a gangster but a wannabe gangster and he is very far from being a law abiding citizen. A guy that tries to weasel his way out of anything. Everything about this character is dis-likable so there is a high chance no audience member will have any sympathy for this character. Except that he is sort of a family person. Now the second main character is Choi Hyung-Bae(Ha Jung-Woo) who is a gangster and does have gangster codes. But he isn't really likable gangster either or all that cool per say. He does have charisma but lacks the likable gangster aspect but I guess that is so it can go in a more realistic direction. And for the most part this movie is realistic but it's jumbled with random curse words and beatings that isn't effective nor does it entertain all that much. Their is isn't a single likable character in this movie you can side with. And the ending makes the movie even worse, maybe the director wanted to show elements of the real world. But it just gives off crappy morals and ethics, well there is none in this movie. Overall it's a alright movie that tries to show how some people do business in the underworld of Busan during the 80's. But everything just seemed a bit formulaic and it just didn't have enough scenes that makes this movie memorable or stand out.

6.8/10

First, forgive me for sounding redundant, but in my opinion, Korean movies nowadays has surpassed Hollywood movies in term of storyline. I just can't stand how nowadays CGI has become kind of plague in almost every major movies of Hollywood with thin storyline. Not that CGI is a bad thing really but it just kinda hurt to see how decent Hollywood movies without CGI or dirty teen humor are failing in today's box office.

And although it's not a Hollywood produced, but watching 'Nameless Gangster' is like a remedy to bring back those old sweet experiences when movies are all but the lavish computer generated images. Loyalty, deception, greed, arrogance, corruption, integrity, well it just hold too much elements in storytelling of being an epic gangster movie with some comical situation which wouldn't hurt nobody. You won't find bullets flying or machetes swinging but you'll find a compelling story of how a minor custom officer build up his career through the top of Busan underground society and the downfall later on.

While it's not fair to compare Nameless Gangster head to head with classic Scorsese's picture like Goodfellas, but one can't help but to notice the similarity, and indeed both movies did build the same tense of depicting the long shot career of an underground character to build both our sympathy and repulsion. Choi Min Sik is a real versatile Korean actor, he has done a stretch range of convincing acting from a vicious protagonist in 'Oldboy' to a brutal serial killer in 'I Saw the Devil', and here he scored once again to add more depth to the movie with Ha Jung Woo putting the equal class of performance. Just great.

So give it a try if you're looking for a well packed story of a gangland world, but in Korean style if not to say in Eastern style, mind you!

It's a shame this movie didn't get enough attention as it should be...