Novo Mundo

Maybe it's a little excessive to give this movie a 10/10 rating, but GOD it is so amazing.

1. Fantastic cast of top-notch Korean actors who DELIVER it hot n' ready in under 30 minutes.

2. Cinematography, excellent.

3. Script, wow. Never a line delivered that I cringed at how corny it was, which I find tends to happen more often for me watching a foreign film. Unlike so many American films, there's real character development and the story may be filled with some of the best actions scenes and Korea mafia tension you'd expect, but the greatest moments are the intimacies between the characters in the film. You think you're getting an action flick, but it is so much more.

I cannot recommend this movie more than I already have, I saw this almost by accident and went in with little to no expectations of quality or anything of the like. I really went because I recognize the actor from Oldboy, who is in his own right amazing in every role I've seen him in.

I am surprised that more people (especially my friends from South Korea) haven't reviewed this excellent movie so far. Perhaps they know of better Korean cinema to view and review!! I for one am from India (settled in the US) and big fan of Korean films, which were introduced to me by a Korean friend of mine during my graduate school days here in the US. Anyhow, this is the only Korean movie I could lay my hands on in a theater close to me (I generally see Korean movies on Netflix or home video). Perhaps it is my excitement of having watched a Korean movie in a movie theater after so long which has me biased in favor of this film. But I think not, as the rating right now on IMDb is 7.7/10. Anyways, here goes.

This is an amazing movie. Like the only other reviewer here has said, it mixes elements of "The Godfather" with "The Departed". It also reminded me of a Hindi art house movie which is not so well known (unfortunately) called "Droh Kaal" (1994 by director Govind Nihalani). Park Hoon-Jung being an accomplished writer (I loved his "I saw the devil"), does craft an original and engaging story. Violence is heavy handed when it is depicted and makes you cringe, but I don't mind that personally. I loved the costumes (every gangster in the movie wears designer suits which should be the envy of Wall Street executives). In fact, its the law enforcement officials who are comparatively shabbily dressed. The feel and atmosphere is subtly captured by cinematographer Chung Chung-hoon. I love his camera work, which was only recently at display in "Stoker" (by Park chan-wook), which I saw the day it was out. It was also a treat to see Choi min-shik ("Oldboy") again after "I saw the devil".

Overall, the movie kept me on the edge of my seat and was really entertaining. It is definitely much better than what Hollywood is churning out these days (with a few exceptions of course). Let me hope they don't butcher my favorite "Oldboy". I would highly recommend "New World", please do go and see it in a theater to really get the feel (like I said earlier, the cinematography is top-notch and needs to be seen on a big screen to be believed!).

There are very few movies which makes you jump from your seat, clap (even though you are watching it alone in your laptop), entertained, excited and happy. I was lucky enough to go through all the above emotions on multiple levels while watching 'New World'. 2013 was a big year for cinema lovers. We saw the son of krypton resurfaced, we saw the Iron Legion and even the Wrath of Khan. Yet, 'New World', is the best movie I have seen in 2013, till date.

Now what makes 'New World' beat the big guns which came out this year. It certainly did not have the leverage of breath taking CGI, nor mind bending plot lines. It did not have any particular fan favorite tags like the super hero genre, apart from Min-Choi of Oldboy and I Saw The Devil fame, no one in the Western hemisphere knows the actors. The director cum writer, is relatively unknown. So what is so great about it? It is the actors, the characters, the screenplay, the haunting BGM, the cinematography, the art direction, the story and every single piece of this movie. It was epic for me. It was just lying around in my hard drive since last 3 weeks. Did not even care to go for it, even though Min-Choi was in it, and today I wanted to see a Korean flick, and bang!

The story has shades of 'The Infernal Affairs' trilogy, yet it differentiates itself with its characters and screenplay. It is enjoyable to watch. You get to see a lot of twists, more importantly enjoyable twists in this movie. It is shot stylishly and supported by an amazingly haunting background score. Cinematography and art direction are astonishing. It indeed makes you wanna stand in rain in front of the towering skylines of South Korea.

The acting is top notch. Every single major characters have been portrayed by the actors flawlessly. Min-Choi is 'just' and 'corrupted' just like a the 2 sides of a coin, and he gives a solid performance. This guy should go to Hollywood, he will own them. Lee Jeong is the one who plays the protagonist. I was surprised to learn that, this is his first movie ever, and at no point, he looked like a novice. The performance, I enjoyed the most was of, Jeong-min Hwang. As of today. I am a fan of this dude. Every single scene he is in, he steals the show. The friendship between his and the central character kinda managed to squeeze in a tear from my eyes.

This is the best movie I have seen this year. 10 on 10 Period!

I don't know if it was coincidence or these actors choose a great movie all the time but when I see a movie with Hwang Jungmin, who played Jeong Chang, or Choi Minshik, chief Kang, I automatically know that it's going to be a good movie.

I didn't like Lee Jungjae at times when he was trying to correctly pronounce each syllable, but he played the role superbly.

As for the story-line and how the conclusion of the movie unfolds, wow. I was lost in words. The same feeling I got when I watched Shiri about 13 years ago.

"When everyone turned their back on me, he called me a brother."

Awesome, Awesome, Awesome. No other word can better describe how the movie is.

Korean cinema has matured immensely over the past decade and 2013 has already seen The Berlin File which I believe would show quite well overseas. New World is perhaps a more domestically oriented movie that would be enjoyed more by those who understand Korean culture, however the casual movie-goer will definitely not be let down.

Take The Departed (Infernal Affairs) and Godfather, mix it in a blender, add a dash of Korean gangster and you've got a slick thriller that offers a bit of the brutal violence Korean cinema is known for as well as some humor. While not as polished as the Berlin File, it's arguably a better movie when it comes to plot.

All in all, it looks like a great start to the year for Korean movies.