A better tomorrow

A Better Tomorrow - for some of us cinephiles the film's name brings to mind images of guys (i.e. Chow Yun-Fat in his break-out role and performance that made him a star in Hong Kong) in trench-coats and ray-ban sunglasses with big friggin guns firing away in blazing battles staged with a balletic precision and melodramatic (or just operatic) sleight of hand by John Woo. It was a classic unto itself, if not as polished as The Killer or as crazy as Hard Boiled with just as much (or more) genuine heart to its dramatic acting and story. So surprised I was then to see that my local cineplex- which often gets Asian films to cater to the the nearby town that is predominantly Korean- that 'A Better Tomorrow' would be coming to that theater for a two-week run. What better way to see Woo's film, I thought, than on a big screen like one of the ones at my local theater. I was even told (perhaps misleadingly to buy a ticket and/or concessions) that it was the 80's Woo film, albeit "Korean". Hmm, I thought, is it Korean? I thought it was from HK, like Woo's films usually are, but maybe it's dubbed in Korean for the community... hmm...

And no, lo and behold, it was really a remake (I can tell this as not an accident as Woo himself is credited here as exec producer). I decided to let the movie speak for itself; maybe someone would riff of of Woo's film while putting his own distinct take on the material. Suffice to say it's not anything to write home about. It takes the ingredients of the original story- a tale of brothers and betrayal, cops and gangsters, and a showdown at a big dock/shipping yard (that last part was the one thing that really stuck out most among set- pieces, and it's recreated here)- and just makes it... ordinary. It's a thriller that has a few decent performances (I couldn't tell you exactly who as I left before the credits rolled, albeit the main gangster villain reminded me of the villain from Oldboy, and it's that's the case then very good work there by a proved guy). It has a few flashy-violent scenes. Most memorable for me some time after the movie's end is when a character, after shooting up a massage parlor loaded with bad guys and with only a minor wound in his shoulder, walks away with sunglasses on, trench-coat on, and is trying to look super-cool... and then gets shot through the knee and his cool is taken down a peg.

But there's not really much to invest in any one character, and no actor here is like a Chow Yun-Fat or even a Ti-Lung, who were two major assets to the success of Woo's film as real actors with real star appeal. The guys here are workmanlike, easy to see how they go through the motions, and the director mostly lets the music (which even for an Asian crime movie) go way over the top to try to direct emotion from the audience when what's there should be enough, very stock stuff. If one has never seen the original Woo film, I could imagine some perfunctory enjoyment coming from the material, but the problem I had (and perhaps this is somewhat my fault and happens sometimes with Korean movies) was I couldn't keep track of some of the principle characters. I lost track of who was who in the first half hour of the movie, and had to be reminded when a character said someone's name. It finally got into a good groove once it flashed forward to three years later, and a character with a particular limp is distinctive. But the story doesn't always feel very closely knit together.

There's nothing in it that is so offensive as to want to leave the theater. There's also nothing that grabs me in and makes me rush out to tell friends who would perk up at a solid HK or Korean or whatever crime movie with big emotions and bigger gun battles. I can't really speak to the director's past work to draw upon comparison- one film by Hae-sung Song, Failan, is unavailable in the US though touted by reviewers on IMDb- but he doesn't push the material into anything very interesting. It might be commendable that the film doesn't slavishly imitate the original film, but then what else is there? Just general competency? A few cool looking characters in a gun battle or some tears shed at just the right flash of the cut of film? A Better Tomorrow 2010 most depressingly does what a good many American remakes do: takes the core ingredients, gives it a 21st century sheen... and it's generally just dull.

Review: This movie seemed like it was never going to end. So much time was wasted on the younger brothers remorse towards his older brother, which ended up getting on my nerves after a while and the fact that it didn't have English dubbing, also contributed to me falling asleep halfway through the movie. Anyway, the film's about a South Korean detective, Kim Hyuk (Joo Jin-Mo), who is also an illegal arms smuggler with his partner in crime, Lee Young-Choon (Song Seung-Heon). Hyuk has a younger brother, Chul (Kim Kang-Woo), who he left behind with his mother when they defected from the North. After spending time looking for his brother, Hyuk eventually finds Chul in a internment camp but Chul resents Hyuk for leaving him behind. When Hyuk finds out that his mother died when he left them behind, he's full of guilt and he tries his utmost to get close to his brother again but Chul doesn't want anything to do with him and his criminal activities. Hyuk then goes to Thailand with a new member of there crew, Jung Tae-Min (Jo Han-Sun) but Hyuk he's double crossed by Jung and the Thai gang, which leads to a big shootout. Hyuk surrenders to the police and ends up in jail for 3 years and when Lee finds out about the double cross, he heads to Thailand to kill the gang leader who had a hand in putting his best friend in jail. During the shootout, Lee gets shot in his knee, which makes him crippled, so with his best friend in jail and Jung in control of the smuggling operation, Lee ends up on the streets washing cars. When Hyuk is released from jail, he tries to make contact with his brother Chul, who is now a police detective but he still has bad feelings towards him. He also makes contact with Lee, who wants to get back into the business to take revenge on Jung but Hyuk is determined to go straight. He becomes a taxi driver to convince his brother that he is done with the criminal world but he is constantly pushed by Jung to rejoin the operation. Chul is determined to take down Jung but he hasn't got enough evidence to put him in jail. Jung then severely beats up Lee and he threatens Chul's life so Hyuk puts together a plan to kill Jung. Chul then has a suspicious car crash which has Jung's henchmen written all over it, so Lee takes it upon himself to steal some incriminating evidence to stop the feud. They agree to exchange the evidence for a large amount of money so they can escape on a boat but Hyuk has given the evidence to the police and he ends up taking Jung as a hostage so they can escape. When Chul turns up at the exchange, the whole situation leads to a massive shootout which also leads to some fatal consequences. I really didn't like the ending of this film and the whole "feuding between the brothers" concept, became very irritating. I really liked Lee's character, before he came a cripple and the shootout at the end was realistic. The actors also showed some deep emotion throughout the movie but Hyuk seemed like a lost puppy dog through most of the film. Anyway, it's not a bad movie and the storyline is very detailed, like a lot of Oriental movies but I was slightly disappointed with the outcome. Watchable!

Round-Up: This movie was directed by Hae-Sung Song who has only directed 6, unknown movies in his career and it was written by the great John Woo, who also wrote and directed the original, A Better Tomorrow with Chow Yun-Fat. 

Budget: $8.7million Worldwide Gross: $10.7million

I recommend this movie to people who are into their action/drama movies starring Jin-Mo Ju, Seung-Heon Song, Kang-Woo Kim and Han Sun Jo. 4/10

This 2010 version of "A Better Tomorrow" is not a bad movie, but why it came into being is somewhat of a puzzle to me. Why take something that was so unique back in 1986 and then remake it in 2010? And to go even further, why go from Hong Kong to Korea? Perhaps these are questions not meant to be answered, but it does make for an alright action movie. Just don't put this Korean version up against the Cantonese version, because that is a bad mistake.

If you watch this 2010 version for a stand-alone action movie, then it is a great experience by itself. The story is driven by a good, solid storyline, though it had a tendency of being a bit jumpy and hard to keep track of who was who, unless you pay a very close attentive eye on the movie. And this is what the movie suffers under, it is a bit too skittish.

This version of the "A Better Tomorrow" storyline is driven by a heavy dramatic storyline that is focusing on brotherhood and loyalty, and that does work out quite well in favor for the movie.

Compared to the original trilogy, then the 2010 Korean version has less action and shootings in it, but it is obvious that they have focused more on the aspects of brotherhood and loyalty, rather than just hardboiled action and gunfights.

And the movie was well carried by the four actors in the lead roles; Jin-mo Ju (playing Kim Hyeok), Seung-heon Song (playing Yeong-choon), Kang-woo Kim (playing Kim Cheol) and Han Sun Jo (playing Tae Min). Thumbs up to these four guys for really adding dimension and character to the 2010 version of "A Better Tomorrow".

The 2010 Korean version of this 1986 Hong Kong classic is well worth a watch for fans of Asian action cinema. Just keep this version aside from the Hong Kong trilogy, and you'll be fine.

So Chul, the younger brother, is the new refugee who escaped from the North Korean. But how could he so easily become a South Korean policeman so fast? Furthermore, how could a guy from the North, not only so easily become a South Korean policeman, he could also rise up in the South Korean police system and promote to a higher ranking officer so quickly? Before you can become a policeman, you must attend the police academy and graduate from it, then you would spend more years, sometimes 10 to 15 years, to become a plain-clothe detective from a uniformed regular cop. How could this movie explain such overlooked facts that exist in every government system, albeit the police force? By ignoring this, this movie simply failed at the very beginning and won't hold true in every explanable way.

In Busan, South Korea, the powerful arms traffickers Kim Hyeok (Jin-mo Ju) and Yeong-choon (Seung-heon Song) are best friends. Hyeok has spent many months seeking out his younger brother Kim Cheol (Kang-woo Kim) that was left behind by Hyeok with their mother while escaping from North Korea. When Hyeok finally finds Cheol, his brother blames him for the death of their mother that was beaten to death in the prison and keeps distance from Hyeok.

When Hyeok travels with the gangster Tae Min (Han Sun Jo) to Thailand for a negotiation, he is betrayed by Tae Min and is arrested by the police. Meanwhile Cheol joins the police force to become a detective and Yeong-choon kills the gang that betrayed his friend. When Hyeok is finally released from the Thai prison and returns to Busan, he finds that his brother is a detective investigating Tae Min and Yeong-choon limped and in complete misery. But Hyeok promises that he would not return to life of outlaw. But he is haunted by his past and the need of protecting his estranged brother. .

"Moo-jeok-ja", a.k.a. "A Better Tomorrow", is an Asian crime film excessively melodramatic. The good storyline about brotherhood, friendship and loyalty discloses a plot confused in the beginning but also full of action. However the dramatic relationship between the two brothers becomes an annoying soap opera after the repetition of the same situation with Cheol rejecting his brother. Better off watching John Woo's "Ying hung boon sik" ("A Better Tomorrow" 1986) again. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): Not Available