Naebujadeul

The story is simple yet riveting, the acting superb and the overall flow is so smooth you don't feel the hours pass. The balance between thriller ingredients and elements of dark humor makes the experience very pleasant. It's a must watch if you like Korean movies!

Political thrillers have gone out of fashion in the US - and even in Europe - but fortunately South Korea and Japan still know how to make them. It's a very specific genre. Modern audiences - and this didn't start with Gen Z, but with my generation, the Millennials - have become disinterested in politics and consequently in the genre. The problem with thinking little about politics and losing interest in the subject is that... politics is the society we live in. Politics is the world we live in, and if we don't want to know what's happening there, there's more room for us to be controlled, dominated, and mocked by those at the top.

Inside Men is a fantastic film that shows this lack of scruples to achieve one's goals. It doesn't do anything particularly new. Cinematically, many would say the genre can only give us what we expect without major innovations possible. In part, I can agree, although it presents excellent cinematography, well-choreographed action scenes, and a very well-achieved sound. Nonetheless, not all good cinema has to be visually disruptive. Personally, I love a good political thriller, well-written, with good characters (played by great actors), with moral dilemmas mixed in, showing us the rot of a corrupt system that is nothing more than a reflection of what we all are. Politics, journalism, and gangsters go hand in hand in a dirty, cruel, and unscrupulous world, and for everything to remain as it is, people only need to look the other way.

As for the magnificent performances, I don't even know where to start. Lee Byung-hun is at his best, with layers I didn't expect from this character. Cho Seung-woo is flawless, and Yun-shik Baek is perfect, leaving us with goosebumps from the repugnant way he moves in these corridors of power without his image being tarnished. If Min-ho Woo continues with this style (he also gave us the excellent The Man Standing Next), he may never have the admiration of the younger generations, but I will always be eager for his next project. The world still needs these films. Perhaps - now that the younger ones care little about them - more than ever.

The sound track of this movie is captivating and the acting deliver and sell the story perfectly. Amazing movie.

Do you want to know more about Korean actors? Then this movie is exactly what you've been looking for. Including Hollywood-famous Byung-hun Lee, Korean actors in this movie presents overwhelming performances. However, this is the movie's strength and there's obvious downsides too (a lot). First, the storyline has a wrong tempo. Sometimes, it's too slow and sometimes it's too sudden. This causes a lack of suspense. Second, the clichés in this movie are quite troublesome. I don't know how foreign people would feel about them, but to Korean people those clichés are definitely overused and used only in one pattern in this movie. This makes the story quite predictable. Third, the message of this movie is in vain. The director should have given more thought about how to resolve social corruption or how to give an alert about it more effectively. Since the resolution shown in this movie is so simple (I won't tell more specifically. Just watch the movie), it sounds so empty. It just doesn't resonate in my mind Yes, in conclusion this movie is quite cheesy and has many flaws. But still, actors' performances are so amazing that they make this movie look well-made Crime/Thriller movie with authentic aura. Should you watch it? Well, if you are into Korean movies I would say 'definitely!'

When this movie first came out, the majority of viewers criticized it for being over-the-top, hyperbolized. They assessed: politics has its ugly side, but this is too "B," too Tarantino-ish. Well years later, it turns out the movie was PG and reality was much, much worse. This movie became a weird criteria for Koreans to pit reality against and therein lies its merit.

It's true what some of the reviewers said. The subtitles don't do the script justice and some background knowledge about Korean culture helps. And honestly, if you like simple stories... go watch something else?