Film reviews

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Men In Black 3

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The Woman In Black

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The Yellow Sea (Film)

Rating: R

Running Time: 157

Country: South Korea

Director: Hong-jin Na

Cast: Seong-Ha Cho, Jung-woo Ha, Yun-seok Kim

Distributor: Monster Pictures

Release Date: December 08, 2011

Film Worth: $16.00

FILMINK rates movies out of $20 - the score indicates the amount we believe a ticket to the movie to be worth

An adrenaline-fuelled marathon of a movie that impressively shifts shape and form but remains grimly compelling throughout.

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The Yellow Sea leads you to expect one sort of film, then swiftly transforms into another, without, strangely enough, losing any sense of consistency. It starts as a dark social commentary on the plight of the Joseonjok - Koreans of Chinese nationality who form an exploited migrant underclass in South Korea, sometimes working illegally.

 

The film's hero, Gu-Nam (Jung-Woo Ha) is a Joseonjok whose wife has left to work in Korea, leaving him to pay off the enormous debt incurred by her working visa back in China. When a member of the Joseonjok underworld offers Gu-Nam ten thousand dollars in exchange for killing a wealthy Korean businessman, he doesn't really have a choice. Things fail to go entirely to plan, and as Gu-Nam suddenly becomes a target for Korean authorities and the underworld alike, the film undergoes its second incarnation as fast-paced action thriller, replete with violent fight scenes and numerous chases on foot and in vehicles.

 

Informative and thought-provoking as well as adrenaline-fuelled, it's a two hour marathon that remains grimly compelling, with Gu-Nam's doggedness in the face of desperation the constant element.  

 

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