Nakwoneuibam

Park Hoon-jung did not disappoint and serves up a crazily brutal and raw gangster film, another solid addition to his collection. After all the dramas and soft thrillers in 2021, South Korea steps in with its own style and presents a strong and captivating story with dense characters, where everything has its proper place. Visually, it's cool in a Nolan-like way, the pace is occasionally really slow (that's my only criticism), the music is good, the atmosphere is sometimes surreal, the cinematography is more artistic, and when it comes to action, the violence is presented to such an extent that it's almost a celebration of it. Every bastard gets what they deserve here, the atmosphere is bleak, raw, and unpleasant. The film is absolutely uncompromising towards its characters. The finale in the warehouse builds up nicely and the scene in the restaurant is downright shocking and brutal (shootouts reminiscent of Gareth Evans's Gangs of London), and when it came to knife fights, I purred with delight like I haven't in a long time. It's proper masculine stuff and a powerful film. If had a faster pace and added more action scenes, it would be a five-star masterpiece. This film is not for mainstream viewers. 7.5/10. (10.04.2021)

At first I was a little annoyed with the production. You know, too "Netflix-ish", pretending to be America too much, not Korean enough. And since it's been a long time since I've seen the director's earlier (and for me back then, really well done) work, I don't remember if his work was in this vein back in the day. What I did remember, though, is the almost boundless brutality that Park's films are full of. I don't think anyone in Korea can match him for it, either. While I don't enjoy brutality, I have to admit that the ending pretty much made the film good. So if you're tempted by beautiful Jeju, tainted with hectoliters of mafia blood, you should probably see this. Once was good enough for me, 3 stars. (29.04.2021)