“xXx: The Return of Xander Cage” Korean Theatrical Poster
xXx 4 is at early stages of pre-production, but considering the xXx franchise has the potential to pull in high profile action stars from around the world, the possibilities are limitless!
The latest is that Taiwanese superstar Jay Chou (The Viral Factor, The Green Hornet) is joining Vin Diesel, Zhang Lanxin (Railroad Tigers), and TF Boys member Roy Wang (Pound of Flesh).
Samuel Leong, or ‘Sam Gor’ as he is known in Hong Kong, is a prolific independent filmmaker who has been making low-budget films in recent years. His works include Bio SARS Zombie, TV Z and the Tournament series.
While most of his films are critically panned, the man has never given up his passion for making films. Since the first Tournament film in 2015, he has so far already made six sequels.
The latest sequel, titled DX-29, is again written and directed by Leong. It is a creature feature that stars Leong alongside Jim Ping-hei (Three, Triad), Ho Ying-wei (Flirting Scholar) and Ng Yo-yo (Tournament).
Tournament 7: DX-29 will be released in February 2019. You can check out its Trailer below:
After his notable stuntwork in films such as Lucy and Now You See Me 2 – not to mention his breakout starring role in Jailbreak, indie flick The Division and the recent Nightshooters– Jean-Paul Ly will soon be showing more of his amazing martial arts skills in the sci-fi actioner Rift, from writer/director Haz Dulull (2036: Origin Unknown).
Rift follows a nihilistic police officer who goes to extreme measures to protect a young boy who has the ability to tap into multi-dimensions across space and time (via FCS).
The film is just one of the many projects Ly has in-the-works. You’ll soon be seeing more of him in 14 Fists, Vengeance 2 and Kenneth Brannagh’s upcoming Disney adaptation of Artemis Fowl.
Production on Rift is scheduled to start next year. Until we hear more, here’s a look at some proof-of-concept footage:
On January 15, 2019, Mill Creek Entertainment will be releasing the Blu-ray for Silent Rage, a 1982 action thriller directed by Michael Miller (Street Girls) and starring Chuck Norris (Yellow Face Tiger, Code of Silence), Ron Silver (Timecop), Brian Libby (The Shawshank Redemption) and Stephen Furst (Animal House). The film will be presented in a special “Retro VHS Look”.
In Silent Rage, a sheriff (Norris) tries to stop the killing spree of a mute maniacal murderer (Libby) who, as the result of years of medical experimentation, has the ability to self-heal.
Variety describes the movie as “a combination horror-kung fu-oater-woman in peril-mad scientist film,” and many fans tag it as “Chuck Norris vs. Michael Myers”. In our opinion, this raw, sometimes terrifying film, is one of Norris’ best (if you can survive the romance montage within the film)…
Silent Rage was previously released as a Walmart Exclusive on October 30th.
Coming off the massive success of his recent film Project Gutenberg, Aaron Kwok (Monk Comes Down the Mountain, Cold War II) will soon be seen in another thriller titled Home Sweet Home.
This time, the superstar is teaming up with director Leste Chen (The Great Hypnotist, Battle of Memories) and co-stars Duan Yihong (King’s War, The Looming Storm), Zhang Zifeng (Go, Brother!), Tiffany Hsu (The Tag-Along) and Rong Zishan (End of Summer) to tell the story of a family of four whose happy lives get disrupted by the arrival of a mysterious visitor.
Shooting of Home Sweet Home has just completed and the film is expected to be released in 2019. For now, here’s the Trailer for Project Gutenberg:
Tae-shik (Won Bin) is an ex-special agent whose tragic past has made him distance himself from the world. He now lives in solitude and runs a small pawnshop. The only people he now sees are the few pawnshop customers and So-mi (Kim Sae-Ron), the young girl who lives next door. Then one day, So-mi suddenly disappears and Tae-shik has no choice but to take action.
Since retiring from action films, acclaimed actress/Shaw Brothers legend Kara Hui (Mrs K, Martial Club) has been taking on a number of dramatic roles in films like Happiness, The Bold, the Corrupt, and the Beautiful and most recently Tracey.
One of her upcoming projects is A Life of Papers, which will be directed by Ren Xia, who helmed the 2017 award-winning Fresh New Wave short Even Ants Strive for Survival, and produced by Shu Kei (Ashes of Time, Hu Du Men). The film is about a Hong Kong woman who makes a living through collecting and selling used cardboard boxes.
A Life of Papers has just been awarded NT$1,000,000 by the Golden Horse Film Project Promotion awards and should be going into production in the near future.
“Once Upon a Time in China V” Chinese Theatrical Poster
Director: Tsui Hark Cast: Vincent Chiu, Rosamund Kwan, Jean Wong, Kent Cheng, Hung Yan Yan, Mok Siu Chung, Lau Shun, Elaine Lui, Gwok Chun On, Stephen Tung Wei Running Time: 101 min.
By Paul Bramhall
Remember that time Tsui Hark decided to make his own version of Project A, but film it in the style of John Woo? If not, then it likely means you’ve never seen Once Upon a Time in China V, the penultimate instalment of the 90’s Wong Fei Hung series, and the final one to be helmed by its original director Tsui Hark. Both Once Upon a Time in China V and its predecessor have somewhat of a strained relationship with the bigger budgeted, genre reigniting trilogy that preceded them, and as a result the fifth instalment in the OUATIC (as I’ll refer to it from here on in) series is a frequently overlooked gem.
It’s easy to forget how fast Hong Kong cinema churned them out in the 90’s, and despite Hark’s series swansong in the director’s chair already being the 5th entry, it’s worth bearing in mind that the original OUATIC only came out 3 years prior. It was Jet Li that stepped into the iconic role of Wong Fei Hung for the original trilogy, and would round off the series by returning to the role for 1997’s Once Upon a Time in China and America. After 1993’s OUATIC III though, contractual problems resulted in Li stepping down, which led to Hark offering the iconic role of Fei Hung to Li’s villainous rival in Fong Sai Yuk, Vincent Zhao. Despite refusing to sign a 3-year contract with Hark, the pair would go on to work together as star and director not only on OUATIC V, but also Green Snake and The Blade, placing Zhao at the centre of the HK auteur’s best work from the 90’s.
Perhaps sensing Zhao’s hesitance around continuing to work in the film industry after his debut in Fong Sai Yuk (for which he’d been head hunted from the Beijing Sport University by Corey Yuen), Hark ushered OUATIC IV into production so fast, it ended up coming out during the same year as OUATIC III. Hark, who was also directing Green Snake at the same time, handed over the directorial reigns for the 4th instalment to OUATIC III’s action director, Yuen Bun, and stepped back into the role of writer and producer. So it was OUATIC V that really returned a sense of stability back to the series, with Hark returning to the director’s chair, Bun sticking to what he knows best with action directing, and the welcome return of Rosamund Kwan as 13th Aunt.
The stamp of Hark is evident from the get-go of OUATIC V, with the blue hues that were so prevalent in many of the early – mid 90’s HK new wave flicks used to light many of the night scenes, as we learn that pirates are pillaging the seas and terrorising a local portside town. Fei Hung and his crew, who are all present and accounted for – Xiong Xin-Xin as Club Foot, Kent Cheng as Butcher Wing, Roger Kwok as Buck Toothed So, Max Mok as Foon, and Lau Shun as Wong Kei Ying – are attempting to take a ship to Hong Kong, however it soon becomes evident that the townspeople could do with some help. Fei Hung and co.’s unwavering righteousness naturally means they can’t say no, so said help is soon being delivered via plentiful wire-work, and a surprising amount of gunplay.
Zhao is a good fit in the role of Wong Fei Hung. He spent most of the mid-90’s being referred to as the next Jet Li, and it’s easy to see why. Both had a wushu background, and much like Jet Li in his early outings, Zhao’s somewhat stern demeanour made him a good fit for role. However as fast as HK was churning out movies, so too were HK cinema goers known for how fast they could fall out of favour with certain cinematic trends. In 1994 audiences were likely beginning to suffer from Wong Fei Hung fatigue – Chin Kar Lok had given his take on the character with Martial Arts Master Wong Fei Hung in 1992, Jet Li himself parodied the genre in 1993’s Last Hero in China, while movies such as Kickboxer and Iron Monkey also took place in the Wong Fei Hung universe. 1994 alone gave us 3 Wong Fei Hung’s – in addition to Zhao we had Jackie Chan reprising the role in Drunken Master 2, and Willie Chi chiming in with Drunken Master 3.
In that way OUATIC V can also be viewed as one of the last examples of the early – mid 90’s kung fu revival. It would be Tsui Hark himself that would deconstruct the genre, once more with Zhao as his leading man, the following year with The Blade, exchanging the dynamic new wave aesthetics for a more earthy and dust coated realism. Knowing the historical context of OUATIC V’s place in the kung fu genre cannon only makes it a more interesting watch. Zhao’s introduction to the world of action cinema was somewhat of a trial by fire – during the filming of Green Snake, while suspended high in the air on a pair of steel wires, one of them snapped. Not exactly the best start to someone unfamiliar with making action movies. Then during the filming of OUATIC IV he injured his ankle, which would take several years to heal.
So in many ways you could say that OUATIC V is to Zhao what Thunderbolt is to Jackie Chan, both were filmed while its star was carrying an injury, and both subsequently have as many detractors as they do fans. Having Hark at the helm though is always a cause for celebration. He’s a director that’s able to use limitations as a reason to innovate rather than sacrifice, and that innovation is evident throughout OUATIC V. Indeed for a large amount of its runtime, Zhao takes a backseat to the fisticuffs, stepping in intermittently with a quick flourish here and there. Instead, the heavy lifting goes to his cohorts, with Xiong Xin-Xin letting loose with his formidable repertoire of kicks, delivered both with and without wire assistance (look out for a nice homage to the airborne bamboo pole fight from the original OUATIC). Even Kent Cheng gets in on the action, wielding everything from bamboo poles to folding screens as weapons.
More than any other OUATIC, the action in OUATIC V is best described as bombastic, an early indicator of the 3D collaborations Tsui Hark and Yuen Bun would work on together in the 2010’s. The biggest surprise of all, going back to my opening line, is the use of guns. The discovery of a chest full of armaments is utilised to arm everyone to the teeth, and it allows for some entertainingly acrobatic gunplay to go down once Fei Hung and co. descend on the pirate’s hideout. Even the traditional kung fu training montage is replaced with one of our heroes practicing their shooting skills. A real highlight is the villain’s weapon of choice – a Guandao that also doubles as a gun. Tong Gaai would be proud. Played by Stephen Tung Wai, when he faces off against Zhao it may not be as intricate as kung-fu fans may be hoping for, but it’s still a lot of fun.
That’s not to say that OUATIC V is perfect, as it comes with its fair share of flaws. The return of Rosamund Kwan as 13th Aunt may be a welcome one, but it also means we get an awkward love triangle between her, Jean Wang (who essentially replaced her as Cousin May in OUATIC IV), and Zhao, that arguably has far more screen time dedicated to it than it needs. Also for every comedic beat that hits, there’s at least a handful that don’t. Max Mok was never an ideal replacement for Yuen Biao, but here there’s times when his performance gets particularly grating, none more so than in a rooftop scene which involves him ‘meowing’ to Kent Cheng as a form of discreet communication. Thankfully though, neither the love triangle nor the misplaced comedy stick around long enough to derail proceedings beyond redemption.
If anything, the pulpy nature of 1997’s Once Upon a Time in China and America is foreshadowed in OUATIC V. The whole concept of a finger decapitating pirate, lost treasure, and intrigue on the high seas, harks back to the serial style of Kwan Tak-Hing’s adventures as Wong Fei Hung. We get a fight against a mummified pirate over 100 years old, a villainous femme fatale who’s as seductive as she is deadly (played by Elaine Lui, of Iron Angels and Red Wolf fame), and some hilariously OTT death scenes that can’t help but raise a smile. Sure, OUATIC V may not have as much to say as its predecessors, but there’s a distinct feeling that Hark knows this, and was more interested in creating an old fashioned high seas romp with Wong Fei Hung as its hero. Taken from this perspective, then OUATIC V is a success, even if it’s a slight one.
After establishing himself in the US with films like Geostorm and Tomb Raider, as well as his own TV series, Into the Badlands, Daniel Wu (Sky on Fire) will be returning to China to star in a new crime thriller titled A Penny or 限期破案, which literally translates to ‘solving a case against time’.
A Penny will be the second feature film from Hong Kong director Lau Ho-leung, who helmed the 2015 critically acclaimed hit Two Thumbs Up. In the new film, Wu will play a cold-blooded and highly intelligent criminal. Chinese actor Wang Qianyuan (Saving Mr. Wu) will play the cop tasked with catching Mr. Wu and HK actress Michelle Wai (Sleep Curse) will play the female lead.
A ceremony (see photo below) was held yesterday to celebrate the start of filming. In attendance were the film’s investor Albert Yeung, producer Han San-ping, director Lau Ho-leung and main cast members. Also announced at the ceremony was that Jessie Li (Port of Call) will be joining the cast.
Production has started and the film is expected to be released in 2019.
“The Witch: Part 1. The Subversion” Korean Theatrical Poster
Director: Park Hoon-Jung Cast: Kim Da-Mi, Jo Min-Soo, Choi Woo-Sik, Go Min-Si, Park Hee-Soon, Da-Eun, Choi Jung-Woo, Oh Mi-Hee, Kim Byung-Ok, Lee Joo-Won, Kim Ha-Na Running Time: 125 min.
By Paul Bramhall
As 2018 draws close to an end, the appetite for female driven action movies doesn’t seem to be waning in the West or the East. Warner Brothers appear to know this, so for their latest foray into the Korean market (following on from Age of Shadows and A Single Rider), they’ll be no doubt hoping to create a new kind of femme fatale. Featuring the unwieldy English title of The Witch: Part 1. The Subversion, (which is notably broader than its Korean title, which simply translates to The Witch), this latest entry into the cannon of Korean action goes for a genre mash-up, combining everything from sci-fi to horror to teenage drama.
Directed and written by Park Hoon-jung, while less than 10 years ago Hoon-jung’s calling card was being known as the man who wrote the scripts for I Saw the Devil and The Unjust, in just a short space of time TW:P1.TS (as I’ll refer to it from now on) is already his fifth time sitting in the director’s chair. After a modest debut with 2010’s period piece The Showdown, Hoon-jung really marked himself as a director to look out for with his 2012 sophomore feature The New World. While his preceding work has fallen short of the promise shown in his gritty gangster epic, with both 2015’s Tiger: An Old Hunter’s Tale and 2016’s V.I.P. being bloated exercises in clunkiness and cliché, seeing him take on the subject matter of his latest got the best of my curiosity.
The opening of TW:P1.TS sets a tone that for many will hark back the grizzly mayhem found in I Saw the Devil, as we witness the aftermath in a hospital room of a group of children brutally massacred during the night, blood sprayed up the walls and every other surface in sight. Overseen by an emotionless professor (Jo Min-soo, star of Pieta) and her right hand man (Park Hee-soon, who also featured in Hoon-jung’s The Showdown and V.I.P.), we soon learn that 2 of the children have gotten away – one a little boy who is quickly captured, and the other a little girl, who escapes into the dense forest surrounding the facility. Eventually collapsing from exhaustion by a nearby farm, she’s discovered by the elderly owner (Choi Jun-woo, who also featured in V.I.P.) as he puts out feed for his cattle before dawn breaks, and ends up being raised by him and his wife in a small rural town. So far, so Smallville.
Skip forward 10 years later, and the girl is now 19 with a reputation for being a high performer at school (I guess kids never leave school in Korea), and no memories of what took place before she was found outside the farm. Played by newcomer Kim Da-mi, the events in the present make for a jarring tonal shift from the brutal blood soaked opening. Da-mi makes for an endearing protagonist, and her performance anchors the not particularly engaging events that the first half of TW:P1.TS busies itself with – funds for the farm are running low, cattle prices are dropping, and Da-mi’s adopted Mum is developing Alzheimer’s. However a solution for all of the above comes along in the form of a reality TV show, think a Korean version of American Idol, which her best friend (played with an annoying level of enthusiasm by Go Min-si) is certain she can win, an outcome which would see her pocketing the sizable prize money.
Going from kids who’ve been bludgeoned to death to watching auditions for a talent show may seem like night and day, however the show does serve a narrative purpose. When the producers ask Da-mi if she has any unique talents, a brief display of her gifts on national TV puts her firmly back on the radar, one which belongs to those who’ve been attempting to track her down for the past 10 years. Hoon-jung has essentially made a big budget version, one which feels largely aimed at a teenage audience, of the ‘character with a dark past attempting to make a new life for themselves’ plot trope. Indeed the plot is almost identical to a recent indie movie, Kill Order (even down to the memory loss aspect), as well as recalling other similarly structured action flicks such as Broken Path and Ninja Assassin.
Soon Da-mi finds herself the focus of unwanted attention from a guy who claims to know her (Choi Woo-shik, Okja), and the more their paths cross, the more it becomes clear he’s not just an overly attached fan. Armed with a quick to escalate temper, an irritating habit of interjecting English into the middle of conversations, and strength far beyond that of a normal human, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out who Woo-shik really is. So the stage is set – will Da-mi be able to remember in time to save her adopted family? What exactly is so special about her to still be being hunted 10 years on? And what are these characters anyway – mutants, superheroes, psychopaths!? Hoon-jung keeps us hanging on until well over an hour in, and when an explanation does come, it arrives in the form of a laughably long exposition dump courtesy of Jo Min-soo. Put it down to being an occupational hazard of a screen writer becoming a director.
Thankfully though the second half attempts to deliver on the action front as well as the exposition, after spending over an hour developing plot threads that are ultimately superfluous to the type of movie TW:P1.TS really is. Da-mi’s awakened capabilities are fun to watch if unsurprising – she can shoot a room full of people in a split second (thanks John Wick), and turns out to not be such a weakling in the strength department either. Hoon-jung seems to revel in cranking up the gore factor, with liberal use of fake blood, and limbs being broken with ruthless abandon. We even get a greenhouse scene thrown in, recalling a similar environment that was used to great effect in I Saw the Devil. Despite the visceral brutality of the action though, it’s hard to shake the feeling of it being derivative of other similarly themed local productions, just with more of the red stuff to set it apart.
Da-mi’s efficiency brings to mind Kim Ok-bin’s stellar turn in The Villainess, and her super-powered capabilities feel more than a little similar to Park Bo-young’s reveal in The Silenced. However unlike both of those movies, Hoon-jung’s latest falls short of having clearly defined villains with their own objectives. Beyond the fact that they’ve been attempting to track down Da-mi since she escaped 10 years ago, we don’t really get to know a whole lot about the shadowy characters who’ve been experimenting on kids. Why are they doing it, and what have they been doing for the past 10 years? Presumably it can’t have been only looking for Da-mi, as the farm isn’t geographically that far from the facility she escaped from (she was able to run there, after all).
Instead of focusing on their motivations, Hoon-jung’s script ends up stumbling over itself, by adding too much complexity, and inserting meaningless subplots between the villains that serve little to no purpose. A conflict forms between Min-soo and Park Hee-soon, playing her right hand man, which is never really explored, and the finale introduces a trio of other super-powered teenagers, that join Woo-shik to take on Da-mi. Out of all the characters that end up throwing down against each other, only a couple of them have clear goals, and even those only work in the context of what little information we’ve been given. While the magic of cinema does a great job of making Da-mi come across as a primitive force of nature, there’s a lack of catharsis to much of the bloodshed, because too many questions still remain to feel fully invested in the chaos.
What can’t be argued is that TW:P1.TS marks the arrival of a fresh new talent in the form of Kim Da-mi, who navigates the awkward tonal shifts that the 2 hour runtime encompasses with aplomb, and sells every scene she’s in – whether it be singing in a talent show, or beating a lackey’s face to a blood soaked pulp. Hoon-jung has created an interesting premise, however the amount of time spent on certain plot threads is disproportionate to what his story is really about, making it an uneven and occasionally bewildering viewing experience. While the Part 1 may be missing from the Korean title, the final scene makes it clear that another instalment should be on the way, likely dependent on this one being a success at the box office. If we do get another round of witchery, here’s hoping Hoon-jung go’s for a less is more approach, with more focus on being lean and mean, and less on everything else.
Kim Jee-woon (The Age of Shadows), the celebrated filmmaker behind I Saw the Deviland A Bittersweet Life, has released his next film, Illang: The Wolf Brigade (aka Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade), exclusively on Netflix for U.S. audiences. The movie is a live-action take on the popular 90’s anime feature Jin-Roh.
The original Jin-Roh was noted for its fluid animation, stylish action, and political allegory. The screenplay, penned by legendary Ghost in the Shell director Mamoru Oshii, also drew inspiration from the Little Red Riding Hood fairy tale.
On December 11, 2018, MVD Rewind Collection will be releasing a Special Edition Blu-ray & DVD of the 1994 martial arts flick, Double Dragon. Based on the hit video game series of the same name, Double Dragon stars Mark Dacascos (Ultimate Justice), Scott Wolf (Go) and Robert Patrick (Terminator 2: Judgement Day).
This cult classic film also stars Alyssa Milano (Commando), Jeff Imada (Big Trouble in Little China), Al Leong (Rapid Fire) and Julia Nickson (Rambo: First Blood Part II).
It s the year 2007, and what remains of L.A. is now ”New Angeles”, a city ravaged by earthquakes, tidal waves and vicious gangs. The evil tycoon Koga Shuko (Patrick) is obsessed with finding the two halves of a talisman known as the ”Double Dragon”, which will give him awesome mystical powers.
Two teenaged brothers, Jimmy (Dacascos) and Billy Lee (Wolf) find themselves in possession of the amulet’s missing half, thrusting them into the adventure of their lives. With the help of Maria (Milano) and her vigilante group ”The Power Corps”, Jimmy and Billy must summon all of their courage, resourcefulness and martial-arts skills to stop the villain’s malevolent plan.
Special Features:
High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) and Standard Definition DVD presentations of the main feature
Audio: English 5.1 Stereo, English 2.0 Stereo, German 2.0 Stereo
English, French and Spanish Subtitles
NEW “The Making of Double Dragon” (full length documentary featuring interviews with stars Scott Wolf and Marc Dacascos, writers Peter Gould & Michael Davis and producer Don Murphy)
NEW “Don Murphy: Portrait of a Producer” featurette
Archival ”Making of” featurette
Behind the Scenes featurette
1993 Double Dragon Animated Series Pilot Episode #101: “The Shadow Falls”
Storyboard Gallery
Press Photos, Marketing and Behind The Scenes Photo Galleries
The Karate Kid III & The Next Karate Kid Double Feature | Blu-ray (Mill Creek Entertainment)
RELEASE DATE: January 8, 2019
On January 8, 2019, Mill Creek Entertainment is releasing a Double Feature Blu-ray for 1989’s The Karate Kid III and 1994’s The Next Karate Kid.
In John G. Avildsen’s The Karate Kid III, ostracised villain John Kreese (Martin Kove) attempts to gain revenge on Daniel (Ralph Macchio) and Miyagi (Pat Morita), with the help of a Vietnam War comrade, the wealthy owner of a toxic waste disposal business. Also starring Thomas Ian Griffith (Excessive Force).
In The Next Karate Kid, (from Young Guns director Christopher Cain) Mr. Miyagi (Morita) is back and he takes a new pupil under his wing; a troubled adolescent girl (Hilary Swank).
2003’s Dragon Loaded was the film that established Hong Kong singer-actor Ronald Cheng as a bankable comic leading man. He went onto star in the 2005 hit sequel, Dragon Reloaded. Now the star is going to team up with the films’ director Vincent Kok (Keep Calm and Be a Superstar, Gorgeous) again to reload the franchise, which will see Cheng also taking on a co-directing role.
The directing duo is hoping to bring back original cast members Sam Lee (Made in Hong Kong), Cheung Tat-ming (Forbidden City Cop) and Stephy Tang (The Empty Hands) for the latest Dragon Loaded film.
Filming will commence in 2019 with a tentative release date of Chinese New Year 2020. Until then, we leave you with the Trailer for Cheng’s 2015 hit, Full Strike:
Director: Lee Jong-Suk Writer: Choi Sung-Hyun Cast: Son Ye-Jin, Hyun-Bin, Kim Sang-Ho, Jang Young-Nam, Jang Gwang, Lee Moon-Sik Running Time: 114 min.
By Paul Bramhall
In the Korean film industry, Son Ye-jin is known as the Queen of Melodrama, and Hyun Bin the Rom-Com King. However the movie that’s brought them both together is (perhaps mercifully) neither a melodrama nor a romantic comedy, with The Negotiation instead being a thriller that owes a nod or two to the 1998 Hollywood flick The Negotiator. However, that was 20 years ago, and in today’s fast paced world of social media and fake news, it’s understandable that first time director Lee Jong-seok thought the premise was ripe for a revisit.
In fairness, despite their prominent reputations, it’s fair to say that both Son Ye-jin and Hyun Bin’s nicknames were largely based on their output from the beginning of the Korean Wave, predominantly during the early to mid-00’s.Hyun in particular has been branching out of rom-com territory in recent years, with a stellar turn in the 2016 action comedy Confidential Assignment, playing a North Korean agent.While his subsequent roles in The Swindlers and Rampant are indicative that perhaps he should find a new agent, he can’t be faulted for making the effort to branch out into different genres. Likewise for Ye-jin, and while she’s ensured her crown is protected with recent roles in the unexpected hit Be with You (also from 2018) and The Last Princess, her turns in the likes of The Truth Beneath (one of the best Korean movies of the last 10 years) and Pirates have shown another side to her talents.
For many fans, both of Korean cinema and the K-drama scene, the opportunity to see them onscreen together was a welcome one.So we have the first of The Negotiation’s long list of problems, in that much like Jang Dong-gun and Kim Min-hee suffered the same fate in No Tears for the Dead, their actual screentime together amounts to a few minutes at most.That’s not to say Jong-seok doesn’t start proceedings off promisingly.The opening scene introduces us to Ye-jin’s ace negotiator, who’s been called to a hostage situation in the middle of a blind date, which has a couple of Filipino crooks holding a man and woman at knife point in their home.Cue stilted English dialogue delivery (in a throwaway line, it’s mentioned that Ye-jin’s character transferred from the US), generic music that builds to a climax every few seconds, and a trigger happy SWAT team, whose actions result in both hostages being killed.
Skip to just over a week later, and despite her efforts to resign over the traumatic event, Ye-jin finds her downtime short lived thanks to an enthusiastic visit by her colleague (played by Kim Sang-ho, who now takes all the roles Oh Dal-soo used to be offered, before he got embroiled in the #metoo scandal) who informs her she’s been summoned by the commissioner.Whisked off to an undisclosed location, she’s soon thrust into a room filled with flashy monitors, and people in suits busying themselves pacing back and forth.With barely so much as an explanation, an incoming video call has her ushered in front of one such monitor, where she finds herself facing Hyun, playing an orphan cum lollipop sucking UK citizen cum arms dealer (yes you read that right), who’s taken a journalist and Ha’s superior hostage in Bangkok, Thailand.So begins the point when The Negotiation begins to play out exactly as it says on the tin.
I’m sure the plentiful scenes that The Negotiation fills itself to the brim with, involving Ye-jin talking to Hyun on a monitor, could have had some tension wrung out of them in the hands of a more experienced director.However Jong-seok, an assistant director on Ode to My Father (and co-director on Prachya Pinkaew’s Thai co-production The Kick), films everything with all the excitement of watching paint dry.The constantly crescendoing soundtrack, usually accompanied by insignificant characters tensely staring at monitors, is laughable rather than nail biting, and the chemistry between Ye-jin and Hyun is non-existent.We’re supposed to believe they build a rapport together, and there’s even a suggested undercurrent of sexual tension, but it’s all filmed in such a bland and pedestrian manner that it’s impossible to be invested in.
Instead, we’re left with the hook of finding out why Hyun has took it upon himself to take Ye-jin’s superior and a Bangkok based Korean journalist as hostages.You get a distinct feeling while watching The Negotiation that both Hyun and Ye-jin are doing their best with what they’ve been given to work with, however no matter how committed they are to their performances, the setup is primed for the audience to lose interest as quickly as possible.Hyun’s scenes consist of him either (a) pulling up a chair to sit on and face the camera, (b) fiddling around with his gun in what I assume is supposed to make us feel tense, or (c) both at the same time.Meanwhile, Ye-jin is simply left to sit there in the monitor filled base she’s been placed in, watching Hyun on the screen and interacting with him as best she can.
In fairness, I’m sure the behind the scenes footage of The Negotiation will reveal stuff like how they got a real negotiator to oversee the script and filming, or something along those lines.I don’t doubt the authenticity of the exchanges that take place (at least initially – the more it goes on the more preposterous it becomes), however such realism doesn’t necessarily translate into an engaging cinematic language, and combined with the uninspired direction, The Negotiation quickly becomes a chore to get through.As the stakes rise so does the lack of plausibility, with revelations such as Hyun having more hostages than we initially thought, feeling more like desperate scripting rather than smart plotting.
The plot, on paper at least, does make for a decent premise.After locating the whereabouts of Hyun, the Korean Special Forces launch an operation to rescue the hostages and take him out, which they’ll need 14 hours to do.Ye-jin’s task, if she can’t negotiate an agreement herself, is to keep him talking for the 14 hours needed for the rescue unit to arrive.Onscreen however, the scenes with the Special Forces unit come across as forced and out of place, with the loud mouthed military style barking begging the question of if they thought they were in a different movie all together.
As expected, the number of tense looking officials surrounding Ye-jin’s interactions ensure that The Negotiation’s big reveal is also its biggest non-surprise.Korea has been running with the theme of how figures of authority can’t be trusted for a while now, so for the truth to involve several of those in power being involved in a cover-up comes with all the impact of being slapped by a wet leaf.The further the plot gets into the revelations of what’s really going on, the further it appears to confuse itself with how the audience should be feeling towards Hyun’s hostage taker.Despite the fact that he commits cold blooded murder and doesn’t think twice about pointing a loaded gun to the head of a small child, there are times when it feels like Jong-seok wants us to sympathise with Hyun, for what often feels like no other reason than, well, it’s Hyun Bin!
The direction also becomes increasingly indecisive as it progresses, throwing in random lines that hint at significance but ultimately mean nothing (the line about Ye-jin working in the US being a classic example), and implying potentially interesting skillsets, that are touched upon for a few seconds then never seen again.An example of this comes when Ye-jin brings in her two colleagues to assist with the negotiation, and while one of them is watching events unfold onscreen, he throws out a random comment that Hyun is feeling apprehensive.Presumably he’s a body language expert, but the comment is given no further explanation or logic beyond the few seconds it takes to speak, resulting in a severe case of furrowed brow.
More so than anything onscreen, the biggest crime in The Negotiation’s is the one it commits against itself, which is to be overwhelmingly bland and uninteresting. It kind of feels like one of those straight to video Hollywood thrillers, the type that feature A-list stars from yesteryear clocking in for a pay cheque.The material is beneath both the talents of Son Ye-jin and Hyun Bin, and their commitment to their roles only makes the pedestrian nature of everything else stand out 10 times more.With a dull plot, flat comedy, and paper thin characters, the only real plus is that Jong-seok’s debut needn’t do much to negotiate its way out of my memory.
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RELEASE DATE: December 11, 2018
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