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Due March 8
Tae-sik, a former special agent who has become a loner after losing his wife in a miserable "accident," lives a solitary life running a pawnshop. His only connection to the rest of the world is So-mi, a little girl whose mother, Hyo-jeong, is a dope addict and stripper. After Hyo-jeong steals drugs from the local mob, she hides the product in the pawnshop without letting Tae-sikhim know. The traffickers find out about the theft and kidnap both Hyo-jeong and So-mi, but promise to release them if Tae-sik makes a delivery for them. The delivery is actually a ruse, part of a larger plot to eliminate a rival drug ring leader. When Hyo-jeong's disemboweled body is discovered, Tae-sik realizes that So-mi's life may also be in danger. Enraged at the prospect that So-mi may already be dead, he prepares for a battle, putting his own life at risk. He becomes an immovable, killing machine as he tracks down and eliminates the bad guys -- one step ahead of the police -- to save the little girl.
This is the kind of unexpected pleasure that will quicken the pulse of even the most die-hard action-mystery-thriller-martial arts aficionado. This is only South Korean director Jeong-beom Lee's second film (it was South Korea's highest-grossing film of 2010), but he's already taken the mantle from John Woo, Corey Yuen, Ringo Lam and the doens of modern-Asian gangster films. It's noirish, brutal, fast-paced, full of spectacular stunts, has a coherent (if complex) story line, and even has a welcome sentimental streak (think 'The Killer'). Highly recommended.
Vitals: Director: Jeong-beom Lee. Stars: Bin Won, Sae-ron Kim, Hyo-seo Kim.
2010, CC, MPAA rating: R, 119 min., Thriller, Well Go USA.
Bonus features: "The Making of The Man From Nowhere." Also available on Blu-ray Disc.
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