The Man From Nowhere

Here we are with another short review stemming from my constant Netflix crate diving. If you haven't noticed, I'm a fan of the "Revenge Thriller" genre and this is one of Korea's best. Actually....this is one of the best I've seen. I swear Korean film just keeps getting better and better.

The story follows Cha Tae-sik (Won Bin), a small town pawn shop owner that keeps to himself for the most part. Actually, his only true connection to the outside world is a little girl, So-mi, that lives next door. Her mother is a drug addict and Cha usually finds himself the unwilling babysitter. A series of events place So-mi's mother and Cha in the cross-hairs of brutal drug traffickers. I'll save the details, but eventually Cha Tae-sik ends up on a mission to recover So-Mi and her mother.

I'm a stickler for character development and I hate when characters stray from the personalities the writers have placed on screen for us to digest. Luckily, I found no flaws in this respect. The main character risking life and limb to track down the family is not merely a macho, super human act of movie lead bravado (a la most American action movies). There's a very sad underlying tale steering the main character's actions, described in one of the film's more gripping scenes, and it changes the tone of the movie quite a bit toward the end. Oh, and yes, there's a good reason why the main character can do the things he does. A not too surprising reason, but the way it ties into his personality and actions toward So-mi is rewarding.

I've watched this movie twice and found only one moment that could be perceived as a plot hole, but I honestly think I missed something that would explain it. Or it may be explained in deleted scenes. I'll update if I find out. I recommend this movie to everyone. Its pierced my top 10 easily. *Update I caught my error on the 3rd watch. No plot holes here. Carry on.

Action Intense