A Man of Reason (2022)

In his directorial debut, Woo-sung Jung directs himself as the man who wants to leave the criminal environment to the dismay of his gangster boss. Violent action thriller that often follows well-trodden paths.

Translated from Dutch · View original

Always fun, a grim film from South Korea. On a drizzly late evening with a whiskey I saw this on Prima. It doesn't take that long either, so just turn it on.

Unfortunately, not much happens. At least, that's how it feels. It's a nice advertisement for BMW, though. The M5 survives quite a few explosions, crashes, bullets and other disasters.

The sparse action scenes are beautiful. But other than that there is little to do. The film does have some typical Asian moments that mix dry humor with violence, but there is too little action for an action film and too little tension, intrigue and depth for a thriller. The fact that the main character has to deal with an over-the-top clownish mercenary duo really undermines the film completely. One moment they want to kill each other, then they tell each other their life stories and a moment later they throw grenades at each other again. No do not bother.

2.5 stars

Translated from Dutch · View original