The Man from Nowhere

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This month is another focus on reader suggestions. I have been keeping a list as I go, and in some cases I ask about films with certain details. In this case, I requested an international action flick - and oh boy did I get one. To me, this was a mixture of 'John Wick' and 'Taken', and adding just a dash of 'Oldboy' to it, at least as far as the film's overall disturbing nature goes. It's a very dark, badass revenge film, but there's enough here to make one cringe in just how far it's willing to take things. One might even say there's a horror element to it all.

The central character of this story is ex-special agent Cha Tae-sik (Won Bin), a man who runs a pawn shop and keeps to himself. He befriends a curious little neighbor girl named Jeong So-mi (Sae-ron-Kim) who is seemingly fascinated by him, and sees good in him where others can't seem to. So-mi's mother, Hyo-jeong (Hyo-seo Kim) is a heroin addict who one day entrusts Tae-sik with a camera bag which, unbeknownst to Tae-sik, contains some stolen heroin. This captures the attention of a crime lord named Oh Myung-gyu (Young-chang Song) who sends his brothers Man-seok (Hee-won Kim) and Jong-seok (Seong-oh Kim) to retrieve the stolen drugs.

This eventually results in the kidnapping of both Hyo-jeong and So-mi, who the gang promises to release upon delivery of the stolen goods which Tae-sik has in his possession. Of course, when an ex-special agent finds himself in such a situation, especially with the kidnapping of the young So-mi, you know shit's about to go off. As one can predict, you get what you come to see. For me, it's not quit as up there in action as 'John Wick', and it's actually a bit closer to 'Taken' as far as its execution. There's a bit more of a thriller here than straight up action. But I will say that when the action does unfold, it's some pretty badass stuff.

The film is certainly propelled by the same ideas as John Wick though in the sense that something of pure innocence is taken away and we want nothing to stop our hero in his mission on getting revenge. We live vicariously through this hero as he stabs, shoots and punches his way through all the bad guys - and the worse someone gets it, the better we feel, especially when we know they're horrible people. Just to appeal to the masses, this is the same feeling just about anyone gets nowadays when we watch a World War II allied soldier take out a Nazi who's in the middle of torturing an innocent civilian. I suppose there's a sort of sadistic glee we get from such things - myself included. We just want to see horrible people get their comeuppance.

If you're looking for a solid revenge film and don't mind a few subtitles, I might recommend this one to you, especially if you're missing that feeling 'John Wick' or 'Taken' gave you. However, I might bring to mind the horror element to this I brought up before. There's a certain realism to this film that is downright disturbing, and there are some pretty gruesome scenes throughout, be it in the physical or psychological sense. I'm not afraid to admit there were a few scenes here that got in my head, not because they were necessarily scary, but the imagery just stuck, and some of it was a bit too real -  especially some scenes involving children. The odd thing is, it's probably not disturbing in the same ways one might imagine

This is certainly one of those movies that falls under the category of movies where you feel like you need a post-viewing shower because it's just that filthy. But I will say that if you manage to make it through, the ending is something pretty powerful, and I have to say it caught me right in the feels. While it maintains a dark, creepy and even dirty atmosphere, there is still something about it that captures your heart in the sense that you feel for the misunderstood Tae-sik and you sincerely want him to find So-mi because their friendship is something truly special. I would recommend this to anyone looking for something more intense. It's not exactly what I'd call fun in the same way 'John Wick' is, but it does strike that chord of vengeful badassery quite nicely all the same.

4/5

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