G.I. Joe: Retaliation - 特種部隊2:正面對決 - 義勇群英:毒蛇反擊戰 - 特种部队:全面反击

G.I. Joe: Retaliation (特種部隊2:正面對決/義勇群英:毒蛇反擊戰/特种部队:全面反击) is an 2013 film. The movie stars Dwayne Johnson, D.J. Cotrona, Byung-hun Lee, and Adrianne Palicki. The supporting cast include Bruce Willis, Jonathan Pryce, Elodie Yung, Ray Stevenson, Walton Goggins, and Channing Tatum. This film was originally set for release for the 2012 June summer session. But Tatum's rise in popularity force the studio to push the date back and add more scenes that included Tatum.



After the events of the first G.I. Joe movie, Zartan has assumed the identity of the president of the US of A. Cobra Commander and Destro are kept in a secret prison in Germany. The plan is to use the alias of the prez to gain the location of the the captured Cobra Commander. Once they do, they can release him and leverage the identity of the Prez to dominate the world. First, they need the Joes out of action because they are the only ones that can stop Cobra. The Joes are framed during a nuclear head mission. Deemed a enemy of the world, they go underground to stop Cobra. But before they do that, they enlist the help of the man for which the Joe name comes. Together, they try to reveal to the world that the president was fake and keep the nuclear weapons at bay.



This film serves a purpose. Big bad @$$ doods like The Rock and kick @$$ ninjas in Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow do their thing. They kick butt and take names later. Add to it the almost non-stop action, its a popcorn flick for the ages. Don't get caught up in the story, don't worry about the terrible acting, don't even think of how ridiculous the concept of Cobra is. Just enjoy that this movie was made to entertain, blow things up, and give you joy in action.

I Saw the Devil - 看見惡魔

I Saw the Devil (看見惡魔) is a 2010 film out of Korea. The film stars Lee Byung-hun and Choi Min-sik. This was the return vehicle for Choi Min-sik after a 4 year absence.

The movie follows Choi Min-sik as Kyung-chul, a serial killer. Lee Byung-hun plays Soo-hyun, a "secret service" type character. Kyung-chul kills Joo-yun, Soo-hyun's fiance who was pregnant. Joo-yun's father is also a detective that gives Soo-hyun a list of suspects in the killing. Soo-hyun finds Kyung-chul and starts to exact revenge.

The movie is another dark Korean triller for me. Seems all the recent Korean movies I watch are laden with evil from even the main protagonist. In this case, its Soo-hyun's desire to exact revenge on Kyung-chul. The surprising thing is that this film was picked up for limited release in the US. Maybe its for the name and face recognition of Lee Byung-hun and Choi Min-sik, but the movie's subject matter is really dark.

I thought this was an interesting movie selection for both Lee Byung-hun and Choi Min-sik. Choi's last role in Sympathy for Lady Vengeance wasn't very normal. And Choi's character in Oldboy isn't one to write home about either. So, for Choi, its both a surprise and not completely shocking.

Lee however is another story. Lee's riding a wave of international goodwill with G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra and The Good, The Bad, The Weird. Lee's role in this movie will definitely put a lot of people off in the international realm. The role's character never develops into someone you care about. You're on his side because the antagonist is so evil. Next up for Lee is the second Joe movie. Hopefully this movie isn't a measuring stick for him.

In all, I thought the movie was well made around a plot point of revenge to the evil-doer. However, all the other elements around that plot made for an uneasy watch. Took me over 4 days to finish, because I lost interest or I just felt so uneasy as the moments developed. Another thing was that I was predicting all the major plot points to add to my uneasiness. Which means that I am saying to myself to skip this and go find a light hearted Korean film like Marrying The Mafia or Take Off.

A Bittersweet Life - 不悔

A Bittersweet Life (不悔) is a 2005 film out of Korea. The movie stars Lee Byung-hun. Supporting cast include Shin Min-a and Eric Mun.



Lee Byung-hun plays an enforcer for President Kang, named Sunwoo. Kang asked Sunwoo to tail his current girlfriend, Haesoo, played by Shin-Min-a. In the process of tailing Haesoo, Sunwoo actually sends time with her too. When Sunwoo finds that Haesoo is unfaithful to Kang, instead of killing them, he lets them free. Kang knows better and then sets out to torture and kill Sunwoo. But Sunwoo escapes and starts on a revenge mission.

The movie was quite bloody and very one note. Lee had a pretty similar expression for the majority of the film. Serious or mad. The violence was in full effect and very brutal, a la Pulp Fiction style. But there were themes in the movie that I didn't quite get. I don't know if its because I don't have that context. In any case, I can see why this movie got so much hype in 2005. Lee also received quite a few award nomination for this movie role. Having watched so many HK and Japanese gangster flick, a good Korean one is a nice change of pace.

The Good, The Bad, The Weird - 神偷:獵人:斷指客

The Good, The Bad, The Weird (神偷:獵人:斷指客) is a 2008 film out of Korea. The film stars Song Kang-ho, Lee Byung-hun, and Jung Woo-sung. The movie is based in Manchuria.

The Cast
Song Kang-ho - Yoon Tae-goo (The Weird)
Lee Byung-hun - Park Chang-yi (The Bad)
Jung Woo-sung - Park Do-won (The Good)

A map to a secret treasure from the Ming Dynasty has surfaced and is being sold to the Japanese by a Korean high official. However, the high official wants to double cross the buyer by stealing it back via his own bandits, Park Chang-Yi. On the train where the map is delivered to the Japanese buyer, a train robbery is in full effect. The robbery is carried out by Yoon Tea-goo, a bumbling thief that shows some signs of skill. Tea-goo inadvertently steals the map. Park Chang-Yi starts to carry out his double steal, but finds that the map is stolen. Park Do-won is a bounty hunter on the trail of both Chang-yi and Tae-goo as both have bounty rewards. But Do-won is set on taking in Chang-yi and getting the map as he's promised a handsome reward from the Korean Independence army. A cat and mouse chase ensues when they leave the train. Do-won and Tae-goo form a uneasy pairing to find the treasure. But they have 3 gangs on their tail, the Japanese army, the Mongolian bandits, and Chang-yi.

This movie was pretty crazy and exciting at the same time. The action was a little hard to believe for most of the movie. But it didn't detract from the main point of the movie. This is the first Korean western I've seen and it was a doozy. The three guys do give a pretty good performance. Worth a watch and worth the wait.

Joint Security Area - JSA - 共同警戒區

Joint Security Area/JSA (共同警戒區) is a 2000 film out of Korea. The film stars Lee Young Ae, Lee Byung-Hun, and Song Kang-ho.

The movie is about murders at the North/South Korean DMZ zone. A special international force is brought in to investigate so that both sides are addressed. Layer upon layer of mysteries are unraveled to get to the truth.

This is one of the first Korean films I watched back in 2001. Up to that point, Korean cinema didn't even register on my radar. Korean dramas were just starting to flex their muscle in the Asian markets. The movies didn't lag behind too much. I was entertained by the movie and it was a glimpse into a world unknown to me. When I think of this movie, I also think of the planet b-boy promo clips at the DMZ.

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra - 特種部隊:眼鏡蛇的崛起

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (特種部隊:眼鏡蛇的崛起) is a 2009 film based on a toy franchise. The movie stars a bunch of people. You'll need the cast list to keep track.

The movie is based on a toy franchise from the 80s that was also turned into a cartoon series. The man characters from both the Joe side and Cobra side are from this series.

The movie starts with a 1641 event that shapes into what we see today as MARS. Nanotechnology is created that can inflect mass scale damage. When on a mission to deliver the nanotech warheads, Cobra attacks the transport, but fails to get warheads. But Cobra fails only because G.I. Joe comes to the rescue. So, now that G.I. Joe has the case, the home beacon is on. Cobra eventually takes the warheads. They are going to use it.

The movie seemed to be 75% or more focused on the action. The story moves very quickly and the events are chained together very closely. If you missed just 5 minutes, you'll prolly be confused.

I am still not sure how I feel about the movie. I didn't hate it nor did I like it. I was entertained in many parts of the film. But I also had a few "that did not just happen" (cheezy) type events.

Lee Byung Hun was a pretty significant role and speaks English quite well in the movie. However, the voice did seemed unnatural in some cases. The young snake eyes and storm shadow training grounds looks like the Japanese Garden at The Huntington Library.

It did well enough for a August release at the box office too. This pretty much guarantees that there will be a number 2. They left the ending wide open on Cobra Commander, Destro, The Baroness, and Storm Shadow. However, if they follow the same type of formula for number 2, we've already been duped once.