Yesterday afternoon, I attended a press screening of Typhoon. The movie, which will be distributed by Paramount Classics, is billed as a high-budget Korean blockbuster about pirates. How could I refuse?
Indeed, it's an epic story that stars Jang Dong-gun (the psycho soldier from The Coast Guard!) and Kang Se-jong (who starred in Lake House, which has been remade with Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock). Jang plays a refugee from North Korea who hijacks a secret shipment of American nuclear devices and plans to release Chernobyl fallout over South Korea; Kang is an elite naval officer recruited to handle the situation before the Americans can secure and cover up the situation.
Naturally, the pirates have cool tattoos, sport rock 'n' roll haircuts, and keep their stash in an amazing cliffside dwelling. They live in awesome bungalows, too. You get to know Jang's character through multiple flashbacks, and actually see North Korean troops gun down his family. He also blames South Korea for not giving them amnesty. Ultimately it's okay for him to be bitter and a terrorist because he's a badass with heart.
Jang's South Korean counterpart is as square as you can get. When you're first introduced to him, he's playing football on the beach and it's impossible not to think of the greased-up Tom Cruise and company playing volleyball in Top Gun. It's total eye candy for anyone who digs men. Allegedly, he is a badass, but he generally plays by the rules, and even writes a letter to his mom when the going gets tough.
It's not as syrupy as one might expect. Except for the sweeping, orchestral music that you'd expect from a Korean epic, everyone keeps their emotions in check. There's also a side-plot involving Jang rescuing Jang's long-lost sister from the Chinese and Russian slave trade. I was sure that would blossom into a weird love story, but the manly men clearly have no time for that sort of thing.
There's some dialogue suggesting that the foes understand each other on a John Woo level, but that seems like a stretch. What they have in common is that while they fight each other with knives in a sinking boat, an American sub is firing torpedoes at them. An allegory of Korean history?
The movie has a slick-but-not-obnoxious style, impressive special effects, great attention to detail, and settings that hopscotch around the eastern hemisphere: Thailand, Russia, Korea... As an action flick, it succeeds wildy. I'd put it up there with any Bruckheimer movie. That is also the film's shortcoming; in the end, it's just another well-done blockbuster. It won't change your view of cinema or the world, but it's about time the world sees a good chase scene with Hyundais.
Typhoon will open in select U.S. cities on June 2.
Indeed, it's an epic story that stars Jang Dong-gun (the psycho soldier from The Coast Guard!) and Kang Se-jong (who starred in Lake House, which has been remade with Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock). Jang plays a refugee from North Korea who hijacks a secret shipment of American nuclear devices and plans to release Chernobyl fallout over South Korea; Kang is an elite naval officer recruited to handle the situation before the Americans can secure and cover up the situation.
Naturally, the pirates have cool tattoos, sport rock 'n' roll haircuts, and keep their stash in an amazing cliffside dwelling. They live in awesome bungalows, too. You get to know Jang's character through multiple flashbacks, and actually see North Korean troops gun down his family. He also blames South Korea for not giving them amnesty. Ultimately it's okay for him to be bitter and a terrorist because he's a badass with heart.Jang's South Korean counterpart is as square as you can get. When you're first introduced to him, he's playing football on the beach and it's impossible not to think of the greased-up Tom Cruise and company playing volleyball in Top Gun. It's total eye candy for anyone who digs men. Allegedly, he is a badass, but he generally plays by the rules, and even writes a letter to his mom when the going gets tough.
It's not as syrupy as one might expect. Except for the sweeping, orchestral music that you'd expect from a Korean epic, everyone keeps their emotions in check. There's also a side-plot involving Jang rescuing Jang's long-lost sister from the Chinese and Russian slave trade. I was sure that would blossom into a weird love story, but the manly men clearly have no time for that sort of thing.
There's some dialogue suggesting that the foes understand each other on a John Woo level, but that seems like a stretch. What they have in common is that while they fight each other with knives in a sinking boat, an American sub is firing torpedoes at them. An allegory of Korean history?
The movie has a slick-but-not-obnoxious style, impressive special effects, great attention to detail, and settings that hopscotch around the eastern hemisphere: Thailand, Russia, Korea... As an action flick, it succeeds wildy. I'd put it up there with any Bruckheimer movie. That is also the film's shortcoming; in the end, it's just another well-done blockbuster. It won't change your view of cinema or the world, but it's about time the world sees a good chase scene with Hyundais.
Typhoon will open in select U.S. cities on June 2.
