Wow, this is a REALLY bad movie!

the audience applauded

This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

TYPHOON, a big-budget international action flick from South Korea, successfully manages to combine breakneck thrills and spills with the kind of multi-layered characterisation usually witnessed in human drama and tragedies. In many ways it fulfils all the requirements of a typical action movie while at the same time going beyond there to become something much more affecting and poignant.The essential story is a game of cat and mouse between an intelligence agent (the square-jawed Jung-Jae Lee) and a terrorist (the excellent, and sympathetic, Dong-gun Jang) but of course there's much more to it than just that. The locations are varied, taking in Thailand, China, Russia and South Korea, and the photography is never less than impressive. Kyung-Taek Kwak films each moment with a real crispness and clarity that really helps his picture come to life in the pulse-pounding shoot-outs and car chases.The acting, too, is stand out, particularly from Dong-gun Jang and Mi-yeon Lee, playing the defector brother and sister who spend their lives oppressed by circumstance and failure. Their touching moments together lend the movie real heart and almost get you cheering on the villains at times. Fans of Thai action cinema may also spot ONG BAK baddie Chatthapong Pantanaunkul as one of the terrorists. With its fine film-making, high level of quality and combination of genres, TYPHOON is another stand-out film from a country with a record of making them.

If this is the "average Korean blockbuster" show me more! It is an imperfect movie but compared to most of the crap from Hollywood USA these days, it is a superior effort. The steely-eyed, hero that never quits and still has a heart has been abandoned by Hollywood as hopelessly out of date. Yet, these men still exist and the public still craves to see them fictionalized on the movie screen. Add a bad guy that you eventually come to feel some real sympathy for and you've got the conflict that powered hundreds of Westerns in decades past. Mix it up with some high-tech Clancy-istic plot settings and you have...an enjoyable movie. The acting is above average and there is enough depth to the story to keep one involved to the end.It helps if you can appreciate the Korean sensibilities. All I can say is try to open your mind. If it seems "Corny" ask yourself if you are not just a little to hip (jaded) to enjoy it.I hope this is a harbinger of a rapidly developing Korean cinema. In a few more years they may be the equal of anyone.

This new film by Kwak Kyung-Taek is dubbed a blockbuster, having used up the most expensive budget in Korean cinema history. The money does show up on screen and the locations are nice and exotic. But the movie is somewhat disappointing in other respects.The first hour is very boring, one that had me restless. The music sounded like something from an expensive video game and many scenes dragged on far too long. After witnessing the most uninspired car chase I've seen in a while, I was ready to give up on this movie. However, Lee Mi-Yeon managed to save the film single handedly with an incredible performance. It's a shame she's on screen for such a short time but with her introduction, the film suddenly finds energy and was entertaining from then on. The film could have used some better characterization and more interaction between the two protagonists. It is mostly the flawed screenplay that is the blame here concerning our lack of emotional attachment to the main characters not the actors themselves; they both do a suitable job. More of Lee Mi-Yeon could have always helped as well. As it is, this movie delivers somewhat as entertainment but it could have been much better.One scene that will remain in my mind from this film is when the two protagonists meet at the train station. This is one of the few times when the music complemented the scene and the result is truly cinematic. Only at this turning point does the movie find its mark but when it does, it's more than watchable.

Many of the tearjerkers and romantic dramas by Korean film-makers have definitely been appealing to many Asian movie fans. Winter Sonata, Autumn Fairy Tale, Lovers in Paris, First Kiss, just to name a few. Koran actors and actresses appeared in those movies have enthusiastically been accepted in Japan, Hongkong, China, Singapore and in other Asian countries. Jiwoo Choi, Yongjun Bae, Hyegyo Song, Bin Won, Jeongeun Kim, Shinyang Park, Jaewook Ahn, Byunghun Lee are such celebrities, or rather, idols in those countries.Bun it's quite a different story in the U.S., where 'a man carrying a big stick' is respected. They don't go much for some ticklish romantic episodes played by Asian performers.Typhoon is an answer to this situation. It has daring hoopla, alertness, conspiracy, betrayal, red-blooded revenge and heartbreaking family tragedy stemming from the tragedy of divided two Koreas. For Dongkun Jang, a North Korean escapee as a child, politics has no meaning at all. His parents were killed when his family were escaping from North Korea to South Korea seeking freedom, by way of China. He and his sister survived the massacre by the North Koreans, but separated---separated for 20 years. All he wants is to find his sister and save her from the hand of North Korean and Chinese 'bandits'. Any means justifies the end for him. He would gladly steal secret weapon from South Korea and the U.S. to trade his sister with it.His wrath and fury was well and timely expressed in his retort to his opponent: "Comrade, have you ever eaten human flesh?" Jungjae Lee, South Korean navy officer, has a mission to stop him and retrieve the weapon from his hand. Inevitably, the two has the fate to tackle with each other. But Jungjae Lee feels for him and says: "Tonight we will fight to the death, but in another life I would have liked to have been his friend." All the emotions and feelings are melted down to the electrifying scene when Dongkun Jang finally meets his sister and shouts: "(20 years ago) Didn't I tell you to just stay where you were!" Tight and tighter embraces follow.Fast change of sequences, realistic plot, almost zero-defect photography, compact movements of actors, especially those by Dongkun Jang and Jungjae Lee. Hey, you both are great, Jang and Lee! Not many goofs could be found in this film.