Ma-seu-teo (2016) Reviews

• A financial thriller with top-billed cast

  hazidil2017-01-05

  It is rare to find three top-billed cast in a single South Korean movie, which probably explains why 'Master' shot up to the top of the box-office charts and attracted 5 million viewers in the first two weeks in the home country. This financial thriller revolves around President Jin (Lee Byung- hun), of One Network who is heading a pyramid scheme. He is a cold- hearted, greedy con man who plays the most complex character as he brings up the main theme of the story. Park Jang Goon (Kim Woo-bin) plays an expert systems manager who seems to shift loyalties between police and villains multiple times. Kim binds the two characters of Lee and Kang together and plays a witty, two-dimensional character. Kim Jae Myung (Kang Dong-won) is an obligatory police captain who plots to catch the bad guys and bring justice to the innocent people who were scammed. I personally find Kang's character the best and his exceptional performance in this movie is absolutely remarkable. The bromance among the three characters is not to be missed. The storyline flows fast while building some degree of suspense, especially towards the latter part. However, half of the running time shows how one double-crosses another and the story to circle around itself without getting anywhere. There are a few action scenes and nothing brutal. Neither any sort of romance is involved. The movie is shot in South Korea initially and moves to Manilla, Philipines towards the latter. I definitely recommend this movie to everyone who enjoys thrillers.

• Made with class but has a few flaws that hold it back

  jtindahouse2017-01-07

  'Master' is a very cleanly made film. It looks good and it flows well. The story is tightly written, and while a little too stretched out, it has more than enough going for it to keep the viewer attentive and enjoying them self. It can be hard with foreign language films to judge the acting skills, but from what I could tell the actors did a fine job for the most part. You can tell a lot of time and care has gone into the making of this film. As previously mentioned, the story couldn't really justify a near 2 and half hour run time. 30 minutes of that could easily have been shaved off. Also a lack of action scenes for the a large portion of the movie can try your patience a little. There is also very little humour and when they do try some it mostly falls flat. The thing that held me back from really enjoying this though was the characters. Every single character seemed to be deplorable and that left no one to root for. The film tries to give certain characters a heart at different stages, but it falls short in achieving this. The villains in the film were excellent characters and very well written, the only problem being that that was almost every character in some way. Otherwise though it's a pretty harmless, if somewhat forgettable, little action film.

• Good to know such scams

  stmalaysia2017-01-17

  I watch it not because of the 3 top actors but I read that it's related to pyramid financial scam. For those who who haven't heard of such scams, they work like multi level marketing or network marketing except that instead of products, they give you a share of an investment that promised very attractive income without any need to do any work. On top of that, an "investors" will also receive good income if they do the marketing by recruiting new "victims".The module of the business is taking money from those newcomers at the bottom of the pyramid and pay those on top. Such schemes have been going on in Asia, especially in Malaysia, and I have personally heard of one in Korea 8 or 9 years ago. The movie did not go into details of how the scam works but they show the event, seminar and what the scam CEO said to their members and workers are very realistic. There is enough action and excitement in the movie and all the 3 actors did well, everyone with a different character and body language. I give it a 8 and I encourage everyone to watch it so that they don't get scammed by such a scheme !

• Master Review: Should have been titled 'Masters' instead.

  Prashast_Singh2017-06-02

  Movie: Master (15) Rating: 4/5 This was the first South Korean film I was excited to see with huge expectations. Finally after months of waiting, I got to watch it with English subtitles. I would in brief say that MASTER is an action thriller which is entertaining. The three lead men are the real masters of the film & I think the title should have been Masters instead of Master. But that's not an issue, man. Lee Byung-hun, Kim Woo-bin and Kang Dong-won rule the screen with their act. But it's Lee Byung-hun who impresses yet again after his brilliant INSIDE MEN. The editing is fine but could have been better. The film could have been shorter, though it has the action sequences placed accordingly. Visuals & cinematography are eye- catching. Story and screenplay both are well-woven, but a little tighter writing would have made the film better in the first hour. Anyhow, the film keeps you hooked for the most part because it offers plenty of entertainment. Overall, MASTER is a well made action thriller that deserves to be watched if you like action thrillers with clean entertainment. No vulgarity at all. Check it out today, or wait for the Blu-ray, if it shows any chance of releasing. I'll soon watch it again some day, but with proper subtitles.

• The rhythm of traditional Korean movies

  yoggwork2019-02-18

  The rhythm of traditional Korean movies, as always, turned upside down. The policeman acted so badly that he didn't have any expression.