Ui-hyeong-je (2010) Reviews

• A Nutshell Review: The Secret Reunion

  DICK STEEL2010-03-27

  The South Korean film Shiri marks the very first time I've seen a South Korean film, and was the last one which I saw Song Kang-ho play a role of an intelligence agent, and a supporting one at that. Fast forward till today, he is already an established actor who has taken on various roles in different genres, some times heroic, other times confused, some buffoony even. But one thing's for sure is the actor's charisma which defies any typecasting. Here he plays Agent Lee Han-kyu of the National Intelligence Service, a bumbling one who's stagnated in his career which has them on the constant move and pitting their skills against the more cunning North Korean counterparts, who have infiltrated the South in order to carry out assassination orders by the North Korean leader on the many defectors from the communist state. Opening the film is a tense action sequence complete with high speed pursuits and spy versus spy stuff, with a group of sleeper cell assassins being activated through coded websites to take out Kim Jung-Il's second cousin, whose book published in the South is deemed as blasphemous. Kang Dong-won plays Ji-won, a relatively new North Korean spy member who goes on that fateful mission under the watchful eyes of veteran assassin nicknamed Shadow (Jeon Gook-hwan), and because of his soft-hearted nature, he gets branded a traitor of the state for not willing to deliver killing blows to the enemies, and hence becomes a wanted man in his own country. And the mission proves to be a turning point for Agent Lee as well, with him being made the scapegoat of the botched operation and having to leave the agency in disgrace. This pivotal event brings us forward 6 years later, where Lee is now a private investigator who specializes in finding runaway foreign brides, and the other being a foreman in a construction site. Soon the two once-adversaries meet, and strangely enough, the film then converts into a light comedy, since the both decide to lead a symbiotic relationship together, each wanting to be able to dish out some dirt on the other, so that they can redeem themselves and go back to the life they once knew. For Lee, it's the prospect of wanting to smash the sleeper cell that Ji-won belongs to in order to claim substantial reward money, and Ji-won to become the mole for the North Koreans since he's living in Lee's house and working as his PI agency employee, and to utilize Lee's experience to find his comrade-in-arms who disappeared since the botched mission, but little does both man know they no longer have active ties to their past. Much of the mirth comers from each trying to second guess the other, and both actors put on fine performances as adversaries who will eventually find that inevitable path to friendship and trust. While Song Kang-ho is effervescent in his role of Lee in being bumbling but without being stupid, Kang Dong-won holds his own against his rival as the man whose good looks betrays the deadly skills he possesses in dispatching opponents, and fleshes out the more emotional of the two characters with aplomb. Their shared chemistry is what makes it believable that they have the potential to buddy up, although of course writer-director Jang Hun has other plans in order to spice up the plot in the final act to leave you guessing just who will be pushed over the edge based on their friendship, keeping in mind both potentially face treason for putting up the other silently. All in, The Secret Reunion contains solid action sequences with themes on uneasy friendship and brotherhood, boosted by fine performances from the cast. The narrative may feel a little bit of sag in the middle act though, but ultimately, it gets the job done and its themes through.

• Just leave a few minutes early if you don't like cheese

  sitenoise2010-08-09

  This is a Hollywood style cat and mouse buddy flick with good action sequences, good acting, and a thick plot with international intrigue which ends happily ever after. It stars a couple of South Korea's top box office attractions in Kang-ho Song and Dong-won Kang. Song plays his usual bumbling yet lovable and competent self, and Kang ups his acting ante from stud muffin to scary good hit-man. They have great chemistry together. It's gritty and bloody and, because it seems to follow Song wherever he goes, it's sprinkled with bits of humor throughout. So what went wrong? Nothing, really, until the deus ex machina at the end. It's probably never been more true than it is with Secret Reunion that a bad ending can ruin a film (for some people). It seems to have bothered critics more than audiences, as Secret Reunion is South Korea's highest grossing film of the year so far. But it also seems to have disappointed one of its actors. As Song put it in an interview "If I were the director, I would have chosen an ending for "Secret Reunion" in which the pain lasts longer". In other words, no living happily ever after. South Korea has a tradition of ending films a little differently than most Hollywood films. People usually die instead of flying off into the sunset. I say it's no big deal and there is a lot f fun to be had with Secret Reunion. Just close your eyes, stop the DVD Player, or walk out a few minutes early f you don't want any cheese in your omelet.

• Secret Reunion Review: Worth watching with your best friend!

  Prashast_Singh2018-01-11

  Movie: Secret Reunion (15): Action - Korean Director Jang Hoon has made many great films, and SECRET REUNION is one of those films. Without talking much, let's jump straight to the positives and negatives: Positives: Negatives: Repeat Value: Yes On the whole, SECRET REUNION is a very gripping and entertaining action film. Watch it soon, with your best friend!

• Nothing groundbreaking, but well worth the watch

  KineticSeoul2010-04-12

  I watched this film in theaters at AMC with some of my relatives, and I must say it was pretty entertaining. Now did it beat my expectations? That I would have to say no, but I still enjoyed this film and was worth watching it on the big screen. I don't really like the actor Kang-ho Song he seems to play the same obnoxious and very uncool character in just about every movie he is in so far but I must say he fit right in with his character. He plays a agent of the National Intelligence Service. Kang Dong-won did a alright job playing the North Korean spy although he was more of a way to get younger teens to go watch the movie. Lot of the entertainment comes from both character acting all buddy buddy at first just so they can dig at one another for information, and also enjoyed there awkward bonding later on. This isn't one of those groundbreaking movies from Korea or anything, but it was well worth the time to watch. 7.8/10

• Its okay

  dbborroughs2010-07-04

  South Korean agent in charge of an attempt to catch a North Korean assassin named Shadow resigns when it all goes south. Six years later he hooks with and plays cat and mouse with an North Korean agent who was branded a traitor as the result of the same botched job. Fantastic action sequences get lost in a action/buddy/comedy that with a few changes might very well have come from Hollywood. The problem with the film is the center section of the film where the two men try to figure out what the other one is doing without letting on what their own situation is (both think that the other is better connected to the other side than they really are) I liked it but I didn't fall in love with it. Certainly it was a film that made me ponder what such a clear Hollywood clone was doing in the New York Asian Film Festival which strives to promote the un-Hollywood film or films unlikely to get a US release, I can see this very clearly getting a US DVD release if nothing else. Not a bad film by any stretch, its just not a particularly remarkable one.