This film is a masterpiece in the revenge genre if you ask me. Anytime a film can evoke raw emotion in me I'll probably love it, and that is surely the case here. It's a revenge film so you get some of the typical elements within that type of film, but the filmmakers do such a great job of getting you invested in the characters you come to care deeply for them. The action sequences which are not as frequent in this film as a lot of other revenge flicks are absolutely brilliant. The acting is all spot on, especially Bin Won and Sae-ron Kim who is amazing considering her young age.

The thing that sent this film over the…

An absolute stunner from start to finish, The Man from Nowhere tells the story of an anti-social & reclusive pawn-shop operator Cha Tae-sik whose only connection to the outside world is a little girl living next-door to him. The girl's mother is a drug addict who is later kidnapped along with her daughter by the gang she used to steal drugs from. Tae-sik is unwillingly brought into this but after finding out that the little girl's life is in danger, goes on a killing rampage to save her before it's too late.

Although the first few minutes takes its time in setting up its characters & atmosphere but once all the groundwork is laid, not a moment is wasted afterwards as the…

Each person has their own preferences when it comes to "revenge thrillers.". To make a film within this genre effective for me, it must include some villains I would like to kill with my own hands and a hero (or antihero) with whom I can empathize.

In this way, this movie succeeds in archiving this and more. Throughout its two-hour runtime, the movie never loses its exhilarating pace. There's blood, violence, and an interesting but horrifying story that hooks you in. In Lee Jeong-beom's film, he manages to maintain our attention by giving us a glimpse into the disgusting underworld and organized crime world, as well as the involvement of the police that are supposed to keep us safe. The…

The Man from Nowhere follows a quiet pawnshop owner with a violent past who gets pulled into the world of drug and organ trafficking after a little girl he cares about is kidnapped. It’s a gritty, emotional action thriller that surprised me, and made me realize I’ve been missing out on some incredible Korean cinema. Won Bin gives a phenomenal performance. He’s intense, restrained, and deeply emotional. I still can’t believe this was his last film, it makes it hit even harder. The bond between his character and the girl adds a lot of emotional weight, and I found myself tearing up during their scenes together. The action is sharp, fast, and sometimes pretty brutal, which works in the film’s…

Recommended to me on my Lend me your Heart list (which can be found here)

It does not happen often that when I watch a film that follows all the genre tropes diligently and does just about everything I've already seen before, it still manages to reach the level that this film does. This film succeeds in that because of one simple thing that is difficult to achieve in this genre: emotional involvement.

The idea of the mysterious stranger as a hero has been done to death before and here it is no different. Heck, his backstory is as predictable as it is melodramatic. But I simply could not care less. The way he is portrayed and the way the…