SHIRI

Country: South Korea
Release Year: 1999
Genre: Action / Drama
Language: Korean
Runtime: 125 minutes

[Cast]
Suk-Kyu Han
Min-Sik Choi
Yoon-Jin Kim
Kang-Ho Song
Johnny Kim

[Director]
Je-Gyu Kang


Shiri is the definitive Korean Blockbuster of the late 1990's. It mixes espionage, action, drama, intrigue, not to mention simple but effective plot twists. After viewing this flick I never look at a simple fishbowl ever again. Shiri, has it all. Tremendous believable stunts. The obvious high production values. Absolutely glorious talents. The locale is gorgeous, and not to mention awesome costume design.

The set pieces are all too authentic, making the viewer believe that all the blood, and guts are, well......*real blood and guts! The absolute attention to detail to the all the fire arms, and the way to operate it is just awesome. With all this said, unfortunately Shiri is not without flaws as well.

First of all, as I'm sure Kang Je Gyu wanted to include all the formulas of what makes a great flick. Action, Romance, Intrigue, Special Effects, Plot twists. In doing so he did succeed, however for an Action flick that has a romantic element thrown in the mix if not executed properly could ruin a story, because sadly after experiencing an awesome action sequence the pace of the movie slows down quite tremendously for the romance part, even though while adding plot to the story, it all but affects the flow of the movie, and not necessarily in a positive way.

Personally I also felt that the movie is longer than it should have been. Again the romantic scenes just adds up unnecessary running time. I believe that while Kang Je Gyu added these romantic scenes, he should've not spend too much time on it because let's face it. This is an action flick after all. Of course I always favor any director to add their own touch, and ideas onto the movies they direct. It's just sometimes not all of those ideas are exactly the good ones.

The cast is perfect for the movie. I don't think anyone else can play the heroic double duo Han,Suk Kyu (Tell Me Something*1999), as the dashing agent along with his brother/agent partner Song,Kang Ho (The Foul King*1999). As for the female lead Kim,Yun Jin is perfect as the double agent caught in the crossfire between two countries.

Lastly, for the villain Choi, Min Sik (Failan *2001) plays the smooth debonair leader of the North Korean rebels who strives for the unification of both North, and South Korea. Choi, Min Sik strikingly resembles Al Pacino, an excellent actor in his own right indeed.

I believe this film should be viewed by anyone who is old enough, the movie does show gruesome decapitations especially in the opening sequence of the film (probably the best opening sequence to date, certainly bloody.) The story, plot, performance, action scenes, special effects, acting, and the movie as a whole, does the Korean movie industry justice.

From the set pieces, set design, locale, costume design, right down to the soundtrack, and the presentation of the film, the movie is a stunner. My only gripe is that the movie's fast paced flow was slowed down by the unecessary addition of a romantic formula that should've been much a counter-point in the plot as it was intended to.