Apologies for the delay on this review (I'm sure you were all waiting with bated breath XD) I was working on the "How To Build A Competitive Team" if you're interested check it out here and had some IRL things to deal with. Anyways, here's my next review

Movie Name:
Sympathy For Mr. Vengeance (Korean) 2002

Tagline:
Revenge Was Never This Sweet


Rating:
R
strong gruesome violence, strong sexuality, language and drug use

Genre:
Crime/Drama

Plot
A recently laid off factory worker kidnaps his former boss' daughter, hoping to use the ransom money to pay for his sister's kidney transplant. (Taken from IMDB)

The Review:
This was the first release of the Vengeance Trilogy, and the second one that I watched, after Old Boy. Of the three, it's probably the second best. It doesn't have the awesome action of Old Boy, but the plot still moves on reasonably well. It still a little slow in some parts though.

The biggest reason this movie has stuck with me so much is the sheer amount of depression it filled me with. Maybe it's because, when I watch a movie I try to believe it's as factual as the plot will allow. Oldboy, while not that farfetch'd, it was still hard for me to grasp the machinations and depth of the vengeance. With this film it seemed very plausible. Especially given the way the economy is here in the States, I can see how someone given the extreme circumstances and the pressure that it results in would resort to some of the actions. A lot of crazier things have been going on recently with all the imprisoned people stories that are starting to pop up.

But I digress, I "enjoyed" this movie because you could relate to just about every character. The reason enjoyed is in quotes however is because this movie was extremely depressing for me to watch. In fact I think I went back and re-watched Disney's Lion King, and Aladdin just to make sure no lingering depression stuck with me. It may be necessary for you to do the same XD.

Pros:
Good story

Characters were easy to relate to and in actuality did garner some sympathy and empathy



Cons:
While the story was well written it did seem to drag at some points

The general feeling of how messed up the characters lives were was quite depressing

The Best Part:
It had to be the end.
Spoiler:
After what would normally be seen as the resolution of the plot happens, one little thread had yet to be neatly tied up. During the torture and interrogation of Cha Yeong-mi (Ryu's girlfriend) she tells Park Dong-jin that if anything happens to her, her radical terrorist friends know of him and will kill him. This just seems like bravado on her part, while she is part of a "terrorist" group I got the impression that they were just protesters and poster passers. Seems I was wrong as those terrorist buddies of hers shank him prison style in the final scene. Thus killing off just about every major and semi-major character in the film.

Rating:
7.5

Red Bandish Trailer

Spoiler:
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Coming Soon:
Lady Vengeance, Redline (Anime)

Anyone have a movie they want reviewed? Let me know via PM!