Wednesday, March 9, 2011

THE CHASER (2008)

A pimp, Joong-ho, is getting pissed off because all of his whores are disappearing. He does a little investigating and finds out the phone number of the last john his missing sluts visited is always the same...the same one that his hooker, Mi-jin, went to go see tonight! He goes out looking for her with zero luck until he's involved in a minor car wreck. The driver of the other car is the killer. Joong-ho beats the shit out of him until the cops arrive and both are taken in. The killer confesses to the killings, just like he's confessed to other random killings before. Because of this bizarre behavior the police aren't sure if he's really the killer. So now with pretty much zero evidence and a police force full of idiots, Joong-ho has to locate Mi-jin before the cops inevitably release the murderer.

The story's a little far-fetched, but is still fucking awesome because the action never lets up. The entire movie Joong-ho is in motion whether he's running or punching or kicking or screaming this dude is going on a rampage!!! It's great. And so is the direction by first time director Hong-jin Na. I can't wait to see what he does next!

Great acting, more twists than a crazy straw factory, enjoyable violence, brisk pace...if you enjoy serial killer crime dramas then you can't go wrong with THE CHASER.

I'm not one to normally make predictions, but there's a little kid in this movie (Kim You-Jung) and as you know I hate children, but this kid can fucking act. I've seen her in three movies now (this film, HAEUNDAE and SYMPATHY FOR LADY VENGEANCE) and in each one she stands out due to her performance. I'm predicting that she's going to be a big star in the years ahead...or maybe not. What the fuck do I know?!
Looks like somebody's a fan of "Desperation" by Stephen King.