henke on 6/2/2007 at 20:38

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Just saw what is probably the best action movie I've seen since Kill Bill (vol.1). This appreciation might however be colored by my very low expectations of this film. I'd been seeing VHS copies of it for years on the rack at my local supermarket but never picked it up. When I recently found they stocked the DVD version of it, for only 3.99€ no less, I finaly gave in to my curiosity, bought it, watched the trailer, was unimpressed, left it lying there for a few days until I got bored enough to watch it. Hey, this is just the kind of boring description of the reviewers own life that has nothing at all to do with the movie that you might read in a IMDb review, isn't it? Sorry. On to the movie.

Shiri centers on two South Korean Special Ops agents who are searching for North Korean elite soldiers out to blow shit up in the name of reuniting South and North Korea. Most South Koreans seem to want the same thing but why it doesn't get done I have no idea. I guess you need to know some politics to get the whole picture. Anyway the plot and the character development are really the main reason to watch this movie. The action scenes are alright, but... it aint John Woo. There are some nicely directed scenes here and there, though, like the opening montage of the NK soldiers' brutal training-sessions. What I didn't realize until I started watching was that there are quite a few familiar faces here. It starrs Yunjin Kim(who plays Sun, in Lost), Kang-ho Song(Mr. Vengeance) and Min-sik Choi(Mr. Oldboy himself) among others.

So, yeah, what I'm trying to say here, without saying too much about the plot(much like the trailer) is to watch this movie!

HENKESCORE: 8

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPL0vM71vrc) Trailer (YouTube)
(http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0192657/) IMDb entry

<Username> on 6/2/2007 at 21:30

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I think you might like (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0294252/) 2009: Lost Memories. Great action sequences. It does share the highly nationalistic tendencies with Shiri though.

Scots Taffer on 7/2/2007 at 00:03

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Did the climax of this movie involve a bomb in a stadium?

If so, I saw most of this movie. The screening we were at had some blip and about twenty minutes of footage was lost towards the end of the flick. It was entertaining enough, but I'd seen a lot of Asian cinema at the time and wasn't overly impressed.

TheOutrider on 7/2/2007 at 00:57

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Try (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0428725/) Born To Fight, by the people who brought us Ong-Bak, on for size. Awesome stunts just like Ong-Bak, and some hilarious gore (rocket launcher TO THE FACE), but Jesus Tapdancing Christ the nationalism. A large group of people singing what I think is the Thai national anthem together in the face of death. A single Thai coin reinvigorating the Hero's will to fight for his friends and family, to the point where he embeds it in his bandana before returning for epic asskicking.

Matthew on 7/2/2007 at 09:53

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There's a bit of a dispute about which government gets to use its system after reunification.