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Eye for an Eye
2008; directed by Kwak Kyung-Taek

With the downturn over the past several years of the Hong Kong movie industry, western fans of Asian films have been looking for other areas to supply their fix. One of the more promising has been South Korea, which has produced a few internationally-acclaimed hits like Joint Security Area and Oldboy. Eye for an Eye is the latest movie from one of South Korea's better directors, Kwak Kyung-Taek, and fans of Hong Kong "new wave" crime movies will find themselves right at home here.

Eye for an Eye tells the story of Baek (Han Suk-Kyu), a hard-boiled police captain who wants to retire because he is tired of the judicial system letting the criminals he catches go. However, he decides to investigate a armored car robbery case after learning one of the culprits impersonated him on the job. The culprit in question is Ahn (Cha Seung-Won), a genius who then leads his crew to steal a large gold shipment. When Baek learns that both the armored car and gold belonged to a crooked businessman that he has failed to put away for good, Ahn's motives become more clear, and the case becomes much more complicated.

While, even after introducting some twists, Eye for an Eye's story isn't all that special, Kwak Kyung-Taek's style elevates it above the realm of the average. He uses a Tarantino-esque storytelling method that is flashback-heavy. Many times, this can end up with convoluted and confusing results, but Kwak handles things with enough restraint to keep the flashbacks interesting without overwhelming the viewer. Eye for an Eye also has a nice mise-en-scene that is somewhat reminiscent of the films of Johnnie To. Again, Kwak knows the audience well enough to throw in just the right amount of visual "treats" without making the movie come off as a ninety-minute music video.

Combined with some solid acting from the leads -- Han Suk-Kyu is especially good as the conflicted Baek -- and a few taut (and at times very violent) action sequences, Eye for an Eye should fit the bill for anyone looking for a hip and smart crime thriller. It's not the most original film in the world, and it's most likely not going to make you a fan of Asian cinema if you aren't already. But for fans of this sort of movie, Eye for an Eye is one of the most solid entries in the genre in some time.

RATING: 7

This DVD is available at HKFLIX.com

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