Quick

cover

AKA: Adrenaline Rush

Year of release: 2011

Genre: action/comedy

Director: Jo Beom-Goo

Producers: Lee Sang-Yong, Yun Je-Gyun

Writer: Park Su-Jin

Music: Dalparan

Cinematography: Kim Young-Ho

Editor: Shin Min-Gyeong

Stars: Lee Min-Ki, Kang Ye-Won, Kim In-Kwon, Ko Chang-Seok, Ju Jin-Mo

Not rated; contains R-level language and violence



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The South Korean release Quick definitely falls on the dopey side of the cinematic scale. Unabashedly "inspired" by Speed, the story has all of the weight of a glass of flat Diet Coke, and has big enough plot holes to drive several of the film's featured motorcycles through. But, to its' credit, Quick never takes itself seriously, which ends up making this a fun (if totally brainless) action-comedy hybrid.

The story revolves around Han (Lee Min-Ki), who is one of Seoul's top street racers until he causes a major accident. Six years later, he finds himself employed as a courier. One day, he gets a call to transport a member of a girl pop group to a gig. The lady turns out to be Chun-Shim (Kang Ye-Won), his ex-girlfriend and a big reason the accident happened. Shortly thereafter, Han gets a mysterious call that his helmet is wired with explosives and he must carry out a series of demands in order to keep his head attached to his body.

From there, Quick is off and running, rarely giving the audience a chance to catch their breath. Even though the film clocks in at almost two hours, it never really feels overlong, as director Jo Beom-Goo packs Quick to the gills with chases and explosions. Lots and lots of explosions. Seriously. Even though there are some special effects shots that obviously employ CGI, the amount of pyrotechnics featured here becomes almost absurd at points, especially as Han and Chun always seem to be able to outrun them in the nick of time.

Quick is not the sort of release cinematic nit-pickers will enjoy. It uses the element of crap getting blown up real good as a substitute for actual storytelling, and there's nothing wrong with that in this case. Sure, this movie won't tax your brain cells, but sometimes, one just needs a picture that they can just kick back, relax, and have a good time with, and Quick definitely delivers exactly that sort of thing.

RATING: 7

Quick

Blu-Ray Information

Shout! Factory's new Blu-Ray's special features include a trailer and four behind the scenes featurettes (in standard definition) that run about 106 minutes total. The movie itself is presented very well, with a crisp anamorphic 1.85:1 1080P picture. The soundtrack (which is available in Korean or English) is mastered in Dolby DTS-HD and Dolby 5.1 mixes, with English subtitles that are well translated and easy to read. The Blu-ray clocks in at 111 minutes versus the Korean orignal's runtime of 115 minutes. More than likely, this difference comes from the conversion from PAL to NTSC video formats and slight changes in the credit sequences.

The Blu-Ray and DVD are available at Amazon.