Typhoon (2005)

Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Just what I expected

Admirable film.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

TYPHOON, a big-budget international action flick from South Korea, successfully manages to combine breakneck thrills and spills with the kind of multi-layered characterisation usually witnessed in human drama and tragedies. In many ways it fulfils all the requirements of a typical action movie while at the same time going beyond there to become something much more affecting and poignant.The essential story is a game of cat and mouse between an intelligence agent (the square-jawed Jung-Jae Lee) and a terrorist (the excellent, and sympathetic, Dong-gun Jang) but of course there's much more to it than just that. The locations are varied, taking in Thailand, China, Russia and South Korea, and the photography is never less than impressive. Kyung-Taek Kwak films each moment with a real crispness and clarity that really helps his picture come to life in the pulse-pounding shoot-outs and car chases.The acting, too, is stand out, particularly from Dong-gun Jang and Mi-yeon Lee, playing the defector brother and sister who spend their lives oppressed by circumstance and failure. Their touching moments together lend the movie real heart and almost get you cheering on the villains at times. Fans of Thai action cinema may also spot ONG BAK baddie Chatthapong Pantanaunkul as one of the terrorists. With its fine film-making, high level of quality and combination of genres, TYPHOON is another stand-out film from a country with a record of making them.

I must admit that it with with a certain level of anticipation and expectations that I sat down to watch "Typhoon", because it had gotten fairly good reviews and it said "a first rate thriller" on the DVD cover. And being a big fan of Asian cinema, I am always thrilled to see a movie that I haven't seen already."Typhoon" is a fairly standard formula thriller, as where the 'good guys' have to catch the 'bad guys' before they manage to unleash some kind of malevolent threat upon humanity. And in this case it was a North Korean who wanted to wreck vengeance upon all of South Korea because he believe they took away his chance for a good life in South Korea and took away first his father, then his mother and finally his sister. And it is up to a special government undercover agent from South Korea to stop him before he can execute his plan.The acting in the movie was actually quite good, especially the performances put on by Dong-gun Jang (playing Sin) and Mi-yeon Lee (playing Choi Myeong-ju). And the scene where they become reunited after twenty years, well, that was just spectacular. It was really nicely acted and came off as believable and emotional.There was a great deal of good action in the movie and also some exciting enough thrills throughout the movie. However, it just never really managed to raise itself out of a stereotypical formula, and it was something that had been seen before. And on that account, the movie was somewhat of a disappointment. However, if you just watch the movie for the sheer entertainment, then "Typhoon" will actually entertain you quite nicely for the approximate 104 minutes it is running. Just don't expect to see anything new or groundbreaking.For a Korean action movie, then "Typhoon" was a little bit tame and stale, and there are far more impressive and action-packed Korean action movies available out there. I will say, though, that "Typhoon" is good the first time you watch it, however, I doubt that the movie actually have enough contents to support a second watching.

Technique and lots of money can't save an uninspired script, and the director seems blinded by his pretensions.The action and external plot seems a bit too easy and Bond-like for the serious back-draw of the Korean conflict, which the director exploits shamelessly to get the audiences sympathy. The many explosions and shootouts also take too much time away from character-building: the director has actually resorted to voice-over to relate a few critical plot developments. Telling in stead of showing is a pretty elementary fault in a movie.The acting isn't that bad, but the script hasn't given the actors much to chew into. There are limits to how many tragic faces one can make, and when the actors don't get the right scenes to make the audience bond with the characters, the audience don't care about tragic faces either.The emotional plot is very much hurt by this: the evolving relationship between the protagonists doesn't bring forth the emotions it should have as we don't really feel their pain. In contrast to general character buildup and what makes them enemies, their bonding is fed to us in teaspoons and it IS a relief when they finally get release, but not in the way the director intended I'm afraid. Their numbing understanding of each other undermines the heroism and the "tragic romance" effectively.Go see "J.S.A.: Joint Security Area" instead: a wonderfully paced action movie - with real surprises, twists and tragic heroes - that also manages to take the conflict between North- and South Korea seriously. Typhoon does not.

Typhoon tells the story of a North Korean man who with his family had previously failed in an attempt to defect to the South because of the existing political position of South Korea. The failed attempt occurred, according to the insight of one character in the story, because such things weren't possible until a year after this antagonist's attempt. Embittered over this turn of events, the man decides he will kill every South Korean since his mother was killed and his sister was humiliated due to unfavorable political circumstances. A South Korean agent enlisted to interdict this would be terrorist chases leads around much of Asia in his effort to stop the North Korean's plan.The actor playing the would-be terrorist provides a completely over-the-top performance, with the terrorist character at times nearly foaming at the mouth when he is confronted by his enemies. His intense bond with his sister, whom he hasn't seen in 20 years by the way, borders on the psychotic. The South Korean agent assigned to find him is cool, analytical and competent, yet the agent somehow manages to feel a strong bond with his deranged prey, being reluctant to kill the terrorist despite his clearly murderous intent. While this plot development does not work on the screen, it plays directly to pan-Korean nationalist sentiment in its target audience, and I'm sure it is appreciated by the home crowd for exactly that reason. Ohterwise this film is a bit mediocre in spite of the production values it clearly has.