Insadong seukaendeul (2009) Reviews

• Korean "Leverage" (no spoilers)

  corgisrule2015-08-28

  This heist/revenge movie set in the art forgery world of Korea and, to some extent, Japan is quite enjoyable. There is a great deal of information/history regarding art and art forgery which may not suit the taste of those who prefer the genre of American "knock-em-down, blow-em-up, kick butt and take names later" movies but if you liked the U.S. TV show "Leverage" you will like this movie. Those who watch Korean cinema will see many familiar faces and experience some delightful humorous moments. The look of the movie is sophisticated though it was a little difficult to keep track of where they were from moment to moment as there were frequent scene changes. Rae-won Kim does a good job as the male lead though I liked him better in Sunflower and My Little Bride but that is more because of the character he is playing then his performance. The one serious problem I had with this movie was the subtitles: I felt like I was missing out on dialog, especially the use of the term "jerk" when there was obviously a stronger expletive being spoken (F-bomb, A-H, S-t)-it was quite distracting. I prefer my cursing without sugar coating, thank you very much. All in all I strongly recommend Insadong Scandal.

• Really disliked Kim Rae-Won in this

  KineticSeoul2010-09-28

  This is a heist movie and a boring heist movie at that. Where I hated every single character in this movie, they were all irritating to watch and for the most part annoying as hell. Now for most heist movies, the person they are trying to steal from is way more irritating to watch than the thief or thieves. That isn't the case for this movie cause the main guy that plans the heist and is one of the best forger of paintings is the most annoying character in the movie. I never liked the actor Kim Rae-Won and I REALLY disliked him in this role. Sure he has he reasons for the heist, but the dude is cocky which is sometimes okay I guess, but in this he is cocky in a way I really disliked his character. Kim Rae-Won acting has no charisma, even in roles where he should have charisma and yeah he sucks in this doesn't have any charm what so ever. The main reason I check this film out was cause of Soo-hyun Hong cause she is pretty, although her role in this wasn't that great. The plot of this boring heist movie is way more convoluted than it needs to be and nothing is tense or exciting about it. Nothing about this film impressed me, a waste of time. 3.8/10