The Chaser (2008)

The Chaser is the kind of film that will most likely go unnoticed because of its lack of action, and modern execution of storytelling. As Roger Ebert says in his review; it is the type of film that reminds us of Hitchcock, and the days when suspense and drama was more exciting than a bunch of men playing stunts and trying to make us believe it is possible.

The Chaser is a contrived, and manipulative story, which brings us to a clearer understanding of police bureaucracy and corruption. It is not the kind of film to enjoy with a sensible heart, but it will grip you and make you wish reality wouldn't be so grim.

No matter how I write this review, I know I will not make this film justice. There are so many things to address in this story, and I don't have the confidence to answer all questions without messing up my credibility as I go. I might be too mushy, or seemed too biased as I admire this film with all honesty. But I will do my best.

What to expect from The Chaser?: With a well written script, and a rookie director (Na Hong-jin), you will get drama at is best, mixed with suspense, and a dash of British humor.

The story is no doubt well writing. Its an act at manipulation, it will grab you and play with your conscience throughout the whole film. The writers have given the audience all the tools with which we can formulate our own idea of how the story should go, and what it seems reasonable that should happen given the situation the characters are thrown into. However, nothing happens like it should, and there seems to be good reasons why not.

You will find yourself immerse in Jung-ho's quest to find one of his missing girls, who he believes is being sold in the human market. With no lead on her whereabouts, and the cops putting importance on bureaucracy and the media, there is plenty of time for all sorts of ill-fated events to befall the call girl. Jung-ho at first seemed like an uncaring pimp, but gradually turns into the hero we all expect to see from him.

The attention put into character development is absolutely perfect. I believed every action taken, because it seemed genuine. Logic exist in this world, but we are not perfect.

The directing is simply stunning. Hong-jin takes you through the story with such conviction he will amaze you, that you are indeed stupefied.

There will be a chase, and there will be a climatic moment, also a conclusion. But none will have any of the superficiality we are exposed to so often we seemed to be ready for it. No embellished fight scenes, no overly acted deaths, and no open endings. No, there is no sequel to The Chaser. The story ends here! What there will be is a realism so hard to deal with, you might want to have a lighthearted comedy lined up.

All in all, The Chaser is not claimed to be one of Korea's number one film in recent years for no reason. If you are a true lover of suspense, this one is definitely a must watch for you.

All my ratings are 10 except for re-watch value, as it is a suspense, and it will not have the same effect again. For me, it does not matter; when a friend asks me for a recommendation, I know it's time to watch The Chaser.

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Chaser is a good movie with a weak story. Before I say bad things about the story I must confess I am a little confused.If the motive of the movie was to thrill and entertain people than it failed, but if the motive was to give a message, well it shows pretty good how the police force works in Korea. I think the idea of the story was actually pretty good and that was what attracted me but it was full of gaps and voids, that it lost its credibility. I found myself many times saying that a police investigation definitely can not be like this, and I am not talking about the rude behaviour, more like the system and logic of it. The acting on the other hand was pretty good. It was not gorgeous, but it was well done. There was not a remarkabe soundtrack as well but the background music was also fitting. What I really liked about the movie was the shooting. The dark colours, setting, lights they were considered together. Again they were not gorgeous but it was like they all matched together so the filming was convincing, but there were a few unnecessary and long scenes. To sum up Chaser is technically a good movie with an average story. I do not think it will impress you but would probably pass your time.

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What did I just watch? I mean, for real? Such a disappointing movie and I had high expecations. I feel soo annoyed.

Horror? Gore? Mature? When I saw these three things I thought that this movie will be very exciting, with lots of bloody and disturbing scenes, with dark and twisted murderer and with very intense storyline.

What did I get instead? There was only one thrilling scene which was at the beginning (in Yeong Min's house). That's was the only intense moment of the movie. Blood? Yes, but not enough. Disturbing scenes? Yes, a small kid may find them disturbing. A thriller fan like me would not be impressed. And why is this a horror is a mystery to me, lol.

So brutal muderer? Well, he was brutal for sure. Did he make me excited or did he make my blood boil? No, I simply didn't care about him.

So what is this movie about? A bunch of stupid cops. Okay, I know what korean dramas and movies usually make the cops very dumb and annoying, but at least they give them some reasons to be like that (no matter how stupid the reasons are). Here, however, the cops made NO sense. You have a person who admits that he killed so many people, he tells you how he killed them, he tells you that one might be STILL ALIVE and you ask him if he had sex with his girlfriend. Of course you should do this in this kind of situation.

And everything was so predictable. Plot twist? Development? The movie simply doesn't know these things exist. It was just hella boring from start to finish.

A waste of good actors though. Ha Jung Woo was mind-blowing as Je Yeong Min, he saved the whole movie with his amazing acting, honestly.

Overall, I don't recommend this movie. Don't watch it unless you want to waste your time. If you're looking for exciting and intense thriller, that's not it. Very disappoinitng.

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I started watching the movie out of nowhere and ok I've been tired of fluff and so this came highly recommended and I understand it now why so many people like this movie. This is the kind of film you wish film festivals were full of. I'm a huge fan of foreign cinema and Asian cinema is no exception. But I feel like when a lot of people watch foreign stuff they quickly start comparing with Hollywood so if marvel movies and Disney is your thing you should probably steer clear of this one. I love that Asian cinema is the way it is and sure there's trash everywhere and you'll find that cringey crap anywhere but if you need a break from Disney and Marvel or if you're like me and enjoy serious films this one is a must watch. At the surface it looks like any other horror flick, it has everything a horror enthusiast would love, plenty of gruesome scenes, chopped off limbs, people's heads lopped off and all of that. But at it's core it's very much a psychological thriller. It's my favorite genre and this movie didn't disappoint. You sit down and can't get up until the climax and the ending was perfect as far as I'm concerned. The acting is top notch and the main protagonist is basically an anti hero of sorts and not a "good" person because he's a former cop and works as a pimp. And almost forced the girl to work when she wasn't willing. But naturally his character changes along the way and well you just have to watch it. And like I said acting is great overall but the chilling way the killer works and his inability to fathom emotion the actor portrayed it so well. So yes, all in all a real story with a real tragedy and what makes it more horrific is the fact that you know it could be anyone's reality. Beautiful film.

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Great Movie is all I need to say

I watched this because I wanted to see some serial killer movies, but then I stumbled upon this and couldn't appreciate more how suspenseful and intriguing, this movie was. I really liked the pacing of the movie and the direction, too. I didn't have much expectation for this, but it turned out to be a great watch, so I'm extra happy now.
It showcased how people are. Nobody is black and white, all are grey and all had to do certain things in life that are not morally correct. And they showed the Serial Killer as a cunning man and not some psycho with sharp hunter eyes and gaze shit, which I really hate. All I meant to say is that the Depiction is actually realistic, which makes this movie pretty good.

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Electrizante y brutal.

"The Chaser" es uno de los thrillers policíacos más brutales, electrizantes e influyentes del Nuevo Cine Coreano, que además puso en la palestra al que a la postre está siendo uno de los directores menos prolíficos pero más interesantes de esta apasionante ola cinematográfica, Na Hong-jin.

La nerviosa fotografía con cámara al hombro y la sucia ambientación contribuyen a la atmósfera malsana que Na quería crear, desarrollando un tira y afloja entre los dos personajes principales que sin duda influyó en la también excelente "Encontré al Diablo".

Pero si no has visto "The Chaser" a por ella, porque es imprescindible.

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Tartom, hogy az egyik, ha nem legjobb thriller, amit valaha láttam.

Most néztem meg másodszor és tartom a 10/10-es pontszámot. Pedig kicsit féltem tőle az újrázás előtt. Rég láttam már, és emlékeztem, hogy a végén néhány dolog nem volt teljesen “világos” számomra, de ettől még akkor is járt neki a maximum értékelés. Most meg bátran állítom, hogy kár volt izgulni. Még jobban tetszik. Ennyire impulzív, hatásos és tökös filmet rég nem láttam. Nagyon rég.

Kezdjük azzal, hogy tényleg elég okos a szkript, mármint remekül van felépítve a film, miközben elvitathatatlan, hogy nincsenek benne még talán apró logikai bukfencek sem, igazából mindennek megvan a maga kis saját miértje, még ha ez a néhány dolog csak utalások formájában is szerepel a filmben. Tényleg olyan ez a film, hogy több oldalon keresztül lehetne részletezni az erényeit, akár képkockáról képkockára elemezve azokat. Mert tényleg ennyire feszesen és jól összerakott. Aztán menjünk csak tovább; nem csak a sztori jó, nézzétek meg a képeket, azt, hogy milyen remek soundtracket tolnak egyes jelenetek alá, miközben oda, ahova nem kell, nem tesznek semmit. Tényleg hibátlan. Némelyiket még Hans Zimmer is megirigyelhette egyébként, pláne, hogy ez a film 2008-as ugye… Ki lehetne persze a filmet kezdeni, hogy mennyire eredeti, mennyire (nem) mély, de kár volna; mert működik; ha kell, akkor meg tud lepni, szinte végig a székbe tud szegezni, és ember legyen a talpán aki kitalálja mi is fog történni ebben a két órában. A keleti filmekből rémlő kapkodás, habitus itt is előjön bizonyos helyzetekben, de szerintem meglehetősen visszafogott formában, és a helyzet komolyságát tekintve ez a fajta hozzáállás érthető is lehet.

A főszereplők maximális átéléssel (és szerencsére tehetséggel) hozzák azt, amit kell. Nekem egyikük kifejezetten a kedvenc figuráim közé emelkedett. A jelenetek minden szinten rendben vannak; az akciók kimondottan ultra-realisztikusak (apróság, de nézd, hogy fáradnak), miközben a körítés is nagyon meghatározó; a helyszínek egy része tényleg totálisan eltalált. Legyen szó akár a díszletekről, akár az esős, szűk utcákról. Mocskos egy film, amely megtekintése után nem engedi el az embert. Én pedig a hasonló stílusú filmekben kifejezetten pont ez a fajta kendőzetlen, magabiztos filmkészítést díjazom.

Bátran nézze meg mindenki aki még nem látta. Aztán újfent itt is kiemelném, hogy meglepő mennyire ismeretlen ezeken a nyugati filmes oldalakon ez a remekmű, imdb-n mindössze 58 ezer ratinget kapott, pedig gyanítom, ha ez amerikai lenne eredetileg, top 100 lenne legalább imdb-n, több százezernyi értékeléssel… Egyébként igen, láttam én is az Oldboyt, de nálam Hong-jin Na rendezése magabiztosan veri Chan-wook Park munkáját. Ez van.

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