Mickey
Master of something
The charismatic opening by the presentation of the ONE network by its also charismatic owner Jin Hyeon-pil, who is able to draw an overwhelming support by its "investors" which is eerily similar to a cult leader preaching to his crowd all while the same time, an investigation being carried out by Kim Jae-myeong is now starting to end this deception once and for all, was enough for me to be curious as to what would happen next.
The next scenes, with Jang-gun now being prepared by the police to be the mole on this money-laundering corporation, for me was actually nerve-wracking, yet at the same time, I already guessed that there would be more being that he was already given the informant role early in the movie, some betrayal would occur later on, and I wasn't surprised already when that scene was shown. The build-up towards the entrapment operation was good, and culminating into a botched operation with Hyeon-pil getting away and Jang-gun being left to die seemed that the whole operation was a failure, but the fact that it occured at the middle of the film, made me thought that there would be more, most notably a revenge by Jae-myeong.
The 2nd half of the movie, which focuses on the Philippines, with the same ingredients of a scam being brewed by the same characters, was the more fleshed-out part, in terms of building up another entrapment operation to arrest Hyeon-pil. The one thing that I was confused was the yellow color grading for the Philippine scenes (which was understandable) yet was also present in some scenes in Korea. It wasn't uniform so that made me confused on some parts.
It could've been more impactful if it had focused more on the car chases and the gunfire, both of which were less plenty than I thought for an action movie. The emphasis on the money laundering scheme was the part I didn't liked and at times, were boring. After all, action movies should be full of action, and plotting said actions should be regarded as secondary, although still important. Had the scheming scenes were lessened, it could've made the plot tighter and the excitement for the inevitable reveal of the plot twists would be more sustained. Also, a recurring problem with the recent Korean movies I watched was still present here - the underdeveloped main character (I wanted to know more on the drive Jae-myeong has for this case) and the overdeveloped villain (Hyeon-pil's drive was simple, which is greed).
Overall, I felt that this was 2 movies smashed into one - 1st part focuses on the local, 2nd part on the international "scam" with the same plot, but different endings. I wanted more action, and was confused as to how the movie title connected to the movie itself, or maybe being a master of something.
The next scenes, with Jang-gun now being prepared by the police to be the mole on this money-laundering corporation, for me was actually nerve-wracking, yet at the same time, I already guessed that there would be more being that he was already given the informant role early in the movie, some betrayal would occur later on, and I wasn't surprised already when that scene was shown. The build-up towards the entrapment operation was good, and culminating into a botched operation with Hyeon-pil getting away and Jang-gun being left to die seemed that the whole operation was a failure, but the fact that it occured at the middle of the film, made me thought that there would be more, most notably a revenge by Jae-myeong.
The 2nd half of the movie, which focuses on the Philippines, with the same ingredients of a scam being brewed by the same characters, was the more fleshed-out part, in terms of building up another entrapment operation to arrest Hyeon-pil. The one thing that I was confused was the yellow color grading for the Philippine scenes (which was understandable) yet was also present in some scenes in Korea. It wasn't uniform so that made me confused on some parts.
It could've been more impactful if it had focused more on the car chases and the gunfire, both of which were less plenty than I thought for an action movie. The emphasis on the money laundering scheme was the part I didn't liked and at times, were boring. After all, action movies should be full of action, and plotting said actions should be regarded as secondary, although still important. Had the scheming scenes were lessened, it could've made the plot tighter and the excitement for the inevitable reveal of the plot twists would be more sustained. Also, a recurring problem with the recent Korean movies I watched was still present here - the underdeveloped main character (I wanted to know more on the drive Jae-myeong has for this case) and the overdeveloped villain (Hyeon-pil's drive was simple, which is greed).
Overall, I felt that this was 2 movies smashed into one - 1st part focuses on the local, 2nd part on the international "scam" with the same plot, but different endings. I wanted more action, and was confused as to how the movie title connected to the movie itself, or maybe being a master of something.
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