Reviews

Awesome action! Do prep the tissues.....

I read that this movie is somewhat tied to the real life story that happened in the Xingang port oil spill.

Irregardless of whether it is a real life story or a fiction, this movie is awesome. If you love firefighters and treasure / value their work, this is indeed a good movie to watch. There is a lot of fire fighting action and also a lot of tear jerking moments. This movie brings you to various different levels of griefs when the biggest disaster occurs and it requires help from every state nearby. It also brings a highlight to many people that being a firefighter is not an easy peasy job. Many people take advantage and assume that police, firefighters etc are just simple jobs with no risks. I feel that movies like these brings a reminder that we should appreciate all that is done by these marvelous people.

It is definitely worth a first watch.

Read More

A satisfactory spin-off for returning audiences

I strongly encourage people to watch the first movie, Kill Boksoon, first. They're both great, memorable films to me.

Mantis isn't just another all-action movie, but displays the humanity that still exists behind these killing machines, these assassins. It follows the same tone as Kill Boksoon, exploring the dynamics and the emotions that exist between the characters. The action is great, but is not the main genre fueling the progression of the movie. I recommend this more for people who want a focus on the characters and their backstory---the reasons for coming into this killer world behind their grand name.

Mantis focused on the hidden jealousy, the hidden feelings, the narcissism of Mantis and the inferiority complex of Jaeyi that led to the inevitable rivalry between our two leads. HOWEVER, I love that this was only the surface level characterizations. Deep down, Mantis genuinely cares and wants Jaeyi to shine, and Jaeyi knows her skills and never once believed she was under someone else.

I still found flaws in this sequel like I did in Kill Boksoon, which was the lack of exploration of the other characters besides just our 2-3 main leads. They exist, but only to propel the story of the main cast. In Mantis, I definitely wanted to learn more about Sumin, how she got caught in this business, and where she learned her skills (and why she's so loyal to Mantis).

That's why...I wish this was a series instead, but I'm always looking forward to learning more about this universe---it feels like a breath of fresh air from your typical Hollywood action movie.

Read More

Decent action movie that left much to be desired

I think that to some extent, my disappointment over Mantis derive from my expectations. I was very excited when I had seen that Si Wan and Park Gyu Young would be in an action movie. The plot of Mantis sounded very promising and the rest of the cast caught my interest, so it was only logical that I would be excited.

Looking back at my initial reaction, I think I should have set back my expectations.

Even from pretty early on onto the movie, I was getting some mixed signals. The film started off well but it lacked the thrill and the pacing was off, especially during the middle part. To be frank, I'm not even sure if the writers were certain about the direction of the movie. Throughout the whole time I was watching, the writing felt disjointed and messy and for the most part, my interest was low.

The direction of Mantis was not very clear. While in Kill Bok Soon the direction of the story was clear from the start, in Mantis I genuinely did not know what to expect. And I'm not saying that as a compliment. Did they want to focus on the comedy? Ha Nul's crush on Jae Yi? Hierarchy and power? It was as if they wanted to cram many things together but since the movie is not even 2 hours long, they couldn't flesh out the story properly.

I appreciate the fact that just like in Kill Bok Soon, the writers wanted to highlight the characters' relationships, particularly Jae Yi and Ha Nul's. Even though I didn't expect the movie to lean on that aspect, I didn't necessarily complain and for the most part, I found their dynamic to be quite interesting. But just like the rest of the story, it fell flat pretty quickly. I wish we had gotten more scenes from their past to add more depth in their friendship and backstory. It was clear that both cared about each other but their relationship was presented in a superficial way.

The action scenes were good and well choreographed. Jae Yi and Ha Nul's fighting scenes were exciting to watch and I liked the differences in their fighting styles. That being said, for a movie that marketed itself as an action-packed one, Mantis did not have many thrilling fighting scenes. The action aspect was not that strong to leave a strong impression and the fighting scenes, albeit serviceable, were lackluster. I was especially disappointed at how little we saw of Si Wan in action, you advertise his character as one of the top assassins and give him so few fighting scenes?

Aside from the poorly written story, the characterisation also left much to be desired. The actors did their job of course, they carried the movie on their backs but their writing didn't do a lot to make them very interesting.

Jae Yi was by far the most developed and explored character. I liked the direction of her motives and how her inferiority complex towards Ha Nul was handled. Park Gyu Young did an excellent job portraying Jae Yi's frustration and bottled up feelings through her expressions and body language, you could easily tell what Jae Yi thought and why she did what she did.

Jo Woo Jin also did a good job with his character, Dok Go who was Min Gyu's former friend. He was commanding and despite his calm exterior, you could sense how dangerous he could be. I admit that relationship and fall-out with Min Gyu mirrored very well Ha Nul and Jae Yi's relationship, I liked the parallels between them. Still, I think that in terms of writing, Min Gyu in Kill Bok Soon was more interesting to watch. Dok Go was kinda one dimensional and I didn't find myself caring a lot about him.

Choi Hyun Wook was a pleasure to watch. His character was also pretty shallow but his performance made him more than entertaining. I liked the way he carried himself, he certainly fit in Benjamin's cocky and overconfident personality and he delivered exactly what was expected from him.

Unfortunately, Ha Nul's character was one of my biggest let-downs. I had expected something entirely different and although I was willing to see the direction of his character once I realised that, the writing didn't do him much favor. I expected a ruthless assassin and I got a kinda immature professional who constantly yearned for his crush. Which is not necessarily bad. We love yearners in this house but in order for me to do so, the character himself should be written in more depth. That wasn't the case with Ha Nul. He came across as too one-dimensional for me to care about him more. His main motive was to protect Jae Yi because he loved her and had a crush on her. Okay. Anything more than that? The film didn't elaborate any further regarding his feelings. The writers (and the characters) tell us that Ha Nul likes Jae Yi and viewers have to accept it. His personality was reduced on his crush, there were some attempts to add more layers in his motives but anything else fell flat. Had it not been for Si Wan's acting, nothing would be able to save Ha Nul from this disastrous writing. For a main character, he really was pretty boring.

Additionally, even though the film tried to establish Mantis as this unbeatable assassin, whom everyone respects, the writing never left any room for him to shine and showcase his potential, until we reached the final part. I was never convinced about Mantis being one of the top assassins like I was with Gil Bok Soon, the writers certainly didn't do much justice to his reputation.

So, Mantis was an average action movie that fell flat in terms of writing. It's a pity that with such a great cast and good production the writers couldn't lock in and provide a better story. Although Kill Bok Soon also had its flaws, it was more thrilling to watch and the story and characterisation were more engaging. I would recommend Mantis to people who're looking for an action movie but do not go in with high expectations.

Read More

Two of Three Worth Watching

The Black Swindler (2006)

Kurosagi: The Movie (2008)

Kurosagi (2022)


This Kurosagi series is about a young man (Kurosaki) whose father got swindled or conned pushing him to kill his family and himself. The son survived and thereafter dedicated himself to revenge on all such swindlers. A straight forward vigilante themed story.

Con men who swindle the innocent financially are called white swindlers (Shirosagi). Con artists who swindle romantically for money are called red swindlers (Akasagi). Our main character only cons white (Shiro) and red (Aka) swindlers (Sagi) so we have a strong Robin Hood theme in order to ensure sympathy with the lead who is after all breaking the law.

All three were written by the same screenwriter and one of a few directors is common to all three.

The cast of both The Black Swindler (2006) and the Movie (2008) are the same. The 2022 version is a reboot with all new cast.

I first watched Kurosagi (2022). Generally Japanese productions can be problematic with exaggerated acting styles and seriously obnoxious background music. However, this 2022 version is very watchable and the music not too distracting.

The 2006 TV Show was at first off-putting due to the acting and background music but I was curious how it compares to the 2022 reboot. It’s very similar following main plot twists - mostly - but has several significant changes in subplots. The result is a nicely done resonation between the two. You’ll get more from watching both than either alone.

The screenwriter loves symbolism. Conning someone is called ‘eating’. A main support character, a mentor to Kurosaki in all three, is shown having difficulty at times eating some thing or other. He is of course the master swindler who is guiding Kurosaki after his survival as a young teen.

The Movie (2008) is a clumsy return to first series (2006) and is essentially a long single episode. It doesn’t work so well and is forgettable. It could be the persistent references to the assassination of Julius Caesar and his betrayal by Brutus (whose mother was Servilia Caesar’s love interest over decades so possibly Caesar was real father of Brutus) or the frequent exposition.

Two out of three are worth the time. The third is for curiosity.

Read More

Mantis is the best?

So this is the second movie in the Korean Hitman universe (aka the Korean John Wick), following Kill Boksoon (2023), which was actually much better than this one. I did appreciate the cameos from that film appearing here, but not much else.

Here we have a new highly skilled killer, Mantis, but the story never lets him shine. The opening fight scene was quite good, but everything afterward felt rushed and sloppy, leading up to a weird final battle that perfectly sums up the mess this movie is. The film has great production value, a lot of famous actors, and good fight choreography—but no real sense of direction. The most frustrating part for me was the comedy: the actors often behaved and talked like childish brats, and I found myself thinking, does this movie think we’re stupid? Most of the film is just talking, and I could almost bet the dialogue was written by AI.

Well, yes, maybe this movie will find some fans among modern audiences, but to me it was disappointing.

Read More

Loved it but - This Could've been better

Mantis is the spinoff of the 2023 hit film Kill Boksoon. It tells the story of a power struggle between two
Assassin friends one driven by love and friendship, the other by ego and feelings of inferiority. I enjoyed Im Se-wan, Park Gyu-Young, and Jo Woo-Jin acting.

While this is clearly a story driven film the action plot was also a key element here. The story had a strong potential to become another memorable action drama like Kill Boksoon, balancing equally with stylish action scenes with a solid narrative. However that much of potential is wasted on lengthy conversations between the main leads.

Unlike Kill Boksoon, this movie has relatively weaker camera work and the same goes for action choreography. However the costumes fit the overall vibe of the movie. I recommend this movie if you like a fast-paced, story driven film with less focus on action.

Read More

Nail-biting three way fight

Kill Boksoon spin off movie set in a generation farther away from the original premise, where the monopoly of M. K. Ent. is already a past thing, now multiple startups are fighting to feed on the leftovers of this sunset industry, some even extend it into other business scope like tech and gaming.

In such desperate era, the story cleverly follows along the new coup d'etat leader of M. K. Ent. and his two young aspiring successors, but having bad blood between each other, as the ambitious buildup pitted them into a complicated three way fight for its high adrenaline triad fighting sequence ending.

It may not have that intense charisma of Jeon Doyeon and Sol Kyunggu have to offer, they're totally phenomenal previously, this movie did make sufficient effort to maintain that quality, as Im Siwan and Park Gyuyoung is still a very convincing pair on screen.

The action choreography, cinematography, and soundtrack, all are well done enough and it is a nail-biting movie that successfully keeps its unique world of killers emotionally valid.

Read More

action, intense thrilling

Storyline: thrilling and intense, not just gore scenes but actual plot and characters ' story involved
Acting: the actors really did a nice job, met my expectations, they portrayed every character well
characters: we see interesting and powerful characters, especially our main character Mantis, he's so interesting and strong, you love him and hate him at times (for being so high in his head), but in the end youre for sure rooting for him, siwan did a perfect job at playing this role, i don't think anyone else would fit this character.
fight scenes: were pretty clear and gore filled but like you can see the movements clearly unlike other shows and movies where you can barely see anything because it's too fast paced or low brightness
somewhat spoiler: it was really nice to see boksoon for a scene, i jumped when i saw her.

Read More

HAS POTENTIAL BUT THE PLOT FALLS SHORT

This spin off connects well to the MK company from Kill Boksoon. That link makes the spin off feel natural, and it shows how the company's story led to this movie.

The first 10 minutes started strong. I liked seeing Min Gyu again. Right away, the film showed Mantis's fighting skills, I could already catch the mix of humor and gore. I especially enjoyed his fighting style with weapons, it feels refreshing compared to the typical assassin combat we usually see. The color grading and cinematography reminded me of Kill Boksoon but a bit upgrade, which was cool.

The middle act, however, didn't really build up much. It was just okay, with a few conflicts that weren't very surprising. Still, it was great seeing Bok Soon return.

The third act didn't land as strongly as I hoped. It was a bit predictable, though the fight sequences were undeniably entertaining. I just wish the writing carried more punch. Overall, it's a decent spin off with cool action and a good connection to the original, even the story could have been better.

Plot 7/10
Acting and Characters 8/10
Cinematography 8.5/10
Writing 6.5/10
Pacing 7.5/10
OST/Score 8/10

Overall 7.5/10

Read More

Gil-Gu my beloved boyfailureeeeeee!

Gil-Gu was the heart of this movie for me, so sincere in everything he does while still being an unintentional goof. I love him and Ahn Bo Hyun did an amazing job as well as Yoon A! Double roles aren't easy but she pulled it off flawlessly. My only gripe not having more scenes with Seonji, maybe exploring her head and relationships, but I'm not sure how that would have worked anyway

The cast around them added to my enjoyment as well for Ara, Seonji's dad and Hee Bum to the convenience store staff and teenage girl. I had so much fun with this movie and still teared up at the end. The score was lovely, both in the beginning with the scene changes and at the end with the emotional moments.

Read More

A waste of great casting

I went into Mantis mainly for the cast, and honestly, that was the only reason I managed to sit through the whole film. If it weren’t for them, I probably would’ve dropped it halfway. The action scenes were flashy and entertaining at times, but the storyline was such a letdown that it made the movie feel like a waste of talent.

The story follows Han-ul, also known as “Mantis,” a legendary assassin famous for his skill. After taking a break from the killing world, he comes back to find his former company, MK Enterprise, in chaos following the death of its leader. From there, the film throws us into a power struggle where killers fight to claim the top spot. Han-ul starts a company with Jae-yi, his long-time friend, supporting her from the beginning and even requesting his chairman to give her a chance. However, their venture doesn’t last long, as Benjamin, a wealthy and manipulative young CEO, convinces Jae-yi that being Han-ul’s vice-chairman is a loss for her, prompting her to open her own company. Another retired assassin, Dok-go, also enters the fray, raising the stakes and making the competition even more intense.

On paper, this setup had so much potential. A story about rival assassins, power struggles, betrayal, and twisted loyalty could have been thrilling. Unfortunately, the execution just wasn’t there. The plot often felt messy, rushed, and sometimes illogical, leaving me more confused than invested. Instead of building strong character arcs or an emotional backbone to the story, it leaned too heavily on stylized action sequences that, while fun in the moment, didn’t carry the weight the movie clearly wanted them to.

What made it worse is how underutilized the incredible cast felt. With such a lineup of talented actors, you expect sharp writing and layered storytelling to back them up. Instead, the weak narrative wasted their potential, and even the dynamic between Han-ul and Jae-yi didn’t get the development it needed. Their friendship could have been the heart of the film, but it was overshadowed by plot holes and forced twists.

That said, I can’t deny the action scenes were entertaining. They were choreographed well enough to keep me from shutting the movie off completely. But action alone can’t carry a movie when the story feels this hollow. By the end, I wasn’t satisfied—I just felt like I had watched a film that could’ve been great but fell short because of poor storytelling.

Mantis isn’t the worst movie out there. I don’t really recommend it, but you can watch it if you want to see the cast in action or if you just want some flashy fight scenes.

Read More

MANTIS - ACTION-PACKED AND EMOTIONALLY INTENSE

The plot could have been tighter, but what really stood out to me were the fight scenes and the emotional tension between Mantis and Jae-yi. The action is clean and brutal. It’s well shot and features choreography that makes your heart race. Dok-go was one heck of a fighter too.

What truly made me feel nervous in a not-so-good way was the relationship between the two leads. Mantis is clearly the stronger one, but because he cares about Jae-yi, she becomes his weakness. That dynamic kept me on edge. At any moment, she could have turned on him, not because she was stronger, but because he always held back for her.

The ending was satisfying too. I thought Jae-yi would stay loyal to Benjamin, but I was so glad she didn’t. Letting Mantis take him out was the perfect payoff and made their bond even more complicated and interesting.

Mantis isn’t a perfect film, but if you love great action and intense character dynamics that blur the line between loyalty and betrayal, this one will hit you hard.

Read More