The Chaser (2008)

Excellent, a Must See

Too much about the plot just didn't add up, the writing was bad, some of the scenes were cringey and awkward,

a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Storywise, I expected a lot, I mean a lot more than what I've seen, since the movie is rated 7.9, but in the end, it delivered something else. It delivered the message, the true message that the producer wanted us to see. You can see all the flaws in the system, the police, the above all politician, the lazyness and carelessness the police men showed towards the accused murderer. You can see how prostitution is something normal and legal, like an everyday job, the even commercialise it. South Korean and Japanese acting always seems to touch me emotionaly, they all act so well. But like I said, storywise, I expected at least some what little twist at the ending, but I was sorely dissapointed. Anyway 7/10, nothing more, nothing less.

Hi everyone. So at first this movie seemed great. Solid acting, good opening, nice pacing, and then after about 30 minutes in the movie makes a turn for the worst.The entire last hour and a half of the movie are ridiculous, completely unbelievable garbage. The main killer is caught, and get this...for no reason at all...they free him almost immediately. It literally makes no sense at all. In the movie they act as if there is no proof of his deeds, although there is heaps of proof. They collected DNA evidence, they found that he beat a kid with a hammer three years prior, the way he conducted the murders matches the case descriptions exactly, he stole a car and he has called all of the missing girls.I was so angry at the end of the movie. I just wasted two hours with a movie about catching a brutal killer...he is caught...and then...lets just set him free to kill yet again in his unpatrolled empty neighborhood in broad daylight and then he walks back home to bury more dead bodies. RIDICULOUS!!!If you want to waste two hours with a ridiculous story about a murderer being treated like a princess, watch this.

The path "The Chaser" takes is not the one usually taken or in the light for that matter. There's menacing atmosphere to its from dawn to dusk struggle, which is strangely inviting in its occasional humorous tone. The premise of serial killer is straightforward, but it has subtle details, the eerily real life feel in the streets and closed doors.It focuses on a retired officer now branching to the other side of the law as a pimp. He loses girls on frequent basis recently, and while this man is the crude anti-hero, he's still protective of his girls, for many reasons. He decides to investigate it and soon finds out that a client might be involved, and so the night turns into a figurative and literal chase before the client gets another victim.Acting is really well done throughout, the former detective looks very brash and unkempt, although he is completely driven to solve this case. The antagonist appears to be a man without empathy, he might look dazed or startled when faced against adversities, yet there's a hint that he would snap at a moment notice without even realizing the gravity of his actions.Another good thing is the use of locations. The movie never seems far fetch, the situations are well designed and they do resemble the quiet time or bustling area. There's a slight tone of humor as well, the occasional banters give more respites even though the case gradually becomes more sinister."The Chaser" is a compellingly dark story, unapologetic for its bold moments and entirely riveting for one night stand.

The Chaser is yet another example of the excellence of South Korean cinema. Since the millennium there have been several absolute standout movies from this country. Often what makes them so good is that they have materialised from a culture hitherto sparsely represented in the movies, meaning that we in the west often find their films less predictable than we are normally used to. The Chaser is quite a good example of this because what we have is a staple of the thriller genre – the serial killer film – presented in ways that go against expectations. Structurally, it's unusual in that not only is the killer's identity revealed very early on but he is also caught near the start. This means that the focus then switches to the police bureaucracy that hinders everything bar the maniac himself. But even with this switch of direction, the plot-line still retains a high suspense narrative whereby an abducted girl remains in the killer's lair, a place totally unknown the police.The story-line itself has an ex-policemen turned pimp apprehend a man whom he believes has kidnapped one of his girls. This man then confesses to police that has murdered this girl but without any direct proof he is set to be released in 12 hours by the powerless authorities, leading to frantic detective work. This story results in a cat and mouse standoff. But with a hero who is hardly whiter than white – he is after all a pimp who is distrusted by his former police colleagues; who themselves are shown to be fairly incompetent. So the dynamic between the characters is fairly complex and leads to some unpredictable results. The two main characters are especially good here and very well played by the actors. There is great use of the back streets of Seoul too. Especially in the case of some high octane foot chases which unusually show the sheer exhaustion of such an endeavour, equally the several frantic and messy fights have a similar realism. This approach is distinctive and adds a lot. The violence is often so realistic it offers little distance to the audience, particularly horrible is the hammer and chisel sequence which made for extremely grim viewing. This grit and grime adds a further dimension to a film which has already taken a genre film to unpredictable places. It ends in a way that is neither happily wrapped up not one dimensionally nihilistic, it's something in between. In a film of many contrasts and surprises, it feels right that it does so.