Typhoon (2005)

Good , But It Is Overrated By Some

A Brilliant Conflict

It's a mild crowd pleaser for people who are exhausted by blockbusters.

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

To be honest, I found out this one looking for Jang Dong-gun movies.To my surprise, it seemed to be more than the average terrorist flick, although some of them stand out, Traitor and The Kingdom for example.Jang Dong-gun plays yet another role completely different from those in My Way, Tae Guk Gi or 2009: Lost Memories. And it plays it so fine, that it eclipses (almost) all the other actors. It brings the necessary touching part of a man troubled by his past, in such a way that decides to take revenge to the ultimate level: against a nation.And although the ending reveals the same human side, the feelings provoked by the film remain. You wonder, based on the ripple effect, if history takes a sudden turn sometimes what the effects would be on a long term. 20, 30 or even 60 years. Do those who decide the a nation's way think of the long-term effects of their decisions ? Maybe this movie can make them think again.From this point of view, I can't stop remembering the two versions of On the Beach, who I think pushed the right buttons and prevented the Nuclear Holocaust from happening.That being said, I do believe this movie is a wake-up call, in more than one ways.

I must admit that it with with a certain level of anticipation and expectations that I sat down to watch "Typhoon", because it had gotten fairly good reviews and it said "a first rate thriller" on the DVD cover. And being a big fan of Asian cinema, I am always thrilled to see a movie that I haven't seen already."Typhoon" is a fairly standard formula thriller, as where the 'good guys' have to catch the 'bad guys' before they manage to unleash some kind of malevolent threat upon humanity. And in this case it was a North Korean who wanted to wreck vengeance upon all of South Korea because he believe they took away his chance for a good life in South Korea and took away first his father, then his mother and finally his sister. And it is up to a special government undercover agent from South Korea to stop him before he can execute his plan.The acting in the movie was actually quite good, especially the performances put on by Dong-gun Jang (playing Sin) and Mi-yeon Lee (playing Choi Myeong-ju). And the scene where they become reunited after twenty years, well, that was just spectacular. It was really nicely acted and came off as believable and emotional.There was a great deal of good action in the movie and also some exciting enough thrills throughout the movie. However, it just never really managed to raise itself out of a stereotypical formula, and it was something that had been seen before. And on that account, the movie was somewhat of a disappointment. However, if you just watch the movie for the sheer entertainment, then "Typhoon" will actually entertain you quite nicely for the approximate 104 minutes it is running. Just don't expect to see anything new or groundbreaking.For a Korean action movie, then "Typhoon" was a little bit tame and stale, and there are far more impressive and action-packed Korean action movies available out there. I will say, though, that "Typhoon" is good the first time you watch it, however, I doubt that the movie actually have enough contents to support a second watching.

Technique and lots of money can't save an uninspired script, and the director seems blinded by his pretensions.The action and external plot seems a bit too easy and Bond-like for the serious back-draw of the Korean conflict, which the director exploits shamelessly to get the audiences sympathy. The many explosions and shootouts also take too much time away from character-building: the director has actually resorted to voice-over to relate a few critical plot developments. Telling in stead of showing is a pretty elementary fault in a movie.The acting isn't that bad, but the script hasn't given the actors much to chew into. There are limits to how many tragic faces one can make, and when the actors don't get the right scenes to make the audience bond with the characters, the audience don't care about tragic faces either.The emotional plot is very much hurt by this: the evolving relationship between the protagonists doesn't bring forth the emotions it should have as we don't really feel their pain. In contrast to general character buildup and what makes them enemies, their bonding is fed to us in teaspoons and it IS a relief when they finally get release, but not in the way the director intended I'm afraid. Their numbing understanding of each other undermines the heroism and the "tragic romance" effectively.Go see "J.S.A.: Joint Security Area" instead: a wonderfully paced action movie - with real surprises, twists and tragic heroes - that also manages to take the conflict between North- and South Korea seriously. Typhoon does not.

One of the biggest high budget movie's made in Korea. Basically it's Korean style Bourne movie. The cast are brilliant including Jung-Jae Lee (City of the Rising Sun) and Dong-Kun Jang(2009: Lost Memories). Great location's however most of the budget must have been used for this, there are very few action scene's, don't be expecting amazing shoot out's or high flying unrealistic kung fu fight's. Do expect a film with characterisation and a bit of depth. Overall it's a film which will be enjoyable to watch if you are patient enough to last the first half hour. Ifg anyone has seen 'A Bittersweet life' by Ji-woon Kim you will enjoy this movie but it wont stand out as a classic but a stylish action movie.