"Face" is an extremely underwhelming genre-mixture that doesn't do enough for either.
**SPOILERS**
Tired of working a case, Det. Lee Hyun-min, (Shin Hyeon-jun) resigns so he can spend time with his ailing daughter Jin, (Kim Seung-wook) who has just received a heart transplant. Trying to help her, Jung Sun-young, (Song Yun-ah) arrives to ask his help for a police case in reconstructing an unidentified victim's face. As they continue their assignment together, he becomes worried when her condition becomes more severe, and suspects there might be more to the story behind it. Driven by research, he finds something sinister occurring that involves her surgeon and a secret organ-donating ring that supplies organs from runaways to surgery patients, and they all race to stop their actions before they can happen again.
The Good News: There was some good stuff to this one. One of the best parts is that it features some really good attacks from the ghost where it gets somewhat exciting. There's a really brutal surgery scene in the beginning, where the bound victim is seen to be cut open with a scalpel, while still alive, and is then maneuvered in such a way as to appear that a series of inner organs had been removed during the process, which just makes it all the more creepy. Another surgery scene, only one that doesn't involve the brutality of the earlier scene, is just as good and actually has some rather uneasy moments to it. There's also a rather creepy scene where, while stopping at a railroad stop, a vision of a young girl being run over by a train completely unaware of the situation before seeing a series of dismembered body parts fly by before a vision of the disembodied head lands on top of the car and winks, which makes for a startling scene. This one even has a top-notch regeneration scene within that looks incredibly well-done and freaky, with the disjointed movements knocking the body into position, the complete inability to determine what it looks like before the finale and a just overall outstanding scene make for a fun time to be had. Perhaps what makes the scene all the best, though, is the fact that it manages to do the whole thing during a thunderstorm outside, which automatically makes it even creepier than it should be and makes the scene all the more striking. The way the mystery is built up in here is also quite nice, as the different elements seem to have very little in common but are woven together quite nicely, making for a well-designed if slow-building story. The last plus here is the finale, which is a lot of fun. From a full-on brawl to a series of close-calls on an operating table and the final shootout that results in a graphic demise, this ending here is pretty exciting and gets a lot going for it. These here are what work for the film.
The Bad News: There was a couple of rather big flaws to this one that hold it down. One of the biggest issues is that the film is just so slow-paced that it's hard to get excited for anything in here. The beginning is mostly held up with the detective angle, which is mostly because it just consists of endless scenes of his working on a clay sculpture of a human head lecturing those around him about whatever pops into his head, from his daughter's condition to the finer exploits of the profession, and none of them are particularly interesting. They take up so much time in the beginning that there's no time at all for anything creepy to happen, unless a viewer is slightly unnerved by the sight of a human face without the skin attached. The extended nature of these scenes is where it goes down-hill, due to the fact that they take up so much of the time that there's just nothing left for any fun scenes to take over, which is how these fail. Also taking up a lot of time in the film is the rather cliché and totally unnecessary romance between the leads, which is not only found in just about most of these films anyway but is done so haphazardly that nothing makes any sense as to why it would start. It's just completely unneeded and doesn't add anything to the film without having anything important being added to the film. The last flaw to this is the film's rather dull detective angle. Due to the fact that the other detectives are running around with the information manages to really slow this one down when it needed to pick up the pace, and these scenes really just slow the film down. These here are the problems.
The Final Verdict: A not entirely-spectacular ghost entry mixed with a detective film, making a film that's too slow for a ghost film and too dull for a detective film. Really only give this one a shot if you're into the style of thee or just curious, while those who are much more on-the-fence should heed caution.
Rated UR/R: Graphic Violence and Language
**SPOILERS**
Tired of working a case, Det. Lee Hyun-min, (Shin Hyeon-jun) resigns so he can spend time with his ailing daughter Jin, (Kim Seung-wook) who has just received a heart transplant. Trying to help her, Jung Sun-young, (Song Yun-ah) arrives to ask his help for a police case in reconstructing an unidentified victim's face. As they continue their assignment together, he becomes worried when her condition becomes more severe, and suspects there might be more to the story behind it. Driven by research, he finds something sinister occurring that involves her surgeon and a secret organ-donating ring that supplies organs from runaways to surgery patients, and they all race to stop their actions before they can happen again.
The Good News: There was some good stuff to this one. One of the best parts is that it features some really good attacks from the ghost where it gets somewhat exciting. There's a really brutal surgery scene in the beginning, where the bound victim is seen to be cut open with a scalpel, while still alive, and is then maneuvered in such a way as to appear that a series of inner organs had been removed during the process, which just makes it all the more creepy. Another surgery scene, only one that doesn't involve the brutality of the earlier scene, is just as good and actually has some rather uneasy moments to it. There's also a rather creepy scene where, while stopping at a railroad stop, a vision of a young girl being run over by a train completely unaware of the situation before seeing a series of dismembered body parts fly by before a vision of the disembodied head lands on top of the car and winks, which makes for a startling scene. This one even has a top-notch regeneration scene within that looks incredibly well-done and freaky, with the disjointed movements knocking the body into position, the complete inability to determine what it looks like before the finale and a just overall outstanding scene make for a fun time to be had. Perhaps what makes the scene all the best, though, is the fact that it manages to do the whole thing during a thunderstorm outside, which automatically makes it even creepier than it should be and makes the scene all the more striking. The way the mystery is built up in here is also quite nice, as the different elements seem to have very little in common but are woven together quite nicely, making for a well-designed if slow-building story. The last plus here is the finale, which is a lot of fun. From a full-on brawl to a series of close-calls on an operating table and the final shootout that results in a graphic demise, this ending here is pretty exciting and gets a lot going for it. These here are what work for the film.
The Bad News: There was a couple of rather big flaws to this one that hold it down. One of the biggest issues is that the film is just so slow-paced that it's hard to get excited for anything in here. The beginning is mostly held up with the detective angle, which is mostly because it just consists of endless scenes of his working on a clay sculpture of a human head lecturing those around him about whatever pops into his head, from his daughter's condition to the finer exploits of the profession, and none of them are particularly interesting. They take up so much time in the beginning that there's no time at all for anything creepy to happen, unless a viewer is slightly unnerved by the sight of a human face without the skin attached. The extended nature of these scenes is where it goes down-hill, due to the fact that they take up so much of the time that there's just nothing left for any fun scenes to take over, which is how these fail. Also taking up a lot of time in the film is the rather cliché and totally unnecessary romance between the leads, which is not only found in just about most of these films anyway but is done so haphazardly that nothing makes any sense as to why it would start. It's just completely unneeded and doesn't add anything to the film without having anything important being added to the film. The last flaw to this is the film's rather dull detective angle. Due to the fact that the other detectives are running around with the information manages to really slow this one down when it needed to pick up the pace, and these scenes really just slow the film down. These here are the problems.
The Final Verdict: A not entirely-spectacular ghost entry mixed with a detective film, making a film that's too slow for a ghost film and too dull for a detective film. Really only give this one a shot if you're into the style of thee or just curious, while those who are much more on-the-fence should heed caution.
Rated UR/R: Graphic Violence and Language