My love for Korean cinema (like many fans) began with Oldboy about ten years ago. Now thanks to Netflix and those who purchase the rights to distribute these films in America I've gotten the chance to watch everything Mr. Park has to offer. I've since moved on to Joon-ho Bong's work and after watching his three masterpieces: Mother, Host and Memories of Murder I decided to delve into any and all Korean drama I could find. This brought me to the easily accessible Chaser on Netflix.
Chaser sports the usual gritty cinematography, conflicted anti-hero (Yun-seok Kim) and a despicable villain (Jung-woo Ha). Both of their performances are very strong, however neither truly wows, primarily because of the lack luster writing. My overall displeasure with the film lies here. Every thrilling event or spectacle seemed contrived in order to produce a scene of explicit tension. The best scenes of the film all occur out of luck (which when written, is actually just the writer deciding something is going to conveniently happen).
This same trial is faced in Bong's Memories of a Murder, though the same air of realism is not found in Chaser to support the moments of happenstance. Likewise the film is also reminiscent of Kim Jee-woon's I Saw the Devil (which in fairness came after Chaser). And perhaps the failures of Chaser needed to occur so they could go further in I Saw the Devil (which had its flaws as well). The problem is that Chaser doesn't define it's own choices strong enough. It is neither subtle and sprawling as Memories nor voracious and uncompromising as Devil. It struggles with the monotony of a overused plot without the flare of anything unique or engaging.
Summation:
Chaser has some very intense and memorable scenes, however the artifice leading up to them is poorly managed and unforgivable. Hong-jin Na is not a terrible director and there is a good film in here somewhere, though it's likely found in either Memories of Murder or I Saw The Devil.
Chaser sports the usual gritty cinematography, conflicted anti-hero (Yun-seok Kim) and a despicable villain (Jung-woo Ha). Both of their performances are very strong, however neither truly wows, primarily because of the lack luster writing. My overall displeasure with the film lies here. Every thrilling event or spectacle seemed contrived in order to produce a scene of explicit tension. The best scenes of the film all occur out of luck (which when written, is actually just the writer deciding something is going to conveniently happen).
This same trial is faced in Bong's Memories of a Murder, though the same air of realism is not found in Chaser to support the moments of happenstance. Likewise the film is also reminiscent of Kim Jee-woon's I Saw the Devil (which in fairness came after Chaser). And perhaps the failures of Chaser needed to occur so they could go further in I Saw the Devil (which had its flaws as well). The problem is that Chaser doesn't define it's own choices strong enough. It is neither subtle and sprawling as Memories nor voracious and uncompromising as Devil. It struggles with the monotony of a overused plot without the flare of anything unique or engaging.
Summation:
Chaser has some very intense and memorable scenes, however the artifice leading up to them is poorly managed and unforgivable. Hong-jin Na is not a terrible director and there is a good film in here somewhere, though it's likely found in either Memories of Murder or I Saw The Devil.