Hunt (2022) User Reviews

Great

[PedroPires90 · 8/10 · 30 November 2022]

Wow, this was a surprise. I knew about Lee Jung-jae's directorial debut but I thought this was an average and messy effort. At least, that was what American critics made me believe. I should know better by this time.

In fact, I didn't find the story hard to follow at all. There is a dictatorship in place. Some people are fighting and want the President and the regime down. Some in the streets, some in covert operations. At the same time, North Korea wants him down for totally different reasons. On the N. Korean side, some people believe in reunification and other people only want to erase S. Korea. Americans, as usual, try to interfere and want the President down, even if at the same time they keep the diplomatic relations. This is basically what is happening and, of course, our guys have many secrets and we are always trying to find out who they really are.

I'm a big fan of political movies that work like chess games, especially when they have a big espionage component, and loved how Lee filmed some of these scenes, reminding films like Munich when this is about spies, reminding films like V. I. P or New World when this is a full action movie.

The editing is great and it's impossible to keep quiet during that incredibly final act. The acting was outstanding as expected and I'm really curious about what Lee does next. Great debut.

Non-Stop Double Crossing to the End

[3xHCCH · 8/10 · 3 September 2022]

This action-packed film of non-stop double crossing was amazingly the work of a first-time feature film director, none other than lead actor Lee Jung-jae himself. Lee is a veteran leading man since the mid-90s, in acclaimed films like "The Affair" (1998), "Il Mare" (2000), "The Housemaid" (2010), "The Thieves" (2012), and "Along with the Gods" (2017, 2018). The hit Netflix series "Squid Game" (2021) made him a household name worldwide.

Lee was able to maneuver the complexity of this script (which he also co-wrote) like a pro. The story also went back and forth in time for both of the two lead characters to further elucidate (or maybe confuse) their relationship with other supporting characters (like Park's protectiveness for a certain college student) or their motivations for present actions (like Kim's experience as a soldier during the Gwangju massacre).

Lee also proved to be very adept in directing his major action scenes. Beginning from that fracas chasing the gunmen down in an American auditorium, the frenetic car chase and shootout in the streets of Tokyo after failing to secure a North Korean asset, and the climactic explosive showdown of assassins in a Bangkok palace. The way Lee executed the various scenes of violent interrogations and outright torture was realistically disturbing.

Lee Jung-jae and Jung Woo-sung have been very good friends since they were both cast in "City of the Rising Sun" in 1998. Therefore, even if they portrayed bitter rival KCIA operatives who hated each others guts, the two charismatic actors have a powerful screen chemistry together. It would seem that Director Lee allowed Jung to play the showier role of Kim. Lee made sure that even if both lead roles were flawed, you will empathize with both. You will keep hanging on undecided who the real good guy or bad guy was until the gripping finale.

Fast-paced spy thriller

[mosquitocyn · 7/10 · 5 November 2022]

Initially I find it a bit confusing and scattered as there is a huge espionage and political plot here crammed up in 2 hours. Very confusing for someone who has not much history of South Korea situation in the 1980s. I had to pause to read up before I continue with the movie. I understand the movie is fictional but based on real events. It is entertaining and full of surprises, twists, double agents, secrets but it doesn't gel properly. The acting is believable and good. Thankfully the subtitles are good too but one must read rather fast as there's lots of fast speech and action and noise. Would have scored higher if the story flow wasn't so messy.

Action packed movie that is too hard to follow

[verhoog · 6/10 · 13 November 2022]

Saw this in the cinema today. The movie is entertaining throughout, never short of action but both me and my friends are confused about the plot and what really happened. I think complicated story telling is not a good thing, it means the director has failed to explain something to the viewer. We were all not entirely sure what actually happened.

Acting was good. Action as well. You can stop reading here. And now I just have to fill up this text so that this site accepts my review which is annoying because I don't want to say so much more and you already read the important parts so that's it.

A dictator's pawns are worse than the dictator

[Blue-Grotto · 7/10 · 7 October 2022]

Tensions simmer on the Korean Peninsula in 1980 as a couple of lead government agents from different divisions attempt to smoke out a mole within their ranks. With infiltrators from the North, double agents, temporary alliances, repression of dissent, controlled leaks, and brutal interrogations, nothing is what it seems. Beneath the surface of all the bloodshed, payoffs, and lies, the two men nourish hope that - deep down - their goals are the same. Neither one wishes for the gruesome violence against the Korean people to continue, but the other does not know.

This is the directorial debut for Lee Jung-jae, of Squid Game fame. He was present at this Toronto International Film Festival screening and was asked why he thinks Korean culture is so popular now. "It is our mix of sorrow and joy," he said "we do emotions well." In 1980 there was a military coup in Korea and thousands of innocent people were killed in the crossfire. Like the times, the film is tense and taut with conviction and emotion. It was hard for me to follow all the changes in tone, but I was enthralled by the action. The film first appeared at Cannes and opens to wider audiences in December.

complicated story line

[gsmarcom · 7/10 · 10 October 2022]

I think the story line is too complicated for a 2 hour movie, may be better for a 6 episode series so that the story can develop at a slower pace and viewers have the time to process and understand. Maybe it's ok for Koreans, but for me as a foreigner with little knowledge of their history, I find it difficult to take in the whos and whys. I have many questions while watching, why he is doing this, why he is suspecting them, etc etc.

On the whole this movie is not bad for a first time director. Action scenes and acting are great. I like the 2 male leads and other supporting actors are good too.

A great story until the half point; it breaks down from there

[Cinephilos · 6/10 · 12 August 2022]

I went to the theater without clearly knowing what to expect. I wasn't sure if the film was going to be an espionage thriller with an intelligent and credible story line or an action thriller involving shootings and car chases. Korean spy-movie makers can't make up their minds whether they want to imitate Jack Bauer's 24 or Le Carre's Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. Those two genres are very distinct from each other. Jack Bauer's 24 is mainly action-oriented while Tinker, Tailor involves cerebral detective work. Hunt tries to combine these two styles, and this is where the movie ceases to be convincing. I can't reveal the story here, but the story is so far-fetched and unrealistic that it resembles a fantasy instead of a spoof on the actual political situation of Korea in the early 1980s. Though the film is based on the historical events during President Chun's military dictatorship, the story is way blown out of the boundary of credibility since the very national-security apparatus which was meant to protect Chun's power is riddled with North Korean double agents and domestic agitators.

The film's treatment of the Kwangju Uprising of 1980 is predictable. The story fails to convince the audience that an army major who was involved in the squashing of the uprising could be so pierced in his conscience that he would join a plot overturn the regime. The audience is forced to accept the film's angry rant.

I wonder how Lee Jungjae, the director and the lead character of the movie, expects to appeal to the South Korean audience when he depicts the North Korean agents to be literally invincible and almost omnipotent in their attempt to overturn South Korea while the South Korean intelligence agency is not only inept but also filled with North Korean moles and sympathizers.

In addition, the President's Secret Service is nowhere to be seen throughout the movie. The National Security Service is in charge of intelligence-gathering and maintaining the power of the president, not in charge of protecting the president himself. The Secret Service is in charge of that task as aptly shown in The Man Standing Next. In Hunt, however, there is no presence of the Secret Service agents during two assassination attempts on the President. This is another plot hole.

Lee Jungjae should have studied the subject matter of intelligence, national security, and the presidential protection protocol before making this film. A good movie is considered good not only because it has good actors and good action sequences, but because it is based on a good story and script. Hunt lacks the latter. It fails to convince even though it is based on historical characters and events. It's like putting a wild fantasy on historical facts. It doesn't work.

I left the theater feeling disappointed and almost insulted. The film insulted my understanding of Korean history and the reality of the military confrontation between ROK and DPRK. It also offended my understanding of the actual world of espionage. In the real world of espionage, spies don't shoot M-16's and Uzzis to one another in the broad daylight in the streets of Washington, Tokyo, and Bangkok. Yi tried to imitate Heat's street shooting scene between DeNero and Pacino. Real spy chiefs don't shoot a gun even once throughout their career. The director has downgraded the integrity of espionage thrillers. Hunt could have been a much better movie with more work on the story concept.

Hunting season

[kosmasp · 9/10 · 19 September 2022]

No pun intended - and of course this is not about hunting animals. Also it does not just have one hidden truth - there will be multiple reveals here. And the whole thing is based on history, on real events (as a friend of mine told me). Which makes it almost necessary to dig in and find out more about actual events (because as happens often, this surely has done some heightened reality, which the beginning suggest too).

The characters are well drawn, but also quite complicated. Also for people who may not watch too many Korean or Asian movies in general and have to concentrate on the subtitles, they may have some issues to distinguish the two main characters from time to time - no pun intended here either. Being confused about them may help elevate the suspense even further actually. Guessing game and all that.

Action scenes are more than well shot and the twists will keep you guessing from start to finish. Just do not expect this to ... resolve things the way you want it too. South Koread has a dark history too - they were apparently not always as free as they are now. And the movie is not shy about that fact. As it is not shy about blood and violence (good effects) ... not for the faint hearted, but really well done.

I liked it, Now Awesome, But Pretty OK

[carlos512 · 6/10 · 6 September 2022]

I just saw the movie "Hunt" today, Sep 6 at Major Cineplex here in Pattaya, Thailand, liking it, finding it pretty OK.

The director/lead actor Lee (Chief Park), does a pretty good for this one being his first directing job. The plot is a bit crazy, but we all know how volatile Korean politics is and has always been.

Acting is top-notch from my point of view, very believable and the torture scenes are realistic, pretty well done.

The car chases are not bad at all, well inserted and needed in the context of the story.

All-in-all, a pretty OK flick that i think you'd enjoy it, if you like spy/action movies. Enjoy, and regards from Thailand!

"Hunt" is an explosive but ultimately shallow film about shifting loyalties in the 1980s.

[FilmFanatic2023 · 5/10 · 8 December 2022]

In "Hunt," Lee Jung-jae stars and directs this week's explosive blockbuster about double and triple crosses in a spy game between North and South Korea in the 1980s. The film is about men in well-tailored suits who must constantly determine if the armed fellow next to them is on their side or possibly fighting for the enemy. While some of the action sequences are well-staged, particularly the final explosive one, the convoluted screenplay by Jo Seung-Hee ultimately makes the film too shallow to recommend. Lee's non-stop hyperactive cutting and moving camera don't help, and the film becomes increasingly difficult to care about narratively. Although there are a couple of memorable scenes, it's impossible to even keep track of who's getting shot.

Perfect Balance Between Intellectual Depth and Gritty Action Sequences

[kluseba · 9/10 · 31 December 2022]

Heon-teu, internationally known as Hunt, is a gritty espionage action movie inspired by actual historical events from the early eighties. The movie revolves around the steady decline of South Korea's military dictatorship throughout the eighties as Korean Central Intelligence Agency Foreign Unit chief Park Pyong-ho attemps to protect the president from assassination attempts while searching for a North Korean mole in his agency.

Most films based upon historical events tend to be boring, long and stiff. The opposite is the case here. This movie has steady pace, fascinating characters and a gripping story with multiple surprising twists and turns that will keep viewers on the edges of their seats until the credits will start rolling.

This film is Lee Jung-jae's directorial debut and he also plays the conflicted protagonist. The actor known for masterpieces such as Typhoon, The Housemaid, The Thieves, New World, Assassination, Operation Chromite, Along with the Gods and Deliver Us from Evil doesn't only live up to expectations but exceeds them because he has learnt valuable lessons from South Korea's greatest directors throughout the past three decades. This movie here features a perfect balance between intellectual depth and visually stunning action sequences that should appeal to many people. The camera work, editing and special effects have all been executed with flair and focus. Let's hope that this excellent movie is only the start for Lee Jung-jae's directorial career.

At the end of the day, anyone who likes action movies or gritty dramas should give Hunt a fair try and spread the word about this wonderful movie that deserves more international acclaim and attention. This movie goes down as one of this year's greatest films and remains entertaining even after multiple viewings. I would highly recommend this film to all my family members and friends.

Could be better, but still pretty damn good

[a_ihsan_t · 7/10 · 20 October 2022]

It's a good movie. The action is choreographed well, the way the intensity build up and delivered is pretty amusing. It's pretty satisfying to watch to say the least.

The story aspect is a little bit confusing tho. Not bad, but some aspect just make me frown. It's because, there's some scene that happened just a little bit too fast. I guess it happened because those scene's sandwiched between high intense scenes. And to make it worse, those thing happened when the story start to put "it's puzzle into place". To be more precise, it's when the movie start to show whose the real "bad guy" between the two agent. It just goes back and forth without adding meaningfull story.

To be honest, it doesn't ruin the whole experience tho. Because, the way the mystery unravel one by one is still surprising and satisfying. I guess the good still outweight the bad. Give it a go if you're in the mood for some action mystery stuff.

It would've worked better as long as it stayed a spy vs spy movie.

[chand-suhas · 5/10 · 24 March 2023]

Hunt is a long overstuffed espionage action thriller that just stays an espionage movie on the surface, focusing more on the action thriller. This too almost work as the suspense related to Kim and Park is maintained well throughout and the reveal about both of them pays off strongly. But the screenplay remains uneven whenever the plot thickens and the drama feels overstuffed.

The North vs South Korea stuff when it comes to spy movies almost always ensures to deliver an intriguing thriller while focusing more on action. Hunt falls in the same category, firmly aided by the lead performances. But the spy game gets a bit too convoluted as the story progresses. I am not much aware of the historical accuracy at the times this movie's story is set in but nevertheless the narrative didn't alienate me.

The scenes pitting Kim and Park against each other is far more entertaining than what the two characters are made to do in the final act. This again reduces the impact of that climax. The two action blocks do stand out for all the explosive stunts.

KOREA MAZE

[js-66130 · 6/10 · 4 December 2022]

There's a point in every unfolding spy thriller where either all the seemingly disparate clues come together and the confounding series of mysteries gel into some sort of cohesive climax, or not.

"Hunt" spends a lot of effort, multi-layered political intrigue, slick choreographed action scenes, and personal character development, in a great looking slice of Korean history, which unfortunately proves way too convoluted to follow. Granted, historic scholars will have an easier time of this, but it turns out that back in the eighties the North South conflict was complicated with enough internal factions that deciphering the good guys from the bad is near impossible.

Squid Game leading man Lee Jung-Jae turns in a stellar performance as a many layered intelligent agent who is dealing with assassination attempts, possible coups, a standoffish daughter, and a competing intelligent agent who may or may not be evil incarnate. He also directs, so hands quite full.

The spy twists are many and complex, and soon become one big knot. Hard to cheer for anyone when no one is wearing white cowboy hats. A score card of who's who, and what factions are involved would be most helpful.

Best to just stop thinking and go along for the action ride, which admittedly, is really quite good.

• hipCRANK.

The Mole

[dannylee-78082 · 6/10 · 8 January 2023]

I first watched "Hunt" in theatres, which was the Squid Game star's first directorial debut. When I first watched it, it was really hard to follow what was going on because the plot felt convoluted and the poor diction didn't really help.

I do like the movie better now that I watch it with subs and better audio quality. I thought it still has an interesting premise about two men unknowingly trying to accomplish the same goal, although the Bangkok op looked like it was never going to work. However, most of the complaints that I took note of in my first viewing were still present. I thought the music was uninspired with the constant droning sound of the orchestra. They need to learn that sometimes absence of music is more powerful than when it's there. The writing tried to contain too much story into a 2h movie which felt mostly convoluted rather than complex. There were many moving parts under extremely fast pacing and I don't think the average audience would have been able to catch all the details. It also required some background historical knowledge of the political landscape of the time as the movie wasn't very kind in explaining.

To be honest, it would have worked better as a TV show. The whole movie lost its sense of dynamics because it was stepping on the gas pedal for its entire duration. I think it tried to be emotional at certain moments but it failed to be but the relationship aspect was not heavily emphasized or when it was, it felt amateurish. There were couple nonsensical decisions and actions sequences. For example, there were multiple instances of people just trying to 1v1 with semis. It also is very stupid trying to pit the two teams together trying to find the spy. Best action would have been to use a third party. Also, if finding Donglim was going to be that easy to discover, (i.e. Cross-referencing flight logs), the whole dance-around on trying to pin down the mole was entirely unnecessary.

The ending felt unsatisfying at best with the main message being something like "violence never ends". I think it's a decent film for a directorial debut but it just had many flaws for my liking. I do hope that he keeps making movies.

Hunt

[CinemaSerf · 6/10 · 17 November 2022]

"Park" (director Lee Jung-Jae) and "Kim" (Jung Woo-sung) run the foreign and domestic teams of the South Korean equivalent of the CIA when an attempt is made to assassinate their President whilst on a trip to Washington DC. This politician came to power in a coup, in the 1980s, and he has no shortage of enemies. As the story develops, we discover that there is enormous pressure on these men to find out how the would-be killers knew so much about their boss's itinerary. Is there a mole - the legendary "Donglim", and could he/she have infiltrated their organisation? Pretty soon, a climate of fear and angry competition causes these two men to come to loggerheads as they try to detect the spy and keep their jobs, and they resort to ever more unscrupulous and violent means to achieve their goal before a summit in Bangkok. As is so often the case when an actor directs a film, the production can lack for an objective eye. The story really loses it's way once or twice as the investigations progress. I found it quite difficult to follow who was doing what to whom; who was on whose team and the pace was really quite sluggish at times. There is a great deal of dialogue but none of that really serves to build the characters into people in whom we could readily invest, and there are a couple of cluttering sub-plots that make little sense, or add much richness, until right at the very end. That ending has a twist that, though intriguing, is a bit contrived and I found rather implausible and I am afraid that I left the cinema underwhelmed.

A well made espionage thriller!

[SoumikBanerjee1996 · 6/10 · 15 September 2023]

If you are well accustomed to Korean movies in general or have a fair enough idea about what you are getting yourself into, you will find yourself right at home, as this is very much akin to what South Korean thrillers usually offer: some tensed junctures, to-the-point screenwriting, fleshed out characters and then you've also got this neatly staged action that acts as the cherry on the top!

However, a lack of knowledge about the historical implications might periodically drag you down. Since the narrative is correlated with the treacherous past involving two countries, their stark differences and damaged relations.

Therefore, to fully grasp the contextual values of the writing, you would have to acquire at least a basic understanding of all the events that came about, which can be a bit of a hassle, I'm afraid.

Not their fault, though!

That was fun!

[keezo9uno · 9/10 · 31 August 2022]

What a ride. Twists a minute, exciting action, and white knuckle tension galore. Might not be everyone's cup of tea given how breakneck the pace gets, but I enjoyed it thoroughly!

Not everything clicks though; the parts with the American dude speaking in Korean was wonky at best. Also, it does get twisty to a point where you'd need to pause it just to get a grip of who and where the chess pieces are on the board; not really a luxury to have in the cinema. A minor gripe for me.

Not a bad debut for Lee Jung Jae as director. Hope he gets to hone his skills more, because if this is his first effort then I'd be salivating at the thought of him at the height of his directorial powers.

So very bland and pointless...

[paul_haakonsen · 3/10 · 19 August 2023]

When I sat down to watch the 2022 South Korean action thriller "Heon-Teu" (aka "Hunt"), I was expecting to be in for an intense action thriller, as the South Korean cinema usually has a tendency of doing that genre fairly well. Sure, I hadn't heard about "Heon-Teu" prior to watching it, though.

Writer Jo Seung-Hee, however, wrote a script and storyline that turned out to be rather monotonous and bland. And I have to admit that I only managed to sit through half of the 131 minutes that the movie ran for, before I gave up on the ordeal out of sheer and utter boredom. Now, it is not because there wasn't action happening in the storyline, because there was, but the storyline was just insanely monotonous and pointless, and the movie didn't really have any ups and down. And that made it feel like a flat, thrill-less ride, and I just didn't find much of any entertainment here, and thus opted to end it halfway through.

The only familiar face on the cast list, for me, was Lee Jung-Jae (who also directed the movie) in the leading role. He usually makes good and entertaining movies, but "Heon-Teu" just failed to entertain me. The acting performances in the movie were actually fair enough, despite of the narrative being so bland that it could induce sleep.

The action sequences in the movie were good, and they certainly helped to make it bearable to suffer from that monotonous and pointless script and narrative. However, it just wasn't sufficient to sustain 131 minutes of it.

I am not returning to attempt to finish watching "Heon-Teu", because the movie fell very short of entertaining me.

My rating of director Lee Jung-Jae's 2022 action thriller "Heon-Teu" lands on a three out of ten stars.

K-Drama brought their A-game !!

[JeffDamulira · 10/10 · 4 March 2023]

This film was worth the wait, since I been hyped over it from seeing the trailers. And, how can you tell if a film is going to be really good is the actual intensity from the first 20 to 30 minutes which sets the tone for the rest of the film, However, I feel the cast really put in a lot of efforts into their roles in this movie, even the few scenes of dudes in the interrogation scenes were really some characters. Though, suspense is not knowing who is betraying who, who is working for which sides, and unexpected twist and turns which shocked me with the main characters. Compare to other international films, that I have seen over the years and decades, this film is absolutely sick in terms of being insanely good to watch. I was thoroughly enjoyed watching it during certain crisis in my life, this film really gassed me up and it was worth the money, time, and entertainment.

Great Spy Thriller from South Korea

[albertval-69560 · 8/10 · 20 January 2023]

This thriller matches any of the great movies of this genre that Hollywood churns out. It's riveting. Pacing is frenetic, not a dull moment. The viewer is totally engaged.

The main protagonists are locked in deadly combat with dreadful consequences. Lee Jung-jae as Park Pyong-ho and Jong Woo-sung portray their characters quite well. Their rivalry is palpable. Yet Pyong-ho's relationship with ChoonYoo-jung as his ward stands out and it is heart-breaking.

That the film is set during the 80s is an inspired decision as it amplifies the tension and the danger that mark that critical juncture in the history of a divided nation and during which time espionage was a particularly indispensable tool of statecraft. This tension is brought to the screen. The explosion towards the end is incredible. And the twist in the story is not expected.

This film is the directorial debut of Lee Jung-jae of Squid Game and Chief of Staff fame. He doesn't disappoint.

This is a must-watch film.

Very good

[halimeg · 9/10 · 2 June 2023]

The film is excellent. It gave us a background to the painful events that occurred in Korea in the eighties. The events are full of excitement, espionage, and the atmosphere of the eighties. The acting is excellent in all respects. The staff and directors were creative. The film is excellent. It conveys a message to every dictator trying to destroy his people and believing that he is always in power, and this is an impossible thing. I wish something would happen. The president in the end, after everything he did to his people ................ Korean acts always excel in their brilliance and their wonderful representation.

Exceptional movie

[haibane-tenshi · 10/10 · 7 March 2023]

This movie is absolutely fantastic and depicts one of the darkest time of South Korea, under the dictature of Chun Doo-hwan who started his political career by a military coup that killed thousands of Koreans and, for which, he never really apologized.

This movie brings all the soul of South Korea and its own struggle between reunification and fear of violence.

The scenario is also very good and well built, I guess people aren't used to watching movies anymore, since pretty much everything is tv shows. But it's logical, well explained and realistic. They could have brought more depth to characters, but, that was hard to pack in a 2 hours length.

In any case, I strongly recommend. Korea might be one of the very few countries that still make movies and TV shows based only on quality, and not political agenda.

A Dimension beyond

[vpashish · 9/10 · 27 November 2022]

One of the most amazing movies of 2022. This is not your average spy thriller but a dimension beyond your highest expections. Brilliantly directed and even more powerfully presented by all the actors, especially both leads were exceptional. All things associated with the movie are just beautifully crafted, storyline, action, cinematography, acting, dialogues, music, structure and sequence. This is the nail biting spine chilling thriller you are looking for. The unique storyline separates this movie from any other spy thriller and so does the quality of acting. Honestly I was not expecting this movie to turn out this brilliant. After watching multiple korean spy thriller movies, I really have to admit that korean movie industry have nailed the spy thriller dimension and this movie is the jewel in the crown.

Too awesome for a directorial debut!

[blanchee-96368 · 9/10 · 17 October 2022]

Lee Jung Jae did not disappoint! I never imagined a fast paced action thriller like that to be directed by a noob director. And I could never have imagined that Lee has a knack on staging amazing action scenes. It felt like watching a Hollywood movie. Despite some confusing storytelling in the beginning (or maybe because I wasn't paying much attention in the first few minutes) it's impossible to not be entertained and be engrossed by this movie. Finding Donglim isn't easy as well, you might even make a few wrong guesses yourself but unraveling Donglim isn't as shocking as watching the finale unfold before your eyes.