Deliver Us From Evil review – frenzied hit-man thriller is full of cinematic life

Rooftop chases, vengeful yakuzas and brutal fistfights. What’s not to like in this Korean actioner from Hong Won-chan?

There’s a throb of menace driving this gonzo action-thriller from South Korean director Hong Won-chan, who wrote the screenplays for The Yellow Sea and The Chaser. This was a big box-office hit on its home turf.

Hwang Jung-min is In-nam, a former cop turned paid assassin who has just whacked a yakuza in Tokyo, and now this dead man’s fanatically violent blood-brother Ray (Lee Jung-jae) is out for revenge. To add to this, In-nam hears that his former girlfriend has been killed in Bangkok, following a bungled attempt to make contact with the kidnappers of her nine-year-old daughter – and the child is still alive, in the abductors’ hands. So In-nam journeys to Thailand on a desperate redemptive mission to save this little girl, with the scary and blood-thirsty Ray on his trail, and the only person in Bangkok who can help him is Yui (Park Jung-min); Yui is a transgender woman who, for all that she is no mobster, manages at one stage to ram a van with her pickup truck, saving In-nam’s life.

The twin storylines should undermine the film’s pace and focus. They don’t. There are some impressively spectacular shootouts in the streets and a Bourne-level rooftop chase, together with some very crunchy close-quarters martial arts. Hwang, his face almost always covered in beads of sweat, is a very persuasive and impassive action hero and Lee is creepy and uproariously over the top. Could he be a Bond villain in the years to come? The 007 franchise could certainly do a lot worse.

  • Released on digital formats on 4 January.

Contributor

Peter Bradshaw

The GuardianTramp

Related Content

Article image
The Killer review – super-violent South Korean thriller with well-coiffed assassin
A retired mercenary must free a kidnapped teen in this lurid and drum-tight thriller

Leslie Felperin

21, Mar, 2023 @7:00 AM

Article image
Kill Boksoon review – intense Korean assassin thriller with satisfying complexity
This fast-moving yarn about a woman balancing contract killing with raising a teenage daughter has flair and depth to spare

Leslie Felperin

30, Mar, 2023 @6:00 AM

Article image
Beasts Clawing at Straws review – jet-black comedy in arch Korean thriller
A long-suffering sauna worker finds a bag stuffed full of cash in a crime caper with perfectly pitched performances

Leslie Felperin

10, Aug, 2021 @11:00 AM

Article image
Midnight review – deaf heroine brings a new element to super-tense Korean thriller
Kwon Oh-Seung’s impressive debut cleverly uses social sexism to ramp up disbelief in his female characters

Leslie Felperin

08, Mar, 2022 @4:00 PM

Article image
Project Wolf Hunting review – Korean horror brings Bruckheimer-esque bombast
Korea’s most wanted escape their handcuffs on a cargo ship back to the motherland but find they are not alone in bloody thriller

Phil Hoad

24, Jan, 2023 @9:00 AM

Article image
Night in Paradise review – operatic Korean display of gunfire and death
This blood-splattered Korean gangster flick with a romantic subplot follows Tae-Gu as he hides out from his enemies

Leslie Felperin

08, Apr, 2021 @11:00 AM

Article image
Sleepless review – Jamie Foxx's Vegas-set thriller suffers from sheer silliness
Foxx’s starpower doesn’t save this action thriller, remade from 2011’s Nuit Blanche and featuring plenty of stolen cocaine and reflex batterings

Peter Bradshaw

04, May, 2017 @7:00 AM

Article image
Yakuza Princess review – stylish gangster tale makes its kills count
Story of a yakuza turf war survivor smuggled to Brazil has real style and a devil-may-care cheek

Mike McCahill

08, Sep, 2021 @9:00 AM

Article image
The Gangster, the Cop, the Devil review – pulpy thriller packs a punch
A maverick cop and underworld boss join forces to catch a killer in this gripping mix of carnage and car chases in Korea

Leslie Felperin

14, Nov, 2019 @8:00 AM

Article image
Shock Wave: Hong Kong Destruction review – one long tick-tick-boom symphony
Andy Lau plays a bomb-disposal officer in this old-school action thriller with tricksy, Infernal Affairs-esque storytelling

Leslie Felperin

12, Jun, 2021 @9:53 AM