ThiefHott Too much of everything

Solemplex To me, this movie is perfection.

Pacionsbo Absolutely Fantastic

Comwayon A Disappointing Continuation

grantss Uneven pacing and ultimately quite hit-and-miss.Gu-nam (played by Jung-woo Ha) is a taxi driver in Yanji City, in China, near North Korea. Through a gambling habit, he has run up a large amount of debt. Wis wife has gone to South Korea to find a job and he hasn't seen her in six months. A local gangster then offers him a large sum of money to kill someone in South Korea. He accepts and heads to South Korea, but things don't go according to plan.So-so. The second quarter was interesting, the rest was meh. Starts slowly, then suddenly ratchets up the action, then basically becomes one long chase and ultimately fizzles out. A tighter plot, especially in the latter half, would have made it far more compelling.Decent performances all round though.

CinemaClown After making his mark with a sensational debut feature that easily ranks amongst the finest thrillers of the decade, director Na Hong-jin follows it up with another thriller that isn't as amazing as his previous film but is expertly crafted nonetheless. The Yellow Sea tells the story of a cab driver who hasn't heard from his wife for 6 months after she left for Korea to earn some money. With financial debt escalating, this man tries gambling to earn extra cash but ends up losing at it too & when faced with a dead end, decides to do a bidding for a local hit-man that goes horribly wrong, thus creating some terrible situation for him.Honestly, the first half felt pretty slow to reach where it needed to be & the characters aren't interesting either to keep many invested in the story but the second half makes up for a lot of things that went wrong & is relentlessly paced, throwing one violent punch after another. The plot isn't easy to follow either with too many characters & sub-plots creating much confusion about who's talking about whom & might require another viewing. Direction is good but those who've seen this director's previous work & were expecting a similar mind-blowing experience will be slightly disappointed.There are however nothing but positives as far as the technical aspect of the film goes. Cinematography uses the right colour tones to set its gritty, decaying atmosphere & even the hand-held shots are finely photographed. Editing would've been even better if the story had a more definite structure, music doesn't carry any complaints & the performances are brilliant as well. On an overall scale, The Yellow Sea isn't by any means a bad thriller but it sure could've been a much better product if the script was more polished. Worth a watch? Definitely. It didn't work for me because of my high expectations but it just might for you. Give it a try. And don't miss its after-credits scene.

diggus doggus I'll try to keep this review brief - you're encouraged to go see the film and judge for yourself;The plot is simple - and in-debt man from a northern province of Korea travels to Seoul to assassinate someone to pay his debts; the result is utter chaos as he tries to escape back home.Right, first off, if blood and gore scare you, this film is not for you - it's quite gruesome and relentless in the violence; The Yellow Sea does not compromise, does not glorify the hit-man (he's just a taxi driver), nor does it include any super-human feats of agility or other unlikelihoods in its plot. The roughness of the story and its characters is the real strength, and i have found myself watching intently (waiting for the usual ridiculous Hollywood stuff to happen) as i rarely do, but TYS continues to deliver without pause.Unfortunately not all is well; good characters, good lead, good pacing but some truly horrid camera work spoils what would have been a great film in its genre. Why the Koreans must have learned the Blair Witch Shake because, while it's reasonable for the camera to shake during chase scenes, it's not acceptable that any movement on screen (be it a man's mouth opening as he eats, or a car passing by) must be mirrored by the camera making the same movement.All in all, The Yellow Sea is gritty and dark like only the asians know how to make, but the camrashakey- end result is really bad, and makes this a film to recommend only to those who know what they are after.My final vote: 7/10 and who knows .. if it had been made properly ...

daffy201004 If you enjoy The Chaser or The man from nowhere, You will absolutely love this film. In fact, if you love thrillers...this is for you. The villain, is probably one of the worst villains ever, is also very funny. The main character who has questionable orals is still very likable and found myself rooting for him. The basic plot in one sentence is pretty much an assassination of a professor gone wrong. The main character find himself being chased by the police, the villain, and someone else (which I won't reveal or else it will be a spoiler.) The action scenes are so brutal but realistic. The scenes are fast and real tense. There twists are so good and fitting for this thriller. The action will keep you on the edge of your seat but your mind will be asking a few questions which will be all answered if you pay attention close enough. All the actors were excellent. The guy who played the villain was the "good" guy in the The Chaser. He played his character so well, I didn't even recognize him. His speech, mannerisms, and expressions had me believe his character. I also loved the ending which could be debated.