Confidential Assignment is about a North Korean investigator named Im
Cheol-ryung (Hyun Bin) who is sent to look into a disturbance happening in a warehouse
that prints counterfeit money. Disobeying
the order to stand by, he leads his team into it, where they encounter a group of
rogue soldiers stealing the operation’s master plates. However,
to his shock, he discovers that his superior Cha Ki-seong (Kim Joo-hyuk) is the
mastermind of the heist. The
confrontation between the two groups results to the death of his team, including
the woman he loves, and Ki-sheong absconding with the plates to Seoul, South
Korea. Cheol-ryung is then given the
assignment of capturing Ki-sheong and retrieving the plates. But he needs to do this within three days and
while a South Korean detective named Kang Jin-tae (Yoo Hae-jin) is watching
over him.
I find Confidential Assignment a bit disappointing. Not because it’s bad. But because of all the great Korean films I’ve
seen this year, it’s underwhelming in comparison. Nonetheless, as an action film, it’s very
entertaining. It’s quite clichéd and dumb. But I think it’s pretty much what it’s going
for – a standard “buddy cop” action flick.
And it executes the formula to perfection; as a result, it’s familiar but competent.
The action scenes aren’t
mindblowing. But they aren’t lazy
either. Actors execute the fight
choreography steadily, and there are a couple of gratifying high points. In addition, it has a killer soundtrack
accompanying these sequences. The
music really gets you into a butt-kicking, fist-pumping mood.
I first encountered Hyun Bin in Hyde, Jekyll, Me. I found it an unsatisfying K-drama in the
end, but one of the best things about it was Hyun Bin. I’m surprised I haven’t seen him sooner after
Hyde, Jekyll, Me when he’s such an
excellent, charismatic actor. And I
checked: Confidential Assignment is indeed
his first project since then. Whatever
the reason for the hiatus, I’m glad to see him again on screen. He’s terrific in this movie. He played the role of the handsome, brooding,
badass action hero impeccably. And it seems he performed his own stunts – solidly, if I might add.
Meanwhile, it’s the first time I’ve
encountered Yoo Hae-jin. He’s okay, I guess. But I wasn’t that much impressed with
him. However, he did display wonderful
chemistry with Hyun Bin, and his character Kang Jin-tae – who provides the
comic relief and heart – soundly serves his purpose. It’s just that other character actors come to
mind who I think could have done a much better job in the role.
I also found amusement in seeing in
this movie some actors I first saw in previous Koreanovelas I had watched. The antagonist of Doctors (Um Hyo-sup), who I will never forget for his hilarious “dramatic
moment” in the last episode, plays the potential buyer of the metal
plates. Coach Sung-eun (Jang Young-nam,
who is one of the prettiest forty-somethings I’ve ever seen) of Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok-joo plays Kang
Jin-tae’s wife. And Im Yoon-ah is as
adorable here – playing Jin-tae’s freeloading sister-in-law who
crushes on Cheol-ryung – as she was when she did her “ramen dance” in The K2.
One thing that didn’t quite work
for me is the ending. It felt
abrupt. Though it does have an in-credits
epilogue that somewhat offers a satisfying closure. Still, I prefer the deleted scene which I saw
in Youtube (SPOILERS). In it, Jin-tae
and his family bid farewell to Cheol-ryung before he returns back home to North
Korea. I feel that that would have wrapped the
movie up nicely.
Also, I wish it had better comedy. There are ample humorous moments, yes, but I never really got to laugh out loud.
Nonetheless, I enjoyed Confidential Assignment overall. Though it doesn’t have any substantial stuff to offer, it fulfills the requirements of a fun action movie.
Also, I wish it had better comedy. There are ample humorous moments, yes, but I never really got to laugh out loud.
Nonetheless, I enjoyed Confidential Assignment overall. Though it doesn’t have any substantial stuff to offer, it fulfills the requirements of a fun action movie.
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