Rating: C
Dir: Choon-sik Kim
Star: Joo-hyeon Jo, Se-hong Jeon, Gwang-il Lee, Do-hyeon Lee
Given the poster, I was expecting a nice slab of kick-ass action heroine action. There is some, and stuntwoman Jo does a good job there as a cop with a give and take approach – at least in terms of violence (not least being mown down by a car at the beginning), However, she isn’t actually the main character despite the title – or it’s perhaps even more appealing original, The Beating Woman. Instead, the focus is three kilos of meth, stolen by a Triad gangster, and brought to Korea to sell it. Needless to say, the original owners want it back, but the suitcase containing it falls into the hands of two recently-released convicts; though their lengthy criminals records are largely the result of good-hearted, if violent, interventions into other people’s business.
They’re the main characters here: unable to find more gainful employment as a result, they decide to try and sell the drugs. Needless to say, this doesn’t go quite as planned, and they are soon being hunted, not just by various gangs, but the cops. This is entertaining enough, yet in addition to my disappointment about the misleading advertising, the various aspects never really gel. There are likely too many disparate elements, and as a result, you’re switching from the gangs to the ex-cons to the cops, and never really get a chance to develop an interest in or connection with any of them.
I was lightly amused by the comedic stylings of the heroes, who have an almost Three Stooges-like quality, as they whack each other around in lieu of communication. Some of the action isn’t bad, with a realistic approach that mirrors the work of Tony Jaa and plays quite well, given the fairly-low production values. However, there just isn’t very much point in watching a cheap foreign movie which plays like a cheap Hollywood movie. Part of why I watch films from other countries, is because they bring something new or refreshing to the field of play: that doesn’t appear to be the case here.