The Man from Nowhere

It's brutal, has some fighting scenes, but it's in no way an action-packed movie. Drama and character development makes the first half of the movie, with a rather slow plot progression to familiarize the audience with the characters. During this one hour there is also a glimpse of the workings of Korean underworld, however this portrayal seems to needlessly complicate the threads as they dismissed it midway for the "ultimate badguy". The plot progresses in much better pace in the last one hour. But all the drama and character development never got built up to its full potential, even with our main character Cha Tae-sik and the girl So-mi. The actors are all great, including the gritty police officers, but their screen time doesn't amount to meaningful relationships among them. This is a missed opportunity especially between Tae-sik and So-mi. The often dramatic music doesn't help either. The fight scenes are probably one of the better parts of the movie however most of the fights are done off-screen. Only after it reaches the second hour more action starts to show, but the shaky cam doesn't let much thrill to be experienced. The choreography is slick but the subpar camera works leaves me wanting for more.

A man seeks to recover a little girl living next door to him, who has been kidnapped by drug lords. Let’s get the bad out of the way first; this is a cliched, over-emotional story. At some points it takes itself so seriously you almost want to laugh out loud. The plot is disturbing in a way, but you can almost feel the screenwriters desperately trying to come up with the most messed up scenario possible. That said, when it’s not trying too hard, The Man From Nowhere is an absolute masterpiece. The action is slick & restrained but you still feel every blow. Lee makes it look easy but the level of expertise required to pull off a film like this is far and above what most Hollywood directors are capable of. It’s ironic that the emotional scenes are way over the top while the action is lean and believable. The way the tension slowly builds to a brilliant final sequence is expertly done, and keeps the audience absolutely riveted. The Man From Nowhere is a must-see Korean action thriller that blew me away in spite of its ropey script. http://benoliver999.com/film/2016/04/24/themanfromnowhere/

Crazy mix of "taken", "man of fire" and "oldboy". Great watch.

I enjoyed this Korean Revenge Thriller! Loved the connection between Cha Tae-sik (Won Bin) and So-mi (Kim Sae-ron), loved the brutal, brutal final action sequence, the racket the bad guys run was horrible, Won Bin is a great silent, dangerous lad and Kim Sae-ron is damn cute! Anyway, this plays out like a typical Revenge thriller, not thick on plot but great action. I read a several times here on Letterboxd that it tries to be like Léon, but I still have to watch that one! So I cannot say anything about that. But I liked this one, so I think I will love Léon too! So if you have 2 hours to spare, The Man from Nowhere is a good solid pick!

Impressive. I'm a fan of korean thrillers and this is definitely on my Top 5, with the first being Oldboy. This one is definitely worth a watch.