Hunt is released in UK and Irish cinemas and on Altitude.Film, plus other digital platforms, from today.
Synopsis
Set during the political turmoil of South Korea in the 1980s, an intelligence chief tasked, along (Lee Jung-Jae) with Jung Woo-sung (The Good The Bad The Weird), with rooting out ‘Donglim’, a mole whose leaks are threatening the country’s national security. Recalling Cantonese classic Infernal Affairs (and its remake The Departed), the incredible stunt choreography of The Raid, and political thrillers No Way Out and In The Line Of Fire, with some big scale shoot-outs (including a nail biting gun battle on the streets of Tokyo) that wouldn’t look out of place in Heat, Hunt is a slick, smart debut, with all the intrigue, espionage, suspense and frenetic action you can handle.
Review
Today Hunt, the directorial debut of Squid Games star and Emmy-award winner Lee Jung-Jae, hits UK and Irish cinemas. The bonafide Korean box office smash is, on the face of it, fairly simple. Lee – who also co-writes and produces the film – stars as Park Pyong-ho, a South Korean intelligence officer in the 1980s. He must work with Kim Jung-do (Jung Woo-sung), a former military officer turned agent who runs the Domestic Unit to track down a North Korean spy known as Donglim. Sounds simple right?
Oh how wrong you would be!
Hunt has so many layers that its 131 minute runtime feels like a breeze. Characters are often not who they say they are. Motivations are clouded by years of political tensions between North and South. That’s all before we reach the rapidly expanding third act which, quite literally, blows the roof off the whole narrative.
Admittedly this was my first experience of a South Korean spy-cum-political-thriller. I had a lot of learn about the wildly different expectations of narrative between cultures. Hunt flows incredibly freely between gun-toting action and deep political intrigue. Lee and co-writer Jo Seung-Hee have crafted a story which managed to keep me on the edge of my seat even when I was struggling to keep up with a whose who of choosing sides.
Park and Kim have a history, one which adds some serious tension to their working relationship. Hunt sets the two up as rival department heads before diving further in to their past and I commend the script for not laying all its cards on the table right away. Lee and Jung have great chemistry and it works best when they’re at each others throats, something you’ll see regularly here. But even working together, defying the orders of their corrupt and naive superiors, there’s an undeniable spark.
Hunt spends much of its runtime exploring the murky political history of the Korean nations. One need look no further than daily news headlines to see that tensions still remain. But here we’re exploring the death of a dictatorship and the bureaucracy which goes alongside it. There’s under the table deals, government moles and a bucket load of torture. All in the name of future relations. Whilst I can’t speak for the historical accuracy of the actions taken by either the South or North Korean governments, it certainly makes for explosive viewing to see how the two attempt to coexist in this representation.
The flip-side sees the film as a top-notch action movie. There’s car chases, endless amounts of bullets spent and a pretty high body count. I could definitely sense the inspiration of John Woo underneath some of the stylish action. Whilst it isn’t as hyper-realist as some of his movies, that inspiration certainly still shows in the authenticity of the action. A prolonged shoot-out on the streets of Tokyo is a huge highlight along with the somewhat overblown third act.
Hunt is never a film to stay in its box. Some audience members may struggle as the sense of melodrama grows. As Park and Kim are set on a path to mutual destruction, the sense of scale does go off-kilter. Which side of the fence you land on will certainly be determined by your own ability to disconnect from reality. But for me, I found the third act to be a hugely welcome surprise which really drove home how far each man was willing to go to see his political ideals survive.
Verdict
Hunt is a solid directorial debut for Squid Game’s Lee Jung-jae. It’s a densely packed narrative overflowing with twists and turns. The espionage action is sure to please John Woo fans whilst the sizzling political commentary is gripping.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
