Cold Eyes (Korean)

Ratings: 8.5/10

Film Class: B+

Genre: Action Thriller

I've been hit by a spell of awesome movies lately and I'm so glad I went to my local video store to have a quick look around... cos that was when I found this movie, sitting on an obscure shelf almost escaping my scrutiny with its deceivingly dullish DVD cover.

I picked it up.. because it kinda reminded me of Aaron Kwok's Cold War (a pretty good Chinese movie). The sypnosis drew me in; a new female recruit with an impeccable memory and keen obseravations joins the Korean Police Forces Special Crime Unit (SCU) led by yet another outstandingly intelligent character, her veteren chief officer. However, it takes more than the 2 of them to track down the main villian for this movie... a stealth-like mastermind behind the top crimes in the city. The villian is off-the charts cool... his flaire mirrors that of Javier Bardem in No Country For Old Men and his likeability that of Liam Neeson's Taken; he's such a formidable foe he'll probably outmatch both of them blindfolded. 

Thankfully, it's 6 (or more from SCU) vs 1... levelling the playing field. Now that's how Cold Eyes, with its crappy movie title is a notch above all the other Korean thriller movies I've caught. There's a slight advantage on the good guy's side, cos of the numbers, yet, at the same time you find yourself cheering on for the villian. It's a feel good movie both ways. It's not so much about which side to cheer for but more on being blown away by the intellect and intensity of this hidden gem. 

Though the start was rather confusing, it didn't take more than 10 mins into the film for things to clear up. From start to end, it was a mental rollercoster ride - engaging, top speed. Couldn't even allow myself to be distracted because I was afraid of missing the subtitles. 

The actors and actresses were well cast, and everyone was super convincing in their roles. Thanks to their acting, filming style and the actions scenes, and despite having a few obviously CG-ed scenes, it felt like an grade-A movie. Mild humour that's not cheesy and the scripting, cinematography, camera angles and scene flows were all well thought of. To be frank, there's almost no flaws in this. It exceeded my expectations by leaps and bounds, however the only wall it didn't leap over is my biasedness towards Western films over Asian films. All these while I've refused to believe an Asian film can reach "Hollywood Blockbuster" calibre, well it's time I reach such an epiphany. 

Till date, definitely one of the best Korean Blockbusters I've caught - while it didn't gain immense popularity in the movie industry, it sure topped my Korean library of movies. The English movie title should be more attractively named ... "Shadow".

A true battle of the wittiest! A true gem not to be missed!