Enter the Invincible Hero: Three Villains

While I certainly esteem the charismatic leading man, a Dragon Lee movie is only as good as its villains and Enter the Invincible Hero has three and what a wild trio they are. A normal martial arts flick would be happy enough with a bad guy like Master Pang (Casanova Wong), the criminal mastermind who wears a white glove over his more murderous hand and whose superstrength can be undone by way of a curious hole in his foot. If that last bit sounds a tad outlandish, consider his even more wicked assistant who has a blinking necklace that supplies him extra power and an outie belly button that's the Achilles' heel of his seven chakras. Yet neither of these malefactors holds a candle to the film's true star: an eyepatched hunchback who uses his hump as a lethal weapon in mano a mano combat. Like a vagabond Richard III, this troll-like leader of the village bandits effuses a contagious glee as he engages in acrobatic moves that range from impossibly high flips to rib crushing body slams.

As for our beloved Dragon, he's up to his usual antics — winning the movie's one pretty girl (who he actually kisses!), outfighting whole posses of evildoers, and being driven to more impassioned fighting by the taste of his own blood (and then amplified from some barechested flexing). You never doubt for a moment that this Korean hunk will emerge victorious but with three worthy opponents, it's fun to see him wipe his nose with his thumb once more (a la Bruce Lee) as he takes on the next man. He won't save everyone in the village but he'll likely save the love interest... and himself.

Coin Locker Girl: Momma Loves You Something Fierce

Most bibliophiles agree: You can't judge a book by its cover. But can you judge it by its title? On this front, the readers have been generally quiet. Somewhat related, I've been putting off watching Coin Locker Girl for years because that damned title seemed so odd, so stupid. Plus, the accompanying capsule synopsis didn't start off that promising: "A newborn girl is placed in a coin operated locker in the subway station..." Oh, really? Need I go on? Well, apparently, I should. For while the life of crime that lies ahead for our dear "coin girl" is hardly unexpected, the hyperviolent stops along the way are repeatedly thrilling. (I swear gun laws would make for better movies only because the knife is so much more intense.)

Given her unfortunate circumstances, her outcome could be tragic or heroic. As it turns, it was a bit of both. For Il-young (Kim Go-eun), the titular antiheroine, is doomed to succeed. Raised first on the streets then later by a ice-hearted gang moll (a sensational Kim Hye-su), this tomboy finds her romantic awakening with an indebted chef (Park Bo-gum) tests the limits of tolerance for the collection agency which is her family. Han Jun-hee's nasty noir is a survival of the fittest in which the sisterhood reigns supreme. The men in Coin Locker Girl may vie to be king of the hill but the only viable threat to the queen is the princess who finally put on her first dress. Throats will be punctured. Heads will be bashed. Eyes will be gouged. And the final showdown won't be one of triumph so much as an inevitable continuation of the old tune "The king must die! Long live the king!" This time around, though, it's for the ladies.

Gang: Gong

Someone please explain to me why I'm supposed to rally behind Ji-hoon (Cha Ji-hyuk) when he joins the fight club at the prison-like high school to which he's been transferred after breaking the ribs of another student at his former school. Is it because he's the outsider? Because he's thinner than everyone else? Because his competitors are either too chubby (Kim Dae-han), too crazy (Lee Jung-hyun), or have a creepy, cloudy eye? Am I supposed to intuit a homoerotic relationship between him and his not-quite-loyal new best friend? Because by the end of Gang, I didn't care much as to whether he or that rich student with the earbuds was about to get his ass whooped? Not that I wish anyone a crack to the jaw.

That's what one of the problems with Jo Bareun's hyper-violent, light-hearted Gang. The film presents a world in which bloodshed is the single option to decide who gets to be king of the hill. Despite being set in a high school, you never meet the smart student or the teacher's pet. Every young man attending this institute of lower education has one goal in mind: survive. For the toughest, that means going to the basement and flailing about while a DJ scores the bout with a hip soundtrack. For the less physically inclined, that means aligning with a contender, maybe being his friend, his coach, his promoter, his bitch. Why more kids don't skip class entirely, even if it means running away from home is a question that's never addressed. Are they all secretly pining for the jaded school nurse (Bae Hyo-won) who wears a silver leather jacket? Seems possible. She's doing something right as no one ever seems to lose a tooth or retain a bruise.