Fatal Intuition: The Pharmacist Needs a Chill Pill

From the moment he appears on screen, you just know that actor Yoo Hae-jin is going to be the killer of Fatal Intuition. There's something sinister about the way he interacts with the young girl (Ryu Hye-young) who hangs out in his pharmacy and then he's got the right sneakers and the right type of head twitch. How could he not be the one? And who cares? Yoon Joon-Hyeong's thriller isn't that concerned with keeping us ignorant about who did it. This movie's more about whether the latest victim's older brother (Joo Won) is going to get some form of justice, either via an incompentent cop or with the help of a neuorotic psychic (Lee Yoo-young). But if you've already figured out who the killer is, you probably can predict the ending in advance too.

Don't get me wrong. Fatal Intuition isn't a slog. There's a kind of tension that inhabits this movie because you're not sure who'll die next. And you know it's going to be someone. And then someone else. Everyone's a possible victim: the simpleton (Lee Joon-hyuk) who steal young women's panties, the old guy (Son Sung-chan) getting a haircut at the senior center, the businesswoman (Son Ji-na) who hangs out with the local guys... And in a small town that's clearly in the midst of hard times, you suspect that murders aren't so easily solved. Unless you point a finger at someone new in town. And in this case, you can and you can't. No one wants to think that nice unlicensed pharmacist is evil!

The Huntresses: Charlie's Angels in Korea

I can hear the elevator pitch for this one:

Remember Charlie's Angels? The TV show. Not the movie. Yeah, I know it's been done before. But this time, it's different. How so? Well, they're all Korean. And the Kate Jackson part (Son Ga-in)... Yeah, the one with the short hair. This time she's gonna be the youngest and an expert in explosives, too. Sure, we can give her a love interest (Song Sae-byeok). No, she won't be the brains. That'll be the Jacklyn Smith role (Ha Ji-Won). I told you this was different! Yes, exactly. The one with the prettiest hair. Plus, she'll have PTSD. And she's sweet on a swordsman (Joo Sang-uk) who happens to have PTSD, too. I'm sorry. Did I forget to mention it's set during the Joseon Dynasty? Anyway, no Farrah. More Cheryl Ladd (Kang Ye-won). With a husband (Lee Hee-seok) instead of a sister. Of course, we'll have a Bosley (Ko Chang-seok). No. No Charlie! Why? Because it's NEW! We want to keep it fresh.

Naturally, the movie gets made. And it's cute, thanks to some funny bits like a makeout session between the youngest angel and her virgin love interest; and some martial arts moves involving a pair of lethal yo-yos. If the CGI wasn't so expensive, I bet they would've made this the pilot of a TV show. One can only hope for a sequel. If Drew Barrymore's Angels merit a second feature then Park Jae-hyun's The Huntresses does as well... But who will prove to be the Aaron Spelling of Seoul?

Missing 2: Not a True Sequel

I'm not sure what Cho Sung-kyu's Missing 2 shares in common with Kim Sung-hong's Missing. The two movies have different directors, different writing teams, and — from what I can tell — entirely different casts. There's not even a repeat of the plot which last time concerned a serial killer who chained up his female victims and made them act like dogs. Instead, this "sequel" finds everyone playing the murderer: the corrupt police detective (Lee Won-jong) who's come to claim some unlawfully acquired money from his doublecrossing partner at a secluded cabin; a pretty boy actor (Seo Jun-Young) who's resentful of his manipulative agent (Kim Hye-na) and desperate for his big break; and an unemployed hiker (Hahm Eun-jung) whose storing incriminating evidence in her spotless pink backpack. The good guy, if you've got to have one, is a bespectacled goof (Bae Ho-geun) who's giving off serious stalker vibes.

So with all these killers on the loose is Missing 2 the least bit scary? Not one bit. You'll see people wielding knives, scythes, golfclubs, pistols, and treelimbs; you'll see heads slammed, ankles caught in bear traps, and people choked with bare hands. None of it registers. To the contrary, Missing 2 — like one of its characters — is life on celluloid when you're sitting around waiting for something better to happen. Cigarette, anyone? Got a match?

Mission: Cross: A Bulletproof Husband and Wife

Don't give up on Lee Myung Hoon's Mission: Cross too soon. For what first seems like an irritating thriller about an invicible cop (Yum Jung-ah) whose sudden conflicts with her subservient husband (Hwang Jung-min) could be solved pretty quickly if they'd simply have a honest sit-down talk ends up being a playful action pic celebrating the virtues of commitment in marriage. I'm trying to remember the exact point in which the movie went from kinda bad to more-than-pretty good. Was it when the real identity — and the upscaled wardrobe — of the villian (Jeon Hye-jin) is revealed? Or when the heroine inadvertantly gets ahold of the USB drive at the secret hideout? Or when husband and wife reaffirm their marital vows to each other with gunware? Whenever it happens, that change suddenly transforms Mission: Cross into a highly improbable and entertaining romcom.

Lee's movie also has a veiled homoerotic subplot involving two of the lady cop's subordinates. Alas, the script only hints at this narrative via some overly defensive comments one officer (Jeong Man-sik) make about his sexuality, followed by a car with floral-crocheted seatbelt-covers that are likely the work of his squad colleague/lover (Cha Rae-hyung). But the movie only alludes. Too bad! You also get the feeling that another secondary story involving the demented torturer (Kim Byeong-ok) and his heavily tatted assistant (Kim Kyu-baek) somehow ended up on the cutting-room floor. What's left for the projector room is enough, though. Microwave that popcorn. Showtime has arrived.

Don't Buy the Seller: Target

I'm really enjoying these identity theft movies coming out of South Korea right now. Citizen of a Kind (2024) pits an energetic factory worker against a Chinese scam syndicate; Unlocked (2023) finds a spyware expert moonlighting as a serial killer; and now, Don't Buy the Seller (2023) turns Craigslist secondhand shoppers into easy targets for bloodthirsty hackers. All are B-movies that you can't easily disregard because they're dealing with our now-universal fear of losing control of our lives via our phones. Don't Buy the Seller may not go as far as as the terrorized set-up in Call (2020) with its supernatural elements but maybe that's why this movie works. Identity theft, cyberbullying and cybertheft are scary enough.

My one gripe with Park Hee-kon's dial-a-doom is that its heroine (Shin Hye-sun) starts off as a savvy young woman unwilling to take flack from her harrasser and diligent enough to track him down online. But when her cyberstalker pranks her then hunts her down, she loses her autonomy completely. Don't we all hate when a Final Girl stand to the side while the hero-detective (Kim Seong-gyoon) gets the hell beaten out of him by her tormentor (Im Sung-jae), simply as a cliched plot point. How long does it take to find the nailgun or a plank with a nail in it or a shard of glass? I guess long enough to drag the scene out to justify a feature-length movie.

Title Variations: This film is also known as Target.

The Wild: Backstabbers

Betrayal is in no short supply in Kim Bong-han's The Wild. Just out-of-prison pugilist Woo-cheol (Park Sung-woong) can't trust his buddy, the crime lord Jang Do Shik (Oh Dae-hwan) who can't trust the conspiratorial druggie cop Jo Jeong-gon (Joo Suk-tae) who can't trust the philosophically inclined drug trafficker Gak-soo (Oh Dal-su) whose probably the wisest of the bunch when it comes to knowing whom you can and can't trust. He's certainly savvier than femme fatale Bom (Seo Ji-hye) who's life is especially complicated as she used to date the guy (Bin Chan Uk) whom Woo-cheol punched to death in the boxing ring seven years ago. Or did he?

The Wild is the type of movie that keeps the characters — and the audience — guessing. Whom will Woo-cheol align with? Can you ever trust a drug addict's word? Would a Korean cop throw in his badge and learn to speak Thai from a paperback guide as prep work for international escape? Not all the questions will keep you on the edge of your seat. But one of the performances will. As a jaded North Korean whose unlawful import business is a source of fascination for all, Oh Dal-su relates street smarts and strategic thinking. Although he's hardly the lead, his character is the one any sane criminal would seek out for allegiance because he's so quick to understand motives and modus operandi. But can you trust him?

Emergency Declaration: Airborne Virus

What do you look for in disaster movies? A single, superhuman savior? A diabolical villain who doesn't get killed 'til the very end? A populace rallying to support the surviving victims desperately trying to survive. Han Jae-rim's heartstopping Emergency Declaration has none of these components. Who cares? From its opening scenes, this one's a nail-biter. Credit Im Si-wan as a terrorist with a high creep factor. Once you've seen him stitch poison capsules into his body in the airport bathroom, you know this guy's major trouble! Credit Lee Byung-hun as a divorced dad trying to remove the stigma from eczema. How fortunate this man's got a history as a heroic pilot. Credit Song Kang-ho as a detective who'll go to any extreme to bring his wife home to safety. When isn't this actor great?

Oh yes. Everyone's in top form in this movie which also defies expectations by creating a believable narrative in which collective self-sacrifice feels noble but not far-fetched. Running at 2 hours and 21 minutes, Emergency Declaration isn't a slow-burn but more like a brush fire that keeps getting bigger and bigger and scarier. Block out some time to watch it. You're not going to want to hit the pause button.