Member laagi Posted July 21, 2022 Member Share Posted July 21, 2022 (edited) If there's one genre out of Korea I feel has considerably declined in recent years among the entire industry it would have to be the (classic) gangster film. During their prime they pretty much re-invented an entire genre and gave us classics like A Bittersweet Life, A Dirty Carnival, New World, Gangnam Blues... just to name a few. I'd say the last few good outputs came in the early 2010's. Correct me if I'm wrong @One Armed Boxer. So nowadays when there's a new entry I'm rather hesitant. Also believe it or not most of these movies now seem to target the "B-movie" sector. Seemingly not having the budget and audience? they once had. I'm glad to say that Hot Blooded while certainly not up there with the greats does in it's own right deliver some of that old goodness. If you're looking for crisp and well choreographed action you need to steer clear of this! Some of the best gangster film are first and foremost character dramas. The same goes with Hot Blooded. That's not to say that you do have some bloody violence but it's used sparely and while I'm a total sucker for action I appreciated the lack of it here. This is probably largely due to Jung Woo's performance which carries the movie. That's not to say the supporting cast does a bad job but it's him who delivers this sincerity to his role. Something that can easily make all the difference! The story is honestly a bit of a mess at times. Taking place in the early 90's in Busan it follows Hee-So (Jung Woo) who seemingly is stuck in his life as a low-level gangster. Eventually a waging war sees him as pawn in a much bigger play. What's refreshing to see and whilst not new at all the movie doesn't try to romanticize the life of a gangster. In fact some of the best moments of the movie were focused on love and family. Special mention to Lee Hong-nae who didn't have much screen time but did a great job as young delinquent. Overall I enjoyed Hot Blooded. It's a good gangster drama and at least to me a sign that the genre isn't just dead yet. Recommended. Edited July 21, 2022 by laagi 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator One Armed Boxer Posted July 25, 2022 Moderator Share Posted July 25, 2022 On 7/22/2022 at 7:34 AM, laagi said: I'd say the last few good outputs came in the early 2010's. Correct me if I'm wrong @One Armed Boxer. I wish you were! If I was nitpicking I'd probably say mid-2010's (I'm a big fan of both 2014's 'The Shameless' and 2015's 'Gangnam Blues'), but in any case the last 5 or so years have definitely been thin on the ground. Will certainly look out for this one though, thanks for the recommendation as always! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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