*This review does not include spoilers.
“Believer” is a new Korean film directed by Lee Hae Young (The Silenced) and written by both Lee and famed author Chung Seo Kyung (The Handmaiden).
As the remake of Johnnie To‘s award-winning 2012 film Drug War, the Korean movie was already highly anticipated by both critics and viewers alike. However, whereas the original film was a definite rough-and-tumble action flick with clear-cut villains, “Believer” puts its own spin on the film by approaching the word “villain” in a much more subtle way.
The story revolves around Detective Jo Won-ho, played by the famous actor Choi Jin Woong (A Hard Day and Signal). The investigator is determined to catch an elusive, prosperous drug lord, known only as Mr. Lee, who has been evading capture for several years. Asking a favor of an underage informant with ties to the drug world, the detective sends her off to gather information. Despite their rocky relationship, Won-ho is genuinely fond of the young girl and is devastated when she is murdered as a result of his request. Before she dies, however, she leaves him a final clue that sends him on a chase with a renewed sense of dedication to bring the drug lord down.
A break in the case comes when a high-ranking manager for the drug cartel comes to police after nearly being killed in an explosion of one of the organization’s drug factories. When the police go to investigate, they find only one human survivor: Rak. In a role played by Ryu Jun Yeol (A Taxi Driver and The King), the police appeal to Rak’s sense of revenge after they find out his adoptive mother was killed in the explosion. He soon agrees to help take down the mysterious Mr. Lee and becomes their informant.
What follows is an intense game of cat and mouse with numerous villains that manage to make the capture of Mr. Lee even more difficult. Late actor Kim Joo Hyuk brilliantly executes his role as the insane, twisted Jin Ha-rin, a supplier of drug materials who is ravaged by his own drug addiction. Jin’s girlfriend also comes into play with her own drug-fueled rage and insanity, a part played to perfection by actress Jin Seo-yeo.
Famous actor Cha Seung Won makes a special appearance as a high-ranking director in the drug organization— a greedy man who twists his supposed religious beliefs into excuses to commit horrible crimes. Other characters also do their share of scene-stealing as well, each contributing their own eerie sense of humanity into the film.
Where the movie scores high is with the brilliant performances of its star-studded cast, phenomenal scenery shot in both Korea and Norway, and a well-paced story that never bogs down due to the plot development and action scenes.
Perhaps the most brilliant move, however, was embarking on a different journey from the original Johnnie To film. The original flick focuses on an unapologetic informant that is only out to save his own neck, while Rak is a quiet, mysterious, and tragic young man who, despite his unassuming ways, somehow manages to leave you feeling vaguely uneasy. In addition, while the original film is focused more on action, “Believer” takes a slower approach that allows viewers to become fully immersed in the characters and development of the plot.
The film is not without issues of course. While the movie begins briefly with the object of finding Mr. Lee, the first half of the movie actually focuses almost entirely on the drug supplier played by Kim Joo Hyuk. When the film suddenly changes gears midway to focus fully on tracking down Mr. Lee, the flow of the movie is interrupted somewhat and can leave viewers wondering how the movie will manage to pick up the pace one more. However, this can largely be attributed to the fact that the role played by Mr. Kim, who delivered the performance of his lifetime, was so completely absorbing that viewers forgot about Mr. Lee in the first place, thus lending to the jarred feeling when the story changes so abruptly and reminds you the real focus is Lee.
The only other downside that must be pointed out is that the tentative relationship of trust between the detective and his new informant Rak could have been played up in order to provide a deeper sense of emotion and character development. While it certainly suggests enough that viewers can imagine the internal struggle that goes on between the two, seeing it played out onscreen would have certainly given a better portrait of the often blurred lines and relationships that can develop between cops and informants.
For fans of the genre, many will figure out the identity of Mr. Lee well before he is revealed. However, with the various other twists along the way— along with the action, the stellar performances from the cast, and more— there is certainly enough to keep any fan eagerly watching until the credits begin to roll.
Perhaps the most impactful part of the film comes towards the end where the Korean remake forges its own very distinct path away from the original movie, approaching its resolution in a quiet, subtle, and more meaningful way that still manages to provide such an impact that viewers will be left thinking about the ending for days.
Overall, action-crime films in Korea often deliver deep, more emotional performances that what viewers will see in Believer. However, the resounding lesson in most of these films is that the villain must always pay the price in the end. What makes “Believer” so unique though is its fact that a villain can’t always be so easily defined, nor is justice always so easy to mete out.
The new film is set to hit theaters in the U.S. and Canada this week.
Media: Well Go Entertainment