Unstoppable movie reviews
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Unstoppable should have been the movie for him to play it straight, but instead Min-ho makes our lead fall back on his usual shtick, here as a one-time gangster now living an honest life working at the local fish market, and married to the woman (Song Ji-hyo, A Frozen Flower) who set him on the straight and narrow.ĭong-seok’s character doesn’t have much business sense, which has resulted in him being scammed several times, the latest of which he breaks the news to his wife over her birthday dinner in an expensive restaurant. He’s the big burly bruiser who, beneath his tough exterior, has a heart of gold (and in many cases is actually a bit of a softie). It wasn’t like this even just a few years ago, with Dong-seok’s filmography filled with a diverse range of roles, however it was his supporting parts in the likes of Kundo: Age of the Rampant that the Korean film industry decided to pick up and cultivate. The debut of director Kim Min-ho, Unstoppable continues to cement Ma Dong-seok as his own genre, much like Jackie Chan and Steven Seagal are their own genre. This is perhaps the biggest disappointment with Unstoppable, it’s not that it’s everything Taken 2 should have been, but rather it feels more like The Man from Nowhere-lite.
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So what if the plot sounds similar to one of the worst sequels ever made (thanks Olivier Megaton), if Koreans know how to do anything, then it’s brutal and bloody action. I doubt there’s any fan of the burly Korean that hasn’t been craving to see him in a straight up action thriller, in which he flexes that distinctive muscle to put the beat down on some unscrupulous characters. However Unstoppable comes with an irresistible premise whichever way you look at it. Much like it was almost impossible to escape from Hwang Jeong-min a few years ago, audiences are unlikely to be blamed for getting Ma Dong-seok’d out. From action thrillers such as this one, The Outlaws, and The Villagers (which shares a plot remarkably similar to Unstoppable, and was released just months earlier), to comedy with The Bros, supernatural outings like Along With the Gods: The Last 49 Days and The Soul-Mate, and family dramas with Champion. After stealing the show in the zombie thriller Train to Busan, as an undead beating protective husband, in 20 alone he’s headlined 7 movies. Clearly the last couple of years have been Dong-seok’s time to shine. In 2018, making Ma Dong-seok the everyman in question is such an obvious choice, it’s a wonder it’s taken this long for Unstoppable to get made. As Liam Neeson once said, “It’s personal to me.” So to see a return to the genre trope of an everyman seeking to save their loved one is a welcome sight, and the fact they want to punish the bad guys just as much is all part of the ride. These days it’s all about undercover cops and corrupt businessmen, and the twisty narratives that usually accompany them. Of course it’s been 8 years since The Man from Nowhere, and since then Korean cinema has largely moved away from the no frills action narrative, despite such an approach being one of its biggest strengths. One had Won Bin tracking down the traffickers who kidnapped his neighbour’s child, while the other has Ma Dong-seok tracking down the traffickers who’ve kidnapped his wife. It’s fair to say that if The Man from Nowhere was Korea’s Taken, then Unstoppable is Korea’s Taken 2. Cast: Ma Dong-Seok, Song Ji-Hyo, Kim Sung-Oh, Kim Min-Jae, Ji-Hwan, Lee Sung-Woo, Bae Noo-Ri, Park Ji-Hoon, Park Kwang-Jae, Lim Hyung-Joon