Revenger (Korean Film): Great action, not much story

So during this lockdown phase of human history I am going through the entire Korean movie library that Netflix has on offer. I have to admit that Revenger caught my eye because this is not a word and it seemed funny to me that they would try to make it one. I also thought that the star, Bruce Khan, was actually Donnie Yen from IP man.

This film was not what I was expecting because if there is a focus in South Korea around martial arts action films, I am not aware of it. It probably exists, I have just never seen any of it.

Revenger starts out quickly enough and they don't waste much time trying to tell you what is going on and this is good because as it turns out the story is actually the weakest part of this film. I'll keep it brief: There is this prison island where all the inmates have to fend for themselves in a manner that has been done in many other films. Bruce Khan plays the role of Kim (I think that was his name, whatever, he's the lead guy) and he has intentionally been sentenced to this island in order to seek out someone named Carlos Kun and kill him. That's the story.

Straight from the start we are treated to some pretty epic fight choreography in a battle that takes place on the beach where our hero Kim (I think that was his name) is in a straight jacket and has a mask on. He manages to take out all his opponents using just his legs and the fight is much more interesting that I can put into words. It's pretty epic and must have taken a long time to coordinate even with professionals.

There is some comic relief introduced once Kim is escorted to the village of the "resistance" or whatever. Basically they are the outsiders and are able to avoid Kan, who rules the island, simply by staying out of his way.

Basically, these guys are not very good fighters but they do a lot of talking like they are. I appreciated the comic relief because we needed to break up the action a bit.

There are a few problems in the film, such as having some people who clearly don't speak English have some dialogue in English, which just makes it really difficult to understand but this is bearable because like I said, the story really isn't what you watch this for. Also, in some of the fights it is obvious that they did the moves slowly and then sped the tape up to make it appear like they were moving fast. It isn't hidden very well and I am kind of curious as to why they did that.... maybe it was too dangerous otherwise.

Even though that is a slight "no no" in action films it is actually kind of fun to try to spot it, it doesn't happen all that often but you can notice it if you pay attention.

Revenger certainly doesn't get any points for storyline - wjocj doesn't really even make sense if you bother to try to understand it. The film, however, is excellent for some good mindless action and has some of the best fight scenes I have seen in quite some time. You never have a chance to get bored because they keep the entertainment coming at a very quick pace.

Revenger is available to stream on Netflix (at least in Asia) right now