The film follows three young and highly trained North Korean agents who are sent to work undercover in the South, but their loyalties are tested when an order from the North finally comes through.
For most of the first hour, the film follows these three agents, especially the leading character, Won Ryu-hwan (played by Kim Soo-hyun) whom arrives in the South first, workingundercover through their newly assumed identities, but leaves little room for a build up of tension that director Jang so wonderfully orchestrated in Bedevilled.
In this sense, this is no spy action thriller in the same way Shiri or The Berlin File is. Rather, it’s an attempt to blend comedy with action and drama elements, but ultimately, there is nothing tying it together, except for the webcomic itself, which international audiences are mostly unaware of.
The film does finally kick into gear towards the film’s conclusion as Jang intensifies the pacing when the command from the north comes through, but for many viewers, especially those unfamiliar with the original webcomic, this is likely to be too late.
Kim Soo-hyeon meanwhile is adequate as the village idiot while the other two young spies played by Park Ki-woong as a rock musician and Lee Hyun-woo as a student give satisfactory performances, but neither is able to leave a lasting impression.
Nevertheless, despite its many flaws, Jang who is a former protégé of Kim Ki-duk remains the film’s key selling point on the international marketfollowing the critical success of Bedevilled that premiered in the International Critics’ week in Cannes in 2010. Kim Soo-hyun’s star presence meanwhile together with the increasingly popular Park Ki-woong and Lee Hyun-woo should also attract interest in Asian territories.
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