In sunny Bangkok Thailand, children are being abducted; their organs are harvested and sold. One of them is a nine-year-old South Korean girl Yoo-min who attends the local International School. Her desperate mother seeks the help of an ex National Intelligence agent In-nam, but he never returns her calls even though they were lovers before. The next day, In-nam learns that she's dead and the kidnapped child is most likely his daughter. He then heads to Bangkok looking for her.
Signature Entertainment presents “Deliver Us From Evil” on Digital Platforms 4th January 2021
After dropping out of the Agency, In-nam (Hwang Jung-min) has become a hitman for hire who only kills “bad” people and his recent kill is Japanese crime boss Koraeda, a bastard of all bastards. Since it's his last job, he's looking forward to his retirement in Panama. However, Koraeda has a brother, Ray the Butcher (Lee Jung-jae) and he's more than keen to carve up In-nam. Needless to say, a bloody showdown is ensured in Bangkok.
The theme of child kidnapping plus organ trafficking does add more urgency and tension to the otherwise predictable straight revenge plot of “Deliver Us from Evil”. Besides, it's a good excuse for setting up the many action sequences seen throughout the movie. Interestingly, there're also three noticeable color schemes being displayed here. Thailand has a yellowy orange hue, probably the result of orange filters, it looks hot and dusty. The Korean scenes are dark, cold and moody while the look of Japan is that of a grey tone.
As the cold blooded killer Ray, Lee Jung-jae has the most scenery-stealing role; he's immaculately dressed, armed to the teeth and spotting neck tattoo. He has only one thing in mind, to avenge his sibling's death at all costs. Because he favors using knives, viewers are treated to lots of knife fights which are brutal and bloody.
The slam-bang action is over the top; both the lead actors seem to have super human powers at times. None the less, the action choreography is both slick and impressive, especially the use of freeze frames to emphasize tension which looks good on screen.
Hwang Jung-min is equally compelling as the hitman racing against time to save his daughter from local organ harvesters and dealing with Butcher Ray who's always one step behind him. Thankfully, these two leads have plenty of chemistry to spare, making it a joy to watch them playing their cat and mouse game as they rampage through Bangkok.
A transgender showgirl, Yui (Park Jung-min) helps out In-nam and provides the odd bursts of humor. Both actors are able to show their tenderness when interact with the kidnapped child. This is a nice contrast compared to the casual disregard for human life of those kidnappers and organ traffickers. Therefore, it's utterly satisfactory to witness what In-nam does to those low lives when he catches up with them.
Overall, this is an entertaining action movie featuring two strong and likeable leads, although the predictable set-ups are sloppy and the story offers nothing new. In fact it's similar to Wilson Yip's “Paradox, Sha Po Lang III” in which Louis Koo's character travels to Thailand to save his daughter. However, the Bangkok locations here are a nice touch; they have the nitty gritty look of a sinister place but definitely not for children.
