The traditional action blockbuster of the 90s and 00s was usually a film where the story was there to provide a rather thin basis for the constant action, to the point that you could fast forward the scenes when there was none. As time passed, and Korean cinema presented the likes of “I Saw the Devil” and “The Chaser”, thriller, drama, social commentary elementss also became part of the particular category, reinvigorating and elevating it to another level. As political correctness became more and more prevalent, these extra elements started to become more intense, occasionally even taking over the action/violence elements. “Carter” on the other hand, by the director of “The Villainess” seems like a throw-back to the action blockbusters of the past, focusing almost exclusively on the rather impressive action, while being ultra violent. Unfortunately, most of the issues from his previous film are also here.
Two months into a deadly pandemic originating from the DMZ that has devastated the US and North Korea, “Carter”, a man in his 30s, awakes in a location he has no clue where it is situated or why he is there. He does not even remember who he is, at least until a woman's voice in his head tells him, “Your name is Carter. Please trust me if you want all of us to live”, before asking him to get out of the building he is in immediately. To do so, however, Carter has to fight and brutally injure, maor kill scores of enemies who seem to be in some sort of criminal organization, in a rather impressive intro that shares much with the respective scene in “The Villainess”. Soon Carter also learns that he has a mysterious device placed in his head and a lethal bomb in his mouth. Not to mention that the pandemic this time turns people into zombies, his wife and daughter are in danger, and the CIA, South and North Korea are fighting over him.
Evidently, the rather thin story and the plethora of action genre elements included here do not make much sense, with the war between the secret services, the man with a bomb inside him who does not remember who he is, his daughter being in danger, and zombies, looks more like a tribute to every cliche of the category than an actual script. This issue actually extends to its progression, with every new twist seeming less reasonable, not to mention disconnected from everything else.
Coherence, however, is not where the film aimed at any point, and despite the aforementioned issue, the overlong duration and the lack of any interest on the “calm” moments (the same problems that were also present in Jung's previous film) the action compensates almost fully. Starting with the ultra violent initial one, and continuing with the ones with the bikes, the van, the helicopter, the zombie “invasion” and everything one could ever think could be used in a fight, the intricacy here is of the highest level, with the combination of the cinematography (with extensive use of drones), the frantic editing, the SFX, the action choreography, the stunts and the music being truly top notch, in one of the most impressive audiovisual aspects ever to appear in an action movie. Lastly, the combination of martial arts (with knives), gun-fu and vehicle-chasing in all its forms works excellently here, adding even more to this intricacy. At the same time, the almost total lack of any kind of political correctness essentially benefits this aspect, allowing the movie to be ultra-violent, thus adding to the entertainment it offers.
Jung Byung-gil did not demand anything particular from Joo Won for the role of Carter, just to look disoriented, powerful, cool, and good in his half naked sprees (including one with him wearing just a thong) and in that fashion, he delivers to the fullest.
As mentioned before, “Carter” is one of those films that one could easily fast forward to the action scenes, while its duration is definitely extravagant. At the same time though, the former are so impressive and so many, that the movie ends up being highly entertaining, and one that would definitely satisfy all fans of old school action.
