Back in 2010, screenwriter director Lee Jeong-beom's “The Man from Nowhere” which starred Won Bin, was the highest grossing film in South Korea. Best known for its amazing and thrilling action sequences, the film had fans longing for more from Lee. Therefore it is not really a surprise that he would follow it up with yet another action thriller that featured even more spectacular action but with a similar theme.
South Korean screen veteran Jang Dong-gun, best known for “Friends” (2001) and “Taegukgi: The Brotherhood of War” (2004) and one of the country's most recognized and bankable stars plays Gon, a Korean-born but raised in America hitman. As it happens, a Korean company man is selling information to the Russians in the back room of a nightclub. Assigned to retrieve it, Gon calmly shows up and effortlessly takes out everyone there but he also accidentally kills the man's young daughter. Devastated and feeling guilty, he finds comfort in alcohol and decides to quit.
But according to his Triad boss, he needs to fly to Korea promptly and locate the dead man's USB, which is in the custody of his wife Mo-gyeong (Kim Min-hee) which contains the vital information, and then kill her. While in Seoul, Gon learns that Mo's supervisor John Lee (Kim Jun-seong) is actually the man responsible for the laundering of the Triad's money. Of course Mo, who is still in mourning, doesn't have a clue about her company's involvement and besides, she has a senile mother to look after. Feeling guilty and haunted by the issues with his own mother as a child, the conflicted Gon finds it impossible to carry on his mission. Upon learning that, his boss sends out more hitmen namely his teammates to finish the job consequently making him a target.
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Although written as the main lead characters, Gon and Mo behave like strangers throughout the film and they only communicate through telephones; never face to face. This is more so in Mo's case because to her, Gon is only a voice who is there to guide and protect her from harm. Portrayed as tortured souls in pain, they also share the bulk of the film's melodramatic moments but there is hardly any physical romance between them. Basically the plot is about hitmen, their code and honor which thereby makes it rather predictable and offers nothing original.
Director Lee sure knows how to use his camera tricks to further enhance his fight scenes, especially the brief but highly intense knife fight which takes place in an apartment block in which Gon takes on three attackers. It is an extremely brutal affair with fake blood spraying everywhere while the camera pans around from different angles. Unfortunately in comparison, the final climatic shootout in the tall office building is quite a letdown because it echoes too much of the one displayed in “Die Hard”. Still, the superbly choreographed action sequences are a delight to watch.
Apparently, Jang Dong-gun went into some extensive training with the US Special Operations to further build up his character and it shows in the ways he handles the different weapons and the hand to hand fights. Besides, he has no trouble in portraying a tormented figure with a variety of different mood swings required throughout the movie. Kim Min-hee is equally plausible as a grieving mother in pain, even though she seems to be just moping around. To a certain degree, the characters they play are very much alike in their nature which therefore makes them drawn to each other.
The supporting cast is just as impressive, especially Brian Tee, Alexander Wraith and Anthony Dilio who play the three hitmen sent out to get Gon and they definitely add a bit of international feel to the production. Elsewhere, Kim Jun-seong who plays Mo's greedy boss John Lee and department head Byun (Kim Hee-won) are just as entertaining with their over the top performances.
Overall, “No Tears for the Dead” is a super slick production that is definitely worth watching. Sure, the story could have been a bit more original nevertheless, it is highly entertaining with the likable and charismatic Jang in the lead, while the incredibly well crafted action will have you wanting more.
