Review of I Saw the Devil (2010) by Alexandria D — 20 Jul 2011

Although this movie's different twist on revenge is quite similar to 2007's Death Sentence, which I did not care much for, I just had to watch it anyway. I'm a fan of Byung-hun, so seeing him in such a role along side Choi was much too appealing to pass up.

I was a bit let down though. Now don't get me wrong, the acting is pretty good and the gore is suffice (although I hear it had to be taken down a notch before it could be released) but I can't get into something much when the lead character seems a bit lacking (nothing to do with the acting though, I assure you).

It's just that for the amount of rage and pain that Soo felt, his retaliation against his fiance's murderer kind of fell short. If you want to torture a sadist, you really do have to kick it up a notch.

.how could he (given his occupation) not know this? Also, since this movie was done by Jee-woon, some more originality in the Soo vs. Bad guy's scenes would have been appreciated. Never-the-less, I don't think this is a movie fans of the genre should pass up: there were some good moments, enough blood to recreate the red sea in all its glory (if you believe in such stuff), and the victims all did an awesome job in their roles.

If you're looking for crazy action though, this won't give you that. But the storyline is decent..perhaps even thought provoking...and Byung-hun is in it :).