Review of The Man from Nowhere (2010) by Peter F — 22 May 2011

Beware of the quietest man in the room... Good advice to movie bad guys and definitely true regarding Cha Tae-shik (Won Bin) in the action packed South Korean film The Man from Nowhere.

'I'm tingling with curiosity.' This line was echoed by one of the characters in The Man from Nowhere and he was right. What appears as just another revenge movie soon evolves into something more, thanks in great part to the quietly charismatic Bin (Mother) An actor and model, Bin hides his good looks for most of the film under a mop of unattended hair. His violent side is hidden too... at least in comparison to the animal unleashed towards the film's conclusion. If his past two films are any indication, Bin could be ready to take South Korea and the world by storm.

Bin stars as a man who keeps to himself and wants to keep it that way. He takes a job as a pawnbroker but his hardest job is avoiding So-mi (Kim Sae-ron) the little girl who lives next door to him. Their relationship reminds me of the one shared between Jean Reno and Natalie Portman in 1994's Léon: The Professional. So-mi is a few years younger, but a lot more precocious. The only child of a heroin addict/stripper, Cha (Mister to So-mi) is the lone positive person in her life. When your best friend is a suspected gangster/child molester, you're in trouble. Luckily, Cha is neither and while he insists on keeping a distance, there is an obvious connection between recluse and forgotten child.

As heroin addicts generally do, So-mi's mom gets involved with the wrong people and is kidnapped along with So-mi. When the bad guys confront Cha to find their stolen drugs, they (and the audience) discover that there's more to Cha than meets the eye. Evidently, Cha is the heir apparent to Bruce Lee. He soon finds himself involved in something much bigger, as he's blackmailed into a dangerous delivery in exchange for So-mi's release. The delivery is a set-up for both Cha and a local drug kingpin. The police arrest Cha at the scene, but Cha manages to escape and sets out to right some wrongs.

Director Lee Jeong-beom keeps things moving by placing a number of bad guys in Cha's way. As Cha tracks them down one by one, we learn about his true past and come to understand the importance of So-mi in his life, and the lengths to which he'll go to save her. Those lengths include terribly violent confrontations where only Cha is left standing. Jeong-beom creates mesmerizing scene after scene with outstanding fight sequences. Guns, knives, hands... You name it, and Cha uses them with equal skill. Kudos to Jeong-beom for filming a unique and compelling final battle sequence that features some serious (and authentic) knife work. Multiple camera views enhance what is already a great action film. An earlier, smaller battle in a public restroom is nothing short of spectacular.

There are funny sequences too, but when you get down to it... this is a revenge movie, akin to Steven Seagal and Jean-Claude Van Damme vehicles but with much better acting and production value. It's that comparison and the lack of anything substantially new that prevent me from grading The Man from Nowhere higher than a B. Fans of the genre will rank it higher and with good reason; but compared to any kind of film, it's a success and worth a look (available on Blu-ray and DVD.).