No Tears for the Dead

A film directed by Lee Jeong-beom the director of The Man From Nowhere.

"Abandoned by his mother shortly after immigrating to America, Gon is raised by the mafia and grows up to become a cold-blooded hitman. Though usually flawless in taking out his targets, Gon makes a terrible mistake of killing an innocent young girl. Swamped by feelings of regret, guilt and shame, Gon no longer wants to be a hitman, but his boss gives him one last mission."

This film could have been epic but fails to live up to the dark nature present in the plot. Is it due to the male lead, supporting characters or even the director?

Gon (Jang Dong-gun) is a hitman who was abandoned by his mother in America. He appears cold-hearted but in the beginning we see a soft side of him. Sadly that soft side dies with his desire to live, but he has to atone for what he has done. Gon is a man of his word and does what he wants which is rare for a hitman. Against a man who is as close to him as a brother, he must atone for his past by protecting Mo-gyeong...

Mo-Kyung (Kim Min-Hee)works at an investment company drifting through life wearing a mask in public in order to hide the pain of her great loss. Weak but intelligent at times she trusts the wrong people and doesn't take action until she is forced to.

Its not the worst action film I've seen but felt like there was a lot of room for improvement. I did enjoy the twist at the end as well as most of the direction. I didn't quite like Jang Dong-gun as the lead in this movie but in the end I admit he did a great job. I appreciate the fact that his English is way better than in his previous movies. I also like the fact that the English-speaking supporting cast were decent actors which are quite rare in Asian films. Kim Min-Hee is beautiful, but I felt like she could have acted better.

This was a slight let down, but there were a lot of elements that I really did like. If you are expecting The Man From Nowhere don't be, this is vastly different from this film and has its own values.

3.5/5

Starring

Jang Dong-gun

Also Appeared In:

First Kiss

Friend

The Warrior's Way

My Way

Dramas:

Gentleman's Dignity

Kim Min Hee

Also Appeared In:

Hellcats

Helpless

Brian Tee

Also Appeared In:

We Were Soldiers

Austin Powers in Goldmember

Fun with Dick and Jane

The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift

The Wolverine