The Man From Nowhere

I know I have a whole list of movies that I have yet to write about, but there is a movie I just watched the other day that I can't seem to shake off. It's called The Man From Nowhere. A Korean action drama. I'm a sucker for Korean tele-dramas, and I figured: "Ooo, a Korean action movie. Maybe it'll be like a Jet Li or something...." Boy, oh boy, was I ever wrong!

 The Man From Nowhere is about a former special agent turn pawnshop owner, CHA Tae-shik, who befriends a little girl (a 10 year-old), whose mother is a junky, who was stupid enough to steal from the drug lords. When she (the mother) steals from the drug lords during a business trade, she gets herself and her daughter kidnapped. Turns out, she (mother dearest) hid what she stole inside a bag that she "sold" to the pawnshop, dragging Tae-shik into the nasty mix. It was just the bag that threw him into the dirty business, the fact that he heard the little girl's voice over the phone, screaming: "mama, mama get up." The scene that really got me was Tae-shik running after the kidnappers' vehicle with the little girl cuffed and banging on the back window, crying: "Save me. Save me. Please save me," and Tae-shik just running his bloody hardest to catch up.

Fast forward! (I am not going to ruin all the awesome plot and action!) Tae-shik butts head with the cops... errr... more specifically... narcotic cops, and they believe he's in on the drug ring that they've been trying to bust. Tae-shik proves a bit more productive in the "taking down the drug ring" process than the cops are, and he pretty much fucks up everyone in the end in his search for the kidnapped little girl.

P.S. There is a story behind why the hell CHA Tae-shik is a "FORMER" special agent and a "CURRENT" pawnshop owner. It's a depressing back story too. One that had me in tears and pissed the frick off.

Where are my manners?!? If you haven't heard of seen anything about this movie... Here's the trailer, provided by our pal(s) at YouTube. (^_^)

My thoughts...

Bin Won is flippin' awesome! He's a bit skinny to my liking, but he pulled off this amazing emo, silent personality and then BAM! He knocks you off your feet with his ninja skills! He's a total cutie with long hair... surprisingly! I usually hate long hair, but it was quite emo hot. The thing that really got me was his hands... not the size; the speed in which he moved them in. Think of it as whacking (as in the dance movement) but with fatal meaning. I think it's safe for me to say that I believe it was faster than Jet Li, but not as fast as Bruce Lee.

The awesomeness continued with his skill with a weapon. I know, I know... that's the character, not the actor, but Bin Won didn't even blink when he pulled the trigger. A lot of actors tend to blink when the gun goes off. Sure, the gun may have blanks, but the sound is still there. If you're not ready for it, you flinch, blink, jump, hop, skip, whatever. Won didn't move. No twitch, no gasp, no flinch, no blink. He was solid. In character or not, it's hard to not blink when a gun goes off. (Yes, I know this from experience. I've tried, and I've always blinked.) Oh yea... that picture is still him (Won) but with shorter hair. Yes, he (in character) cuts his hair when he goes after the bad guys in hopes to save the little girl, whose name is fucking slipping away from the tip of my tongue right now!

Talking about the little girl. Since I can't remember her character name, I can't look her real one up. Watch. A few days after I post this, I'll remember and be all: SHIT! How could I not remember that name?! Then, I'll have to post a comment on my own blog to share the name of the adorable little Korean girl, who stole my heart in this movie.

Speaking of movie, there is one aspect of this movie that sort of disturbed me. The way I was introduced to/got interested in watching the movie. The movie poster was plastered on my Facebook ad section (as well as the movie itself was listed on my Hulu homepage). The movie poster sort of hit me the wrong way, which triggered my desire to watch the movie to make sure I wasn't taking it the wrong way.

Do you see where I was taking this poster? Please tell me I'm not the only one! C'mon! The title itself could have a twisted concept! The Man From Nowhere and with THIS poster, I swear I wasn't jumping to conclusions. That is one reason why I watched the movie! I didn't want to jump to conclusions! After watching the film, I understood the poster. However, I must put my foot down against this advertisement, and this was the letter I was writing in my head (if I were to get in touch with the publicist/advertisement agent for this movie):

Dear [whoever]:
What the hell were you thinking??? Your poster for The Man From Nowhere is a bit controversial. You do realize that the intimate touch and the look upon the man's face can be mistaken for child molestation? If this were a documentary, it'd be partially acceptable. However, with your title, I doubt that it is a type of documentary film. I highly recommend changing the image before throwing this film into the public. After watching the movie, I understood your concept, but as a preview of what the movie is about, your poster hit the wrong mark. I highly advise you to change your image.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
E.O.L.


If you're trying to figure out what the hell "E.O.L." stands for... "Equal Opportunity Literist." Yes, I just made that shit up.

Back to the movie.

As I said, The Man From Nowhere is an action drama. The drama is something I was not looking for. I was in it for the action really. I wanted to see if the Koreans could match up to what the Japanese and the Chinese... and naturally... Hollywood have all come up with. Boy, oh boy, did Korea slap me on the face on this one! The phrase "think fast" doesn't even level up to what is performed in front of the camera! It's not just Tae-shik who is fascinating to watch either. Though his lightning hands are impressive to watch and stare at, he's definitely not alone in the quick hands department.

Tae-shik faces off with this dude. (points to the RIGHT) His name - character name - is Ramrowan. He can speak English along with Korean, and he's a bad guy. He's one of the better soldiers the drug lords have in their little circle of "friends". Ram's actually a pretty decent guy. For instance, he offered food to our little kidnapped girl to which she repays his kindness with her own - putting a band aid on his cut (that Tae-shik gave him). With that little bit of kindness shown to him, he takes it to heart, and when it came down to our little girl getting sacrificed, Ram stomped the dude who was about to do shit to her. He observes, and I even dare say, admires Tae-shik's killing talent(s). He definitely proves to be a amiable opponent, as he and Tae-shik duke it out with blades after their guns go... uh... empty. HAHAHAHA

Oh ya. Last thing. The Man From Nowhere definitely surrounds the life of CHA Tae-shik. You, as the movie viewer, really do get involved with his life and decisions and aspirations. You are thrown to the wolves when Tae-shik is thrown into the depths of the drug ring, and you end up feeling for him and rooting him on by the end of this seemingly short movie.

Just to ruin everyone's viewing of this movie. The ending is bittersweet. Without giving away too many details, errr, spoilers...

 Tae-shik is able to kick ass and find our little girl, and the above picture is the pretty much the final shot of the movie. See? Bittersweet!

Okay, that's all I honestly have to say about this movie. I really don't want to give away too much, cuz this is actually one movie I would recommend to watch. It's not really long either. Very linear and to the point. Think of it this way: Fast hands + kidnapping + drug lords = hero must move quickly. So, they really don't waste time with dialog in this film. Which is nice, seeing how it's action first, drama second.

I give The Man From Nowhere 8.5 stars out of 10 for quick hands, the "ewww"/"omg" factor(s), the straight to the point dialog and.... Thank you for introducing me to Mr. Bin Won! (Maybe I shouldn't judge my fellow Asians so harshly... hehehe)