COLD EYES DVD (2013)

SYNOPSIS: Ha Yoon-ju (HAN Hyo-joo) who possesses crystal clear memory, keen observation, and utmost concentration skills, becomes the newest member to a unit within the Korean Police Forces Special Crime Unit (SCU) that specializes in surveillance activities on high profile criminals. She is assigned under Hwang Sang-jun (SEOL Kyung-gu), the veteran leader of the unit, who is rough, reckless, but warm-hearted and known for his animal-like senses and intuition. The two gradually develop a close partnership when they attempt to track down James (JUNG Woo-sung), who is the cold-hearted leader of an armed criminal organization. Using his unmatched intelligence and strategy, James manages to evade their radar every time. Now, Hwang Sang-jun and Ha Yoon-ju must do everything they can in order to find him and stop him…

MOVIE REVIEW:

If you are going to remake a movie, why not go for the best? And that’s what the Koreans did. Remaking and retooling Yau Nai Hoi and Johnnie To’s 2007 Eye in the Sky.

Obviously armed with a bigger budget as compared to the original and filled with generous amount of wide and tracking shots, directors Cho Ui-Seok and Kim Byeong-seo’s treatment takes audience to the big city of Seoul. While the technicalities are glossy and stylistic, the story remains as engaging if not as good as its Hong Kong counterpart.

Retaining some of the original’s plotting, the movie opens in a subway car where a young lady, Yoon-joo (Han Hyo-joo) is being assessed for her surveillance skills by her soon-to-be superior, Chief Hwang (Seol Kyung-gu). At the same time, a bank heist planned by the mysterious James (Jung Woo-sung) is taking place in the downtown area. The proceedings keep you guessing rigorously and strangely the movie never fails to keep things intense and taut for the two hours running time.       

Having recruited Yoon-joo and giving the rookie a nickname, “Piglet”, Chief Hwang and his motley crew are giving the assignment to uncover the culprits who robbed the bank and the Shadow which is of course James, the mastermind behind the crime. Though the remake devotes plenty of time to the surveillance team and the relationship between Hwang and Yoon-joo, the character of James and his motivation is clearly insubstantial. Setting James character as a ruthless killer is understandable but his binding to a bigger boss who appears to be a clobber remains more of a mystery.  

The rapid editing involves plenty of flawless screen switching. And you probably will be spellbound by the team members scanning through electronic roadmap, countless surveillance cameras and a vast amount of computer screens just to search for clues. Risking their lives and covers even though their job is not to apprehend when the time comes, ultimately a hectic scene of the rookie tailing a baddie who is nicknamed “hippo” because of his size becomes the highlight of the crime thriller.

The movie has no qualms retaining the shocking quotient though the action is clearly top notch with a well-staged spectacular gun fight happening in the middle of a city and some stunning CG explosion thrown in for the other sequences. Seol Kyung-gu and Han Hyo-joo both churned out superior performances as the mentor and rookie, it’s a pity on the other hand Jung Woo-sung is wasted in his first villainous role. 

SPECIAL FEATURES:

A Trailer and Photo Gallery is attached. 

AUDIO/VISUAL:

Visual is clear and sharp while the Dolby Digital 2.0 did a serviceable job within its scope.

MOVIE RATING:

DVD RATING :

Review by Linus Tee