It is clear that the success of the ‘John Wick’ saga has led to the arrival of several of his heirs over the years. I am clear that the best of them so far was ‘Nobody’, but also that there are still a few more to come. The next to do it will be ‘Boksoon must die’a vibrant Korean action thriller that Netflix premieres this Friday, March 31.
One of the distinctive features of ‘Boksoon Must Die’ is that it also introduces a secret society of assassins that is very difficult to get out of, in which Gil Bok-soon is the best assassin in the “show” company (this is how they call all orders to liquidate someone) with greater renown. The problem is that in addition to killing people, he also has to raise his teenage daughter, who is completely unaware of her mother’s job. And the truth is that he’s much better at finishing assignments than connecting with her.
A bet with personality
I admit that my problem with some Korean action movies is that they are too intense, and I am not referring to the action scenes, but to the way in which they handle the dramatic component, hence my surprise when the wonderful sequence The start of ‘Boksoon must die’ does not hesitate to display a sense of humor similar to that of a certain episode of ‘Buffy’ in which the character played by Sarah Michelle Gellar he spent a lot of time talking about his problems with a vampire he had to eliminate.
In addition, that also serves to make an unbeatable presentation of the main character played by Jeon Do-yeon, showing both his great skills and his ability to adapt in a direct and effective way. This combination of lightness and categoricalness makes it a fabulous choice to start differentiating itself from the first moment, without forgetting to pay due attention to the action scenes to also win over the public that has given the film a chance exclusively because it belongs to said genre. It is true that they are far from the sublime stylization of the franchise led by Keanu Reevesbut also that they are much higher than those of practically all of the recent blockbusters coming out of Hollywood.
However, ‘Boksoon must die’ He is not content with showing us a most particular murdererwhere one of the most successful resources is to influence their ability to see what could happen in certain situations and anticipate those possible errors that could be their downfall -something that is also correctly dosed so that in no case does it become repetitive or saturate. to the viewer-, but beware, this also extends to her condition as a mother, although in this case it does not help her much to avoid the constant rejection of her daughter.
There we find another point in common with the ‘John Wick’ saga, although precisely with something that was only intuited in that saga, since the latter’s character had withdrawn out of love for his wife, while here it is love for his daughter. which leads the protagonist to want to put aside her peculiar way of life. This is something that Byun Sung-hyundirector and screenwriter of the film, takes the opportunity to develop this universe of shadow assassins a little more.
An exhilarating cocktail that becomes unbalanced at the end
All this helps to enrich ‘Boksoon must die’, since it manages to maintain a balance between the seriousness of the situation and that light touch that the film introduces from its first scene. It is a delicate balance, of course, since one aspect or another is strengthened depending on each sequence, but Sung-hyun manages to get ahead gracefully, giving his best in the execution of the action scenes, but also remembering then Not to take yourself too seriously.
Key to this is also the contribution of Do-yeon, who perfectly understands that her most vulnerable side can only appear in relation to her relationship with her daughter and that this is something that increases as the minutes go by. Of course, along the way she does not hesitate so much to show the most playful side of her as to exhibit an enviable physical display so that we believe that she is simply the best at her job.
The main problem of ‘Boksoon wants to die’ ends up being its ambition, since here we want to cover a lot and close everything in a single film. For this reason, the final section ends up being somewhat overloaded by the need to tie up all the loose ends. It is true that it is appreciated that it does not seek to be the beginning of a franchise, but that does not mean that the first ‘John Wick’ shined more in that section -a separate matter is that its success later motivated three sequels-. That leads to the great catharsis not working quite well. Yes, there are specific situations that are very well resolved -I am thinking, for example, of the final duel and the enormous visual display around it-, but one of the keys to the film until then is how well it flowed and here there are small bottlenecks that tarnish a bit the final result. Nothing serious, but there it is.
So is it worth it or not?
‘Boksoon must die’ is a remarkable korean action thriller and one of the best movies on Netflix so far in 2023. However, it is not quite a complete work and, personally, I would stay much sooner with ‘John Wick 4’. That does not mean that it is highly recommended for action movie lovers, especially for those who want to see something a little different within the genre.
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