Uriah43 After extensive combat training in North Korea an agent by the name of "Bang-hee Lee" (Yoon-jin Kim) infiltrates South Korea and blends in to the general society under the name of "Myung-hyun Lee". She then proceeds to kill key people within the South Korean government and industry. This results in an intensive program to neutralize her and two of the best special agents available "Jong Won Yu" (Suk-kyu Han) and "Mu-young Park" (Min-sik Choi) are assigned to this difficult mission. Yet no matter how hard they try they are always one step behind which leads them to believe that there is a mole within their organization. Meanwhile several more North Korean agents are sent and the stakes become much greater. Now rather than reveal any more of this movie and risk spoiling it for those who haven't seen it I will just say that this was a pretty good South Korean espionage movie with action and intrigue being the two most dominant features. Admittedly, because of the cultural differences it was a little difficult at times for me to figure out what was going on but the ending helped to clarify most of it. Likewise, I thought that some of the action—especially on the part of the North Korean agents—was much too incredible to be believed. Apparently, all of the special agents sent from North Korea are supermen while those in South Korea couldn't shoot straight or hit the broadside of a barn on a good day. Apparently, Hollywood isn't the only place where fantasy and reality are twisted and confused. Be that as it may, other than some of the absurd action scenes, this movie wasn't too bad and I rate it as slightly above average.

lastliberal You want realistic military training? How about the first one to assemble their gun gets to shoot the competitor in the head? How about target practice with real soldiers interspersed between?How about a film that out grossed Titanic in Korea?How about a really hot secret agent (Yunjin Kim)?Lots of action and exploding buildings. Not really up on the politics, so I am sure I missed something. As some have said, the film is a metaphor for those who want to see a united Korea. The two lovers represent that effort.At the end, it is a rush to find the assassin at a futbol game between the two countries.

tedg Is it possible to make a Bruckheimer movie and not be stupidly loud and ugly?Maybe. At least there are some parts of this that make it seem so. But they are surrounded by parts that are so automatic and banal it seems that different directors were involved. Or there was a sort of Jekyll and Hyde swapping of personalities.For example, there is the required Bruckheimer shot of two guys (sometimes it is a guy and a girl) running away from a car (or house) that they know will explode, then they lunge forward, pretending to be pushed by the shock of the fireball behind that fills the screen. Groan. I hope never to see that again. Ever. Each assassination causes our heroes to get blood splashed on their faces. There's a shootout with fishtanks... yeah, you've seen it before. At least there were no helicopter jumps onto speeding trains. There's an odd, odd choice in soundtrack; the severest action scenes have a sedate fifties action track behind them, obviously copied -- perhaps literally -- from that era.But in between there are some elements that are uniquely styled. There's an opening sequence that is energetic, and essential to introducing us to a kickass female killer. There are some scenes with a "Mr and Mrs Smith" flavor where the mundane domestic love is allowed to breath and seem real. And deep.Two guys directing, I think. Or one guy, two nations.Ted's Evaluation -- 1 of 3: You can find something better to do with this part of your life.

markbeardslee I rented "Shiri" because I was intrigued by its premise. Based on its plot summary, I thought the pro-(an?)-tagonist would be a woman similar to the real North Korean spy who blew up a South Korean airliner in the 80s. She was captured and apparently kept alive in a secret location by the South Korean government as a source of valuable information on North Korea. Unfortunately, I was gravely mistaken.Hyped as "groundbreaking," this film left me wondering, "What ground?" It is more like pavement-breaking, a noisy, unoriginal and tiresome process. Sure, it touches on areas that have been heretofore off-limits to Korean filmmakers (the nature of the contemporary North/South conflict), but it is shameful that this film, wildly popular in South Korea, happened to be the first to do so. I don't find this film to be much more than the work of a Korean director trying to imitate Jerry Bruckheimer. The action scenes are well choreographed and extremely violent, and that works to a certain simple degree. But the important elements are lacking: the drama is suspect, the mystery all-too-obvious, the romantic scenes predictably contrived. One excellent scene, however, occurs at the beginning when the "assassin-ess" is undergoing her training. One of her tasks is to shoot at a line of North Korean soldiers, who stand stoic and apparently unafraid, and miss them by firing between their heads. This is brilliantly original, enough to make the toughest among us wince. But, for the most part, this film makes us wince for other reasons."Have you ever seen starving parents eat the flesh of their own kids?" An admittedly powerful line, it also gruesomely and aptly sums up the film: lots of choice bits, but the whole thing is really a horrible mess. "Shiri" dissolves into an intentionally confusing, predictably violent conclusion. While there are indeed some intelligent observations made about the nature of North/South Korean relations, nothing particularly meaningful, inventive or revolutionary is offered. It's the same old line that the South seeks unification by peaceful means and the North seeks it through violence. Ho hum. As I said, Jerry Bruckheimer."Shiri" is marketed as a sexy film although there is no sex or sexiness in it. It is hailed as groundbreaking but I fail to see any ground being broken. This weak combination of spy/action/adventure/drama/romance is overly hyped, its promoters know that they are disingenuous in recommending this film, its payoff is nonexistent and, if this is any indication of what the Korean film "renaissance" is all about, I want no part of it. As Asian films, Korean ones among them, become more and more popular, I hope that they will become more and more good. Sadly, "Shiri" does not live up to that hope despite much hype, many enthusiastic reviews and, granted, quality cinematography. The story, the plot and the final screenplay all just fall terribly flat. I must give this movie a big thumbs down.