The Good, The Bad, The Weird (2008)

You ever rent a movie that you've never heard of before and it looks kind of odd, then within the first ten minutes you're online buying it?  There have been a few of those for me, but none more immediate than The Good, The Bad, The Weird. It's a Korean western that takes place in 1940s Manchuria in the middle of the Japanese occupation. It's filled with awesome action scenes, but it's also an incredibly well acted movie with three very memorable characters.

First of all, I can't speak highly enough of Kang-ho Song. Here, he plays "the Weird," Yoon Tae-goo, a train robber who is more bumbling and less smooth in action sequences than his counterparts. The guy is comedy gold, and not with over the top comedy bits. It's a unique, subtle kind of action comedy. It's almost shades of Jackie Chan - only more with gunplay instead of martial arts. But, Tae-goo has a bit of a dark history. Turns out, he's not as simple and likable as we originally thought (it's not necessarily a huge plot changing reveal, but I won't spoil it either way).

Then, there's Woo-Sung Jung's role of "the Good." Park Do-won is a bounty hunter chasing down the notorious Finger Chopper. Do-won isn't so much "good" as much as he is "not bad." He spends most of the movie paired up with Tae-goo. The way that he deals with Tae-goo is really amusing, and again, it's a more subtle style. When a tied up Tae-goo manages to escape Do-won's shack only to stumble onto Do-won and his family, he lies to say that the hook he was tied to just came out. Do-won, obviously knowing what really happened, casually just responds with, "Ok." It's subtle, but amusing. That's how he plays the character throughout the entire movie. Of course, he's also cool for the most awesome (and least efficient) way to reload a rifle.

Though Tae-goo is my favorite character, the real gem of this flick is in Byung-hung Lee's villain, Park Chang-yi. This guy is an awesome villain. Chang-yi is kind of an evil rock star. He looks like he comes straight from a K-Pop boy band with the hair swept over one eye, but he's got scars on his face and kills for the smallest of reasons. He is a trained assassin and is highly skilled. In one of the most over the top (but totally awesome) sequences, he wakes up to find a centipede crawling up the far wall. He throws his knife to kill it, impaling the bug. Then, just to prove a point, he pulls out his pistol and fires three shots at the knife to hammer it in deeper. That pretty much tells you all you need to know about him.

The movie begins with an incredible train robbing sequence. After the initial sequence, which is such a high point, it's easy to imagine that there's nowhere to go from here but down. Well, you'd be wrong in this case! Director Jee-woon Kim is careful to include breathing points: you don't want to tire out the audience too much. Yet he also makes sure there's plenty of action. The train robbing scene is great, but let's not forget the incredible battle in that town - which, man, what an awesome set. And, of course, it features the largest, craziest, most awesome chase sequence at the end ever (that is, until Mad Max: Fury Road came out)!

It all comes down to a Mexican stand off among Tae-goo, Do-won, and Chang-yi. It's another kind of over the top sequence, but it kind of feels like a loving nod to the Western genre (which a lot of the movie is, but with the unique Korean flare). I won't spoil it, but it's definitely a cool scene.

In the end, the treasure gold or diamonds. It wound up being a hot spot for oil. After the Mexican standoff, the geyser erupts to show us all the oil that was there. Suddenly, we realize why that map was so valuable. The Bank (who hired Chang-yi to steal it) wanted it because they knew how valuable oil was from a long term financial perspective. The Japanese Army wanted it because they knew how valuable oil was for their war effort. The Ghost Market Gang just wanted it because they could sell it for a lot of money and quick. Everyone except our main characters know why the map is valuable.  Really, it's not about the map for any of them. Tae-goo wanted the treasure initially, but Chang-yi was chasing him for revenge while Do-won was chasing them for their bounties. In that way, it is another rather subtle source of comedy that our three main characters have the smallest stake in the map.

The movie is incredibly fun and entertaining. If you like action movies (especially with a Western flare), you should definitely check this movie out. As I said, I fell in love with this movie within the first ten minutes of my first viewing. I've watched it dozens of times since and it never gets old. (This is also one of the movies that makes me feel lucky to work at a movie theater and have access to the screens after hours. I can watch this on the big screen any time!)