K-Movie Review — Hitman: Agent Jun (2020)
2020 started with numerous shocking events in the movie industry as a Korean movie won several Oscar awards and took the world by surprise as a huge storm, I personally was among the people who skeptical about this new emerging trend even after I personally watched Parasite (2019) and drenched in the very trend itself. The negative bias of pretty K-pop culture that littered with an unmanly guy that wore makeup and dress like drag queen always succeed to put me off and reluctant to even understand the stories behind Korean culture, but Parasite (2019) show me a raw side of Korea that wasn’t pretty and all fabricated with makeups and designer clothes. A few moments after the Parasite (2019) took the stage and the limelight has slowly faded, my soon-to-be wife throws me a curveball at another Korean movie that she insisting heavily I should watch, as any soon to be husband, I follow suit. It’s a new year after all so starting a new habit and ditching a negative bias that I hold on dearly about Korean culture and movies might be a good way to start it anyway.
Starting with the very general title this movie is surely not taking any plus credit, I mean like who the hell going to predict with a title such as Hitman: Agent Jun (2020) is going be another Korean bomb that might put Parasite (2019) on par in term of rivalries and competition. The way they design the poster itself is surely misleading to another generic Korean movie that ordinary guy like me that wasn’t into Korean stuff got the urge to watch it. The plot of combining occupational stress Manhwa (Korean comic) artist and hidden life of a Hitman sounds very peculiar to combine, it’s like dipping your beloved McD’s French fries to the ice cream cone, it sounds very gross and utterly stupid before we even dare to do such, but it works out awesome once we tasted it guys!
Okay, I know you all are still wondering what kind of movie I am blabbing about, so here is short summary of Hitman: Agent Jun (2020) in my own hillbilly vocab. It’s a common story of a retired special agent that fabricated his own death to pursue normal life as a boring comic artist, littered with daily mediocre stresses of not able to pay bills and got bullied by his own fierce bread-winner wife and having a stubborn daughter to endure with. Up until the sudden turn of his penniless fate let him make a mistake, that reveals all of his past streams through his new life and letting the past life as a special agent biting him right in the ankle again. Sounds familiar like any other undercover agents such as Bourne (2002), Taken (2008), Transporter (2002) or any other movie in the similar bracket, out of the similarity Hitman: Agent Jun (2020) able to show an unrevealed side of Korean movie industry that haven’t been exposed to the world outside, despite the same vibes of Kung Fu Hustle (2004) it provided, I felt some special vibrations that resonance well with actions and dirty slapstick jokes much like what they had in Crank (2006).
Let’s start with what the director Won-Sub Choi did awesome in this movie, spoilers alert! In casting department I am practically a mute virgin on Korean actors and actresses, so I can’t even give a deeper dive on their past work and all, but all I know as an amateur Korean moviegoers Choi did a great job of showing us all that Korea is not filled with pretty gay-ish guys that plagued with numerous plastic surgery but also normal-looking people who make the world running in daily routine. Whoever plays in this movie shows us a strong facial expression to aid us to understand the scene despite the double subtitle that made us distracted in the movie, they have done their best acting with vivid facial muscle exercise to help us catch the message conveyed. Added with typical Korean special gross effect (e.g., exaggerated spit, dick hanging, etc) Hitman: Agent Jun (2020) depicted how Korean Movie industry had their own way to made message gone through our head and over, for 110 Minute you will be immersed in full slapstick and conditional jokes along with action and awesome close-quarter fighting choreography that similar to what you had at John Wick (2014). What so special is you also had the same exact time to laugh as their jokes got tucked deep inside most of that serious fighting scene, gross slapstick jokes will emerge at the least moment we could ever expect. Even at the saddest scene where the whole moral messages of friendship and family values are being shown the contagious jokes ensued out of nowhere. This is a new level of ingenuity that coming from Choi and succeed to lift Hitman: Agent Jun (2020) to a new level of the pedestal that might race against how Deadpool (2016) does it.
In my humble opinion, there are few departments that Hitman: Agent Jun (2020) could really improve to add more edge and show some teeth, regarding the perfect combinations of odd stuff they blend in this movie. I still found a few inconsistent special effects, especially related to wound and bullet visual, which got moved and healed magically that might ruin the continuity of the movie. While it is great to combine 2D graphic scenes to depict the comic strip of what the main character made in the movie come to life, I find it as a lazy work and surely the 2D graphic could do a better job to make the visualizations more vivid and alive. A helicopter at sea scene in the opening could really use proper CGI upgrades rather than weighing the whole movie with a crappy CGI and it is not really cool just to snatch Deadpool (2016) weapons bag scene and just dump it in the movie so anyone can laugh at recycled jokes. The biggest sin Hitman: Agent Jun (2020) was not giving enough room, time, and credit for us the viewers to enjoy each sad, tense and thrilling scene, I mean an extra 3 seconds would work best after the emotional hammer hit us, you don’t have to spam it with unnecessary jokes and let us cry or gasp in awe for designated scene that Choi had built for us to enjoy. It is freaking confusing to cry and laugh at the same seconds, to hold our breath in awe and inhaling hilariously at the same scenes, it’s just purely annoying to keep flicking the emotional button in rapid concessions.
The verdict conclusions of Hitman: Agent Jun (2020) is actually a great movie that really opens my eyes to another layer of the Korean movie industry and culture and able to shed the negative bias of K-pop that gross-out normal guys from ever watching Korean movie. As for me, now I am converted to Korean movies and cultures after watching Hitman: Agent Jun (2020), I still am believe pretty boys are wrong but able to tolerate Korean culture a little bit wiser due to this awesome movie. It’s a solid 7 due to the bomb they packed inside this very movie and might even score better if the cons mentioned above are mitigated sooner and didn’t make the final cut, you should see how big my soon to be wife smile is as I said I enjoyed the movie. In case you don’t trust this very effect, I dare you to watch Hitman: Agent Jun (2020) at your expense and be ready to be converted as I am now!