The Man From Nowhere (2010)

Studio: CJ Entertainment / United Pictures
Theatrical Release: August 4, 2010
Home Release: March 8, 2011
Director: Lee Jeong-beom
Rated R

Review by James Klein

If you mixed The Professional, Hard-Boiled, Taken, and the Sergio Leone "Man With No Name" films you may get something like The Man From Nowhere; South Korea's action-packed edge of your seat thriller. This is only director Jeong-beom Lee's second film and already he has made a name for himself as a director who can direct great action scenes with some riveting performances. If you're in the mood for a tense action film, The Man From Nowhere is for you.

Tea-Sik Cha is a quiet, mysterious pawnbroker who quietly watches his next door neighbor So-Mi from time to time as she is constantly left alone by her drug addicted mother. When her mother steals drugs from a crime lord right when the police are about to do a bust, both the police and the crime lord are after her, with the mob kidnapping So-Mi. Unbeknownst to all of them, Tae-Sik is fond of the little girl and will stop at nothing to get her back.

While the film has numerous subplots with characters going in and out of the film, the movie never gets boring or confusing. The film takes it's time for us to get to know Tae-Sik Cha and So-Mi but it doesn't waste any time getting to the action scenes either. The Man From Nowhere has some pretty spectacular action scenes that are masterfully shot and directed (check out the "making-of on the blu ray). One scene of Tae-Sik jumping out of a window had me grabbing the remote control to see how they shot such a realistic scene without anyone getting hurt. The film even made me nostalgic for the days of old Hong Kong action films by the likes of John Woo and Ringo Lam. Fans of recent Hollywood "action" films really need to see this on how action films SHOULD be made.

The blu ray just adds to the white-knuckle excitement too. The picture is crystal clear and the sound effects are so crisp and loud without being distracting. You can hear the sounds of car crashes from various sides of the room as well as bone being scraped by knives (there is a wicked climatic knife fight that puts the ending of Kill Bill to shame) and gunshots hitting bodies. If you ever wanted to test out your sound system, this is a film that should be used as a demo.

While the ending is a bit too sappy and seems to go on a little too long, The Man From Nowhere is a great action film that needs to be seen by American audiences. Hopefully it will find a home on blu ray.