I SAW THE DEVIL=ISTD (rating 7.5 but obviously not 8!
Yes it may not be a comfortable watch for all but the ones who can tolerate gore and blood this revenge thriller is a MASTERPIECE!! It sends chills to your spine!!
Well the actors are great, but it is too violent for my taste. Some of the scenes like slamming the head are too visual.
Heartthrob Lee Byung-hun (who was here in June recently for ScreenSingapore) plays Soo- hyun, an elite secret agent whose wife suffered the misfortune of being under the crosshair of serial killer Kyung-chul (Choi Min-sik of Oldboy fame), who brutally assaults and hacks her up. Promising that her killer will suffer an equally unsurmountable amount of pain, he embarks on a one man vigilante mission, with the help of his father-in-law, an ex police chief, to narrow down the list of suspects upon whom he delivers punishment without remorse, even for those who were not the culprits, but nasty people nonetheless.
I saw the Devil is an intense, gritty, terrifying thriller, something that we do not see much of in the US. I saw the Devil follows a secret agent type cop, who's wife is murdered.
Really really impressive movie, very dark.Right there on top of the list among the best of the genre along with Seven, Silence of the lambs, Prisoners, etc..
Not for the faint of heart, 'I Saw The Devil (2010)' follows in the footsteps of 'Se7en (1995)' with its unrelentingly oppressive atmosphere and unflinching portrayals of the consequences of violence. The film follows an agent who goes after the serial killer who butchered his fiancée, performing a series of vicious captures and releases in the hopes of achieving 'true revenge'.
It baffles me how a movie with a non-sense plot can get such higher rating. I was sucked into watching this movie by some higher reviews and was disappointed.
The concept is a unique twist on the crime genre with amazing, exhilarating, and sickening takes on revenge. Unfortunately the concept is where the good ideas stop.