Film Review: Target

Just two weeks prior, I had the utmost pleasure of watching South Korea's tech crime thriller, Target. Now, I say "tech crime thriller", but in all honesty, there's a healthy number of horror elements in the movie. 

Target is a gripping tale of an online commercial transaction gone wrong. Security is compromised, privacy is invaded, and threats to life are carried out as things escalate. This film is actually based on a number of real-life police cases, and hits uncomfortably close to home if you're a frequent user of second-hand online dealing apps.

Warning - blood, violence and spoilers!

Not neccessarily in that particular order.

The Premise

Soo-Hyun buys a second-hand washing machine online through an app, and finds herself the victim of a fraudulent purchase. Outraged, she tracks down the cheat and engages in a war of words, after which she begins to experience breaches of her privacy at the hands of the cheat, now turned online stalker. As threats to her life and safety ramp up, the police get involved and this cumulates in a brutal showdown.

The Characters

Shin Hye-Sun plays the role of protagonist Jang Soo-Hyun, your run-of-the-mill office worker. I can't say enough good things about her performance. Her character was believable and sympathetic, not distractingly beautiful and conveyed a compelling combination of both spunk and fragility. Shin portrayed the increasing paranoia and the psychological breakdown of her character like a pro.

Im Sung-jae as the unnamed killer. With his bulky frame and murderous glare, he cuts a chilling figure when we, the audience, finally see his face.

Kim Sung-Kyun plays experienced and short-fused Detective Joo with jaded weariness. It's a character whose gruff exterior hides an empathetic core, and Kim really sinks his teeth into it. It's nice to see one of the male leads in a Korean movie that doesn't have to be prettier than the actresses to keep you invested in the outcome.

Kang Tae-Oh as Detective Na. Earnest, sympathetic and enthusiastic, Kang did a pretty good job portraying a competent but less experienced detective trying his best.

Lee Joo-young as Soo-Hyun's buddy Oh Dal-Ja. I liked her in the role, but I'm not sure it was all that necessary. She just didn't have that much to do. She was pretty funny, though!

Lim Chul-Soo as Soo-Hyun's boss. Goofy wannabe Romeo to Soo-Hyun, who's a lot less charming than he probably thinks he is, Lim had the thankless task of trying to play a rather unlikeable character who did not have much to offer the plot except act as a red herring and later get killed off.

Geum Sae-Rok has a small but significant role as one of the killer's former victims, showing the audience that Soo-Hyun isn't overreacting. Geum's fear was almost palpable through the screen.

The Mood

The movie begins somewhat light-heartedly, with colorful screencaps superimposed over the footage to show what users are buying and selling. There's a little bit of comedy thrown in here and there, but the first clue you get that this isn't a rom-com, is when the first victim gets murdered.

As things develop and Soo-Hyun starts getting stalked, it starts getting increasingly creepy. Disquieting doesn't even begin to describe it.

Car chase scenes and brutal fistfights, though, round things out with plenty of tension in the final quarter of the movie.

What I liked

No one does movie violence like the Koreans. No one! The shaky cam car chases, the visceral feel of life-or-death fisticuffs, the sound of knifeblades entering flesh. If it's violence you seek, you can't go wrong with Korean.

The acting in there was top-notch. By my abysmally low standards, anyway. I gasped, I cringed. I cheered. Emotionally, this movie had me by the balls.

The fact that this movie deals with the dangers of online commerce, and its realistic take on police protection, is a huge plus.

Those guys that the killers send over to pester Joo-Hyun are suitably creepy. It did feel corny at first, but the execution was sublime. From the telltale bleep of Joo-Hyun's door being opened by a total stranger who thinks he's there to answer a booty call... the premise doesn't sound scary when I say it, but it's really something you'd need to watch for yourself.

I really love all the detective work thrown in by Joo-Hyun and, well, the detectives.

What I didn't

Why did the killer attack Detective Joo first instead of just running off? That made no goddamn sense.

The killer was just a tad too Terminator-like in his sheer determination to fuck everyone up. Like, how much punishment should a man take before he finally just fucking dies? That ruined believability for me.

And why wasn't the trap better laid? Why did it had to come down to a fight to the death? Seriously, this felt sloppy AF.

Conclusion

For all its flaws, and believe me, there are plenty, Target is one helluva ride from start to finish. It's a cautionary tale of trusting online strangers with your money and information, and the many ways systems like these can be abused. And then this is taken up several notches. You don't have to be a techie to enjoy this one - if you just like a good old serial killer movie, this does just fine.

My Rating

8 / 10

Are you sold on this movie yet?
T____T