NOWHERE TO HIDE is a much-hyped South Korean action thriller that follows a much-used template: a dogged detective who will stop at nothing to track down a master-criminal against whom he has a personal vendetta. It's the kind of slim, pared-down storyline that's kept the thriller genre alive for the past sixty years or so and shows no signs of flagging thus far, and when played out in conjunction with Myung-se Lee's ultra-stylish direction it really should work. Sadly, though, the resulting film is hollow and superficial in the extreme: very stylish, yes, and great to look at, but ultimately unfulfilling.
Myung-se Lee's problem is that he's far too interested in his cinematography and not in his own story, which doesn't really go anywhere. Lots of recent films are centred around detectives pursuing bad guys through the streets; THE CHASER, for instance, with its superlative pimp-vs-serial-killer shenanigans. But they have to have more than just action to make them work: likable characters, for one, and realism, combined with peppery dialogue. NOWHERE TO HIDE looks great, but that's all it has to say for itself.
The film is a jumble of frenzied editing ranging from extreme slow motion, missing images, fast cuts, freeze frames and plenty more. Combined with a pumping soundtrack and a great use of colour, it's a fascinating visual experience. But the dickhead detective and the sullen criminals he pursues through the back streets are singularly uninteresting and the various chase sequences quickly become repetitive. By the end, there's enough material to have ably filled a ten-minute short; but at a two-hour run time, it's just too little to sustain the interest. In the end, NOWHERE TO HIDE is a missed opportunity.
Myung-se Lee's problem is that he's far too interested in his cinematography and not in his own story, which doesn't really go anywhere. Lots of recent films are centred around detectives pursuing bad guys through the streets; THE CHASER, for instance, with its superlative pimp-vs-serial-killer shenanigans. But they have to have more than just action to make them work: likable characters, for one, and realism, combined with peppery dialogue. NOWHERE TO HIDE looks great, but that's all it has to say for itself.
The film is a jumble of frenzied editing ranging from extreme slow motion, missing images, fast cuts, freeze frames and plenty more. Combined with a pumping soundtrack and a great use of colour, it's a fascinating visual experience. But the dickhead detective and the sullen criminals he pursues through the back streets are singularly uninteresting and the various chase sequences quickly become repetitive. By the end, there's enough material to have ably filled a ten-minute short; but at a two-hour run time, it's just too little to sustain the interest. In the end, NOWHERE TO HIDE is a missed opportunity.