The darkness wasn’t finished with South Korea.
After the assassination of President Park Chung-hee, a powerful military man, the leader of the secret Hanahoe military club, Chun Doo-hwan, had a wish to become the most powerful man in South Korea. But one man stands in his way. So, who will win the fight for the capital when two military factions race to reach it first and gain the upper hand on the enemy?
I don’t usually use spoilers in my movie reviews. Still, I have watched a lot of South Korean historical movies, including three about the assassination of President Park Chung-hee in 1979.
However, this was my first time watching a movie based on true events that happened shortly after his assassination. So, I learned something—not that much while watching the movie—but I read a great deal later about the sick man who wanted to grip South Korea in an iron fist: the disgusting Chun Doo-hwan. So, I don’t care if I spoil anything about what happens in this movie since it’s mostly aimed at a South Korean audience. They know their history, and this is a historical movie. So yes, I’m going to spoil who reaches the capital first and wins the country.
Did I like this movie? No, I can’t say I did. The movie has a huge problem: the so-called good guys in the story are useless idiots. The evil mastermind who controls the villains—if we can even call them that—Chun Doo-hwan, is a cartoon character played by the excellent Hwang Jung-min. He is such a great actor, and he has never been uglier than in the role of this sick and disgusting human being, Chun Doo-hwan. He’s a cartoon character who escapes every time he’s in big trouble, playing with the good guys, who are a bunch of morons. So, I couldn’t take this movie seriously because, for me, there’s way too much satire here.
And are the good guys really good? Would they have tried to protect Chun Doo-hwan if he had been the sitting president? That’s something the movie never answers. But most of the good guys are cowards of the first order, turning them into comical characters. They would sacrifice their own family to the enemy just to save themselves, and there’s even a scene that shows us that. Pathetic cowards!
If you don’t know anything about what happened or the most important characters, this movie won’t give you many answers because it lacks character depth. It’s a race against time where two military factions are trying to reach the capital first.
You have the rebels led by the disgusting Hanahoe leader Chun Doo-hwan and his annoying dialect, and the so-called good guys trying to stop the coup d’état, led by Lee Tae-shin, played by Jung Woo-sung. We never really get to know them, except that the main villain talks a lot while the good guy is surrounded by idiots.
That doesn’t make for a fun movie experience, especially when you know this is based on a true story. The filmmakers crafted a fast-paced thriller, but it lacked emotional impact. The villains won, and South Korea will never forget what happened when this idiot of a loser, who should have gotten a lot of plastic surgeries, became president and slaughtered students in 1980 with the support of the Americans. We live—and will always live—in a sick world. Unfortunately, there are so many stupid and naïve people in the world who can’t think for themselves. Stupid idiots!
But the point is, this movie feels more like a suspenseful satire because of how stupid the good guys are compared to the villains, led by a disgusting, talkative leader who desperately needed plastic surgery to fix his ugly face. He’s ugly both inside and out, that bald bastard! And no, I’m not talking about the actor—I’m talking about the real despicable worm, Chun Doo-hwan. Just read about what happened to him after his presidency, when he was sentenced to life in prison but got released shortly after. Welcome to South Korea—it’s not the country you think it is.
It’s pretty disturbing that people romanticize South Korea without knowing its dark and disturbing history. Not that long ago, this messed-up society was living in hell. I hope one day they find themselves and realize that beauty and money aren’t the road to happiness. That road leads to selfishness, greed, a cold society, and presidents like Chun Doo-hwan.