If he is going to be able to track down Somi and her abductors before something worse than what happened to her mother befalls her, Tae-sik has to focus and find the man he once was before the tragedy that made him the shadow of a man he is now. The story leads that Somi’s mother is both a prostitute, and drug runner for the evil brothers, and when they use her as a hapless murder victim to frame Tae-sik, and kidnap Somi to use in their child drug mule scams, that a wounded and angry Tae-sik seeks the aid of a former military contact to get his head on straight. That scene in and of itself and the shock of the bad guy’s faces upon realizing they may be biting off more than they can chew will make you stick around to until the end. Tae-sik’s first encounter with the baddies henchmen is quite humorous when he relieves one henchman of his knife with such blinding speed you almost miss it, and the next henchman of consciousness that the filmmaker disappointingly does not let the viewer witness but only the aftermath of the remaining assailants very reluctant to engage the hero further. There is the cliché-ick revelation by the brother villains Man-seok and Jong-seok (played by Hee-wong Kim, known for The Merciless and Woochi, and Seong-oh Kim of Secret Garden and Fighter in the Wind) that their mysterious, pawnshop adversary is a former Chinese military commando, government agent, and assassin with a painful past. I have been very happy to find over the years that Asian cinema is not all martial arts related, and giant monsters, even though I love both of those, but, minus the giant monsters, The Man From Nowhere sets up all the characters in the first half of the film, and gets you salivating for more before going ‘John Wick’ the second half of the movie. The character design of Tae-sik seems ripped from a dark anime with his tall, thin build and black hair half covering his face, but with every movement onscreen you can tell there is a lethal past to this ominously quiet figure.Īnd yes the base storyline in this film seems like something you have seen before, and the action is slow until the end, but the story builds strong, and the director Jeong-beom Lee, weaves a tale of drug and child trafficking coupled with illegal organ trafficking that will make you bloodthirsty, and if you are a pacifist even question your stance in life, for the villains to get their just desserts in the end.įiction comes from the fact, and just as an added note, Bon Win is a UNICEF representative for kids in South Korea, which explains him being drawn to this immensely strong script. Their dynamic reminds me a lot of Luc Besson’s characters from the 1994 film Leon: The Professional, but unlike Jean Reno’s assassin that has some humorous moments trying to cheer up Natalie Portman’s orphaned little girl, Tae-sik NEVER loses his intensity.
The little girl’s name is Somi (played by Sae-ron Kim also known for A Girl at my Door and A Brand New Life) who gives a heartbreaking performance as the practically homeless Somi, and she is so sweet, you can not imagine anyone ever mistreating this child, and that is the very element of her character that allows Bon Win’s Cha Tae-sik to reluctantly look out for her from time to time.
The Man From Nowhere, released in South Korea as Ajeossi, is a story about a simple, yet mysterious pawn shop owner from China (played by Korean actor Bon Win known also for Mother (not the American horror film) and Tae Guk Gi: The Brotherhood of War) who befriends a young 10 year old girl that lives in his building with her drug-addicted mother who abuses and neglects her. If you are looking for a ticking time bomb of an action-thriller film that will get your insides in a proverbial twist, then this is the film for you!
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