Korean movie "Midnight" review part two

 

 Release date: June 30, 2021 in theaters and also available for home viewing. Originally the film was supposed to have been released in the Autumn of 2020 but was delayed and you know why.

Length: 94 minutes    Director and screenwriter: Kwon Ob-Seung

Question and answer session with the cast

Main Cast: Really just the top four had much screen time. All of the action took place in one day, say about a fourteen hour stretch from noon until about 2:00 am, perhaps a bit later.

Jin Ki-Joo as Kim Kyung-Mi.... Thirty year old woman who is deaf and lives with her mother who is the same way, didn't know the condition could be hereditary. Kyung-Mi works at a call center as their hearing impaired service rep and became the target of a serial killer.

Kii Hae-Yeon as Mrs. Kim.... No first name  so just will refer to her as Kim in the posts. She's Kyung-Mi's mother who is also deaf and she works as a tailor.

Wi Ha-Joon as Do-Shik.... The serial killer who appears to be in his late twenties. Hate to say it but he's quite good at what he does as Do-Shik comes off as a very respectable businessman. But he's a ruthless person, he killed two in the film and who knows how many before that.

Park Hoon as Jong-Tak.... Also in his late twenties and works as a manger for a security company. He's a veteran and such an accomplished fighter as Do-Shik will find out, Jong-Tak is the older brother of the below woman.

Kim Hye-Won as So-Jong.... As mentioned the above's younger sister who we didn't see much of but that's because she had been captured by Do-Shik and left tied up in his van!

 That first recap was longer than I intended so will try to make this a bit briefer even though there's over half the film to review. Few observations first before we begin with the main one being.... Where were all the citizens of Seoul?!?! The city has close to ten million residents yet during these murders and long chase scenes not one other person was around. At the end there was yet how can all this action take place and we don't see another person on the streets? Also the police weren't put in a good light in this film as they came across as being useless bumblers and that's not the case in real life.

 At the end when the killer was on the verge of committing another murder they stood back and watched the action though they did fire a few shots, plus they kind of erred in this first scene that's a continuation from the last post. To begin off with Kyung-Mi, her mother Kim and the killer Do-Shik were all heading to the local police department, exciting scene but you had to scratch your head at how it played out. One other quickie, mentioned at how I was confused on who Kyung-Mi had seen in the alley and after looking at these screenshots and my notes there's no doubt it was Jong-Tak's sister 

So-Jung.

 At the station Kyung-Mi attempted to explain the events of the night and as I said in the first post no one in the Seoul PD knows sign language? Kyung-Mi can write on her phone or paper but it's a long process and even after she told of her attack and also of So-Jung's abduction the police didn't believe any of the story. One reason was because of the lack of CCTV footage, even that chase in the garage was somehow not filmed. Meanwhile Do-Shik was relishing the situation as he knew there was no way he could be named as the suspect, he started to become quite cocky and told the mother he had no sister! Kim eventually told her daughter that info and they instantly realized this was the man who had attempted to assault Kyung-Mi but what could they do? Above you can see a few screenshots of someone else who entered the station, it's Jong-Tak who is worried sick about his sister who didn't return home from her evening out with her friends.

 Kyung-Mi can read lips and knew he was talking about the woman she had seen earlier that night. The problem was so didn't Do-Shik and all of a sudden it looked like he would be backed into a corner. Not so fast as another person entered the station, it was a drunk who had some words with Do-Shik earlier there and came back to settle the dispute. It took all three officers(!) at the station to escort this drunk out of the building, when that happened Do-Shik laughingly told Jong-Tak he knew what happened to his sister.... he kidnapped her(!) and with that be lunged towards Jong-Tak to stab him. Huge mistake as Jong-Tak is a veteran who is a skilled fighter and he taught Do-Shik one serious lesson. But of course the police saw things the wrong way for when they returned to the station they saw Jong-Tak with the knife and beating Do-Shik to a pulp. The three quickly nabbed Jong-Tak who tried to explain this man kidnapped his sister, those words were in vain as they detained him and released Do-Shik!

 Things soon got sorted out at the station as Kyung-Mi and Jong-Tak explained to the police who Do-Shik really was, a serial killer! But they took no personal info from the man and bumbled everything up badly, who didn't err was Do-Shik. He's such a cunning man and at the station he was able to get Kyung-Mi's address without anyone realizing it, she and her mother are about to be paid a visit. Not the mother though who had an unexpected call from her employer and left the hose to see her, at 11:00 pm? That left Kyung-Mi alone in the house but not for long as soon entering it was Do-Shik who didn't have to worry about making any noise. There were motion detectors in the house but he was able to disable them and as you can see above he crept up to Kyung-Mi, she was texting on the phone warning her mother not to come home as one motion detector did light up. She was able to elude the sadistic man and locked herself in her bedroom, as you can also see above Do-SHik had an axe(?) and chopped the door down as Kyung-Mi attempted to jump out the window.

 She wasn't quite quick enough as Do-Shik grabbed her by the hair but had to release her after she began scratching his hands. It was only a one story fall and what ensued was one long chase through the back streets of Seoul, as I mused about in the intro they didn't pass one other person during this chase?! Somehow Kyung-Mi was able to remain in front of Do-Shik which was quite a feat as she didn't have any shoes on. But after about a four mile chase(!) Kyung-Mi took a wrong turn and was cornered in an alley with seemingly no way out. But a savior may come to her rescue, that would be Jong-Tak who was still looking for his sister So-Jung. The police released him after that scuffle and now know who the criminal was for the recent killings. During that extremely long chase there was one person who witnessed the scene and of all people it was Jong-Tak looking for his sister in the back alleys of Seoul. He wasn't too far behind them but neither knew Jong-Tak was there until the end when Kyung-Mi was cornered in the alley.

 We're getting close to the end, the final thirty minutes was one long continuous scene. So arriving at the dead end was Jong-Tak and was he really interested in saving Kyung-Mi? He seemed like a level headed man to me but when you're in a panic you don't always think straight, Jong-Tak may be a much better fighter than Do-Shik but he's one conniving man. He proposed Jong-Tak a deal, if he left the alley and kept his mouth shut he would tell him where his sister was, if not Jong-Tak would never see her again! Hard to think anyone would believe Do-Shik but Jong-Tak did, he agreed to the deal but the address where Do-Shik said she was hidden at was actually Kyung-Mi's house. Jong-Tak learned that the hard way when he went there, he did find Kyung-Mi's mother in a panic about her daughter and now both were on the hunt together. So being stuck in an alley with a serial killer would seem to be the end for the deaf woman Kyung-Mi but she has nine lives like a cat.

 Though attacked by Do-Shik she was able to flee the scene, a bit hurt but not badly enough and what made it worse for him was that Kyung-Mi had grabbed his knife. So about the fifth chase in this show took place and all were in a three hour stretch. But FINALLY we saw other people in Seoul as the chase ended on a very busy street with many clubs, stores and people milling about. In an unexpected twist Kyung-Mi hid in a dark alley, who should be there but Jong-Tak's sister So-Jong!!!! Wonder if when a person is deaf they don't realize they may be making sounds, say by their footsteps, kicking a can, etc. Mention that because arriving in that dark alley was Do-Shik and obviously he must have heard something. Kyung-Mi handed her phone to So-Jung and motioned to her to flee which she did, meanwhile Kyung-Mi went in the opposite direction and she was Do-Shik's main target. So-Jung was able to contact her brother Jong-Tak, she had to go to the hospital but wasn't badly hurt. He wanted to go too but So-Jung told him about Kyung-Mi and how she was in danger, whatever happens make sure he saves her!

 Final segment and much did happen in a short amount of time. So finally we saw some people on the streets of Seoul and because of that Kyung-Mi presumed she'd be saved. That was wishful thinking as she was still holding the knife she took from Do-Shik, that and the fact she had blood on her made others run away. Plus of course with Kyung-Mi being deaf she couldn't communicate with anyone and soon hid down an alley from Do-Shik. He had told the massive crowd Kyung-Mi was his deranged sister(!) which they believed, soon a trio of soldiers returned her to Do-Shik! But Kyung-Mi is such an elusive woman and perhaps that was because she was so scared of dying, she was able to flee from the serial killer once again but it's hard to escape from Do-Shik who soon cornered her in an alley. But arriving on the scene finally was Jong-Tak who was so furious with what Do-Shik had done to his sister. Jong-Tak pummeled him rather severely and could have killed him. He should have for he's a tough man to keep down and soon Do-Shik hit him over the head with an iron grate.

 So once again Kyung-Mi fled but after all this running she was just too exhausted to continue, it was time for a final showdown! She approached Do-Shik with the knife and he laughed saying there's no way she could stab him. Do-Shik was correct in a way and in a carefully planned move when she rushed the killer Kyung-Mi turned the knife around, ramming into Do-Shik made the knife pierce her stomach! During this whole time a huge crowd watched the action yet no person tried to help Kyung-Mi. Finally the police arrived on the scene, by now Do-Shik was holding the knife and was shot in the leg to prevent him from doing ay more damage. But the police just held their ground, it took Jong-Tak to arrive and restrain Do-Shik but not for long as he was stabbed, at last the police put Do-Shik put of his misery as they sprayed him with bullets. Save for a mini two minute scene that took place weeks later that ended this film and wonder how many others Do-Shik may have murdered?

 Longish review but it did turn out well after reading through it. Say that because my keyboard is still on it's last legs with a few loose letters and I'm constantly backspacing or adding in letters later. So that means I often loose my train of thought but that didn't happen in these two posts. Will give this a rating of a 8.4/10, a very solid story and an intense movie whose rating should have been higher. Got knocked down a bit because of the ineptness of the police plus never seeing any other people in the massive city of Seoul during those chases and attacks. Ki-Joo 😍 did learn sign language for this film and she did look so incredible plus did an excellent job with her deaf character. Being deaf and in serious trouble must be so frustrating as I witnessed in this film, that did add to the tension. Need to watch more recent horror films from Korea but don't think there's been all that many this past decade that weren't huge hits, some recommendations from you viewers would be appreciated.