Midnight Runners (Movie Review)

I'm working my way through this season's crop of dramas, and I'm sure I'll do a few review afterwards, but for now here's another movie. I didn't actually see myself watching this film, but I was surprised how well it held up - not only was it an action blockbuster type film, but it was genuinely funny with winning performances by winning actors, and had a poignant side I didn't expect but happily welcomed. On to the review.

Two police academy students go on a seemingly harmless night out, hoping to finally get girlfriends, so naturally they're taken aback when they witness a kidnapping and end up deep in the seedy criminal back allies, caught up in a human trafficking and egg farm case. Despite not having the authority to do so, the boys decide to take justice into their own hands. 

The comedy was perfect for me - not overly graphic or distasteful, but still too impolite for drama. I liked how the show didn't go from starkly comedy to starkly action thriller, jokes were slipped in here and there, keeping the movie upbeat, even when it was dealing with some disgusting themes. It doesn't take itself that seriously, but the boys take themselves very seriously, which is where the charm comes from.

  The entire spotlight went to our bumbling leads - although the rest of the cast was pretty awesome (Park Ha-sun and Sung Dong-il), the team clearly put all their effort into crafting the boys. Park Seo-joon and Kang Ha-neul were great casting choices; the chemistry between them was epic, which is honestly the biggest draw to the movie. They had such a natural rapport, you would think they've been best friends for years. Although they were designed to be complete opposites, their characters didn't just feel like a sum of contrasting parts, and I feel like the actors are mostly to credit for this. 

  Dark, bleak direction. Probably designed to represent how idealism doesn't exist in modern society, a common theme in the film. It was interesting how disillusioned our boys were by the end, and yet they chose to go against the bullshit rules and save people anyway. I hope there are people like this, who are willing to accept the consequences of their actions when they do things that they believe are truly right.

  It was sometimes brutal to the extent that it made me cringe, though - a lot of the charm in the action came from the boys, how despite the fact they're bumbling idiots they still managed to somehow take down bad guys, but otherwise the action would come more from beatings that were hard to watch. The reason this film is enjoyable is because this two seem like the least capable of tackling something so much bigger than themselves, and yet they beat the odds and met every hurdle as it came. But not without some hilarious floundering.

This is definitely one of the best films I've seen this year. Considering I've watched Vanishing Time, that's a big compliment. If the castings of the boys had been just a little off, I'm sure this wouldn't have been quite the experience it was for me, but overall it was solid and satisfying from start to finish. Now go watch it.