Diagonaldi Very well executed

Tayyab Torres Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

Kaydan Christian A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Deanna There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

Uriah43 After extensive combat training in North Korea an agent by the name of "Bang-hee Lee" (Yoon-jin Kim) infiltrates South Korea and blends in to the general society under the name of "Myung-hyun Lee". She then proceeds to kill key people within the South Korean government and industry. This results in an intensive program to neutralize her and two of the best special agents available "Jong Won Yu" (Suk-kyu Han) and "Mu-young Park" (Min-sik Choi) are assigned to this difficult mission. Yet no matter how hard they try they are always one step behind which leads them to believe that there is a mole within their organization. Meanwhile several more North Korean agents are sent and the stakes become much greater. Now rather than reveal any more of this movie and risk spoiling it for those who haven't seen it I will just say that this was a pretty good South Korean espionage movie with action and intrigue being the two most dominant features. Admittedly, because of the cultural differences it was a little difficult at times for me to figure out what was going on but the ending helped to clarify most of it. Likewise, I thought that some of the action—especially on the part of the North Korean agents—was much too incredible to be believed. Apparently, all of the special agents sent from North Korea are supermen while those in South Korea couldn't shoot straight or hit the broadside of a barn on a good day. Apparently, Hollywood isn't the only place where fantasy and reality are twisted and confused. Be that as it may, other than some of the absurd action scenes, this movie wasn't too bad and I rate it as slightly above average.

Desertman84 Swiri was the first Hollywood-style big-budget blockbuster to be produced in the "new" Korean film industry.It was created as a deliberate homage to the "high-octane" action film made popular by Hollywood.It stars Han Suk-kyu,Choi Min-sik,Kim Yoon-jin and Song Kang- ho.Also,it also contained a story that draws on strong Korean national sentiment to fuel its drama.It was written and directed by Kang Je-gyu.A dazzling action movie from South Korea, it follows two South Korean government agents, Ryu and Lee, as they pursue a female super-assassin from North Korea. Meanwhile, an elite paramilitary squad from North Korea has stolen a shipment of CTX, an undetectable liquid explosive of enormous power, which they've planted all over the city of Seoul. As their investigations are successively foiled, Ryu and Lee begin to suspect that there is a mole within the ranks of the agency it is believed that it may be one of them.The movie rips along as a smooth fusion of Hong Kong and American action movies that is both hyper-stylish and hyper-realistic.It's a post-Cold War action yarn with a nose for melodrama, and a loopy cop drama with undeniable entertainment value.

D. B. In many ways this is an excellent film with good performances all round and with more substance than the pure flash-bang of Hollywood, but the inexperience of the director in the action film genre is noticeable, and I would recommend this film more to a general audience than to lovers of action films.The problem is less with the choreography, which is adequate, than with the overall conception of the fight scenes, which tend to be a bit aimless. There are also a couple of scenes, such as the obligatory flying leap away from an explosion, and a few pistol pointing standoffs, that appear to have been copied from other films, and would have been better left out, but the effect is not so annoying as to be legendary.This film has a strong tragic romantic element, and I can recall few films that carry off the theme better. As such, it has some potential as a girlfriend friendly film, so long as the girlfriend is not too put off by blood!

Marc Medina Shiri is an absolutely stunning, well thought out action/spy/thriller/political drama. It needs a US theatrical release. The first five minutes is quite gory, showing how ruthlessly the North Korean military spies are trained, but the rest of the movie hinges on all of this, so it's required. The acting is top notch - better and more believable than most American films. When you think it's over there is still another 10 minutes of movie to complete the story. As a parent, I wouldn't show the movie to children (under 15 at the minimum) due to the content, but then again it is rated R. This movie is also typical of Asian movies in that things that you don't think will happen DO happen and it's always a surprise or unexpected twist that moves the story along in a way that keeps you from predicting what will happen next.This is certainly a "don't miss" movie.