(Movie Review) Boss

▲ This photo from Hive Media Corp. is a scene from the Korean action-comedy "Boss." (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

▲ This photo from Hive Media Corp. is a scene from the Korean action-comedy "Boss." (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

▲ This photo from Hive Media Corp. is a scene from the Korean action-comedy "Boss." (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

▲ This photo from Hive Media Corp. is a scene from the Korean action-comedy "Boss." (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

(Movie Review) Boss

(Movie Review) 'Boss' fizzles into bland gangster action-comedy

By Shim Sun-ah

SEOUL, Sept. 26 (Yonhap) -- Despite being billed an action-comedy, "Boss" leaves viewers wondering throughout when the fun will actually begin. Instead of laughs, the movie relies heavily on cliches from the gangster genre that once dominated the Korean film industry.

The film opens with an action-packed brawl sequence, showing the three protagonists -- lead members of the "Sikgupa" gang -- subduing a rival organization. Both the fight scenes and the archetypal gangster characters, who adhere to a code of "loyalty," feel overly familiar, evoking deja vu from countless previous Korean mob dramas.

The movie's only truly novel element is its premise. While conventional gangster films focus on a brutal power struggle for the top seat, "Boss" revolves around a desperate competition in which leading candidates fiercely try to "yield" the boss position to one another, all for the sake of their personal dreams.

In this sense, "Boss" plays almost like a fairy tale. Following the sudden death of their boss, Daesu (Lee Sung-min), three potential successors -- second-in-command Suntae (Jo Woo-jin), Kangpyo (Jung Kyung-ho), and Panho (Park Ji-hwan) -- are thrust into the selection process. Panho, the simple-minded number three, is the only one who actually wants the job. But the organization's favored candidates, the capable Suntae and Kangpyo, the deceased boss's "blood relative," both vehemently refuse the position.

Suntae hopes to leave the gang and expand his secondary career as a Chinese food chef, desperate to avoid the promotion and the five-fold contract penalty he'd face if he quit. Kangpyo, having discovered a passion for tango while incarcerated, dreams instead of becoming a dancer. Complicating matters is Taegyu (Lee Kyu-hyung), an inept undercover police officer embedded in the gang for a decade, now observing the bizarre "boss-yielding" contest.

The narrative shifts when a crisis hits the organization, forcing the protagonists who were previously fighting not to become the boss to risk their lives to save their subordinates.

Ultimately, "Boss" struggles to find a consistent tone. Its unexceptional three-act structure and heartwarming theme of "familial bond" among the gang members prevent outright boredom, but the film is unremarkable and predictable -- like a perfectly adequate bowl of jajangmyeon (black bean noodles) that tastes the same at any restaurant in any neighborhood.

Directed by Ra Hee-chan of "Going by the Book" (2007), the film is set for theatrical release next Friday.

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