Tedfoldol
everything you have heard about this movie is true.
Invaderbank
The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.
Stephanie
There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes
Edwin
The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.
Derek Childs (totalovrdose)
Ji Hyeong-Do (So Ji-Sub) works at what appears to be a regular company, however, this is just a convenient smoke-screen for the actual modus operandi: contract killing. Using this particular business as the backdrop for the illegal operations is uniquely entertaining, as much as it is thought provoking, while comparing the assassins to regular employees offers an interesting approach in depicting these methodically trained killers. Under the guise of company president Jeon (Jeon Kwak-Han), who truly appreciates Hyeong-Do's capabilities, and the unlikable, egotistical Kwon Jong-Tae (Kwak Do-won), who ironically appears to psychologically evaluate the staff, Hyeong-Do's career has admirably flourished, his impeccable record readying him for many promotions.Despite this, we are able to witness Hyeong-Do outside of his employ, affiliating with retired assassin Ban Ji-Hoon (Lee Kyoung-Young), an old acquittance of his, who serves as a figure of guidance and support. Hyeong-Do is seen to be questioning his stay with the company, alongside harboring feelings of resentment and fatigue, Ji-Hoon being tactically used to put into words what Hyeong-Do cannot, revealing the life that those working for this particular organization are forced to endure.After hiring an impressionable young man, Ra-Hoon (Kim Dong-Joon) to assist with the assassination of a target, Hyeong-Do is ordered to terminate all loose ends, but finds this particular assignment more difficult than previous experiences after forming an attachment with his temporary partner. Overcome by regret, he fulfills Ra-Hoon's wishes and meets his family: his sister, Bo-Seul (Han Bo-Bae), who is as spontaneous as she is disrespectful, and his mother, Yoo Mi-Yeon (Lee Mi-Yeon), a former one time pop idol, who Hyeong-Do has a past connection to, being not only appreciative, but inspired, by this beautiful woman and her family.Over the course of the feature, Hyeong-Do appears legitimately introverted, experiencing difficulties in socialization and communicative practices, that are conveyed effectively through facial expression, an occasional inability to look others in the eye, and difficulty in finding appropriate words to accommodate a situation. Mi-Yeon on the other hand, although suffering the shame of never successfully completing her professional endeavors, is quite the opposite, being garrulous, sweet, compassionate and family oriented, always looking out for others, rather than attempting to secure her own happiness. Although these two characters have almost nothing in common, with the exception of a unanimous attraction, the film depicts them as not necessarily wanting to be in a relationship, as much as they need to be together, both individuals having the capacity to complete and compliment the other.As Hyeong-Do's lacking dedication to the company becomes increasingly more noticeable, questions regarding his professionalism begin to plague those in command. As an inquisitive detective, Myung-Duk (Park Jin-Woo) begins to investigate the authenticity of the company's business, and his contact with Hyeong-Do is revealed, the once revered assassin discovers the company he has worked tirelessly for, have a strong desire to terminate his contract - permanently, putting not only himself, but those he cares about, at risk.The action segments in the film are well executed, and despite the predictability that often accompanies their execution, the locations, that are not always stereotypical for action movies, offers entertaining backdrops to the genre. At the same time however, though South Korean action features have established themselves as frenetically enjoyable experiences, they are also renown for their melodramatic atmosphere. In the case of A Company Man, there were more than a couple of moments where the filmmakers had the opportunity to invest the audience more emotionally in the story, yet, these moments appear to be wasted, and for the most part, despite the interesting characters and appealing visuals, this film is one that will not invest its audience entirely into the plot.Further characterization regarding Hyeong-Do's original motivations for becoming an assassin, alongside knowledge on Mi-Yeon's past life, would have been additionally advantageous. This aside however, A Company Man, despite its South Korean origins, is capable of reflecting the kind of action we have come to expect from American features, and with this in mind, will surely entertain its audience, though if a viewer is after something with further depth, perhaps they ought to order from another menu.
krazysoon
A company man is a film about a man who works for a company of assassins that is actually disguised as a metal company in order to remain secretive. The film starts out with the main character and a young temp who is about to go murder a few people. After the job the main character was supposed to kill the temp but leaves him alive and wishes that some money is delivered to his family. The main character falls for the mother and begins to realize that he does not want to continue in the line of work but rather start a new life with this woman. Only problem is it isn't a job that one can actually just quit.The film is predictable for the most part and a few of the scenes I found a bit funny. The action sequences are good but as some of the reviews mention the dialogue and the characters are a bit one dimensional. One reviewer compared it to a film called A Bittersweet Life, which also deals with an assassin but the story is deeper and the acting is amazing. If you haven't seen a Bittersweet Life please watch it rather than this film but if you have seen it and want to watch this, you will see the similarities and major differences. I think both characters however carry themselves the same. Start off as emotionless but slowly begin to care for what they want. A Company Man is available on Netflix and is in Korean with English subtitles. Not sure if A Bittersweet Life is on Netflix.
KineticSeoul
This is actually a entertaining flick that combines different movie elements into one and pull it off for the most part. It seemed like it combined movies like "A Bittersweet Life", "Wanted", "RED" and maybe even a bit from the film "Fight Club". Never the less despite how wacky and silly this movie gets(intentional or unintentional) it's still a entertaining flick. It just not a very memorable flick but a decent way to pass the time. Although many things in this movie has been done before it's still a decent rehash I guess because I just wasn't really bored with this movie. So Ji-Sub really drives this movie as this charismatic and cool killer that works for a company full of assassins with special sets of skills. So Ji-Sub's style of fighting is not only entertaining but slick and cool. Also the the duel with him and a knife wielding office chick is one of the highlight of this flick. Although there are some areas where they could have gone more ahead with and some aspects of this film seemed rushed and underdeveloped. It's still a watchable flick, even just the climax itself makes it worth a watch. If you like this movie check out "A Bittersweet Life" which is a more gritty and realistic film that has some similar elements as this one.6.9/10
cremea
SPOILERS!A Company Man is 2012 Korean movie about a contract killer operating in a modern day corporate structure. It is an action drama.The film stars So Ji-sub as Hyung-do. Hyung-do is white collar worker employed at the corporate office of a metal works company. He's a loyal mid-management type who's married to his job, and, he goes about his daily 9-5 routine as so many other people do in this world. He also happens to be a professional assassin, as is, apparently, everyone else at the entire office he works at. This a legit company with typical business concerns, but they also kill people. There are several dozen people or so that work for this company, and everybody working here is well aware of the company's dual purpose. From the chairman on down to the receptionist at the front desk, everybody has their part to play in making sure the company is a success on both fronts.There must be a lot of people that need to be killed in Korea, in order for a corporation such as this to have sprung up to outsource all the contract killing work that's seemingly available. While the existence of such a company as this is hard to fathom, it does provide for somewhat of an interesting dynamic here; office politics, personal employee interactions, and the like, are on display (just as within any small to mid size company work environment the world over). There's board meetings, company retreats, promotions vied for, office parties, etc
it's one big happy work/family that seems perfectly content with what they're doing. It's an odd and intriguing premise to watch play out, a premise which posits a work environment which can sort of be summarized as: "Hey, Good job everyone on getting that shipment of girders out to Japan on schedule
Let's all welcome back Mrs. Kim from maternity leave
Mr. So, you're late for knife fighting practice
Project team B, we need that cost analysis on the Jeju project asap
Today is Ms. Bae's birthday party
Now, everyone be on time tomorrow, cause we have lots of people to kill this week, etc
"
I'm generalizing the atmosphere at play here, but, you get the idea.Hyung-do is a rising star in the company, and its best assassin, He's tiring of the corporate grind involved with his job however, and he's also becoming more & more sentimental with the people he's continually charged with killing off. Eventually, he wants to "retire" from the business
but, as one would imagine, this is a company that is somewhat difficult to extricate one's self from on their own terms.This film devotes the middle hour or so of its story to the retiring hit-man looking after the young protégé he was supposed to eliminate, and subsequently romancing and falling in love with his mom along the way. I'm game for a good romance story intermixed with my action, but the love angle here is poorly executed
it drags along & is too underwritten for you to engage yourselves into the romantic relationship between the hit-man & mother. There's also some nonsense back story angle about how the mother was a former pop star/singer in her youth, and the hit-man was once the young love/star struck dork who delivered meals to her
this "sub" story was told via various flashbacks from the past, and it's all terribly unnecessary to the romantic story in the present
Spend some money on a second unit writing team will you?Eventually, you arrive to the climax of the story
then, revenge & bloodshed ensue!There are a few decent action set pieces here and there, but, this is not a balls to the wall action film by any means, and, those action scenes are few and far between. That's not really the problem though
It's mostly undermined by its weakly written retirement/romantic story (which should have been a highlight, instead of a detriment). My lasting impression of this film was that it was OK, but, it was also very disjointed and muddled down a bit by its lackluster screen writing.Bottom Line: 6 to 7 range
It's a 6 star film IMO
Not mandatory
Watchable though.