ada the leading man is my tpye

IslandGuru Who payed the critics

LastingAware The greatest movie ever!

Micah Lloyd Excellent characters with emotional depth. My wife, daughter and granddaughter all enjoyed it...and me, too! Very good movie! You won't be disappointed.

Red-Barracuda Set in 1920's Japanese occupied Korea, a Korean police captain who works for the oppressors is set the task of infiltrating a resistance group.The Age of Shadows is a period spy film which educated me on some matters I hitherto did not know anything about regarding Korean history. It is a very solid bit of film-making with strong production values evident throughout. The look of the film faultlessly captures the era and the colour scheme has a slightly sepia tinged look which suggested the past pretty effectively. It is a film which is pretty plot-driven but it also focuses on the conflict between duty, loyalty and patriotism. It is essentially a thriller though and it is certainly successfully suspenseful quite often, with an extended sequence on-board a train particularly well done in this regard. It is also very brutal at times too, especially in the scenes in the Japanese torture chamber which had me actively cringing at the atrocities played out on screen. It is maybe a little too standard in approach to provide much in the way of surprises but it still nevertheless delivers its material very well and it is additionally a good thing to see a thriller with a topic which hasn't been covered too often. Definitely worth watching.

MattBirk * This was South Korea's official submission for the Best Foreign Language Oscar of 2016. There were four, notable SK movies released in 2016 and this movie was the one officials felt was the best to submit....boy were they wrong. Both "The Handmaiden" and "The Wailing" are simply superior in just about every reguard.* The movie is not bad by any measure, it's technical merits (cinematography, acting, production design, etc) are all great. The movie has a great stoic, 1920s feeling to it. And Song Kang-ho is outstanding (no surprise here). This was clearly well planned and organized by top workers in SK. It just didn't have a strong story behind all the great acting and camera-work. * It's the story that feels just a tad underwhelming. It ends up going exactly where you expect it to (with a few MINOR surprises along the way). But right from the get go, you know where this one is heading. And it's this predictability and makes the 2 hours and 15 minutes feel a bit long. * When all's said and done, this is a good movie from South Korea, but not great. It's not among the all time greats (and boy there are a lot), and it's not even the best movie from South Korea in 2016. But if you are a fan of period dramas (this one is light on action), then this is something you should check out.

kluseba "The Age of Shadows" is a historically inspired dramatic action-thriller about a group of Korean resistance fighters who are opposing the peninsula's Japanese occupation. Directed and written by creative mastermind Kim Jee-won and starring South Korean top actors like Lee Byung-hun, this epic film became South Korea's official submission for the "Best Foreign Language Film" category of the 89th Academy Awards in 2017. While the premises seemed to be very positive, I was slightly disappointed by the movie.First of all, a much better movie with a very similar story line called "Assassination" was released only one year earlier and it beats this flick in terms of acting, pace, settings and story. It's quite difficult to identify with the main character in "The Age of Shadow" who constantly changes sides and doesn't seem to know what he believes in. Instead of portraying a man torn between two choices, the movie focuses on a rather antipathic and egoistic character who is thinking about his own advantage at all times. Even an outstanding actor like Song Kang-ho can't make this dull main character any more exciting."The Age of Shadow" starts with an explosive opening scene only to lead towards a lengthy introduction with endless dialogues and numerous characters. It takes close to one hour before the pace quickens up again. The first half of the movie is definitely too long and often lost my interest.While the settings of the movie are very realistic and bring to life a genuine depiction of the Korean peninsula in the forties, the costumes and locations aren't as detailed and memorable as in many other South Korean high-quality productions.The story remains somewhat shallow in my opinion. It's obvious that the members of the resistance are trying to attack the Japanese occupants but the film never really explains what they are organizing precisely. It's quite unsatisfying to realize that the resistance's charismatic leader is taking many risks by trusting a highly unreliable main character and personally organizing an attack against the enemy that is never ever specified. The ending also leaves many questions open and feels unfinished to me.Despite these flaws, the movie also has many strong points. The side characters are portrayed excellently and add some depth to the movie. Especially the clever villain portrayed by Um Tae-goo is very creepy. The movie also convinces in its more intense passages. The opening scene is both dynamic and memorable. The climax on the train is very tense and will get you on the edge of your seat. The last thirty minutes of the film have a welcome dramatic and emotional touch. The settings are authentic and especially the scenes on the train, in different torture chambers and in the prison are beautifully crafted and provide a gripping and sinister atmosphere. While the story is maybe the movie's biggest flaw, it still requests some thinking from the audience and includes a few minor twists in the second half of the film that save this movie for me.Maybe my rating would be slightly more generous if the excellent "Assassination" hadn't been released a year earlier. That film's excellent execution from any point of view makes "The Age of Shadows" look quite predictable, redundant and even unnecessary. Faithful fans of contemporary South Korean cinema should still watch both movies but I would only recommend "Assassination" to occasional international audiences. "The Age of Shadows" really pales in comparison to Choi Dong-hoon's "Assassination". On a closing note, South Korea should have chosen the outstanding horror film "The Wailing" as official submission for the "Best Foreign Language Film" category of the 89th Academy Awards in 2017.

cdcrb when the warner bros. logo came up all I could think about was bette davis and those four sound stages she built for the studio. why warner b ros. is involved with this is beyond me, but it is the perfect studio to produce a film like this. it' the 1920's and the Korean resistance is fighting to get the Japanese out. there are the usual good guys, very gad guys , femme fatales and conflicted ideals. kim jee woon is the director and apparently he is known for his action sequences. he does not disappoint here. the opening is almost a ballet on roof tops (no, don't flee the theatre) and there is a long running train scene that's edge of your seat fun. OK, so it's very standard 40's noir, but it's in color and the cinematography is spectacular. although it's a Korean film, it sure has a Hollywood feel to it. it's just classy. and without offense, meant, it's really not a very Korean movie. I really enjoyed it.