The Man from Nowhere – Review

The Man from Nowhere is a guns-blazing actioner full of excitement, splashy fights, intrigue and a touch of heart. While it may take a while to build to any serious action, the plot holds the viewers interest and is high on entertainment value. While some of the set-up feels familiar, this film keeps it fresh with good lines, great action and a slick delivery from the director.

Cha Tae-sik (Won) runs a pawnshop located near his small apartment complex. He is quiet, keeps to himself, and not much is known about his past. While he doesn’t have many shoppers, a young neighboring girl So-mi visits him often and hounds him with various inquiries. Her mother is a drug addicted dancer, who gets mixed up with some local hoodlums when she steals an opium pack from work. She stuffs it into a bag and pawns it with Tae-sik.

When the local gangsters find out where their drugs are, they go to confront the pawnshop owner, looking to inflict fear and get the drugs back. The gangsters menace Tae-sik, who begins to show his versatility in defense, and repels the thugs with ease. This sets off a chain of events putting all the players in danger, and ramping up the tensions.

While there isn’t much new in “revenge” type thrillers, nor with characters which are mysteriously bad-ass, this sleek thriller has a lot to offer. The dialogue is strong with some good lines and humor ingrained into excellent and well-choreographed action, the characters are memorable, and the Korean backdrop provides a polished setting.