I Saw The Devil (2010) - A Review

 

An extremely violent masterpiece.

I Saw The Devil is an action/thriller movie released in South Korea in 2010, starring Lee Byung-hun, Choi Min-sik, Jeon Gook-hwan, Kim Yoon-seo, Chun Ho-jin, and Choi Myung-soo. I Saw The Devil was directed by Kim Jee-woon.

A man obsessed with revenge.

In I Saw The Devil, Lee Byung-hun plays Kim Soo-hyun, a highly skilled agent in the National Intelligence Service. When his fiancee, Jang Joo-yun (played by Oh San-ha) gets a flat tire on a dark road one night, a seemingly helpful school bus driver offers to help her. Unfortunately, Joo-yun is brutally attacked, and then murdered. Soo-hyun vows to find her killer, and make him suffer as much as his fiancee suffered. With the help of his fiancee's father (played by Jeon Gook-hwan) and a co-worker, Soo-hyun exacts brutal revenge on the suspects until he finds the true killer, Jang Kyung-chul (played by Choi Min-sik). Soo-hyun brutally attacks Kyung-chul, but lets him live! Soo-hyun hunts Kyung-chul down and delivers massive amounts of pain every time he finds him. Unfortunately, Soo-hyun will regret letting him live, as things tragically get way out of control!

Evil personified.

I had heard of how great I Saw The Devil was for years, but it isn't until recently that I was able to watch this movie. It definitely lived up to the hype! This movie was incredible. I was not expecting how dark and violent this movie was. Lee Byung-hun and especially Choi Min-sik give great performances. Lee is cold and calculating in his method of revenge, and you feel he is beginning to lose himself in his quest of making Kyung-chul suffer. Choi is absolutely incredible as the demented serial killer, who doesn't have any sort of respect for anyone. Kyung-chul is pure evil, and you enjoy all the pain and suffering he endures throughout the movie.

The cinematography is dark and moody, the soundtrack is great, and the plot (which is basically a revenge story) is good, too. This movie gets really extreme with the violence (and there are some very uncomfortable sexual scenes/assaults) so be prepared for that. The two main characters go to extreme lengths to hurt each other, and it makes you wonder whether revenge is worth it. All together, I Saw The Devil is a dark, modern masterpiece.

I Saw The Devil is bloody, brutal, and violent.

The action in I Saw The Devil is bloody and brutal. There are some gruesome kills in this, as well as some brutal torture scenes. The showdown between Kim Soo-hyun and Jang Kyung-chul is as exciting as it is ferocious. Each encounter between them gets more savage and ruthless. This is a movie where the action scenes may make you feel uncomfortable...

As you can imagine, I highly recommend watching I Saw The Devil. This movie is excellent. I will say, this movie may be too much for some, as women are treated horribly in it, and the violence throughout is extreme. As dark as I Saw The Devil is, there is some humor in it (as dark as the rest of the movie is). This movie will make you think, long after it ends. You will be in awe of Choi Min-sik's performance as one of the most evil characters in movie history. I Saw The Devil is one of the best movies I've seen this year, quite frankly.

Reviewed by David Williams