‘Assignment’ Complete
Lee Seok-hoon takes the reins for ‘Confidential Assignment 2’ and delivers exactly what you expect, and what he needed to.
Confidential assignment 2: International
Director: Lee Seok-hoon • Writer: Lee Seok-hoon
Starring: Hyun Bin, Yoo Hae-jin, Daniel Henney, Lim Yoon-a, Jin Seon-kyu, Jang Yeong-nam, Park Min-ha
South Korea • 2hrs 8mins
Opens Hong Kong September 8 • IIB
Grade: B
To leave a film like Kim Sung-hoon’s 2017 action comedy Confidential Assignment grumbling about a story lacking “logic” or a dearth of thematic nuance is not only missing the point, it’s delusional. That film was a premium hunk of high level diversionary cheese that had one goal: to divert. And it did just that, becoming one of Korea’s biggest hits that year. Lee Seok-hoon takes over directing duties for the inevitable sequel, Confidential Assignment 2: International | 공조2: 인터내셔날, which thankfully only follows in the footsteps of Men in Black: International in so much as it tacks on that vaguely pandering subtitle. CA2:I isn’t great filmmaking, but is it entertaining, perfect for a long holiday weekend (it’s already tearing up the box office at home in Korea). This is one of those movies you walk into knowing exactly what you’re going to get: loud, silly, nonsense with lots of bang bang, a car chase or two, an explosion if you’re lucky, some cool fisticuffs and tons of shattering plate glass. And at the risk of sounding like a troglodyte, CA2:I stars returning lead Hyun Bin and new addition Daniel Henney as very, very handsome special agents hunting the same money launderer? Bioterrorist? Drug dealer? But hey! It’s a plot point. Seriously.
Yes, thanks
Also returning from the 2017 film is one of Korean cinema’s most reliable straight men, Yoo Hae-jin (Space Sweepers, Tazza: The High Rollers) as Seoul cop Kang Jin-tae. When we met him, Kang got mixed up with North Korean special agent Im Cheol-ryung (Hyun, Rampant) when they found themselves on the trail of a master counterfeiter in possession of stolen currency plates. Im was sent down to get the printer and the plates and take them back to the North, but then things happened. This time around the action starts with Im in the US looking for another wayward North Korean criminal, revolutionary-turned-meth dealer, complete with flower power ’60s hairdo, Jang (Jin Seon-kyu, Extreme Job, The Outlaws), who the FBI is also after. But then things happen, and Jang gets away, fleeing to Seoul. While this is going on, Kang is working a forgery case with his bungling partners and after taking a bullet to stomach, lands behind a desk in cybercrimes. This suits his wife (Jang Yeong-nam, Seobok) just fine. She doesn’t want repeat of the life-threatening shenanigans with Im.
But wait. The FBI wants Jang so badly they send FBI agent Jack No Last Name Supplied (Henney, The Last Stand, TV’s Criminal Minds) to Seoul, Pyongyang wants the cash from Jang’s drug dealing so badly they send Im back, and all of them wind up in Kang’s living room, striking an uneasy alliance to get the bad guys. Let’s put it this way: the plot is so overcooked and all over the map a Nazi war criminal somehow comes into the picture. Okay. Sure, guys. Have at it.
The hardest working man in Korean film
North Koreans look like this?
But, like I said. Whining about that kind of thing is delusional. That is not Confidential Assignment 2: International’s raison d’être. And on its terms it’s a raging success (the entire row to the right at the preview screening was in stitches most of the time). If you really wanted to you could read light satire on the three-way clusterfuck of pseudo-diplomacy that seems to constantly underpin relations between the US, South Korea and North Korea. Perhaps you could suss out a gentle poke at corrupt practices by government officials that pillage public coffers. Or condemnation of bootlicking policy that kills, which is one of the motives for Jang’s rage. Or not. You can just look at all the ah-splosions. That’s fine too.
This is a South Korean film, so the production values top to bottom are ace. The fireballs look great, the glass sounds sharp, the sound mix is balanced, everyone looks fantastic. But it’s one of those movies that truly lives or dies by its cast dynamics, and fortunately Lee has good ones, led by Girls’ Generation’s Lim Yoon-a as Kang’s sister-in-law Min-young, who’s still convinced Im is her OTL. She’s been selflessly waiting for him, you see, and hoping their two nations will one day reunite to allow their love to blossom. That he doesn’t get this is irrelevant. Min-young goes on and on about how hot Im is… but then Kang brings Jack home with him and, oh, it’s on. If Lee’s working on a third entry, he’d be wise to build it around her. Lim’s deft spin on frazzled, sexual desire on the DL anchors CA2:I’s single funniest scene, and is also the engine that drives the second half of the film. We knew Lim was a great pop star, but she gets more to do this time around and proves herself something of a comedic gem. Sister, I’d be reading my book upside down too if those guys walked in my house. — DEK