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Starring
:
Seok-Hoon
Kim
Doo
Na-Bae
Sang-Min
Park
Producer
:
Kyung-Seok
Suh
Director
:
Woon-Hak
Baek
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TUBE
(2003)
A.K.A.
- The Tube
Reviewed
by Phil Mills
Heralded
as Korea's answer to 'Die Hard', 'Tube' takes the popular
hostage scenario into the Underground and promises high octane
action from the East mixed with that slick Hollywood
packaging. So will this John McClane wannabe be "Yippeekiyay"
all the way or is it just a movie that we will all be wishing
would Die... Hard?
When
former undercover agent T. (Sang-Min Park) feels the
government has done him an injustice, his answer is a simple
one - he turns to terrorism and opts to take a crowded subway
hostage so he can blow up 13 million people! Of course,
behind every good terrorist there is always an old adversary
from the past who in this case, comes in the form of Detective
Jay (Seok-Hoon Kim). Jay has been beaten by T. in the
past and since their last confrontation has become something
of a rogue police officer who doesn't always do things by the
book (now there's a surprise). So, as Jay finds his way
onto the train which T. is steering towards dangerous
construction works, its up to him to make his way to the front
of the train, take out T, rescue the girl and be home in time
for tea!
Plagiarising
popular action cinema is often the easy route to create an
average yet enjoyable movie that, although clichéd at every
avenue, can provide a familiar environment that the audience
quickly warms to. However, it is also a path that is
littered with pitfalls as even if you do manage to recapture
the essence of the action, the lack of originality in the
story or characters can leave the viewer extremely cold.
Sadly, its the latter case when it comes to 'Tube', a
distinctly average effort from Korea that is clearly inspired
by numerous classic Hollywood actioners but fails to evoke the
necessary charisma. The real errors here lie in limp
establishment of the rather faceless characters and a plot
that has been overworked so much now that it has become
laughable and is completely devoid of the crucial suspense
aspect. What it boils down to is just a case of going
through the motions to provide a film that, whilst it isn't a
crime against cinema, is nothing you would ever write home
about.
Considering
this is a production that is almost totally reliant on its
action sequences, its surprising that even these do little to
improve 'Tube'. Despite the presence of all the
necessary ingredients, the movie doesn't ever appear to shift
up a gear into overdrive and only comes across as raw and
somewhat amateur. Explosions are the main component
throughout and its fair to say that these do occasionally
impress thanks to decent employment of the camera but they are
never enough to satisfy on their own. As with most
action films, its the shootouts and fights that really need to
astonish to keep the pace alight but sadly the efforts in
'Tube' appear quite lethargic and the use of a handheld camera
or train strobe lighting during each sequence is just far too
off-putting.
'Tube'
is certainly not the worst film ever made but it is ultimately
as shallow and unsatisfying as the worst of the Hollywood
blockbusters that it attempts to imitate. The action
set-pieces will entertain and it does enough to pass the
running time but it's throwaway entertainment to the extreme
and is unlikely to remain etched upon the memory.
Rating:
  
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