Review of HUNT: Debatable Duality

 September 3, 2022

In the 1980s, South Korea was under an oppressive military dictatorship. When the South Korean president visited Washington DC, there were two gunmen waiting to shoot him inside an auditorium where he was supposed to deliver a speech. The Korean security detail, headed by KCIA Foreign Unit chief Park Pyong-ho (Lee Jung-jae) and Domestic Unit chief Kim Jung-do (Jung Woo-sung), was able to foil the plot.

Because of this failed assassination attempt, the KCIA was assigned to expose a North Korean spy codenamed Donglim in their ranks, who was leaking intel so that their enemies knew the activities of the President ahead of time. The crafty new KCIA Director Ahn (Kim Jong-soo) soon had the idea of pitting Park and Kim against each other, suspecting that one of them could actually be the mole.   

This action-packed film of non-stop double crossing was amazingly the work of a first-time feature film director, none other than lead actor Lee Jung-jae himself. Lee is a veteran leading man since the mid-90s, in acclaimed films like "The Affair" (1998), "Il Mare" (2000), "The Housemaid" (2010), "The Thieves" (2012), and "Along with the Gods" (2017, 2018). The hit Netflix series "Squid Game" (2021) made him a household name worldwide.

Lee was able to maneuver the complexity of this script (which he also co-wrote) like a pro. The story also went back and forth in time for both of the two lead characters to further elucidate (or maybe confuse) their relationship with other supporting characters (like Park's protectiveness for a certain college student) or their motivations for present actions (like Kim's experience as a soldier during the Gwangju massacre).

Lee also proved to be very adept in directing his major action scenes.  Beginning from that  fracas chasing the gunmen down in an American auditorium, the frenetic car chase and shootout in the streets of Tokyo after failing to secure a North Korean asset, and the climactic explosive showdown of assassins in a Bangkok palace.  The way Lee executed the various scenes of violent interrogations and outright torture was realistically disturbing.

Lee Jung-jae and Jung Woo-sung have been very good friends since they were both cast in "City of the Rising Sun" in 1998. Therefore, even if they portrayed bitter rival KCIA operatives who hated each others guts, the two charismatic actors have a powerful screen chemistry together. It would seem that Director Lee allowed Jung to play the showier role of Kim. Lee made sure that even if both lead roles were flawed, you will empathize with both. You will keep hanging on undecided who the real good guy or bad guy was until the gripping finale. 

Go Yoon-jung ("Law School" and "Alchemy of Souls") in her film debut played Park's ward Jo Yoo-jeong. Heo Sung-tae (villain in "Squid Game") played Kim's violent right-hand man Jang. A number of big name actors to make guest appearances. Ju Ji-hoon (of "Kingdom" and "Jirisan") played a Tokyo branch agent. Hyu Jae-Myung (of "Reply 1988" and "Itaewon Class") played a suspect CEO. Hwang Jung-min (of "Ode to My Father" and "The Wailing") played a North Korean soldier seeking asylum. 8/10.