Sympathy's story seems a little toned down from what Oldboy dishes out. This time around we got a young green haired deaf-dumb kid named Ryu who has a dying sister. Like any good brother he wants his sister to live, so he tries everything in his power to make sure that she does. He decides to let them cut out his kidney and give it to her: only problem is that it doesn't much the blood type. So what does our friend Ryu think next? He goes to some rama-shama (loser) doctor in the middle of nowhere to let them cut out his kidney. Well if you didn't see this coming, I feel sorry for you: they steal his kidney and leave him to rot. Things are starting to look up later when the doctor tells Ryu that a kidney is ready for his sister if he can put up the 10 million for it. Oh, but poor Ryu had to pay 10 million for the kidney he was going to receive from the Rama-sham assholes but we know where that went. So since he's now down 10 million and needs some quick cash for the surgery he decides to steal the daughter of his boss. Chances are if you've seen a Park Chanwook movie, you might know what happens next. If not, people die and vengeance is sought after! HOY HOY.

To put a spin on things, Ryu's sister finds out about the whole little thing and kills herself. Then one after one people start to die until we reach the end where it seems that everyone who is everyone died in this movie. Vengeance is a proper word to describe the second half of this movie because that's when our two main characters seek it. The first half of the film seems to be a little more somber yet likable. Why? Because it seems that the kidnapping of the girl was the only way out for Ryu and his problems. We can agree on everything up until this point. But things get fucked up when his sister finds out that he stole the girl and it hits you like a bag of bricks when Ryu finds her dead in a bathtub. Park Chanwook does this effectively and the tide of the movie shifts as both characters (Park goes after his kidnapped daughter's captors and Ryu goes after those who stole his kidney) try to take back what was taken from them. We go into hyperactive kill mode now, both characters really don't give a shit now, as they try to kill everyone who has wronged them.

I'll try not to spoil the other moments if possible but it's hard not to because that's the best part of Park Chanwook's movies: to understand and think about the stories and if you agree with their motives for death and destruction. But obviously not any director could handle the artwork of this film, from awesome camera shots to brutal violent scenes, you can't have it any other way if you want to enjoy his films. Yes as mentioned there are a few violent scenes in this film, including somebody getting stabbed in the neck with a knife and slicing the ankles of one of the characters in a harsh way. But as the character is dragged through the river, the blood that pours out of his ankles makes almost an artistic image in the water. I really don't think this film is entertaining because it really has no feel good emotion whatsoever, you feel sorry for Ryu and Park because both men go through loads of shit and death which seems to follow both of them as they go through this film. It's some depressing shit, because the "good intentions" get thrown into the well and we end up with loads of dead bodies. Not good in this instance, sad more than anything.

I think that the acting was very much up to snuff as well in this film because everyone that had something prominent to do hit the ball out of the park. Kang-ho Song is a great actor all around, and if you've seen some of his acting performances (JSA, Memoirs of Murder) you know what I'm talking about. He plays a lost father who feels lost after his daughter goes missing and his character ultimately feels horrible for his actions but becomes a monster and also becomes a fan of torture. The green haired douche was played by Ha-kyun Shin and he did a good job. I thought the character was dopey but he pulled it off and when he sprouts the tears in the scene where he finds his sister dead, it's believable. The girlfriend and the sister were played well and you could get with the characters and feel a little bit of their pain. Typical cops and shit aren't anything to get excited about either but there were a few cool supporting stars. I found those organ bandits a little odd but funny in some weird aspect and that retarded guy seemed to just come out of nowhere and have a spastic attack for no apparent reason.

There were some dull moments in Sympathy for sure but they were mostly made up of the beginning scenes which took a while to get going. I think that the film also had some editing problems because it should have focused more time on Ryu's sister's suicide and it seemed to just jet by it. There were more scenes in the movie that felt this way as well. Maybe I wasn't paying that close attention but how Park found out where Ryu lived and everything seemed to get lost in the swing of things. I think that with Oldboy they got much better with the editing thing because I knew more than I wanted to with that story. The only other thing I can complain about was the ending, whether it was suppose to be clever or whatever, I found it to be stupid. Granted, these points were too small to be noticed but I felt it to be very successful at evoking some damn emotional scenes that just make you "That sucks."

Hopefully people who see this movie haven't seen Oldboy first because I'm sure that with a view of that, they'll have high expectations and throw this one in the water because they were expecting some over the top flick that has the same style. It's a depressing flick that doesn't really have any feel good moments, but who cares? It's a well made flick and has a truly engrossing story....if you haven't seen it yet, go see it. Pretty basic huh? I'm not doing pony tricks, go see the movie.

"It wasn't so much the gore of bloodletting, which was not as extreme as some would have led you to believe." So says frequent poster and sometime reviewer owlman in his review of the excessively violent, needlessly shocking, gratuitous and ultimately boring Korean dud "Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance." I've read hundreds of the reviews on this site, but never have I scratched my head in confusion like I did upon reading owlman claim, "[it] was not as extreme as some would have led you to believe." I mean, ANM's (another frequent poster on this site) near-obsessive fawning over Jean-Claude Van Damme makes more sense than that statement does.

Are you joking? Being ironic? Did we watch the same fucking movie? The same "Sympathy" that features a grotesquely realistic scene of a man slashing his own bloated belly with a knife? Another involving a knife being jabbed into an artery and an ensuing close-up of blood roiling beneath the guy's skin until he removes the knife at which point gallons of blood erupts from his neck, geyser-like? The same movie that shows, from afar, a man getting bashed in the head with an aluminum bat? A knife being plunged into a chest? A man's palm slashed with a knife? Achilles tendons ripped apart, in close-up? Scenes of torture? Necrophelia? Bloody urine? Not extreme enough for you, owlman? Dude, do you store severed heads in your freezer next to the Ben and Jerry's? Human hearts perfectly preserved in Gladware next to the leftover take-out?

Jesus, dude. You scare me.

"Sympathy" is extremely violent. Gratuitously so. NEEDLESSLY so, which serves only to detract from what otherwise could have been a moving and thought-provoking story of revenge on a much deeper level than what we're used to seeing in the usual Hollywood fare. For example, I thought the most shocking and disturbing scene was of the drowning of the daughter, filmed over the shoulder of a preoccupied man, and the ensuing close-up of her half-submerged in water, lodged against a rock. THAT scene freaked me out, and terrified me on a level that managed to add suspense to the story without turning me off to it.

Remember the torture scene in "Reservoir Dogs"? It was shocking and believable and underscored the bad-ness of Mr. White's character. It was relevant and necessary and it wasn't one of a series of equally gruesome and horrifying scenes throughout the film. It was the ONLY horrifying scene in the film, which made it that much more effective. Remember the scene of Travolta and Jackson in the sedan in "Pulp Fiction"? The one where the gun accidentally goes off, destroying that kid's head in the back of the car and leaving brain matter on the rear window? THAT is the kind of scene that plays repeatedly in "Sympathy." But Tarantino's bit works because it's so novel. It's not followed by more horrific violence and gore. It's followed by great dialogue and advancement of the story. Hell, Tarantino even lampooned the waves of violence in Asian films in "Kill Bill." "Sympathy," however, plays it straight without a bit of irony (with the exception of the title, as there is no one involved who deserves our "sympathy")...and it fails. It's just too much. ("Sympathy" warrants comparison to another ultra-violent Korean movie, "Old Boy." But the violence in "Old Boy," while gratuitous, fits within the context of that film. "Sympathy's" doesn't.)

As mentioned in previous reviews, there are long stretches in the movie with no dialogue at all. This would have worked fine had this silence not been punctuated with so much villainy and graphic violence. Instead of giving me a few minutes to process the plot (which is ridiculously confusing at times) and themes, we're instead left bracing ourselves for the next scene of depravity.

The film begins with the introduction of Ryu (Ha-kyun Shin), a green-coiffed deaf mute who is caring for his ailing sister, who is in dire need of a kidney transplant. The donor list is utterly overbooked, and his search for a compatible donor has ended up as a wash. In desperation, Ryu sells one of his own kidneys on the black market with the promise of a compatible kidney for his sister, only to wake up cold, naked, and abandoned in an empty lot with his kidney gone and his side stitched up. To make matters worse, an accident at the plant where he works ends up in Ryu getting fired -- the very same week a compatible kidney is located for his sister. Having lost the money to pay for the operation, Ryu and his girlfriend Cha Yeong-mi (the stunningly beautiful Du-na Bae) concoct a plan to kidnap and ransom the young daughter of Park Don-jin (Kang-ho Song), the boss who fired him from the plant.

To put things mildly as possible, things do not quite go as planned. To say any more would be to give away too much about the story, which is utterly too compelling to spoil here. It is suffice to say that two characters end up gunning for vengeance, fueled by revenge and utterly disconnected from any conceivable life or joy whatsoever.Sympathy For Mr. Vengeance challenges the viewer to examine the situations that have enveloped both characters and the circumstances that have driven them down this path, and invites you to discover whether or not you can sympathize with either of them, both, or neither. Each character has what seem to be legitimate reasons for their actions... until you experience the violence, bloodletting, and brutality (both physical and emotional) that these characters submit to both themselves and others. How far is too far, and how much is too much? The film doesn't answer these questions, nor does it lionize their heroics or moralize against their shortcomings.

The film is unrelentingly brutal. There is enough blood, graphic violence, and gore to make even the staunchest of man-folk to turn their heads away in raw squeamishness (One character is tied to a chair and tortured to death with electric shocks, while the torturer casually watches while eating lunch. That scene will haunt me for weeks.) It's also exceptionally directed by Chan Woo-Park, who masterfully balances the warmth and humanity of the cast against their vengeance-fueled depravity. The three main leads - Kang-ho Song, Ha-kyun Shin, and Du-na Bae - are so believable in their roles and so endearing in their performances that the film successfully challenges you to find a single person behind whom you could morally support. By the end ofSympathy For Mr. Vengeance, you are left with only questions and a perhaps a lingering sense of futility. This film is dark, brutal, bloody, and excruciating, yet exquisitely shot and masterfully acted. It's also one of the best films of the new millennium...

...Sympathy For Mr. Vengeance is, simply put, a brilliant film. While a tiny handful of scenes could have used some tightening, this minor nitpick does not detract from what is one of the most powerful movies I've seen in a long while. Between this film, JSA, and Oldboy, Chan-Woo Park has established himself as one of the most preeminent talents in world cinema. ...Grab your multi-region player and give Sympathy For Mr. Vengance your undivided attention.

Just as I was growing weary of Korean cinema I get hit with this brick ...

There have been reports and reviews on the internet that this movie is unbearable to watch due to its extreme violence and I just want to say its codswallop. There are no gratuitous scenes of violence like that found in Ichi the killer or the story of Ricky that is made to titillate sickos. Every scene in this movie is justified in the context of the movie and there is a great deal that is implied (like Se7en). The unwatchable reaction of this from some people is testament to the inventiveness and quality of the director in framing his compositions.

The best Movie I have seen in Years ... including the best Korean movie I have seen yet ...

Its an essential purchase!