| "Double Edge" is one of those titles where the average video-renter will pick up its box, glance at it, and say: "Oh God...what the hell is this, another straight-to-video piece of shit?", or "Who the hell is that oriental guy standing next to Michael Biehn, a wanna-be Jackie Chan?". I can't blame anyone for making those remarks. After all, it's an unknown flick, and other than the presence of Michael Biehn ("Terminator"), "Double Edge" is a hard movie to sell (unless you're a B-movie enthusiast who thinks Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa of "Mortal Kombat" is a selling-point).
But you know what? I know better. I've been doing my homework and can easily separate crap from the decent stuff. As much as I don't mind Michael Biehn, I didn't see this movie for him. I saw it for the performance of Korean's Park Joong-hoon.
Park Joong-hoon, probably best known for playing a psychotic cop in Lee Myung-sae's Korean police-drama "Nowhere To Hide," is barnone, the baddest mutherfucker working in Korean Cinema today. (well, maybe not to that extent. Clarence Worley from "True Romance" possessed me for a second...) I’ve seen him in many Korean flicks and love his acting-style, so I had to check out his work in a Hollywood. The result: Even in an American movie, this guy can act.
"Double Edge" is a low-budget action film with that typical buddy-cop thing thrown in. It's a decent film that's definitely steps above cheesy flicks of the same genre like "Tango and Cash" and "Showdown in Little Tokyo." The director (Ralph Hemecker, who directed some of the "X-Files" TV episodes) and entire cast, including Byron Mann ("The Corruptor") all make the best of it, despite the fact they probably knew it would only reach about 50 household DVD players.
Park Joong-hoon's english is almost flawless and his overall screen presence is something that can be compared to Chow Yun Fat. Basically, if you like Park Joong-hoon, then you don't wanna miss this. If you don't know who he is, watch "Nowhere To Hide" first, then I guarantee you'll wanna see this; because other than a small part in "The Truth About Charlie," it's the only American-made film he has co-starred in.
- Mighty Peking Man, cityonfire.com |
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