Critic Rating
(read reviews)User Rating
Director
Park Chan-wook
Cast
Song Kang-ho,
Shin Ha-kyun,
Bae Doo-na,
Im Ji-eun,
Han Bo-bae,
Lee Dae-yeon
Genre
Action,
Drama,
Thriller
Ryu needs money for his sister’s kidney transplant. He and his extremist girlfriend hatch a plan to kidnap his former boss’s daughter, but things go horribly wrong. Two revenge plots play out alongside each other in the first installment of what critics call “the Vengeance trilogy.”
Well-made and engrossing but above all, stressful. I think I had my hand over my mouth for most of it. Park doesn’t coddle the viewer, instead leaving some things unsaid and others just unclear. Still, if you’re looking for a film that makes you feel something, this is the one — with the caveat that you probably won’t like what you feel.
New York Daily News by Jami Bernard
You can't look away, not only because the carnage is so masterfully photographed, but because the director sucks you into his bleak, poetic, even sensible vision of cosmic brutality. Not for the faint-hearted!
Seattle Post-Intelligencer by Sean Axmaker
Park is neither glib nor pedantic as he charts the vicious circle that leaves victims in its wake, unintentional and premeditated, and takes its dehumanizing toll on his increasingly brutal heroes.
TV Guide Magazine by Maitland McDonagh
The only constant in Park's brilliantly cruel world is this: No matter how badly things seem to be going, there's a twist of fate lurking around the next curve that will make them worse.
Austin Chronicle by Marc Savlov
Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance's byzantine plot appears fairly straightforward at first, but slowly, deliberately moves into uncharted waters with the fluid grace of a tiger shark bumping up against a potential meal.
Premiere by Aaron Hillis
Perhaps with an open and willing mind, you'll also see the vast difference between this wily consciousness experiment and, say, Rob Zombie's new box of schlocks.
New York Post by V.A. Musetto
Savage yet spellbinding.
Boston Globe by Wesley Morris
The violence in the final 45 minutes of Mr. Vengeance is tough to watch.
The Globe and Mail (Toronto) by Jason Anderson
Bold, intelligent and provocative.
Village Voice
A revenge tragedy as brutal and Byzantine as "Titus Andronicus," Park Chanwook's Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance accomplishes a miraculous feat by being harrowing and humane in equal measure.
The A.V. Club by Tasha Robinson
It's a difficult balancing act, but Park crafts his layers carefully and masterfully. He's the kind of filmmaker who can meaningfully craft the gory details of an eye-gouging without ever forgetting the message that an eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind.
Village Voice by James Crawford
A revenge tragedy as brutal and Byzantine as "Titus Andronicus," Park Chanwook's Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance accomplishes a miraculous feat by being harrowing and humane in equal measure.
Los Angeles Times by Kevin Thomas
When it comes to serving up diabolical horror with bold, sophisticated glee, Park, best known for "Oldboy," is right up there with Dario Argento, Guillermo del Toro and Takashi Miike.
The New York Times by Manohla Dargis
There is so much talent on display in Park Chanwook's Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, it is a drag that the film never rises to the level of its director's obvious ability.
Entertainment Weekly by Owen Gleiberman
So badly told that it ends up dissecting a corruption that exudes from nowhere but itself.
L.A. Weekly
Slowly degenerates into a gory revenge thriller that is never thrilling, but is often boring and frequently repulsive.
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