Best movie ever!

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

Movies like this one are the reason, why i nowadays watch korean thriller and action movies instead of the usual Hollywood productions (Fast & Furious, Transformers, sequel after Sequel, remake after remake...).The plot of this movie isn´t new or original. A professional killer falls in love with a woman and gets a conscience. He wants to stop killing people, wants to quit his "job" and gets him and his sweetheart in big trouble...What IS new and original is the realisation of this plot. The killer is neither a lone wolf like "Leon" nor the stereotypical psychopath. He is played by Ji-seob So as an average, hard working employee, who goes to work everyday like everybody else. The difference between Ji and other employees is that his workplace is just a sham company, behind a secret door the protagonist and his colleagues meet the boss to plan their discrete and deadly assignments.Killing people is just a job for Ji. He kills some people at work, after work he irons his shirt for the next day, he lifes a quiet life and is looking forward to his next promotion. One of the great aspects of the movie is to show the callous routine of the young protagonist and his colleagues, going to work everyday, killing people everyday... It´s just business.Mi-yeon Lee plays an middle aged woman, who was a famous singer and the crush of Ji, when he was a kid. As they meet again, Ji falls in love with her again and wants to leave the company to start a new life. But he fails to protect her and her family from the company. She gets killed by company man after a shootout. Her death in front of her children is tragic and could not be more "anti-Hollywood".Ji avenges her death in a fantastic gunfight, that i want to compare to the Hongkong action flicks from directors John Woo or Tsui Hark (Time and Tide). But every action sequence in this movie is excellent choreographed, especially the amazing scene, where Ji fights two company colleagues in a car...

"A Company Man" is an average, not especially original, but mildly entertaining, story of the everyday life of a hit-man, who (you can imagine) will rethink his lifestyle.Ji-seob So plays Ji, who does his job very well and cares for his 'family'. But on one job, he kind of starts thinking too much (how come all those hit men always end thinking too much) and doubting about the lifestyle he has. Cue our man trying to figure out how to be 'human' will being also a 'killer'.The plot, as said above, is 'hit-man-with-a-heart' 101, and someone should tell the writers of this kind of movies to be a little bit original (here the originality is that the assassin's company has a... well, company, in a building, where people 'work' as your average salaryperson).But even lame plots can be made great by acting, production, direction, scenery, pace... Here all of this is more or less average, the best the acting (even if we still fall into the blank, expressionless acting for the hit-man). All enjoyable enough, with a couple of set-pieces that are good. However, the movie neglects its raison d'etre (action), because the direction and pace of the action pieces is not as good as it should. Especially, because the movie falls into the we-cannot-shoot-for-the-love-of-all-the-gods pit trap."A Company Man" will be an enjoyable one hour and a half for fans of this genre, but it offers absolutely nothing new.

An impressive movie. More than just a crime-thriller/action flick, this film takes a hard look at the Korean/Asian work-ethic, underlining the dangerously soulless nature of 'Corporate Family'. That's what The Company featured in this film is, beyond it's cover as metal-traders and its hidden, darker nature. The young field employees all see their Boss as a father-figure, "I love you, boss." the literal mantra of their interactions with him, something they say with such casual ease as to suggest this is, in fact, a relatively common way to greet your boss in South Korea. The lieutenant of the Boss, who doles out and reviews 'assignments', is like the jealous older brother; his position assured by the hierarchy, but his self-worth frequently challenged by the skills of his underlings, for which he punishes them frequently, and for which they desperately apologize. The protagonist is immersed in this family, seeing it as his life entire. He truly does love his boss, and his devotion to The Company borders on the absolute. As he leaves youth behind however, crisis of conscience begin to afflict him. He begins to question the worth of his own assignments, the value of the lives he's taking, and more and more he comes to feel that living should mean something more, and his love and devotion to a Company so callous and cruel has been gravely, woefully misplaced.It's rare to find this kind of social commentary hovering over an action/thriller film, and I found it to be treat. It gives one a window into a way of living that one otherwise might only hear about, and explores the emotional anxieties surrounding that way of living in a gripping, often very heartfelt way. There's plenty of blood, violence and gun-play to keep the viewer entertained, but the deeper themes running through it provoke real sympathy and hard thought in those receptive to such things. The catharsis of the film, the 'redemption' of the protagonist, comes in the simple form of a conscious decision to smile; to seek happiness over professionalism. It's an odd moment, hard to place in time and setting, but a potent and highly uplifting one.

The only thing these Company Men have in common with the other Company Men (movie with Affleck, Tommy Lee Jones and more), is that they're struggling to survive after they are fired. On a more serious note though: This is a really good action drama, with a central performance that is understated and played very small.Of course you have to wait quit a bit for action pieces, after an initial amazing stung at the beginning of the movie. But while it is foreseeable most of the times, it does deliver on everything it promises. There is over dramatization a few times, but you'll either accept it as part of the movie or just hate it happening. Depends on your own view.