The lack of Korean identity Japanese police officer Hayase arrives in Seoul to investigate a bank robbery case. However, his permission to stay in Korea is strictly determined by time. He gets to work with Lieutenant Kim, a tough Korean policeman who likes to get down to business instead of words and, when Hayase does something wrong, punches him in the face. The criminals, meanwhile, attack the collection cars and then kidnap the Japanese minister for ransom. The police investigate this not too complicated case and eventually attack the trail of criminals. This is followed by a shootout in which all the criminals are killed. Hayase is flying home to Japan.
It is impossible to say that the detective story told in the film “Seoul”, somehow especially struck the imagination. The story, to be honest, is quite primitive. Much more and unpleasant is the presence of Western stamps in this film. Lieutenant Kim is depicted as a typical brutal police officer, who, as usual, has his own skeleton in the closet - the death of a partner through his fault. He constantly punches a young Japanese colleague in the face. The reasons for this can be different, from shooting at criminals without orders, to smoking in the presence of elders. But, of course, towards the end of the film, Lieutenant Kim's heart softens and he fatherly escorts Hayase to the plane. Criminals robbing collector cars are depicted as geniuses of strategy and computer thought. Their messages are displayed in red on the monitors of the police headquarters. How they do it remains a mystery, but it looks disgustingly cheap. It's not that easy.
“Seoul” is by all parameters a passing film, where in general, serious topics are not even touched upon. There is not even a theme of the city, although the name of the city is included in the title of the film. The work of the police is shown primitively, all this we have seen a hundred times in other militants. Shootings reek of American coolness. Hayase from the prone position shoots a pistol and hits the bus wheel from several tens of meters. The only achievement of the film is the cinematography. The cameraman was not lazy to shoot many scenes from a height, followed by a smooth decrease in the camera. This gives “Seoul” some high-quality style, which, however, is difficult to feel against the background of the primitive plot, put in the basis of the film. “Seoul” is an ordinary militant who did not escape all common places inherent in ordinary militants. It does not cause the slightest feeling of sympathy neither Hayase nor the captured minister, because it was made according to the canons of conveyor American cinema and was deprived of even a minimal Korean color.
6 out of 10