“Cold Eyes” is a NEW (Next Entertainment World) film. It is a remake of a 2007 Hong Kong film “Eye in the Sky”; and on the top ten list of highest-grossing films released in 2013. It is categorized as Action, Thriller, Suspense, Crime, and Mystery. This movie is for fans of Han Hyo Joo.
♦ Can a Piglet Become a Reindeer?
In “Cold Eyes”, there is no time for romance. Detective Ha Yoon Ju is the newest member of a Crime Surveillance Investigation Team in the Korean Police Forces Special Crime Department. She passed her OJT (On-the-job training) exercise. Her boss said during the interview he noticed she has a nervous tic.
While she was thinking and responding to his questions, she made an involuntary, repetitive movement: she constantly tapped her finger. But other than the nervous tic she has a photographic memory and would be an asset to the team. Yoon Ju is eager to prove her worth but also knows that her first investigation could be her last. Her job is not without peril and she could die in the line of duty.
All of the team members have code names. Her code name is Piglet. Although she asked to be named Reindeer. The top boss told her that if she proved her worth, she might be rewarded and her code name would be changed to Reindeer. How’s that for an incentive to do your best?
The Team has been hot on the trail of a criminal mastermind known only as “James”. He is in charge of a group of criminals who each have a specific talent to get the job done. He organizes and plans out the details for “the perfect crime”. So far all of his crimes have been perfect, meaning he has never been caught. Mainly because nobody knows who he is, where he is, or what he looks like. The members in his group have also managed to escape the law.
But Detective Ha Yoon Ju does know what he looks like. She saw him but it took her a while to connect the dots. When she was confident that she was able to identify him, she and he boss went after him. But … WARNING! WARNING!! DANGER!! DANGER!! James is ruthless! He has no mercy. His signature move is a knife to the jugular vein and a penetrating abdominal trauma. The person attacked can quickly bleed to death.
Detective Ha Yoon Ju doesn’t have expert fighting skills and has never had to use a gun. But that doesn’t stop her from going after “James”.
The takeaway from this film is cameras, CCTVs, and various electronic devices used for high-tech surveillance are great tools but nothing takes the place of human surveillance. It was Han Hyo Joo’s human eyes, her photographic memory, and her determination and bravery, that led to the capture of “James”.
Main Characters:
- Detective Ha Yoon Ju (played by Han Hyo Joo)
- Chief Detective Hwang Sang Jun (played by Sol Kyung Gu, “Yaksha: Ruthless Operations”, “Kingmaker”)
- Criminal Mastermind “James” (played by Jung Woo Sung, “Steel Rain 1 and 2”)
Viewership and Rating:
- IMDb: 7.1 out of 10 stars
- My Drama List: 8.1 out of 10 stars
- FilmImpulse.net: 6 out of 10 stars
- FilmAffinity.com. 6.2 out of 10 stars
- Letterboxd: 3.4 out of 5 stars
- Viki viewers rated this series 9.3 out of 10 stars
My personal rating aligns with the Viki viewers.
Han Hyo Joo is one of my favorite South Korean actresses. She has been acting since 2005, has won several awards, and had leading roles in movies and series like: “Dong Yi”, “W: Two Worlds Apart”, “Happiness”, and “Love, Lies”.
She held her ground and worked alongside veteran actors Sol Kyung Gu and Jung Woo Sung who have worked in the entertainment industry since the 1990s. For this movie, these guys switched up. For the first time in his acting career, Jung Woo-Sung played a villain; and this was Han Hyo-Joo’s first time playing a cop.
Finally, I rarely see Roger Ebert review a Korean drama; but this film caught his attention and he noticed the same thing I noticed. Here is a quote from his review: “Between her two co-stars, Han Hyo-joo gives the best performance in the film as a feisty rookie with prodigious visual memory.”
Also, Mr. Ebert said about the K-drama being a remake of a Hong Kong film: “While not forgetting to give a small, respectful nod to the original, “Cold Eyes” sometimes surpasses its predecessor in several parts including its crackling high-octane finale, and the result is a very good remake …”
LINKS OF INTEREST:
- An FFC Review of “Cold Eyes” | Far Flungers | Roger Ebert
- THROWBACK REVIEW: Is “Cold Eyes” One Of Korea’s Great Action Films? | What The K-Pop
- TIFF 2013 Review: COLD EYES Looks To The Best For Inspiration | ScreenAnarchy
- The 9th London Korean Film Festival: Cold Eyes Review | VIEW OF THE ARTS
TRAILERS/TEASERS:
TIFF Originals. “COLD EYES Trailer | Festival 2013.” YouTube Video. YouTube, July 23, 2013. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SH15-Aj57fc.
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