Part romantic melodrama, part revenge thriller, A Bittersweet Life is the latest from director Kim Jee Woon. Sunwoo, a loyal and devoted enforcer for his boss, and is tasked with following his boss’s girlfriend to find out if she’s having a bit on the side. The penalty, being the head of a group of thugs, is death for the lady in question and the fellow adulter. Daunted by the prospect of being a watchdog, he obliges and does as told.

Sunwoo discovers the truth about where his boss’s girlfriend has been going, and who with. The solution is something Sunwoo knows only to well, but instead of executing his orders, he hesitates and offers both a way out. The result of this means his boss finds out and has a rival group find and take out Sunwoo. Sunwoo, of course, finds out that his boss intends to kill him and so fights his way out and makes the decision to see the events through to the end.

Amongst these shenanigans, Sunwoo starts a fight with unknowns which results in the brother of said unknowns heading to Sunwoo’s destination to take out anyone there. Continually pissing off the wrong people, means a few others want to kill him, including his boss. The net effect of this is a latter hour and a little over of some rather cruel, and sometimes bloody, violence. The violence isn’t glorified, but it is glamourised and given that action sheen where the guys look cool flying around, jumping over tables and decorating walls with bullet holes.

The direction is pretty good, with a modern, trendy method of filming being used as has been in recent Hollywood flicks and originally in music videos. The effect is used sparingly, and not always successfully. It’s basically a technique where the camera remains static on attached to a moving object or a person, so you get a weird bouncing effect when things are in motion.

Aside from that, the visuals are clean and crisp at the start, with clean lines and bright vivid colours being used in the opening night club. Later locales echo this clean look, even in the desert where nothing looks untidy. This artifical, mechanical feel looks great but is without soul, character and there fore unreal. The cinematogrophy has had good deal of thought put into it to create some dramatic and edgy scenes. The white background and pool of blood is a little too unoriginal though, and seems to be a trait of pretentious action films with a slice of drama.

There is the feeling of the film trying to be cool for the sake of being cool. Certain scenes of cruelty are unrealsitic and humourous rather than harrowing or distressing. Even the plot is rather thin by all accounts. A lot of people die on the basis of one event which creates a huge bloodbath. It doesn’t quite make sense, or at least it makes sense but fails in presenting itself as something viable.

Acting is not bad, but could have been better. The lead playing Sunwoo seems to have watched a good few Keanu Reeves films since the only expression he expresses is that of a painted wooden fence. The only time he does smile or grin is towards the end, and you accept that perhaps he should remain in Keanu mode. supporting roles are good enough, I suppose, though they don’t really offer anything like what you would expect. Some energy, some dynamism wouldn’t have gone amiss. If not for the pacey directing, I probably would have struggled with the film.

At it’s heart the film needs the melodrama as a reason for the violence. It’s not reason enough, but it does offer a good hour or so of action, violence and some grim cruelty. The intial 40 to 50 minutes are the drama bits that doesn’t really justify the events that take place later. In reality you could just 50 minutes in and watch the film from there. The plot is so irrelevant, in fact, they recap towards the end with a little conversation.

The interesting thing about Asian films is how they don’t shy away from the good either dying or being several injured to the brink of dying. Not everyone ends up happy, and in most cases they don’t. Evil and bad can prevail as much as good can, which is a far cry from the sweet tooth endings of most American films. A Bittersweet Life has such an ending, and with a title like it has, I suppose it’s almost inevtiable that since it’s an action film, it would end in such a manner. A predictable and by the numbers film then, but at least it should keep you entertained for a couple of hours.

Verdict: Forgettable, unoriginal, and predictable but worth a quick rental for some slick, brainless action with a hint of romance.