believer

BELIEVER Review: Lee Hae Young’s 2018 HK-Inspired Reimagining Is Preaches A Violent, Well-Crafted Gospel [Reprint/Revisal]

Most of the time, the narrative among film fans is that remakes suck. I don’t know if that’s the same consensus shared by middle-of-the-road types in audiences of Hollywood or international titles, but generally you will come across folks who don’t favor a lot of remakes and reboots for reasons all their own. Such reasons are justified, compared to a lot of other cases that often get overlooked in which a film, remade or rebooted from its predecessor, stands the test of its duration. Lee Hae-young recently found the odds in his favor for his fourth directorial outing, taken from the filmic mastermind of Johnnie To to provide the niche with a renewed variant of the 2012 thriller, Drug War. Fast forward to 2018, and we now have a contender in Believer to whet our curiousities following its seething trailer delivery. A slightly derivative assortment here builds on what To offered in […]

Review: Lee Hae Young’s BELIEVER Preaches A Violent, Well-Crafted Gospel

Lee B. Golden III

Most of the time, the narrative among film fans is that remakes suck. I don’t know if that’s the same consensus shared by middle-of-the-road types in audiences of Hollywood or international titles but generally you will come across folks who don’t favor a lot of remakes and reboots for reasons all their own. Such reasons are justified, compared to a lot of other cases that often get over looked in which a film, remade or rebooted from its predecessor, stands the test of its duration. Lee Hae-Young recently found the odds in his favor for his fourth directorial outing, taken from the filmic mastermind of Johnnie To to provide the niche with a renewed variant of the 2012 thriller Drug War. Fast forward to 2018 and we now have a contender in Believer to whet our curiousities following its seething trailer delivery. A slightly derivative assortment here builds on what […]

Well Go USA Dates Crime Actioner BELIEVER And Arm-Wrestling Drama CHAMPION

Lee B. Golden III

Just shy of an actual release date, Well Go USA sparked the interest of their consumer base with a U.S. trailer for upcoming action crime thriller, Believer. Since then, the company’s official website has now bestowed a June 8 release to follow the film’s South Korean release on May 24. Believer stems from Johnnie To’s 2012 smash hit, Drug War, this time with Lee Hae-Young at the helm for the story of a low-level drug dealer forced to comply with a dangerously ambitious cop to take down a powerful kingpin. Ryu Jun-Yeol and Cho Jin-Woong star along with Kim Sung-Ryung and Park Hae-Joon, and a posthumous villain performance from actor Kim Joo-Hyuk. Seperately, Well Go USA has also listed a special May 14 screening and subsequent select May 18 release in New York City for Kim Yong-Wan’s directorial debut, Champion. Train To Busan and The Outlaws star Don Lee leads […]

Look Out For Well Go USA Arrivals In Sports Drama, CHAMPION And Crime Thriller Redo, BELIEVER

Lee B. Golden III

It’s always a good day when Well Go USA delivers, and the Texas-based niche distributor has apparently snatched up two titles for U.S. release. The first hails from sales agent, Finecut which reportedly sold Kim Yong-Wan’s Sylvester Stallone-inspired freshman debut, Champion, has also found a home with multiple territories, U.S. included. As Lee Hyo-Won writes at The Hollywood Reporter, the film made number two at the local box office this week on Tuesday after its May 1 open. Don Lee (Train To Busan, The Outlaws) stars as an L.A. nightclub bouncer whose redemptive underdog rise in arm-wrestling with the help of a schemer serves as a means to reunite with his long lost family in South Korea. Champion, the latest production from Warner Bros. Pictures Korea, reportedly also sold to Hong Kong and Macau (Edko Films), Malaysia and Brunei (Clover Films), Philippines (Rafaella Films International), Taiwan (Sky Films Entertainment) and Vietnam […]

BELIEVER Delivers A Smokin’ New Trailer For Lee Hae-Young’s DRUG WAR Remake

Lee B. Golden III

To say that remakes can’t be done right is a statement that doesn’t exactly stand flawless. Granted, there are plenty that fail to deliver, but the scale weighs differently with each film which is exactly why I’m always willing to give them a shot. That being said, I don’t specifically know if the same skeptic sentiments often shared in Western audiences extend in China and Korea, but director Lee Hae-Young is more than willing to make a worthwhile case. Having found his inspiration in Johnnie To’s hit crime thriller, Drug War, Lee’s fourth film, dubbed Believer, has begun its campaign with a first a official trailer that doesn’t hesitate to get down, dirty and in the thick of things. Detective Won-ho is determined to catch the infamous leader of Asia’s largest drug market, who is known only by the name, ‘Mr. LEE.’ While searching for Mr. LEE, Won-ho apprehends and […]