Snapshot Review - Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance

Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance is a tale of tragedy, injustice, and, you guessed it, revenge. It is very violent, and the violence is very effective: for the most part, it occurs in wide shots rather than in quickly moving close-ups. The characters are highly interesting but not fully realized.

The direction is a frustrating mix of excellence and childishness that reeks of too many influences. It feels like Chan-wook Park is one of those annoying film students that wants to try every shot he's ever seen, and a few ideas of his own, in one film, just because he can. Thankfully, the direction is great more often than it is terrible.

The pace of the film and the original, intriguing, and powerful moments that so densely populate it lift the movie above its weaknesses. Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance is a decent film with dozens of great moments; it just doesn't live up to its potential.