Asura (2016) Reviews

• Masterfully shot Dog-Eat-Dog

  latinotoons2017-10-18

  Annam Korea is the backdrop for this noir-esque masterfully shot crime thriller. Caught in a catch 22 of violence and deception, abuse begets abuse in the dog-eat-dog world of Asura: The City of Madness, where corruption is the day to day of cops and politicians. Asian cinema is on a whole other level in terms of artful violence.

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• Don't believe the rating

  yasararafath-394622019-02-09

  This film is far better than what they have explained. If you love film-noir, dark and gripping film, then Do watch it, I'm sure you will love it

• Trust No One

  matajaime2017-06-11

  The movie while not entirely original, is a movie that keeps your attention because of the bleak atmosphere.Basic Korean cop drama, Han Do-Kyung a corrupt cop is working with the corrupt mayor because of sick wife and at the same time with police investigators because black mail. The movie is him trying to tip toe the line and trying to stay neutral. The entire plot revolves around both sides being corrupt and Han Do- Kyung being stuck in the middle. Lot's of great action sequences, but movie is plot heavy, so you need to pay attention. Movie similar to New World and The Departed, for reference.

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• Watchable dark, gritty and pointless film.

  KineticSeoul2016-10-08

  I decided to check this film out because I like Kim Sung-Su's films. His films tends to have the comic book style going for it which I liked. I even liked the film "Please Teach Me English" which was panned by critics. I thought it was a fun comedy that wasn't overly ambitious. Most of his previous films go in a fairly simple direction. But this time Kim Sung-Su put a lot into this movie, he basically threw in a lot of story elements which in some ways I felt that dragged down this film. And just slowed down the pacing without adding much weight to it. It seems that Kim Sung-Su gets more complex as his filmmaking career progresses. What this is, is a dark, gritty and very tragic and bleak film. Once again the main star is Jung Woo-Sung, who was the main star in multiple Kim Sung-Su films. This time around he plays a retired detective that is caught up in the middle of corruption. But he places himself in that position in order to save his dying wife. The corruption between the sadistic and sociopathic mayor and overly aggressive, ruthless and narcissistic investigator tears the main lead apart. Most of the scenes are composed of corruption, bickering, greed, manipulation and the main lead getting beat up constantly. It really does get tiresome after awhile. It's one of those films that is sort of complex, with constant bickering, trash talking and violence without much substance in between. By the end the whole experience just felt pointless. It's still a pointless watchable film, just to sum it up. 6/10

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• Manly muscular film noir

  trueflux2017-02-13

  Dark gloomy manly muscular film noir Absolutely corrupted mayor and his slavery police detective together ruining the justice. This story is sort of the real in Corea. Too many politicians are evil and the rotten police men support them in many ways. They even try to blast the city gas pipeline and policemen never investigate about the fire on the city gas pipeline despite the firemen blamed and ordered to investigate. This movie is realistic in those ways of Corean lives and so interesting and exciting film noir as well. The car chasing scenes are some of the best cuts in the years! Even only that car chasing cuts must be able to pay back enough of your time. Asura is surely the best Corean gangster film in the years!

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