Deliver Us from Evil - Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Deliver Us from Evil



Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras: :
Final Score:


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Movie
Not to be confused with the 2014 Eric Bana film of the same name, Deliver Us from Evil is the latest in a long line of Korean action films that have been rapidly proving why Korean cinema is the new Hong Kong of the 21st century. It used to be that the only decent Asian cinema was made in Hong Kong (birthplace of my love of kung fu movies), but lately Hong Kong has become a shell of it’s former self (all the Chinese movies are basically mainland propaganda films for the Chinese government), Japan’s major cinematic export lies in Anime (their live action stuff is mostly just bizarre), and Thai cinema (as brutally fun as it is) just isn’t the same unless Tony Jaa is attached to it. HOWEVER, this has left a huge gap in the Asian action market and the Koreans have stepped in and are doing the fans of Hong Kong cinema proud. It used to be back 10-15 years ago that a good Korean flick popping up was the exception to the rule, but now it’s almost the norm. The leaps and bounds that they’ve risen in the last 15 years is amazing, and when I see a Korean flick come across my review desk, I usually get a little bit excited as they tend to be much more of a pleasant experience than most other Asian cinematic films lately.

Right off the bat I’m going to tell you that Deliver Us from Evil is NOT a novel concept. It borrows from a ton of other action films out there, and is basically your traditional revenge action flick about the rogue assassin/ex military bad boy who finds out he has a kid and has to rescue said kid from a horde of bad guys, leaving a wake of blood and destruction in his path. I don’t fault it for this at all, as the trope is good one that just WORKS as long as the action is good. Luckily the action is rather good, and full of tons of blood and nasty deaths, so the action geek in me is more than willing to forgive some of the very obvious genre borrowing going on.

In-nam (Jung-min Hwang) is an ex Korean Intelligence officer who was burnt by his government, and went dark (making due as an assassin for hire) is now on his final job. He’s killed a Korean/Japanese monster and it’s time to retire to Panama with his ill gotten gains and rest for the rest of his life. However, life has other plans for him, as his handler hints about taking one more job, which In-nam refuses. At the same time he’s thrown a curve ball when his old Intelligence boss informs him that the girl he left 9 years ago when he was burnt is found dead, and that she had hidden the fact that she was with child when she left, and is now kidnapped by the same people who killed the mother.

Now he’s got to head over to Bangkok and rescue his 9 year old daughter from human traffickers before it’s too late. Oh yeah, remember that “one final job you really should take” offer from his handler? Well it turns out that the brother of the guy he killed in the last job is even worse than he is. Known as Ray the Butcher (Jung-jai Lee), this even worse killer is on his way to end In-nam’s life for killing his brother, and now the ex NIA specialist has to rescue his daughter, help out a lady boy guide, and come out alive from the advances of yet ANOTHER assassin, all in a few days.

As you can see from the description, not anything new for the action genre. Deliver Us from Evil borrows from a lot of action movies in the past, aligning itself pretty heavily with the likes of Taken (child human trafficked, assassins, a special set of skills etc), but does so with lots of flair. The film itself is crushingly brutal at times, and while it doesn’t ever delve into a gore fest, In-nam is one brutal dude. The fights are top notch, and even though the director tends to overdo some of the slow motion bits with Ray a bit much, they’re still visceral and exciting to watch (although there are a couple of action bits that are HILARIOUS to watch, such as the scene near the end with the car windshield. Don’t worry, you can’t miss it).

The film has a few odd storytelling techniques, such as flashbacks that jump in during the 2nd act that showcase the backstory we were missing from the first act, but it’s all done rather tastefully. Many times in Asian action films it feels like the audience is left guessing who characters are and what their motivations are, but the flashbacks fix most of those fears that I had during the first act. The last act slows down a good bit, but it ends with a very solid action finale between Ray and In-nam.




Rating:

Not Rated by the MPAA




Video:

The 1080p Blu-ray is a very good looking disc with a crisp picture that just exudes details, despite the grungy locations that In-nam visits. The first portion of the film is given a blue/gray hue to it while he’s over in Korea, but when In-nam hits Bangkok things take on a very heavy yellow tone. Still, there’s plenty of detail to go around, and clarity is generally VERY sharp. Some crush comes into the picture when dealing with dimly lit holding areas for the children, but overall the blacks show plenty of shadow detail and the disc is mostly artifact free. Great looking disc.






Audio:

The 5.1 Korean DTS-HD MA track is nothing to sneeze at either. The track is balls to the walls action from beginning to end, with explosions, screams, crunching bone, and gunshots coming through with pinpoint accuracy. Vocals are never compromised with all of the action going on, and LFE can be crushing at times (though not AS powerful as it could have been either). One thing I noticed is that while the track is labeled as Korean, it’s actually a mixture of Korean, Thai and English for when the Korean and Thai characters try to communicate to each other. The disc also gives us a choice of English subtitles with one set subtitling the non English parts (most of the film), but a second set of English subs labeled “full English” for every word spoken.






Extras:

• Making of - Fetaurette
• Filming Locations - Featurette
• Trailers

Final Score: ​

Deliver Us from Evil isn’t a new cinematic masterpiece, but it’s a VERY fun action movie that doesn’t pull any punches. The well worn tropes are handled just right and the action is more than enough to cover up the typical action movie holes. Fun, brutal, and just the right amount of cheese. Well Go USA’s Blu-ray is fantastic in the audio and video department, but typically light with the extras (nothing new). Definitely worth it as a fun watch.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Jung-min Hwang, Jung-jae Lee, Jeong Min Park, Hee-Seo Choi
Directed by: Won-Chan Hong
Written by: Won-Chan Hong
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 AVC
Audio: Korean: DTS-HD MA 5.1, Korean DD 2.0
Subtitles: English, English (full for all languages)
Studio: Well Go USA
Rated: NR
Runtime: 108 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: May 25th 2021

Recommendation: Solid Watch

 

[tripplej]

Thanks for the review. Will check it out.