Typhoon review

One of the most expensive movies in South Korean history, Typhoon is as mad as meth-fried badgers having shoes thrown at them... and makes about as much sense. Despite an often incomprehensible story that takes in Korean power politics – with China, the US and the Russians circling the divided country – it falls down thanks to the melodrama that demands grim-faced copper Se-jong (Lee Jung-jae) identify with anti-hero pirate Sin (Chang Donggun), who wants to a) reunite with his sister and b) take nuclear revenge on South Korea. The laboured ‘soul brothers on opposite sides of the law’ effect doesn’t work at all and the character u-turns are real head scratchers. The slick camerawork, editing and punch-ups we’ve come to expect from South Korean flicks are all present and correct, but newcomers might want to start somewhere else.