Despite decent performances and heart-racing action set pieces, Take Point does not come together to say something profound or significant about sacrifice or politics or anything. It is just another action film.
read more
The DMZ or demilitarised zone that borders North and South Korea is a rich minefield for Korean filmmakers. Dozens of Korean films have been set in the DMZ, with director Kim Byung-Woo’s latest film, Take Point, joining the list.
Set in an underground bunker 30 metres below the DMZ, the film follows a group of private military contractors who are also illegal immigrants, led by English-speaking South Korean Ahab, played by Along with the Gods’ star Ha Jung-woo, who had worked with Kim on his debut film, The Terror Live. Their mission is to capture the Supreme Leader of North Korea.
Unfortunately, their higher-ups at the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) have other plans, and Ahab and his team are betrayed. In order to survive, Ahab has to work with North Korean doctor, Yoon Ji-Ui, played by Lee Sun-Kyun.
The premise of setting a military action film in a contained and underground space below the DMZ is certainly new. The claustrophobic spaces ratchet up the tension, keeping the audience perpetually at the edge of their seats. The action sequences are intense and unrelenting. At some points, we feel like we are right in the thick of the shooting and the action.
Ha gave a great performance as Ahab, depicting his struggles to balance his mission objectives with his teammates’ lives and safety. He has also got the difficult task of conversing almost entirely in English throughout the entire film, which he manages rather convincingly despite having to say some hammily written lines.
But despite decent performances and heart-racing action set pieces, the film does not come together to say something profound or significant about sacrifice or politics or anything. It is just another action film.
read less