...the same dramatic visual style and cruel plot twists, but the mechanical retribution is even more boring...

| Jun 28, 2022

All three leads are deadpan perfect, especially Shin Ha-kyun...

| May 9, 2020

The physicality of the violence in 'Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance' spirals beyond control.

| Nov 19, 2014

There's a genuine sophistication, both technically and thematically, to what Park is doing in Sympathy For Mr. Vengeance.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Jul 22, 2014

A disappointing, dull, and often tedious examination of different people seeking different forms of revenge...

| Apr 29, 2009

Park forces us to consider a world where good intentions go awry, decent people do bad things, and fate deals cruel cards. But even at its darkest moments, Sympathy finds surprising and heartbreaking shreds of humanity.

Full Review | Apr 19, 2007

Confirms Park's mastery of a niche style of cinema that is glossy, morbid and childishly provocative.

| Mar 1, 2007

Slightly more enjoyable than getting a kidney transplant.

| Original Score: C | Jan 14, 2007

It's more of a freak show -- although freak shows can be fun, too.

| Original Score: B | Jun 8, 2006

Executed with style and it sets up a situation that provides some food for thought.

| Original Score: 7/10 | Jan 26, 2006

| Original Score: 2.5/5 | Jan 7, 2006

The best way to describe it is as the work of an artist -- director Chanwook Park -- who possesses both a conscience and a burning desire to use images to tell stories.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4 | Nov 10, 2005

A stylish exercise with some agreeably weird touches, but as a whole it substitutes atmosphere for coherence or credibility.

| Original Score: C+ | Nov 1, 2005

Park prizes craftsmanship over bargain-bin schlock. It's an odd testament to his spiritedness that, despite the coldblooded killing and trail of the dead, Mr. Vengeance feels warmly suffused with life.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Oct 28, 2005

Almost every scene contains something surprising, even startling -- we feel as if Park is searching for a new way of seeing...

Full Review | Original Score: '3.5/4' | Oct 7, 2005

The movie begins as a tragic tale of sacrifice and love... intense and understandably moving. It gets a little less interesting when it turns into a gore-fest.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Sep 30, 2005

Fun, up to a point, but once it crosses its own internal Rubicon it becomes downright horrific, with blood and torture and the vertiginous sense of being unable to wake from a particularly arresting nightmare.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Sep 24, 2005

It is a worthy start to a trilogy and to a director who is fast establishing himself as a new light in Asian cinema.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Sep 23, 2005

It's not a new idea, that violence destroys everyone, no matter the 'righteousness' of their cause. But it's one worth relearning.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Sep 23, 2005

While there's no denying that Park has strong visual skills, his content so far is in appalling bad taste.

| Original Score: 1.5/4 | Sep 23, 2005