Review #24: I Saw the Devil (2010)

This review was originally written in October 2016.

Day 24: I Saw the Devil

Well, this was an odd movie. It was incredibly long (I'm sure they could have, at the very least, cut it below two hours) and there were about four times where it felt like the movie was about to end and it would have been satisfying. But instead, it just kept going. Also, I would never have called this a horror movie. There was some suspense, yes, but it was an action movie, plain and simple.

I really didn't care for the characters, though they weren't necessarily poorly-written. I understand the main character's journey is supposed to be a complex one, but is there ever a point where you're supposed to be rooting for him? After the first thirty minutes or so, he's constantly doing something that seems heroic (catching the killer and then subduing him), but then he follows it up immediately by doing something idiotic (such as giving the killer a bunch of money and letting him go kill two people). I understand how this plays into his plan, he wants to play cat-and-mouse with the killer to ultimately make him feel absolute pain and wish for an end that is not yet forthcoming, but when you're trying to make someone pay for having killed your loved one, you typically don't willingly let that person kill some more loved ones first. And obviously it goes badly for Mr. Hero, exactly as a plan so stupid would go, but even by the end I don't know whether I'm supposed to like the hero or hate him. I guess the argument could be made that that was the director's intent, but the ambiguously intended feelings aren't necessarily due to the actions of the character (if that were the case, I would definitely hate the hero because he's a complete and total scumbag by the end), but because the cinematography for the last few scenes still seem to portray him as the hero. When he causes the killer's ultimate fate at the end, the main character walks away in a heroic shot with music playing that make you think he's supposed to be absolved of any wrongdoing because he got the job done. I just don't understand.

Also, I don't understand how he got the killer away from the cops. I mean, he drives up and grabs him or whatever, but then several hours pass and suddenly the villain is tied up in a deathtrap? Did he go willingly? (That could make sense considering how he knew he had already won, except then he's acting completely hostile in the final scene.) If he didn't go willingly, how in the world did the main character, while driving, manage to subdue such a cold-blooded (and armed!) murdering psychopath for several hours to make the drive out into the country? I can't help but feel like that transition could have been done way, way better.

Rating: 6/10 Disgusting Bathroom Scenes

Another Movie with a Killer Who Inexplicably Lives Through Hell and High Water: 2007's remake of The Hitcher