Directed by: Na Hyun
Starring: Kim Rae-Won, Han Suk-kyu, Jung Woong-in
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Plot: Song Yoo-geon(played by Kim Rae-Won) is a former lieutenant who puts himself in prison to investigate the death of his older sibling. He habitually gets into fights with the other inmates because of his former profession and is routinely thrown into isolation for this reason. He gets to know that prison life would be considerably more comfortable if he becomes close to Ik-ho(played by Han Suk-kyu). He also realises that Ik-ho planned heists, robberies and drug deals from inside prison, and the warden and all the prison guards were given fat bribes and promotions from time to time to assist in his activities. He soon becomes Ik-ho's right hand man by protecting him from various attacks and humiliation from the prison director.
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Very soon, Song realises that Ik-ho was responsible for various cold cases which the police were struggling to solve. In the meanwhile, the prison director tells the warden that he would be investigated for the unnatural amount of wealth he had accumulated in his position. The warden then unsuccessfully tries to force Ik-ho to secure his release from prison so that his wealth could not be linked to Ik-ho's presence. Song informs his superiors about the venue in which the prison director would soon be murdered, but Ik-ho changes his planned location at the last moment on realising that Song was upto something fishy. Ik-ho gets to know that Song was in fact, an accomplice of the police because a large contingent of armed police had stormed to the previously planned venue of the prison director's murder. Ik-ho then tries to kill Song, but Song escapes from his clutches at the last moment. He then deliberately causes some large explosions in the prison compund to draw the attention of the fire station and the police, who were already on the lookout for the missing prison warden. The police then shoot Ik-ho who attempted to kill Song and arrest all the prison guards.
At the end, Song is assured that all the cold cases would be re-opened and re-investigated. However, for being an accomplice to a number of violent crimes while being in the company of Ik-ho, Song is imprisoned again. He accepts his sentence without challenging, because he believed that "time passes the same way" in the outside world and within a confined prison.
Analysis: Let us first delve into the performances of the main characters. While none of the performances are particularly memorable, the actors do their best with whatever is given to them. Audiences might find it difficult to sympathise with Song, because I felt that he got into a few unnecessary confrontations. In fact, it was difficult for me to figure out Song's intentions until late into the movie. Ik-ho comes across as a charismatic leader who rewarded his members handsomely for their favourable deeds but was also equally brutal on people who unsuccessfully tried to attack or even oppose his actions. The action sequences and fight scenes are filmed and directed well for the most part, though it seems the director plays it safe with the plot. This is a strictly by-the-numbers, commonplace "police-put-in-a-prison" plot, although the action scenes might seem brutal for audiences not accustomed to Korean movies. All in all, a good if unrealistic(in my opinion, I don't think any warden would allow their prisoners to scot free outside prison whenever they like) movie, perfect for an audience looking to be entertained without thinking too much about the plot.
Final Rating: 3/5
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