Review: Tube – Tyubeu (2003)

Directed by: Baek Woon-Hak | 112 minutes | action, drama, thriller | Actors: Kim Seok-hun, Bae Du-na, Park Sang-min, Kwon Oh-jung, Jeong Jun, Sa Hyon-Jin, Son Byung-ho, Park Joong-Hoon

‘Tube’ is director Baek Woon-Hak’s debut and, although not without errors, it is a very promising debut. The film opens with an incredibly over-the-top shooting frenzy lasting more than five minutes. Since the viewer at that point has no idea what the film is about, this scene probably accomplishes the opposite goal that the makers had in mind. Instead of sitting directly on the edge of the chair, a distance has been created between the image and the audience. Nevertheless, the gaze that Terrorist T and Detective Jay exchange is enough to know that there is an old feud between them that will be fought out in this movie.

Then we see a few scenes with an attractive Korean, who knows how to hold her own, but also shows her vulnerable side through her fascination with the mysterious agent Jay. Kay is played by Du-Na Bae, and she knows how to portray her character perfectly, brave, passionate and a bit strange. Jay also knows how to convince as a troubled and stubborn cop. Fortunately, after the unpleasant beginning, there is an improvement. As soon as the scenes take place in the metro you are sucked into the film, and you only come out again after an hour and a half, occasionally only distracted by the very annoying music, which sometimes even drowns out the dialogues.

The film’s great strength is strangely enough that not much is explained. The feud between T and Jay has to do with murdering Jay’s girlfriend, fiancé or wife, but why she was murdered remains a guess. Then in the opening scene, Jay shoots someone who dies in T’s arms, and who that person is also remains unclear. This mystery will keep you fascinated for a long time, because you hope that at the end all the pieces of the puzzle will come together. This also happens in part.

The story of ‘Tube’ is not original, Baek Woon-Hak has shamelessly copied big Hollywood productions like ‘Speed’, ‘Under Siege 2’ and ‘Heat’. However, he manages to create a certain atmosphere around his two protagonists, which makes the audience feel very involved with them. The chemistry between Jay and Kay is clearly palpable and the end comes unexpectedly. Great exciting action thriller from a director of which we can hopefully expect even more spectacle.