[20 Korean Films to Look Out for Second Half of 2011] "Quick"

By BAI K Seung Chan

Run, Motorbike, Run! "Quick"
Directed by Jo Beom-goo

"Quick" is an action comedy that will hit the theaters in July, the peak season of Korean cinema. Its director's seat is taken by Jo Beom-goo, who has made "The Bad Utterances" (2004) and "Ddukbang" (2006), a school action flick with special colors.
One of its main features is that the film is made by those who also made "Haeundae and Sector 7". Producer Yoon Je-kyoon of JK Film promises "an action visual never seen in a Korean film before". Total production cost is at around US$9,300,000 (1 billion KRW).
Ki-su (Lee Min-ki) was once a notorious member of bike gang but now works as an express delivery man. Ah-rom (Kang Ye-won) is a friend from the gangster days who is now a famous singer. On this particular day, Ki-su dashes with Ah-rom in the back instead of usual packages. Ah-rom is wearing his helmet, which is secretly rigged with a bomb by someone.

If the two become separated for more than 10 meters, the bomb will automatically detonate. If they do not deliver the package as they are told to, Ki-su and Ah-rom may die.

Leading actors Lee Min-ki and Kang Ye-won had already appeared together as tragic lovers in "Haeundae", another JK Film movie. "Quick" is the Korean version of racing and dashing summertime action genre. The Hollywood film Speed uses a bus, the Korean movie "Quick" uses a motorcycle as its medium. The visual focus of "Quick" depends on a wireless remote control system, introduced for the first time in a Korean film. In Korea until now, action scenes using cars were always shot with stuntmen actually driving the car.

Yet "Quick" chose to move the cars using a wireless remote control system imported from Germany. As a result, the film will be the first Korean movie with car stunts moving at a speed of 130 km/h. With central Seoul as its backdrop, bombs blowing up at various points through which motorcycle dangerously runs at a high speed, this is what you can expect to see in "Quick" .