Saw this recently on a rented DVD. What an amazing action flick man. The plot - After accidentally killing a young girl during a hit, the hit-man is traumatized by the event. Soon, he is assigned by his contractors to then eliminate the young girl's mother, causing further conflict for the damaged hit-man. Expectations were high as this is from the same director, Lee Jeong-beom who gav us The Man from Nowhere. Jang Dong-gun (My Way) gav a stunning performance as the haunted and complex hit-man. His action choreography was awesome. The films many violent action scenes are quite well executed. In short, this is a very stylish, emotional, high octane action flick. The action sticks to blazing shootouts, some slick close-quarter-combat - brutal n engaging, and some knife play. Most of the action is towards the second half of the film. The rooftop shoot-out is one of the best action sequence. The gunshots scenes, especially the shot gun scenes were violent n blazing. (Myself a fan of shot gun action sequences). Fans of Michael Mann n John Woo will love the gun action scenes. Fans of Heat, Miami vice (final shoot-out), The getaway (Steve Mcqueen one), Hard boiled, The killer, Tombstone, etc will definitely enjoy this.

Gon is a killer whose new mission is to get some data and then kill the woman that has it, a woman that happens to be the mother of a little child he killed by accident on his last mission. Of course, Gon grows a conscience and decides to betray his bosses and safe the woman."No Tears for the Dead" is not the most original movie in the basket. It is predictable, lame and you will see any plot development from a mile away. It doesn't help that the pace and direction are not very good, and the action scenes are shrouded in darkness making everything quite difficult (and boring) to follow. The acting ranges from B-movie level to okeish to I-don't-know-I-was-an-actor level, and the lead actor, Dong-gun Jang, fails miserably in bringing any charisma to Gon. Min-hee Kim as Mo-kyeong, the woman who may or may not have the data the triads are searching for, fares better, as does also Brian Tee with a paper-thin character that is just there to allow him to look cool.An action movie should at least have some cool action, and action scenes that make sense and are entertaining. "No Tears for the Dead" forgot the action rule-book home and offers neither of them.

Ironically, No Tears for the Dead, a film with themes concerning honor, power and greed, is strongly focused on mourning the deceased, conveyed emotionally through the plot, which concerns death and suicide. This subsequently reveals how simple it is to take a life, and how pointless it can often appear, while suggesting that the execution of an individual goes much deeper, the impact killing their closest friends and family who must suffer the pain, and the consequences, of their passing.When we first meet Mo-Kyung (Kim Min-Hee), it is difficult to discern if she is aware of the tragic loss she has suffered, the professional climate she inhabits forcing her to work as she hides much of her pain, after having lost both her daughter, the adorable Yoo-Mi (Kang Ji-Woo) and husband, while the two were overseas. The use of contextualization over the duration of the feature layers the emotional depth over time, Ms. Min-Hee being responsible for one of the film's most poignantly incredible scenes, that is especially due to her exceptional talent.However, she is not the only person suffering from this loss. Gon (Jang Dong-Gun), the hit-man responsible for inadvertently snatching away Yoo-Mi's life, a character who often appears stoic and emotionally impotent, is plagued by the trauma of his wrongdoing, while also suffering the pain of his past, the consequences of which inevitably formed his character's views and values. This pain only grows stronger as the narrative progresses, though the motivations that inspire this are largely conveyed visually, rather than being further scaffolded through dialogue, the feature, at one point, reducing this sub-plot to little more than a stereotypical cliché. Gon's inability to hide his regret is largely caused by the order he receives to terminate Mo-Kyung, to ensure she does not ask unwanted questions, in an attempt to shelter other antagonists involved in the corruption and money laundering schemes, including the vile John Lee (Kim Joon-Sung), from being apprehended by police.Originally beginning in Los Angeles, before moving to South Korea, at least half the script is presented in English, and not only is this written in an exemplary fashion (which, unfortunately, isn't always the case with Asian movies - I'm looking at you The Viral Factor), the actors speak their lines of dialogue with educated professionalism.As Gon fights his personal moral battles, those giving the orders begin to doubt his resolve, leading them to send his brother in arms, Charles (Brian Tee), and his proficient team, to complete his assignment, friendship and loyalty being major themes that begin to be contended. The battles that ensue are absolutely outstanding, not only being incredibly violent, sometimes hilariously so, but being intelligently thought out, as the characters attempt to out-think each other, rather than simply using brutality. In many of these instances, characters are horrifically wounded, and yet unrealistically survive, this tactic seemingly granting the plot further longevity, which may cause some viewer's to question the necessity of this action.Occasionally, the directionality of the plot and character progression can become predictable, though that doesn't mean the film is not without its surprises. The characters, especially the villains, are capable of making dialogue reflective of black humor, though at the same time, enemies, despite exhibiting recognizable influences, can appear a little two-dimensional.Despite the ending been quite a surprise, while beneficially fitting the narrative, the conclusion raises additional questions that are unresolved, providing limited closure, while the fate of one of the leads is entirely uncertain. Audiences throughout the story may be hoping for Gon's character to find redemption or forgiveness, and in the end, a question worth asking is: are we satisfied? Although No Tears for the Dead is viciously entertaining, emotionally poignant, and efficaciously acted and directed, more depth could have been provided to truly resolve some of the film's most impacting story-lines.

NO TEARS FOR THE DEAD is yet another addition to an exemplary list of South Korean action thrillers made in the last decade; such titles include THE BERLIN FILE, THE MAN FROM NOWHERE, A BITTERSWEET LIFE, A COMPANY MAN, and THE SUSPECT. I was long excited for this film as soon as I found out it was a follow-up to the same director's THE MAN FROM NOWHERE, which is one of my all-time favourites.NO TEARS FOR THE DEAD isn't quite up there with the standard of the earlier film, but it has its moments. This is an exciting story that mixes superbly-shot, hard-hitting action sequences with a tragic human drama at the core. It's dark indeed, featuring heartfelt performances from the central actors who are inevitably playing broken characters, and it's fun to see how the tone shifts from adrenaline-pumping action to gut-wrenching emotion and back again.The storyline is predictable for the genre: an assassin screws up by failing to take out his intended victim, only to face the wrath of his former employers. The action is blistering, with lightning fast editing and gobbets of grisly violence. But the human drama also draws you in, building to a moving but expected ending. The South Koreans have come up trumps again with this one.