Easily one of the most hyped Korean movies of the year, screenwriter-director Lee’s ” Seobeok” drew attention by the collaboration of two of Korea’s biggest stars in the industry, Gong Yoo and Park Bo Gum working alongside one another. However, something which does seem to have been left out in reviews beforehand in favour of biased comments upon the actors themselves, is glossing over the actual storyline.

Seobok is an odd fusion of drama, philosophy and morality in the first-half closely followed by fast-paced action with gunfights and psychic powers in the final part. It is surprising, but somehow, these two halves did blend quite well, resulting in a rather entertaining film.

The movie is the tale of Min Ki-hun (Gong Yoo) a former intelligence agent with a traumatic past. He suffers from a long-term illness which causes him to occasionally lose consciousness (mostly at times most convenient for the plot). Chief Ahn (Cho Woo-jin), his former cunning agency head, recommends that he be part of a revolutionary experiment that might help to cure him of his ailment. This experiment involves Seobok (Park), brought to life through stem cell cloning and genetic engineering. Seobok is a gentle, benevolent soul who is fascinated about the world, and morbidly about mortality.

Seobok’s bone marrow contains special cells that could unlock the secret of immortality. Unsurprisingly, a lot of people are interested in him, mostly for selfish reasons.After a surprise ambush by some military forces, Min and Seobok find themselves on the run together. If viewers can put two and two together, the screenwriting openly becomes predictable as the story moves along .

Admittedly, the action scenes are pretty enthralling, opening up in the beginning of the film with a terrific moment when a vehicle is driven through a brick wall. Yet whilst the plot does begin to build up to a satisfying climax, the pacing is ultimately slow in parts with perhaps the only reward seeing the antagonists get their just desserts, as well as some more profound moments of angst-ridden backstories for the characters. The philosophy in the movie whilst arguably risking the problem of being overwrought, did add a multifaceted layer to the storyline.

As far as acting goes, Seobeok is certainly headlined by its two main actors Gong Yoo and Park Bo Gum, who do not disappoint within their performances.

Amazingly, Gong Yoo was hesitant to accept the role at first and was unaware that he would be starring alongside junior actor Park Bo Gum. However, Gong Yoo later confessed that he enjoyed playing the role ( as well as being able to break away from his typical ” good guy” roles as a foul-mouthed and cynical agent), something which he certainly excelled within his performance as troubled protagonist Min. In a scene exploring Min’s back story, Gong Yoo captivates the pure humanity of his character in arguably one of the most memorable parts of the film.

Evidently, costar Park Bo Gum also had his fair commentary upon feeling fairly nervous with working with Gong Yoo in the film. Regardless, Park’s somewhat romanticised appearance as the mysterious Seobok, did not diminish his talents onscreen as both characters and their bond over the course of the film was fairly likeable and easy as a viewer to become invested within. Admittedly, the side characters were mediocre at best; not dire nor unwatchable, but the antagonists in particular felt formulaically one-dimensional.

As far as the ending goes it is more a matter of opinion. Some may interpret it as more a clever metaphor, whilst others may be less impressed by the abrupt and sudden conclusion . Overall, ” Seobeok” had undeniably brilliant performances by the lead actors Park Bo Gum and Gong Yoo who certainly do not disappoint. However, whilst the movie attempted to style itself as an intricately complicated philosophical, action-thriller ( and was successful to some extent in parts), it often struggled to pace its own storyline as well as breaking out of unoriginal cliches . Nevertheless, it was enjoyable in parts, and certainly worth watching to pass the time.