Traffickers Blu-ray Review

    Actors: Chang Jung Lim, Daniel Choi, Oh Dal-su, Jo Yoon-hee

Director: Kim Hong-seon

Format: Multiple Formats, Blu-ray, Subtitled, Widescreen

Language: Korean

Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1

Number of discs: 1

Rated: Unrated

Studio: Well Go USA

Release Date: December 23, 2014

Run Time: 111 minutes

 

 

        Traffickers opens with an intense sequence, before even getting caught up in details of plot or character, and at its best moments returns to this suspenseful style of filmmaking. Unfortunately, the plot is never able match these glimmers of effective filmmaking. Despite some well-shot sequences, the final product is too uneven and jumbled. There are too many coincidences and twists, in an apparent attempt to create an exciting fictional storyline from real-world criminal events.

 

         Part of what makes this film so confused is the fact that the protagonist is also working as somewhat of a villain. Young-Gyu (Chang Jung Lim) is an Organ Dealer, running an organization that steals and sells people’s organs aboard a cruiser headed from South Korea to China. The exciting opening sequence involves an operation gone wrong, which ends in the death of one of the members of Young-Gyu’s team. Although this incident has turned him away from the business, Young-Gyu agrees to do another job when his heart is broken by a ticket agent named Yoo-Ri (Yun-hie Jo).

 

        This is where the plot gets confused, because the organs that Young-Gyu agrees to steal are meant for Yoo-Ri’s sick father. The number of coincidences and accidental encounters aboard the cruise ship are more akin to a comedy of errors than a thriller, asking more suspension of disbelief than most audience members may be able to muster. This all leads to an even more ridiculous ending, however exciting in its elements of action and spectacle. This leaves the entire endeavor feeling like a film that tried to go in too many directions at once, like a child that used all of the colors in the box of crayons only to discover they had created a muddled mess on their page.

 

        The Blu-ray doesn’t offer special features, though some of the visual/auditory spectacle is slightly enhanced by the high definition presentation of the film.

 

Entertainment Value: 6.5/10

Quality of Filmmaking: 6/10

Historical Significance:  3/10

Special Features: 0/10