No.3 is supposedly a parody of Korean gangster films. Well, I watched it and I haven't the foggiest where the parody bit comes in. There simply aren't any jokes! Not in the script and not in the action. Which leaves you with only a rubbish gangster flick.
The story follows a gangster, whose name I've forgotten, who is promoted to become number two in his gang after he rescues his wounded boss and helps put down an internal coup. Unfortunately his wife is a poet who promptly has an affair with a teacher and everyone keeps calling him number three. In the gang he has a rival, Ashtray, so called because he uses an ashtray to beat people up. There is also a mysterious gangster who is training three idiots to become his gang. Then there is a crime deal, over a hotel, with some Japanese. Meanwhile a new, tough public prosecutor who is more like a gangster than the gangsters is threatening number two/three.
All of it makes sense, in a rather loose way, though the constantly changing plot and characters will confuse even those who can remember Korean names and faces. I watched this with three other people and the only way they could track the lead character was his Patrick Swayze- esque hair. The plot is pure sub-Godfather pulp and hugely boring. Sadly as the jokes and parody elements appear to have disappeared (bar one silly sound effect, a man falling in a river, an unintentionally funny fight and two poor references to The Godfather) that is all you get. I didn't laugh once (except a vaguely sobbing noise I made about half way through because of the horror of it all).
The action isn't any good either, with the first fight being so poorly lit and frantic that it's nearly impossible to work out what is going on. Someone also saw fit to insert a long, pointless sex scene that just won't end. Indeed the film never ends and when it does it does so in a completely baffling manner that left me at a loss. What happened? One to miss.
The story follows a gangster, whose name I've forgotten, who is promoted to become number two in his gang after he rescues his wounded boss and helps put down an internal coup. Unfortunately his wife is a poet who promptly has an affair with a teacher and everyone keeps calling him number three. In the gang he has a rival, Ashtray, so called because he uses an ashtray to beat people up. There is also a mysterious gangster who is training three idiots to become his gang. Then there is a crime deal, over a hotel, with some Japanese. Meanwhile a new, tough public prosecutor who is more like a gangster than the gangsters is threatening number two/three.
All of it makes sense, in a rather loose way, though the constantly changing plot and characters will confuse even those who can remember Korean names and faces. I watched this with three other people and the only way they could track the lead character was his Patrick Swayze- esque hair. The plot is pure sub-Godfather pulp and hugely boring. Sadly as the jokes and parody elements appear to have disappeared (bar one silly sound effect, a man falling in a river, an unintentionally funny fight and two poor references to The Godfather) that is all you get. I didn't laugh once (except a vaguely sobbing noise I made about half way through because of the horror of it all).
The action isn't any good either, with the first fight being so poorly lit and frantic that it's nearly impossible to work out what is going on. Someone also saw fit to insert a long, pointless sex scene that just won't end. Indeed the film never ends and when it does it does so in a completely baffling manner that left me at a loss. What happened? One to miss.