Iseerphia
All that we are seeing on the screen is happening with real people, real action sequences in the background, forcing the eye to watch as if we were there.
Keira Brennan
The movie is made so realistic it has a lot of that WoW feeling at the right moments and never tooo over the top. the suspense is done so well and the emotion is felt. Very well put together with the music and all.
Asad Almond
A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.
Leofwine_draca
RUNNING TURTLE is a lively but forgettable South Korean thriller with plenty of quirkiness to see it through. Plot-wise it's familiar stuff indeed, a kind of mix between THE CHASER and A HARD DAY, following the story of an unlucky cop who loses some ill-gotten loot and goes after the thief who stole it. The lead role is played by Kim Yun-seok, previously of THE CHASER, and he does his usual frustrated/driven to the edge personality stuff very well. Jung Kyung-ho does very well as the slick villain of the piece too. The rest of the film is a well-directed mix of solid action scenes, some suspense, lots of bizarre situations, and the usual Korean mindset.
pasang-sharma
****MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS******I recommend it for people who want to go easy with their mind and their eyes..A very easy viewing.If you want your mind blown this definitely isn't it.A very simple and predictable plot.Pretty much straight forward,not much there is to it.Clichéd!!!!A cop(i don't know what to make of him)i will leave him to you guys for interpretations,a confused wife, a sweet kid who loves her daddy,a thief who is a martial artist with serious love issues and a mediocre police department who loves nothing but food...lol...Haven't we seen that in countless other police oriented films coming out from South Korea.It just makes you wonder if the coppers out there are really the way they portray them in their movies.I certainly hope not.A turtle engages in a race with a deer(i figured the deer tattoo on his back represents that) and comes out victorious.Hence the name Running Turtle.
dumsumdumfai
Gotta hand it to the director or write of this one. That they want to make such a movie - about a mediocre cop - raising out of his way.Not sure if the theme is persistence of character study of a certain type of ppl. It works for me. You want to be at the side of the underdog - the lead that is not particularly successful, not particularly well-like; hasn't accomplished much - the every man ? The story goes the main character, who is also a cop, came to some winnings but was stolen. And he wants it back, because, on principle, the winning was his. But the bad guy is smart, tough and knows how to fight. The cop fails many many times, - like the turtle in a race with the rabbit. However, it is through persistence (and character?) he wins, nothing else.And I don't think I've can recall this theme has been made before ?
Peter L. Petersen (KnatLouie)
I saw this film a few weeks ago as part of the Copenhagen film-festival, and here is what I got from it: The plot evolves around a gambling detective, Jo Pil-seong (Yun-seok Kim), who frequently "borrows" money from his wife, so he can go out and make (mostly unsuccessful) bets on various bull-racing-contests. When he unexpectedly makes it big time, all his winnings are stolen by a notorious thief, Gi-tae Song (Kyeong-ho Jeong), who also happens to be an expert martial artist, not easily captured or beaten.Jo rounds up his gang of dim-witted henchmen and goes after the thief, but it is no easy task, and every time they get near him, they usually end up getting a severe beating, and/or he escapes like a Ninja, not wanting to be caught. Meanwhile, the official state police also tries to capture him, but they are even worse at it, and actually aids him more than stops him, much to the annoyance of Jo and his buddies. But they discover that he may have a weakness, which is a young girl he has been having a romantic relationship with.. and the hunt gets a whole new dimension.I thought the movie was a somewhat forgettable, but mildly entertaining action-thriller-comedy, with a lot of very well-choreographed action-sequences, which kept the tempo at a fast pace, and the comedy elements were pretty good too, although sometimes a bit too much to keep the focus of the story. Not the best Korean movie I've ever seen, but definitely not the worst one either. Recommended for people who like hunt/chase-films filled with action and comic relief.
