KEN is an interesting short film from the creative mind of writer/director/editor Eric Won. Mr. Won has given his audience an aggressive piece of cinema with an abundance of action, suspense, and drama, beautifully captured by his Director of Photography, Michael Alba. KEN is an extremely ambitious project, in which Mr. Won tells the genesis of a homeless boy, Ken, who is given shelter by a wealthy illegal arms dealer, Jack... a relationship that develops into a father & son bond that spans 20 years. Ken grows up to be Jack's bodyguard... to protect his "father" at all costs. A rival arms dealer, Marcus, who once worked for Jack wants to eliminate him and take over his business, and his bodyguard, Victor, who has a vendetta against Ken, plan their strategy. The game is on...
Karl Yune turns in a fine performance as Ken. Ken Butler truly commands the screen as Jack. Tom Druhilet as Marcus is appropriately evil, and Yun Choi is excellent as the cold, calculating Victor.
The film is long on action, but comes up a bit short on character development, which is both it's strength and it's weakness. Given the running time of the film, only so much could be done. If KEN was of feature length, this first rate cast would have been able to give the characters the chance to be fully expressed, and Mr. Won could have more fully realized his potential as a Director, which he executed with the heart of a lion and the soul of a King. Having said that, KEN is a fine short... stylish and exciting... and highly recommended.
Karl Yune turns in a fine performance as Ken. Ken Butler truly commands the screen as Jack. Tom Druhilet as Marcus is appropriately evil, and Yun Choi is excellent as the cold, calculating Victor.
The film is long on action, but comes up a bit short on character development, which is both it's strength and it's weakness. Given the running time of the film, only so much could be done. If KEN was of feature length, this first rate cast would have been able to give the characters the chance to be fully expressed, and Mr. Won could have more fully realized his potential as a Director, which he executed with the heart of a lion and the soul of a King. Having said that, KEN is a fine short... stylish and exciting... and highly recommended.