The Tube is an overlong, cliché-ridden Korean movie that steals liberally from many a better film in an attempt to appeal to an international market. Combining elements of Die Hard, Under Siege 2, Lethal Weapon The Taking of Pelham 123, Silver Streak, Speed and countless other action classics, the film ends up as a tedious mess which, like the train it features, rushes headlong towards disaster .
Jay (Seok-hun Kim) is a tough cop who lives life on the edge after the death of his wife. When a terrorist named T hijacks a subway train full of passengers (which includes our hero's romantic interest, Kay, played by Du-na Bae) and threatens to explode a bomb, Jay risks life and limb to get on board and rescue the passengers (fortunately, Jay is actually a superhero possessing incredible supernatural powers of strength and durability. How else could the makers explain his amazing ability to constantly jump onto, fall off, and hang underneath speeding trains without coming to harm?).
From the confusing gun-battle at the beginning, to the explosive finale, director Baek Woon-Hak shows that he has no idea how to shoot a cohesive action scene or tell a decent story. Action set-piece after action set-piece is thrown at the viewer with absolutely no sense of pacing. Just as we think we have reached the inevitable end of the film, Jay is given yet another obstacle to overcome before he can save the day; hell, this film has more climaxes than 'Monsterfacials.com: The Movie'!!
With a downright dumb ending in which the hero needlessly sacrifices his life to save everyone else on the train (tie down the damn lever and jump off the trainhow difficult is that?), this film is a way-below-par big-budget offering from a country that has recently given us so much great cinema: Oldboy, JSA, Three Extremes, Sympathy for Mr.Vengeance and My Sassy Girl.
Jay (Seok-hun Kim) is a tough cop who lives life on the edge after the death of his wife. When a terrorist named T hijacks a subway train full of passengers (which includes our hero's romantic interest, Kay, played by Du-na Bae) and threatens to explode a bomb, Jay risks life and limb to get on board and rescue the passengers (fortunately, Jay is actually a superhero possessing incredible supernatural powers of strength and durability. How else could the makers explain his amazing ability to constantly jump onto, fall off, and hang underneath speeding trains without coming to harm?).
From the confusing gun-battle at the beginning, to the explosive finale, director Baek Woon-Hak shows that he has no idea how to shoot a cohesive action scene or tell a decent story. Action set-piece after action set-piece is thrown at the viewer with absolutely no sense of pacing. Just as we think we have reached the inevitable end of the film, Jay is given yet another obstacle to overcome before he can save the day; hell, this film has more climaxes than 'Monsterfacials.com: The Movie'!!
With a downright dumb ending in which the hero needlessly sacrifices his life to save everyone else on the train (tie down the damn lever and jump off the trainhow difficult is that?), this film is a way-below-par big-budget offering from a country that has recently given us so much great cinema: Oldboy, JSA, Three Extremes, Sympathy for Mr.Vengeance and My Sassy Girl.