Banking executive Lee Seong-gyu (Jo Woo-Jin) begins his day taking his kids to school on his way to work when a phone left in his car rings revealing the stranger (Ji Chang-Wook) on the other end has planted a bomb in the car. As the caller demands Seong-gyu come up with a specific amount of money, it becomes apparent the caller is someone affected by Seong-gyu's work in banking.
Hard Hit, aka Restricted Call, is a 2021 South Korean action thriller and the second remake of Spanish thriller Retribution following the 2018 German adaptation Don't. Get. Out!. Hard Hit is a pretty faithful adaptation of the simple story of the original and covers many of the same beats, and while it's not as good as its inspiration it does deliver on the tension and strong performance of Jo Woo-jin.
As with the original, the story is only as good as its lead actor and thankfully Jo Woo-Jin does solid work in the role of Seong-Gyu who taps into the desperation and remorse of this character which is needed in order for the movie to work. I also liked Lee Jae-in as Seong-gyu's daughter who is slightly expanded from her role in the first film (only slightly) and has some good moments such as a scene where she and Seong-gyu are making plans for a family outing to take their minds off the situation. A key difference between Hard Hit and Retribution is in the directorial style where Retribution was more gritty and confining with the first hour staying primarily within the car, while with Hard Hit director Kim Chang-ju gives the film a more polished look and often travels away from the car such as giving the perspective of the police who enter the story much earlier than the original and I think this dilutes some of the tension to a degree. The movie also doesn't have the same amount of rawness to its portrayal as Retribution tapped into the ongoing Spanish Financial Crisis of the time giving that film a level of presence and gravitas with its air of institutional frustration, and while there is some of that it's mostly confined to the end of the movie rather than littered throughout.
Hard Hit isn't one of my favorite South Korean genre films as it plays like a slightly above average "movie of the week", but it's a efficient and well made thriller that does its job adequately.
Hard Hit, aka Restricted Call, is a 2021 South Korean action thriller and the second remake of Spanish thriller Retribution following the 2018 German adaptation Don't. Get. Out!. Hard Hit is a pretty faithful adaptation of the simple story of the original and covers many of the same beats, and while it's not as good as its inspiration it does deliver on the tension and strong performance of Jo Woo-jin.
As with the original, the story is only as good as its lead actor and thankfully Jo Woo-Jin does solid work in the role of Seong-Gyu who taps into the desperation and remorse of this character which is needed in order for the movie to work. I also liked Lee Jae-in as Seong-gyu's daughter who is slightly expanded from her role in the first film (only slightly) and has some good moments such as a scene where she and Seong-gyu are making plans for a family outing to take their minds off the situation. A key difference between Hard Hit and Retribution is in the directorial style where Retribution was more gritty and confining with the first hour staying primarily within the car, while with Hard Hit director Kim Chang-ju gives the film a more polished look and often travels away from the car such as giving the perspective of the police who enter the story much earlier than the original and I think this dilutes some of the tension to a degree. The movie also doesn't have the same amount of rawness to its portrayal as Retribution tapped into the ongoing Spanish Financial Crisis of the time giving that film a level of presence and gravitas with its air of institutional frustration, and while there is some of that it's mostly confined to the end of the movie rather than littered throughout.
Hard Hit isn't one of my favorite South Korean genre films as it plays like a slightly above average "movie of the week", but it's a efficient and well made thriller that does its job adequately.