User Reviews

If you're in the mood for a slam-bang, shoot-em-up... Ken is for you. Loaded with action, director Eric Won incorporates crisp editing, suspenseful music, excellent cinematography and fine performances by his cast, most notably Karl Yune in the title role, and Ken Butler as Jack, a mobster (and surrogate father to Ken) who Ken protects. When Jack is killed by a rival, Ken avenges his father's death. The build to the end is quite remarkable, as Mr. Won tells his story in about 20 minutes. He saturated his film with empathy and pathos mixed in with the action, elements usually missing in this type of offering. Give your time to see it. This short film packs a punch.

"Ken" is the story of a young homeless boy (Luke Kim) who becomes the lethal guardian of his crime boss mentor Jack (Ken Butler). When an old friend turned enemy, Marcus (Tom Druhilet)teams up with Ken's nemesis Victor (Yun Choi) and tries to take over Jacks' Arms dealing business Ken (Karl Yune) is a one man army that stands in his path.

Combining solid action with a good story and believable characters, "Ken" is a major achievement for a low budget short film. From Eric Won's Direction and Mike Alba's Cinematography to the suspenseful gun fights, this short looks and feels like a big time Hollywood action movie.

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.