If Kim Byung-Woo had more than proven his ability to arrange an action film in a small space with The Terror Live, in Take Point, he definitely takes his marks and confines his script in a bunker. The same concept as his previous film: a man against all. We already know from the outset that we will suffer.
The story
During the 2024 US presidential election, Ahab (Ha Jeong-woo) and his group of elite mercenaries belonging to the private military company Black Lizard accept a secret mission from the CIA. The operation consists of kidnapping a senior North Korean official designated King who is in a huge bunker 30 meters below the demilitarized zone. Ahab's team leads the assault and seizes its target, which turns out to be the supreme leader of North Korea. As Ahab and his team begin their exfiltration, they are assaulted by heavily armed commandos who cut off their retreat. (Wikipedia) Original title: PMC: 더벙커 literally, "Private Military Company: The Bunker") Director and Screenplay Kim Byeong-u Country of origin South Korea Genre Action Duration 124 minutes Release 2018 Starring : Ha Jeong-woo, Lee Sun-kyun, Jennifer Ehle, Kevin Durand 
Impressions
Completely implausible story and not even far-fetched, we abandon our sense of logic after 10 minutes (5?) And we let ourselves slide pleasantly in this meander of tunnels, screens, rooms, corridors and others. The tension rises crescendo and then, the director insists that we do not forget at any time, that we are buried, that the balance can fall at any moment. With this feeling of claustrophobia that sheaths the whole film, we enter a probably near future where the Americans want to annihilate North Korea… with the excuse of a missile supposedly launched by the Chinese… Uh… Our logic already light years away, we are caught up in the action without stopping. By this power game that places this bunker in a chessboard. Possible or not, it is not the most important for us, what matters is that not only do we not get bored, but that in addition we believe in it. They are mercenaries, so automatically unscrupulous villains who work for money, but the first scene is to humanize the character of the leader. We are informed that he is going to be a father and that he is worried about his wife. So, we are already getting used to the idea that the film is going to be more than a story of bad guys against good guys, and that the feelings will be as present as the heaviness of the bunker. 
Take point has been worked down to the smallest detail. Each element corroborates this tough and relentless tension, still leaving room for the birth of an unlikely friendship. Unfettered and with perfectly distributed shoulder camera scenes that do not stuff us, we are unwittingly placed in the sole focus of the mercenary leader. We only see what he sees. For his second film in the big leagues, Kim Byeong-u called on Ha Jeong-woo, a safe bet who had already shown him a high-intensity performance in The Terror Live. His acting is quite surprising. He doesn't seem to change his attitude or even his process too much, like John Wayne. He puts everything in his aura, in his smirk, in his look "is it bacon or pig? ". What he exudes in his voice and his movements, manages to bamboozle the film around him, to make it consistent. It may be the most iminaginable scenario, it will make it more than plausible while its expression seems frozen from beginning to end. 
Lee Sun-kyun, currently playing on Apple TV with Dr Brain, is able to give an atmosphere, an orientation, a charisma to a film just by his presence. He earned worldwide respect for his performance in Parasite. Well, he was already a quality actor for insiders. Let's say that with the buzz of Parasite, he became known to recalcitrants of the genre. In Take Point, he plays the role of the North Korean leader's doctor. Dragged in spite of himself into this incredible battle, he seems less comfortable in this fragile personality than in these roles where his strong character can flourish better. Check it out in Hard Day. This is Lee Sun-kyun in all its glory. But, he still ends up imposing himself by playing this hesitant character and, to our great joy, his character takes over beautifully.
End
A story that stands up even if it absolutely does not stand up. And even if sometimes it feels like a video game and the final scene could not even have been invented by a screenwriter on acid, we must place this film on the same level as "A Hard day" by Kim Sung-Hoon. It may not be a masterpiece but a very good Korean action movie as we like them.
