Carter (2022)

Carter (or rather: Kato) tries to present itself as a one-shot-film, but it is not quite the Korean Hardcore Henry. There is little effort hiding the supposedly invisible cuts, of which there are *many*. The ever-flying shaky camera drone is busy, as are the very dedicated stunt people, and the soros of CGI. The plot is... and illogical mix of something even C-grade video games wouldn't dare to use; the upside of which is that it is unpredictable. Three secret agencies, an coup, implanted devices, fast Zombies, save-the-daughter, some Total Recall, Indiana Jones, and Blood Red Sky, with a hint of Extraction and James Bond. Bullet-proof pigs I'm OK with, infinite ammo magazines we all know - but flea-like zombies, the free fall fight, and the CGI fires are hilarious. Or bad, depending on your expectations. Apply *plenty* Suspension of Disbelief to be entertained. Warning, not suitable for fragile Americans: Aside from lots of gory violence, there's also brief frontal nudity, and we know you're easily scared by asian genitalia.

Gratuitous hyper violence eye candy!

For me, Carter feels like a Hardcore Henry re-mix, with a Korean flavour. This is run and gun, beat em, cut em up, style of film, with a video game vibe. It worked with Hardcore Henry but somehow this one just doesn't quite pull it off. I think part of the reason for that is unlike Hardcore Henry, its not quite as well paced or polished. Its back story is a bit thin too, not really adding much to the proposition. The result feels somewhat aimless and a little bland. In short, moderately watchable but fizzles when it needs to burn.