Look out, it’s the oldest cliché in the book: Superspy wants to be cartoonist, so he fakes his death to live the wild life of shading. Oh, how many agents do you suppose have gone that route? Surely that describes Charles Schulz, Jim Davis, and Cathy Guisewite, right? Who can’t imagine the latter taking out a team of assassins, disarming a bomb, and afterwards penning a hilarious commentary about guys who can’t commit, amIright?
Seriously, I’m pretty certain every single person who has ever written a cartoon has dreamed –albeit some only briefly- of being a super spy; how many spies have ever dreamed of being cartoonists?
The problem with Hitman: Agent Jun (Kwon Sang-woo) is he sucks as a cartoonist and his wife knows it; she’s been carrying the family load for years; it’s time J-u-n got a j-o-b, a real j-o-b. In a drunk fit one night, Jun pens his former life of luge lessons and meat helmets. And in sit-com fashion, his wife finds it and sends it to his publisher, who finally loves something Jun wrote. Pretty soon, all the kids want to know about the adventures of Agent Jun…and so do the bad guys Jun left behind. Hey Jun, don’t make it bad; next time don’t specifically name your enemies in a published work, huh?
This film has a similar problem with all action death comedies: it’s difficult to mix humor in when there are people being tortured on screen. The
film has some legitimately funny scenes, but I’m not sure they hold up when closely examined. For instance, one-eyed evil bad guy has Jun’s wife. He says, “meet me in 30 minutes or she’s dead.” At the very moment Jun makes the scene, he gets word that federal agents are closing in on his child. Choosing quickly, he makes a u-turn in his wife’s line of sight and goes back to rescue his child. Funny, right? But, but, but what if the evil one-eyed scarface guy doesn’t find it so funny? Up to this moment, nothing in the film suggests scarface has a sense of humor … and now you’re making him wait. What stops him from killing Jun’s wife on the spot? Is it really that funny in retrospect?
I like the idea of Hitman: Agent Jun more than the payoff. The film does have moments of B+ hilarity and B+ ass-kickery. Is that enough? Enough to recommend, I suppose, but not enough to stay in one’s memory very long.
The graphic novelist is hardly a calling bourgeoisie
While the hitman operates above the law
Between cartoonist and gunslinger
Lies a comparative zinger
One draws fast while the other is fast on the draw
Not Rated, 110 Minutes
Director: Won-sub Choi
Writer: Won-sub Choi, Jung-Ryeol Sin
Genre: A writer’s fantasy
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: Cartoonists
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: Editors
