In a perfect world, Don Lee (aka, Ma Dong-seok) would be a bigger star on this side of the pond. Over here, he’s best known for Train to Busan and that Marvel snoozefest, Eternals. The latter was his Hollywood debut, and he stole the entire movie from his bigger co-stars.
But in his home country of South Korea, he’s been the kickass star of some really great action thrillers, such as The Roundup franchise, Unstoppable and The Cop, the Gangster and the Devil. With his ample frame and laconic delivery, he seems like an unlikely action hero, but that’s what makes those movies so entertaining (and often very funny). If you haven’t seen any of them, get over your aversion to subtitles and seek them out.
2018’s The Villagers is another flick where he solves most conflicts with his fists, though perhaps not as often as fans would like. Fortunately, Lee’s got enough screen presence that he’s entertaining even when not beating the shit out of people. Here, he plays Yeok, an ex-boxer who ends up taking a job as the dean of a small town high school. No one there respects him much, and even the school administrator tends to marginalize his job duties (mostly collecting overdue student fees). I'll say one thing...as a former educator myself, these scenes certainly didn't make me miss the job.
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| Mr. Lee drove 30 miles before realizing that wasn't his car. |
But Yeok notices something odd about this town. A girl recently went missing, but only her best friend, Kang Joo-yin (Kim Sae-ron), seems concerned enough to do anything about it. Everyone else indifferently writes her off as a runaway, including local police. However, when Kang herself is nearly kidnapped, Yeok takes it upon himself to investigate further. But even though it quickly becomes obvious something terrible has happened to the missing girl, authorities want Yeok or Kang to leave it alone.
They don’t, of course, otherwise no movie. Besides, we’re still waiting for Lee to commence pummeling bad guys, which includes gangsters, shady nightclub owners, a suspected serial killer and a corrupt politician (though I won’t reveal who’s ultimately responsible for the girl’s disappearance). Until then, The Villagers is pretty light on action, and even though the rousing fight sequences are loads of fun, the tone of the film is often pretty grim, as are a few plot revelations.
Ultimately, it’s Lee who makes the movie. Part teddy bear, part grizzly bear, he makes Yeok extremely likable with an amusing performance that provides what few moments of levity the film has. Without him, The Villagers would be just another downbeat thriller.
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