80) Dachimawa Lee (2008)

80) Dachimawa Lee (2008) Dir: Ryoo Seung-wan Not Yet Released Date Seen: March 23^rd, 2009 Rating: 3/5

You know there’s something wrong with an action film when its outtakes are the most structured and consistent stretch of the film. Dachimawa Lee (2008) is a vanity project, through and through, a throwback to Manchurian action films that doesn’t have a hard bone in its 100 minute runtime. There’s nothing to it but cheesy slapstick gags and equally cockeyed action scenes, which is what co-writer/director Ryoo does best. The fact that only 1 in 4 jokes work forces me to recall that his jokes were only half on-target even in Arahan (2004) and some arcane adage about too much of a good thing. Ryoo apes the Zucker brothers' style of comedy but lacks their flair for sight gags. There’s a lot to like because there’s a lot of energy in the film, as the outtakes show, but there’s also a lot of hiccups that a few more script revisions could have taken care of.