For those who were impressed by the action thriller film Baby Driver, a filmmaker from South Korea is trying to raise a similar theme through Special Delivery (Teuksong). The result is not bad at all. Park Dae-min directs this South Korean action thriller film with young stars such as Park So-dam and Jung Hyeon-jun, who we know through the Oscar-winning film, Parasite, then Song Sae-byeok, and Kim Eui-sung. Special Delivery, released earlier this year, is currently the fourth highest-grossing film in South Korea.
Eun-ha (So-dam) is a reliable female driver who sends goods or people from one location to another. She never once failed to do her job. As usual, she got an assignment to pick up a client and drop at one location one day. Unexpectedly, everything changes when the client turns out a boy (Hyeon-jun) who a group of gangsters is chasing him. The boy is carrying a safe key containing millions of dollars, and the chase begins.
The opening segment is so entertaining that it will surely impress the audience—not inferior to Hollywood films. Korean films are now on par with Hollywood films for the technical side. Unfortunately, such a promising premise is not strong enough to maintain the tension to the climax. One or two moments seem to waste time and make the plot predictable. The subplot inserts that contain the issue of corrupt police, the action of “defects” (North Korea), to the chemistry between Eun-ha and Seo-Won become an interesting gimmick. The ending was also very satisfying for the audience.
Special Delivery is the Korean version of “Baby Driver” with some impressive action moments and a thriller side. His technical achievements from all sides, be it camera, editing, music, are very well established. So far, this film has one of the best car chase scenes outside of Hollywood films. With an even more solid story, it feels like it’s just a matter of time before South Korean mainstream cinema aligns with Hollywood.
