Fridae

The most exhilarating movie of the week is Korean cowboy movie The Good, The Bad and The Weird. A box-office hit in its home turf Korea, it is obviously inspired by Sergio Leone's spaghetti Westerns, in particular 1966's The Good, The Bad and The Ugly starring Clint Eastwood.

The film stars three of Korea's top actors, Jung Woo-Sung (Daisy), Lee Byung-Hun (JSA: Joint Security Area) and Song Kang Ho (The Host). All three play bandits circa 1930s Korea when the country was controlled by Japan. When word gets around that someone possesses a treasure map, all three engage in a mad scramble to get hold of the map. It turns out that each has a grudge against the other, and the race for the treasure becomes personal�

Directed by Kim Ji Woon, this crazy, outlandish film moves at a consistently neck breaking speed. The plot is neither complicated, nor are the characters particularly well-developed. But the action sequences are superbly choreographed and jam-packed with surprises. The cinematography is also first-rate.

Top that off with incredibly charismatic performances by the three leads (Song Kang Ho has rarely been funnier, and Lee Byung Hun has never been more stylish a villain) and you get a real winner. If you love action movies, The Good, The Bad and The Weird is quite simply The Must-Watch.