Review | Netflix movie review Yaksha: Ruthless Operations – South Korean thriller severely lacks excitement
- Sol Kyung-gu and Squid Game’s Park Hae-soo star as mismatched partners thrown together in a jet-setting spy caper that completely misses the mark
- Woefully lacking any discernible glamour or style, the movie sets the stage for genuinely interesting developments that just never materialise
2/5 stars
Sluggish, predictable and almost wilfully devoid of thrills, South Korean action drama Yaksha: Ruthless Operations offers none of the unpredictable or mischievous antics teased by its curious title.
Park plays Han Ji-hoon, a disgraced public prosecutor who is demoted to the security bureau and volunteers for an assignment in the Chinese city of Shenyang, close to China’s border with North Korea. Han is sent to review the Korean government’s field office, run by Ji Kang-in (Sol), nicknamed Yaksha because of his reckless attitude and unorthodox methods.
Yaksha’s team is struggling to arrange a meet-up with a man who controls a private slush fund for the North Korean leadership, but thus far, Yaksha has been double-crossed at every turn, as Hiroyuki Ikeuchi’s dastardly Japanese villain circles his prey.