{"id":16024,"date":"2015-07-29T21:57:34","date_gmt":"2015-07-30T01:57:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/?p=16024"},"modified":"2020-07-29T11:07:55","modified_gmt":"2020-07-29T15:07:55","slug":"big-match-2015-fantasia-film-festival","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/2015\/07\/29\/big-match-2015-fantasia-film-festival\/","title":{"rendered":"Big Match (2015) [Fantasia Film Festival]"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Big-Match-640x426\"<\/a><\/p>\n

FANTASIA FILM FESTIVAL<\/strong><\/p>\n

Director Choi Ho\u2019s \u201cBig Match\u201d is probably one of my favorite action movies of the year. It\u2019s a wonderful amalgam of action, comedy, and thrills acting on a fast pace with a multi layered story of a man running against the clock. Choi Ik-ho is a man kicked out of professional soccer for rough housing and enters in to MMA to get his aggression out. With the help of his big brother Young-ho, Choi Ik-ho has become one of the greatest fighters of modern times. He\u2019s kept under tight supervision by his big brother, a retired MMA fighter. But when he suddenly disappears, Ik-ho is suspect number one. Young-ho is suspected of being murdered, and Ik-ho is arrested.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

While in jail, Ik-ho gets a message from a seemingly sentient game master who has kidnapped his brother. Guiding him on a labyrinth of obstacles and real life foes, the man simply known as Ace wants Ik-ho to break out of jail and find his brother before time runs out. Now Ik-ho has to rely on his years as an athlete to break out of jail and take on a literal army of men, all of whom are oblivious to the harrowing situation both men have been placed under. With a hefty helping of laugh out loud comedy, \u201cBig Match\u201d is a top notch action thriller that relies heavily on the performance by Lee Jeong-jae who plays hero Ik-ho. He brings immense charisma and brutal acting talent to the table, playing a lovable and flawed hero who has to defy the law and all sorts of ethics to save his brother from being murdered.<\/p>\n

The tension ratchets up every minute as Ik-ho has to find ways around the law and civilization to reach his brother, all with the guidance of Ace. Ace is an enigmatic villain who is using Ik-ho as a means of placing bets in an underground gambling ring and the pair of brothers are unfortunate victims. Much of Ik-ho\u2019s plight is unbelievably chaotic, as he has to battle a SWAT team, a team of local officers, and even dodge speeding cars on a high way just to get to his brother. One of the best sequences finds Ik-ho infiltrating a local gangster hide out where he has to battle a hallway of armed thugs single handedly. Channeling \u201cOldboy,\u201d Choi Ho stages this sequence with slick editing and beautiful direction that make Ik-ho a force to be reckoned with. Despite its long in the tooth run time, \u201cBig Match\u201d moves at a break neck pace, doling out laughter and broken bones at every turn, and I was never bored.<\/p>\n

I loved how no two challenges for Ik-ho were alike, and Ace always kept him guessing what utterly brutal task lay ahead of him. Every story element just works well. What could have been a flat comedy gag like Ik-ho having to sing karaoke during his chase through an underground club is saved by Lee Jeong-jae\u2019s great performance and sharp comic timing. Admittedly, I think ten minutes could have been cut down from the narrative, but that\u2019s only a mere squabble in a truly excellent action offering. What helps \u201cBig Match\u201d is also the great supporting cast, as folks like BoA, and Lee Sung Min contribute to the chaos and hilarity. Re Mi-Ran is also a stand out as Young Ho\u2019s militant wife. \u201cBig Match\u201d is a definite raucous good time mixing adventure, and laughs in to one really great action offering. It\u2019s a film teeming with international appeal, and I hope we see more of this great title soon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

FANTASIA FILM FESTIVAL Director Choi Ho\u2019s \u201cBig Match\u201d is probably one of my favorite action movies of the year. It\u2019s a wonderful amalgam of action, comedy, and thrills acting on a fast pace with a multi layered story of a man running against the clock. Choi Ik-ho is a man kicked out of professional soccer […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2497,1284,12],"tags":[58,71,113,120,219,240,367,391,631,1087],"class_list":["post-16024","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fantasia-fest","category-festivalsevents","category-movie-reviews","tag-action","tag-adventure","tag-asian","tag-b","tag-comedy","tag-crime","tag-foreign","tag-gangster","tag-martial-arts","tag-thriller"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16024","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16024"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16024\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16026,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16024\/revisions\/16026"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16024"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16024"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16024"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}