The New Face of Lee Je-hoon in Time to Hunt

[Lee Isul, Entertainment Reporter]

Je-yoon Lee's new face is welcome.

Was he always this good at acting? Now, another descriptor might be added before Je-yoon Lee's name.

Je-yoon Lee plays Jun-seok, who devises a dangerous plan, in the film Time to Hunt (Director Yoon Sung-hyun).

The setting of Time to Hunt is a distant future South Korea. Life has become harsher, and hope has shattered in a desolate city. It is like a hell trapped in a well, impossible to escape. The city is even more brutal for youth. For those who must endure day by day, the dream of one big score is the only escape.

The film begins with Jun-seok being released from prison and joyfully reuniting with Jang-ho (played by Ahn Jae-hong) and Ki-hoon (played by Choi Woo-shik). Jun-seok has been planning to rob a gambling hall's safe since his time in prison, and he starts designing the plan with his friends. They are joined by Sang-soo (played by Park Jung-min), who works at the gambling hall and knows the inside details well, and together they devise a thorough plan. The four, having even bought guns, put their plan into action and successfully crack the safe.

However, a mysterious man Han (played by Park Hae-soo) relentlessly pursues them. Like a hunt, he slowly and suffocatingly corners the four into a desperate situation.

Je-yoon Lee returned to film after three years since I Can Speak (2017). In fact, he was not the type to throw himself into roles. He was closer to an actor whose cleverly calculated acting and instinctive balance in front of the camera harmonized well.

Je-yoon Lee in Time to Hunt is somewhat different. He vividly expresses Jun-seok's anxiety and desperation. It is impressive how he relaxed the tension in a character that could have easily been overpowered and approached the role more naturally. His natural acting chemistry with his peers is also worth seeing.

The transformation is striking as well. With his hair cut short and tattoos visible through street fashion, he presents a look fitting the desperate Jun-seok, unlike his neat appearance in many previous works. This challenge, chosen by giving up his looks, revealed another possibility.

Time to Hunt also highlights the expansion of the world created by director Yoon Sung-hyun in Bleak Night (2011). While the previous work focused on delicate emotional fragments, this time a somewhat straightforward directing style stands out. The gloomy city and humans engulfed in anxiety provide another kind of enjoyment as an extension of the Bleak Night universe.

Je-yoon Lee added meaning by reuniting with director Yoon Sung-hyun, a film comrade who made him who he is. In some ways, Jun-seok feels like the revival of Ki-tae from Bleak Night. Jun-seok’s anxiety and sneer filling the frame expand on the same tone as the previous work.

Time to Hunt may divide opinions due to repetitive clich?s, somewhat loose development, and directing style, but the acting of Je-yoon Lee and the other actors shines. It is refreshing to see Ahn Jae-hong’s face outside of melodrama, and Choi Woo-shik impressively portrays the stains of youth living in the present era. Park Jung-min also delivers a powerful performance that changes the atmosphere of the film despite his brief screen time.

Je-yoon Lee’s sparkling new face in the film makes us look forward to his next work even more.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.