On a snowy night, a young woman is murdered by Jang Kyung-chul (Choi Min-sik), a serial killer who drives a school bus. Her fiancé, Kim Soo-hyun (Lee Byung-hun), is a secret service agent. He takes leave from work and swears to make her killer feel every bit of her pain.
What follows is a twisted game of cat and mouse. Soo-hyun catches Kyung-chul, beats him, then lets him go, only to catch him again. But Kyung-chul is no ordinary victim, and soon the hunter starts to become the monster he is chasing.
Choi Min-sik is terrifying, playing the killer with a lazy, almost bored cruelty. Lee Byung-hun is cold and controlled, slowly losing himself. Kim Jee-woon's direction is stunning, and the action and fight scenes are brilliantly staged.
The violence is extreme, and much of it is aimed at women, which many viewers find too much. At almost two and a half hours, it is long. But it is a powerful, unforgettable film about the cost of revenge.
