Decibel

In an era when action thrillers keep escalating in volume and emotional display, it’s a relief to find somebody doing something different. Hwang In-ho’s story of moral compromise, terrorism and revenge, co-scripted with Lee Jin-hoon, presents a tantalising scenario: a series of strategically placed explosive devices which will only go off if exposed to more than a specified level of noise.

Tasked with dealing with these devices is bomb disposal expert and former submarine commander Kang Do-yeong (Kim Rae-won), a national hero whom we see receiving an award shortly before he gets a phone call which will change everything. A bomb has been placed in a football stadium where an eagerly anticipated game is about to start. If the cheers of the crowd grow too loud, mass deaths will result – but can he get these before a goal is scored, and is there a way to stop the game without making the noise louder? If the bomb on a bus scenario from Speed seemed over the top, this is still more so – and yet it’s only the first of several such challenges.

Why, then, the talk of restraint? Because it’s only by remaining quiet and calm that Kang – and later his wife, who has impressive technical skills of her own – can get themselves out of trouble, and because its central themes revolve around the need for (and moral ambiguity of) emotional control. There’s a reason why Kang is being targeted, and as the bomber finds ever more effective ways to taunt him, he needs to figure it out in order to prevent carnage. Ultimately, this will require him to acknowledge his own failings. At his side through much of this process is journalist Oh Dae-oh (Jun Sang-hoon), who provides some light relief but is sharper than he seems and, along with a series of flashbacks to Kang’s past career, helps viewers get to the truth.

The flashbacks and the central narrative are very different in tone and pacing and this sometimes creates problems for the film, dissipating the tension which it has worked hard to build up. At two and a half hours, it could probably have benefited from having them cut down. Scenes with Lee Jong-suk add a third element which doesn’t quite fit alongside the others. It’s easy to see why Lee, who has been working hard to find varied roles and shake the wholesome image he acquired as a teenager, plays it the way he does, but it contributes to unbalancing the film, which really needed tighter editing and a more precise focus.

The natural place for viewers to focus is on Kim, an actor who understands that action works better when characters have depth and nuance. He’s compelling to watch because he makes it plain to see that Kang is going through multiple layers of struggle, especially in the present day scenes. Only when he’s directly engaged in bomb disposal work does the former commander seem to be at peace, all other concerns set aside, which makes one wonder if that’s what drew him to the job.

Hwang certainly knows how to ramp up the tension in scenes like this, and he’s a fantastic action director. The film is littered with great set pieces which will have you on the edge of your seat. All in all, though, it falls short of its potential. Fans of Lee Jong-suk (and K-pop star Cha Eun-woo, who has a small role) will no doubt ensure that it makes good money, but it’s unlikely to thrill others the way it might have done if Hwang had concentrated on what he’s best at. By trying to do too many different things, it denies its audience the spectacular piece of entertainment which its central idea promises.

You can find Decibel on Amazon, YouTube, Google Play, Vudu and Microsoft.