[Y Review] Blockbuster's textbook "Firefighter". Still, it's hard to be immersed.

※ This article contains some spoilers from the movie.It is a textbook-like movie with all the virtues of

as a blockbuster. The superfluous development, the messages contained in it, and the tension that naturally comes out are perfect. However, it is regrettable that the deviation of the actor causes the only decrease in immersion.

The movie "Firefighter" (directed by Kwak Kyung-taek) was reconstructed with cinematic imagination based on the true story of the Hongje-dong fire disaster in 2001. The incident was a major disaster that killed six firefighters working at the Seoul Western Fire Station in a fire caused by arson at a multi-family house in Hongje-dong, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, early on March 4, 2001.

The movie "Firefighter" vividly depicts the situation of firefighters who were deployed with the goal of extinguishing fires and saving power even in poor environments at the time. It details the lives of firefighters that we did not know well, such as the sense of mission of firefighters, poor working conditions and treatment, and trauma and physical wounds experienced by new firefighters.

The movie depicts the daily life of firefighters from the perspective of new recruit Cheol-woong (Ju Won). Cheol-woong, who became a firefighter under the influence of Yong-tae (played by Kim Min-jae), who followed him like his own brother, shows the rookie's left-handedness by breaking the legs of the rescue target after being dispatched to the scene of the accident from the first day he entered the western fire station.

Cheol-woong grows gradually, but as he loses his condition at the scene of the fire, he falls into a deep sense of loss and guilt. Cheol-woong is in conflict with Jin-seop (played by Kwak Do-won), who prioritizes rescuers, but he finally overcomes the trauma and returns to the fire station to be dispatched to the fire site of a shopping mall in Hongje-dong.

In the movie, the scene where the fire hits was completed with a scene reminiscent of a real fire, raising tension. When the actors wore oxygen masks and went into the fire, the filming team shot them in a way that chased them in the smoke, and Lee Joon-hyuk challenged reality by performing an act that lit up his back without a stunt.

The message in the movie is also clear. At the same time as sending tributes to firefighters, it reminds them of the need to improve the working environment and treatment of firefighters through the popularity of rescue leaders (Yoo Jae-myung), who are struggling with insufficient rescue equipment, and Jin-seop, the rescue team leader, who takes the lead and speaks out for improvement.

There is no smoke hole. Joo Won, Yoo Jae-myung, Kim Min-jae, Oh Dae-hwan, and Lee Joon-hyuk, who played as firefighters, resonated with sincere acting, and Jang Young-nam breaks down into the family of firefighters and plays their hearts desperately. In particular, he strongly stimulates the tear glands when he runs to find out that his husband has entered the operating room and asks, "Did you live?"

Intuitively from the title, director Kwak Kyung-taek, who tells a sincere story about firefighters, once again proves why Chungmuro is a representative master through this film. Nevertheless, what still leaves a regret is more than Kwak Do-won's expectation that he failed to clear.

Kwak Do-won appears from the beginning to the end of the play. From the introduction, it begins with Jin-seop's dispatch to the scene of a suicide disturbance and rescues the rescuers safely, and the rescue team leader speaks out on behalf of his colleagues and rescues the rescuers through extraordinary intuition and field experience.

'Firefighter' finished filming early in 2020, but failed to set a release date in the aftermath of COVID-19, and its release was postponed indefinitely in 2022 when Kwak Do-won was caught driving under the influence of alcohol. Since then, it has been confirmed to be released after four years of production, but it seems that Kwak Do-won has not been able to edit it for the natural flow of the play because he is the lead actor.

As the focus is on character narratives without any need, the decline in immersion caused by Kwak Do-won is bound to come greater. Jin-seop, played by him, is a person who knows how to speak bitter words especially courageously among the firefighters and is united with a sense of justice and responsibility, creating a sense of dissonance between the character and the actual situation throughout the running time.

Directed by Kwak Kyung-taek. Joowon, Kwak Do-won, Yoo Jae-myung, Lee Yoo-young, Kim Min-jae, Oh Dae-hwan, Lee Joon-hyuk, Jang Young-nam. Running time of 106 minutes. For ages 12 and up. Released on December 4.

[Photo source = BY4M Studio]

* YTN star receives reports related to celebrities and people in the entertainment industry. Please feel free to contact us at
ytnstar@ytn.co.kr . Thank you.