All You Need to Know About Hyun Bin’s Upcoming Film ‘The Point Men’

As one would expect from Hyun Bin, he plays a character to perfection. His acting strikes what I consider to be the perfect balance of emulation and impact, which is a defining trait of a great artist. Especially for a die-hard fan like myself, it’s hard to imagine him putting on an average performance.

The Korean megastar has been making news for years since each of his works has set new benchmarks thanks to his career choices. Despite having more than 15 years of acting experience and several characters under his belt, the actor remains on the lookout for high-quality content in the industry. He once said that, upon reflection, he had learned a great deal about how to handle playing his parts and that, moving forward, he would like to exhibit something more distinctive and daring than his previous performances.

Since 2017, he has been on a tear, taking on more meaty roles in crime and action movies, including Confidential Assignment (2017), The Swindlers (2017), and Confidential Assignment 2: International (2022). And this time, with his forthcoming film, The Point Men, there has been no interruption to that continuity.

The Point Men follows diplomat Jung Jae-ho (Hwang Jung-min) and National Intelligence Service (NIS) agent Park Dae-sik (Hyun Bin) as they fight and put themselves in jeopardy to release Korean captives in the Middle East. Jae-ho helps Dae-sik with his negotiating and relief operations. The film is based on actual events from the 2007 South Korean hostage crisis in Afghanistan when 23 South Korean missionaries were abducted and held hostage there.

The Point Men’s subject matter is highly sensitive, but its director, Yim Soon-rye, one of the few notable female auteurs of Korean New Wave cinema, sought to address it from a neutral point of view that can perceive twisted views rationally, as she explained in a recent press conference held for the film. Yim added that the attitudes and viewpoints of the diplomat and the agent are dominant in order to keep the narrative in equilibrium. Her films are known for having human stories that are typically slow-paced, humorous, and heart-warming. The Point Men marks her breakthrough in dealing with action and violent moments in that respect.

While Hyun Bin won’t be romancing anyone in this movie, I believe Hwang and his bromance will have a special vibe. Elaborating on his role, Hyun Bin revealed that Dae-sik was scarred by a previous failure to save a hostage. Although he and Jae-ho have the same objective, they work in different ways. “I crafted him based on the idea of an agent working with deployed Korean operatives,” the actor said of his character’s appearance. “His long stay in the Middle East must have affected his style. When Dae-sik first arrived in the Middle East, he must have been like Jae-ho — a neat guy in a suit — but he gradually changed as he adjusted to living in a new setting.” Well, if you ask me, Hyun Bin certainly looks on point in The Point Men, neat, dapper, or not!

Impressively, some actors are adept at changing into action heroes. Hyun Bin is one of them. He has the talent to expertly immerse viewers in an exhilarating scene of heroic bravery. We are won over by more than simply his athleticism and machismo; it’s also the way he employs his physicality to convey emotions. As Steven Frederic Seagal, the American martial artist, actor, and screenwriter, had observed, “Action films are great, but an action film that has characters that are compelling and a story that people can care about is something even better. We love to see action heroes that are vulnerable, that are sensitive, that are family people, that are accessible.” The Point Men should be a comparable encounter, I feel, and although the film boasts a stellar cast, my eyes are fixated on Hyun Bin. I’m eagerly awaiting the movie’s release on January 18th.