Film ● Review: Mantis
- Very Average Joe
- 3 minutes ago
- 3 min read
English Title: Mantis
Korean Title: 사마귀
Director(s): Lee Tae-sung
Screenwriter(s): Byun Sung-hyun, Lee Tae-sung & Lee Jin-seong
Studio: See At Film
Released: 2025
Runtime: 1h 52m
Starring: Yim Si-wan, Park Gyu-young, Jo Woo-jin
My Verdict: Lacks plot and focus. Has elements of action, thriller and drama, but manages to be none of them.
● Set in the same world as Kill Bok Soon (2023), this film follows new characters as they deal with the aftermath. This review assumes one has seen Kill Bok Soon.
● Lee Han-ul (Yim Si-wan), also known as “Mantis”, is a young, rising assassin employed by MK ENT. run by Cha Min-kyu (Sol Kyung-gu). Han-ul goes on vacation and comes back after the events of Kill Bok Soon in which Cha Min-kyu has been killed and MK ENT. is defunct.
● Han-ul and Sin Jae-i (Park Gyu-young) are basically childhood friends. Whilst Han-ul is popular and (was) employed by MK ENT., Jae-i has been trying to survive working for a small company. Jae-i is also highly skilled, the two are competitive and there is tension, but they remain on good terms.
● Meanwhile, Han-ul’s mentor Dok Go (Jo Woo-jin) intends to come out of retirement and rebuild MK ENT. Whilst he favors Han-ul, he is not keen on Jae-i despite her skills.
● This film has elements of action, thriller and drama but is also not quite any of these. This lack of focus does not help the little plot there is.
● As an action or action-thriller, it lacks action. There are a few set pieces. The choreography is passable with a few cool moves here and there, but is mostly just passable. There are too much of the typical one-attacker-at-a-time moments.
● The cinematography is not bad during action sequences, at least it doesn’t try too hard, but the film editing is solid. The lighting is nice in each scene although it could use more stylization with the palette.
● The rest of the film is otherwise more like a character-driven drama. As already mentioned, there is some tension between Han-ul and Jae-i. This is in large part due to their differing personalities and outlook. Both are capable assassins but Han-ul is immature and likes to do things his way. And his way annoys Jae-i.
● The above is understandable but, without spoiling details, this tension is exacerbated by Dok Go by bringing up some history. It is a very forced way to amplify the tension as said history doesn’t fundamentally change anything.
● The film predictably ends with these three facing off. This is fine in itself but there is otherwise no twist, and no substantial point or revelation.
● The performances are generally good. Whilst Yim Si-wan is convincing as the immature and annoying guy, it is hard to see him as an assassin. Still, his performance is good enough. Park Gyu-young and Jo Woo-jin both have their usual screen presence.
● Ultimately, the film lacks a substantial plot. It does not have much action and is not particularly thrilling. Like Kill Bok Soon, it leans towards being character-driven but the characters are not that well-written. If it is meant to be a drama, then it’s not that dramatic either. No one is given much to work with but the screen presence of the cast is one of the few reasons that partly sells it.
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