Northern Limit Line

This review may contain spoilers!

One of the most harrowing war films that I've seen this year. I would give Northern Limit Line a 8.5/10.

This film has a powerful story that really connects the audience to it's characters; it all leads to an incredible climax that has some fantastic raw emotion. The fact that this is a biopic made by Korea really sets it apart; we see some of the more recent conflicts and struggles within South Korea. Furthermore the special effects within this film are really good, it's not often you see a foreign film with effects to rival Hollywood.

Lee Hyun Woo, who played Medic Park Dong-hyeok, was a fantastic protagonist within this film; Woo's approach to the role meant that his character evolved in a likeable and ultimately tragic way. Kim Moo-Yeol, who played Captain Yoon Young-ha, was incredible at portraying a naval authority; His stern exterior was very well acted and seeing the moments where he dropped this exterior were incredibly rewarding.

However the best performance came from Jin Goo, who played Staff Sergeant Han Sang-kook. Goo was immensely likeable and a fun character from the start. He also had some fantastic chemistry with pretty much the entire cast; this made his role as favourite officer to the crew all the more believable. Beyond this Goo gave a very earnest performance, he displayed the care that his role felt towards others. This all lead to an incredible scene within the final battle in which Goo really steals the show.

The cinematography in Northern Limit Line is fairly basic and it doesn't show any special thought put towards creative shots. The score for this film was very similar, it didn't resonate with some of the film's more powerful scenes. The pacing of the story unfortunately drags on for a bit long, there were a few scenes that felt unnecessary.