I went into the Netflix Original film “The Wolf Brigade” thinking it would be mediocre at best. Even if the movie was amazing, I expected I would not like it because it is, simply, not my kind of movie.

However, I was honestly shocked. It was absolutely outstanding. From the actors’ performances to storyline, it will keep viewers on the edges of their seats.

In the film, North and South Korea are combined to create one government full of chaos, rebellion and bloodshed. The story is, without a doubt, intriguing, but the reason the plot is so intense and eye-catching is the two main characters and their personal stories.

The main actors, Han Hyo-joo and Woo-sung Jung, played their roles fantastically.

The opening scene, a PTSD flashback, is executed perfectly, but the heaviness the audience can feel from the explosion at the very beginning does not prepare them for the heaviness of the film in its entirety.

While the movie is in Korean, it does have subtitles and should not be disregarded by people who tend to stay away from reading dialogue. This element of a language barrier may increase the need to pay attention for many, as well as the fact that the movie is fairly complicated in general, but it is worth focusing on.

The element that really tips the scale for this film is the Red Riding Hood fairytale being brought in and fabricated throughout the movie. This allows the movie to close full circle, giving the audience a sense of closure.

Overall, director Jee-woon Kim was a good addition to the film, though some of the explosions and gun fire were unrealistic. Particularly, the lack of deaths was hard to believe.

I am not saying people did not die. In fact, many people did die. However, it is pretty unrealistic how the two main characters stayed alive for the movie, despite how many guns were pointed at them. There were also several other characters like this, leading me to believe the more important the character was, the more bullet-proof their skin was. However, since it is an action movie, the overuse of bullets makes with the overall plot and storyline.

Along with the multitude of bullets was the classic car-chase scene, which officially made it like every other action movie, in addition to all of the explosions.

The lack of originality in the gore department was made up in other ways. It was most certainly gory, just in a very cliché and expected way.

Despite this cliché gore, the film being set so near in the future, taking place in 2029, makes “The Wolf Brigade” interesting and refreshing compared to other futuristic movies. This alone sets the film apart.

The idea of the masked men, who were dangerous beyond compare, was slightly blown out of proportion. Not only were they masked and armed, but absolutely no weapon used or built could touch them. Still, these overly invincible characters made for surprisingly interesting fight scenes.

The fight scenes were exceedingly exceptional, and the complex storyline backed them up. This combination allowed the movie to reach a surprisingly high potential.

Unfortunately, the movie is long, reaching almost two and a half hours. Therefore, it should certainly be saved for a single sitting, and the audience needs to pay attention.

Overall, the film has faults and is fairly difficult to follow, but if the audience truly pays attention, it will be hard to regret watching. With a complex but attention-drawing storyline and outstanding characters, this movie is not a waste of time.