Husbands in Action Review: Action-comedy movies have been all the rage this year, as we have seen Netflix and other streaming platforms come out with several popcorn entertainers to keep us occupied. The newest Korean film features an absurd plot that takes viewers on a crazy journey to rescue a woman and her daughter… only that the rescue operation is being spearheaded by her ex and current husbands. The cast delivers a ton of charm and great visuals, but there’s just something fundamentally missing in the film that makes it just another slop on the platform.
Who is in the Cast of Husbands in Action Netflix?
Jin Sun-kyu, Gong Myoung, Kim Ji-suk, Yoon Kyung-ho, Kang Hanna, Lee Da-hee, Jeon So-min
Who is the Director of Husbands in Action Movie?
Park Gyu-tae
What is the Original Title of the Film?
남편들
The film has a runtime of around 107 minutes.
Husbands in Action Review
An Unlikely Partnership Drives the Chaos
What makes Husbands in Action palatable and somewhat enjoyable is its leading duo featuring Jin Sun-kyu and Gong Myoung, whose absurd partnership makes a charming watch. While Sun-kyu is a stubborn detective who creates more problems than he solves, Gong Myoung is a rational and emotionally mature vet whose adoration for his wife is half the battle won. Their partnership is, obviously, chaotic and makes for an entertaining watch.
However, despite a very interesting premise, the film offers nothing new after a while. It flips the buddy comedy trope by pairing two romantic rivals together, but apart from that, there’s nothing new to explore. The film raises the stakes to an absurd degree, but there’s not a lot of reinvention taking place. Even when the stakes are increased, the film feels repetitive and obvious, and the hijinks become less and less appealing.
Jin Sun-kyu and Gong Myung Carry the Film
It should come as no surprise that the film features a very talented cast, who do an incredible job with what they are given. As Choong-sik and Min-seok reluctantly learn to trust one another, the comedy almost writes itself. It gives birth to some crazy and uncomfortable situations that will definitely leave viewers amused, although it also does have its drawbacks.
The chemistry keeps the film moving, although that, too, finds an expiration date as the film moves on. The thing is, the film doesn’t reinvent what it shows. The pacing is breakneck, but whatever is being shown is repetitive. If you spend even a minute trying to understand the plot, it becomes clear that there’s nothing new being said throughout the runtime. The cast has great comic potential, sure, but at some point their partnership begins to drag as you understand that that’s all the film has to itself.
Action Takes a Back Seat to Comedy
The film tries to push the comedy down our throats. The film is energetic enough and features good action sequences, but they don’t really stand out in the grand scheme of things. The film is more about mindless entertainment and laugh-out-loud moments instead of providing thoughtful comic moments and high-stakes action.
Although it’s fine that it doesn’t focus on the action, the comedy becomes bland and repetitive after a while as well. It’s fine to laugh at the lead’s disastrous pairing the first couple of times, but after a while, you want to watch something more come out of it. It takes the entire thing to become one-dimensional and repetitive.
Thus, after the first half, the novelty quickly wears off as it becomes clear that the film is more interested in relying on familiar buddy comedy tropes.
A Premise Better Than Its Execution
There’s no doubt that Husbands in Action‘s central theme of two opposite men with a ton of baggage have to band together to save someone is entertaining and fresh. However, the film struggles to live up to this wacky idea more often than not. This situation becomes painfully apparent the more the film moves on, as the screenplay gets the maximum out of the idea or the cast. As a result, the gags are painfully obvious, and the story beats seem to be screaming at us at every moment, asking for our attention.
Final Verdict
In the end, Husbands in Action is a disappointing watch if you’re looking for something refreshing. This one’s for viewers who want mindless, undemanding comedy to forget about a difficult week. It’s nothing new, and everything is painfully obvious. However, the cast is great, and the film looks beautiful, so there’s that.
Husbands in Action is streaming on Netflix. Did you watch the action-comedy film? Let us know in the comments below!
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