Directed by: Lee Cheol-ha Starring: Uhm Jung-hwa, Park Sung-woong, Lee Sang-yoon, Release Date: August 12th, 2020
The now veteran actress Uhm Jung-hwa (Dancing Queen, Wonderful Nightmare) is a true powerhouse of the Korean entertainment industry. Not only has she appeared in nearly 20 films, many of which were in leading roles, but she remains an active singer and dancer at the highest professional level. Since my earliest days of watching Korean cinema, I’ve always found this actress to bring an infectious enthusiasm to her roles that make watching her movies enjoyable in ways that allow me to look beyond other shortcomings I might find within the film. OK! MADAM swings for the fences with its over-the-top slapstick humor and action, but without Uhm and her brilliant costar Park Sung-woong (The Dude In Me) giving it their all and appearing to be having the time of their lives in their roles, the movie would have been dead on arrival with its paper-thin script and overplayed high-altitude hostage cliches.
When the owner of a best-selling twisty-doughnut shop, Mi-young (Uhm Jung-hwa), and her expert computer repair wizard husband, Seok-hwan (Park Sung-woong), win the surprise trip of a lifetime to Hawaii, their exciting first trip abroad becomes interrupted when a group of terrorists hijack their plane in the hopes of capturing a long sought after target now assumed to be a passenger onboard. When all hell breaks loose on the plane as the hijackers sort through the passengers, a young mystery woman and an unidentified senior flight attendant mount a powerful resistance force chock-full of surprises.
Never taking itself too seriously, OK! MADAM knows exactly the type of escapist comedy its going for and its end result resembles something like a restrained Melissa McCarthy comedy or an extended SNL sketch. Following all the beats of a traditional plane hijacking movie like Executive Decision (1996) and Air Force One (1997), OK! MADAM contrasts the seriousness of the hijacking situation with an unlikely female heroine capable of scaling the plane walls like a spider, disarming and neutralizing terrorist thugs with expert level hand-to-hand combat skills at 10,000 meters above sea level to make for some fairly entertaining popcorn fare. The action scenes are well-choreographed and make great use of the tight spaces characters are given to maneuver while aboard the plane and Uhm Jung-hwa impresses with a high degree of physicality that she brings to the role.
There’s also a who’s who of supporting characters in OK! MADAM playing the various passengers aboard the hijacked plane that make for some fun cameo appearances. When the introductory shot aboard the plane pans over the passengers’ faces it creates a good sense of anticipation and excitement as viewers will be guessing how each character will play their part in the looming conflict. Unfortunately, many of these smaller roles do nothing but provide the occasionally humorous reaction shot or one-liner commentary to supplement the action, leaving the main couple’s young daughter played by the adorable Jung Soo-bin as the rare exception of a character that feels to have real stakes in how the story plays out.
OK! MADAM feels at times to be the perfect little action comedy for families with young kids to enjoy together this summer. But there are one too many gun shots to the head or knives pressed up against innocent throats that are probably responsible for its 15+ rating (giving it a higher age restriction than Christopher Nolan’s Tenet which is also currently in theaters). This puts OK! MADAM in weird viewership territory that may make finding its ideal audience a challenge. But for those looking for mindless entertainment, Uhm Jung-hwa and Park Sung-woong turn up the goofy dials to 11 that will guarantee at least a few chuckles despite OK! MADAM being so heavily contrived and familiar in story.
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