No Tears for the Dead (2014)

There are only two installments left in the A-to-Z Part Deux challenge. For the letter “Y” this week we have Yang Hong-sam (Production Designer). The movie that they were Production Designer on that we’re taking a look at this week is…No Tears for the Dead (2014).

Title: No Tears for the Dead

Director: Lee Jeong-beom

Released: June 4th, 2014 (South Korea)

Runtime: 1 hour 56 minutes

Available to stream on: Prime Video

Gon (Jang Dong-Gun) is a hitman who finds himself sitting in a restaurant on his latest mission. While biding time, Gon notices a little girl sitting alone at a table across from him. He entertains the girl by making an origami swan and leaving it on the table.

Making his way towards the warehouse in back of the restaurant, Gon is prepared for his mission. What is the mission, exactly? To retrieve the laptop belonging to Ha Yun-Guk and eliminate both Yun-Guk and the Russian thugs in the room with him.

Well, Gon is a professional, so of course he is successful in killing everyone in the room while retrieving the laptop. However, in the aftermath, he hears noise coming from back in the restaurant. Out of instinct, he turns and fires multiple shots. As he opens the door, he realizes his mistake. While acting on instinct, he has tragically shot and killed the little girl who was at the table across from him.

After those events, he no longer wants anything to do with the life of a hitman. Unfortunately for Gon, the Triads have one last job for him. He now has to clean up the remaining loose end from his last job. But what all does that entail? Well, Gon must fly to South Korea and “take care” of Mo-kyeong (Kim Min-hee), a South Korean risk manager. The catch? Mo-kyeong just happens to also be the mother of Yoo-mi (Kang Ji-woo), the little girl that Gon killed in the restaurant.

Morally conflicted with now having to kill the girls’ mother, Gon agrees and flies to South Korea. He is able to locate Mo-kyeong and begins observing he and familiarizing himself with her routine.

Gon has multiple opportunities to complete his mission and become a free man, but he can’t stop his conscious from eating away at him.

Although, Gon knows all too well that if he doesn’t finish the job, the Triads will finish the job and him.

With action movies, it is often pretty rare to be able to pull off a layered story while also delivering on the action. Luckily No Tears for the Dead (2014) delivers on both fronts.

Within the first twenty minutes of the story not only have we had one intense action sequence in the restaurant, but we’re also thrown a curveball with the tragic death of Yoo-mi. From then on, the hits just keep on coming. There wasn’t a single instance where I found myself bored or wanting more from an action scene. Being that the majority of the film takes place at night, I loved the playfulness with light and shadows. Both during action sequences and, in some cases, with character emotions.

The cast as a whole was quite enjoyable. However, Jang Dong-gun stood out and was absolutely incredible as Gon. He’s believable as one of the most ruthless contract killers on the market, while also flexing his acting muscles in making us sympathize with Gon and the internal emotional turmoil that he is dealing with.

I know I’m saying a lot without really saying anything at all, but between the action sequences and the overall story itself, No Tears for the Dead (2014) deserves to be experienced and enjoyed with as few spoilers as possible.

The next time you find yourself in the mood for an action flick, do yourself a favor and cozy on up with No Tears for the Dead (2014).

So those are my thoughts, but what are yours?

If you’ve seen No Tears for the Dead (2014), tell me what you thought of it in the comments below or on social media!

Curious to know who/what I’ll be covering for the letter “Z” next week? Keep an eye on Bluesky, Threads, and Instagram this Wednesday for a sneak peek.