Operation Chromite, 2016.
Directed by John H. Lee.
Starring Jun-jae Lee, Bum-soo Lee and Liam Neeson.
SYNOPSIS:
In 1950, the North Koreans have all but overrun the South. The United Nations puts American General, Douglas MacArthur, in charge of an invasion force stop them in their tracks. He chooses Incheon, the most difficult place possible, for his fleet of ships to land and has a 5000:1 chance of pulling it off. But, before anything can happen, it’s down to eight South Korean agents to infiltrate enemy troops and pave the way. It seems like a hopeless task. Based on true events.
Operation Chromite isn’t a name that exactly trips off the tongue. Nor did Anthropoid and, while their respective events took place eight years apart, they do have something in common. A seemingly hopeless mission.
For the Anthropoid squad, it was killing Heydrich in Czechoslovakia during World War II. In Operation Chromite, the objective is to clear the way for an invasion with turned out to be a pivotal moment in the Korean War, leading to the re-capture of the South Korean capital, Seoul. At which point, the two films part company and it’s the Korean War drama that comes off second best.
For the real invasion, the key to its success was surprise. Despite the North’s efforts to second-guess General MacArthur (Liam Neeson), they simply didn’t see it coming. But with the film, it’s all too obvious, so much so you’d swear there were flags on screen just to make sure you’ve noticed. The team of South Korean spies have three jobs: to steal the plans showing the mines located in Incheon Bay, kidnap a key North Korean officer and secure the bay’s lighthouse so that the night time invasion doesn’t happen in the dark. All of which sounds reasonably straightforward, except that the local North Korean commander has figured out what they’re up to – it took him a while – and he’s constantly on their tail, trying to stop them. You can guess the result.
The film was a huge hit in South Korea when it was launched during the summer, bettering Hollywood titles like Jason Bourne and The Secret Life Of Pets at the box office. And with Korean A-lister Jung-jae Lee as the leader of the infiltrators, its success at the domestic box office was always a given. Neeson, hopefully, would be something of a draw for American and British audiences, given that the majority of the film is in Korean with sub-titles. Wooden sub-titles at that. The mainly Korean cast give it their best shot but the script doesn’t give them, or Neeson, much to work with. He gets very little dialogue and speaks in quotations and soundbites – admittedly MacArthur did love to quote from the Bible – so all he can do is chew on that famous corn cob pipe, frown and salute occasionally. And he’s obviously taken lessons from CSI:Miami’s David Caruso on removing his sunglasses.
The Korean War is often referred to as “The Forgotten War” because there was little public interest in it. Operation Chromite could easily be The Forgotten Film – except in South Korea, of course – because it’s not just the dialogue that’s flat footed. For all the bullets frequently sprayed across the screen and the piling body count, there’s very little that’s exciting about it. When it tries to get our sympathies, it resorts to cloying sentimentality, complete with a swelling piano soundtrack. The visuals are so-so and, despite it being about an invasion famed for its surprise tactics, there’s nothing here to get the heart racing.
Not so much Operation Chromite as Operation Bromide.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★
Freda Cooper – Follow me on Twitter, check out my movie blog and listen to my podcast, Talking Pictures.
Originally published December 22, 2016. Updated November 14, 2019.
