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The Age of Shadows

Play trailer 1:44 Poster for The Age of Shadows 2016 2h 20m Action Mystery & Thriller Play Trailer Watchlist
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100% Tomatometer 49 Reviews 73% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings
Korean resistance fighters smuggle explosives to destroy facilities controlled by Japanese forces.
The Age of Shadows

What to Know

Critics Consensus

The Age of Shadows justifies its imposing length with a richly detailed period drama whose sprawling size is matched by strong acting, impressive craft, and narrative depth.

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Critics Reviews

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Tara Brady Irish Times 04/01/2017
4/5
It may not be the helmer's finest film, yet it darts nimbly and appealingly between its slickly delivered set-pieces. Go to Full Review
Kate Muir The Times (UK) 03/24/2017
3/5
The action is lengthy but well constructed, particularly a sequence on a wood-panelled steam train, but the torture scenes and occasional severed toes may try some viewers. Go to Full Review
John Wadsworth Little White Lies 03/24/2017
3/5
At 140 minutes, The Age of Shadows is a film that peaks early and ends late. Still, there is an upside to this ponderousness. Go to Full Review
James Mudge easternKicks.com 10/26/2020
3.5/5
A step sideways rather than back, though it doesn't do Kim's rep as one of Korea's best directors any harm - as an all-star blockbuster it's entertaining, if not enthralling Go to Full Review
Andrew Heskins easternKicks.com 09/23/2020
3/5
Kim Jee-woon's direction of the first Korean Warner Bros production is as slick as Hollywood, but sadly as one-dimensional... Go to Full Review
Charlie Hall Polygon 08/04/2020
An action-packed thriller with some brilliant gunplay and snappy cinematography. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Jul 11 Move was actually really long. The first half of the movie is actually boring. It does get a bit interesting in the second half. The movie also doesn't mention the timeline... See more Stephen C @bob25009 Jun 2 2 1/3 hours based on a true story. In Korean and English versions with English subtitles!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! See more Georgan G 02/15/2024 This spy thriller had plenty of action and violence that bordered on gore. Being American, it was impossible for me to remember & recognize the many characters here. For such a long film, it surely went by quickly. See more Alec B 01/03/2024 Jee-woon Kim isn't coy about the narrative, we know where the character's loyalties lie and who/what they are playing. You'd think this would suck the tension out of this kind of movie, but it merely shifts the plot's focus to more interesting areas. See more Greg K 06/11/2023 Huge and impressive setpieces that radiate a distinct atmosphere, lots of details, and some decent camera-work. Downside: All of the characters were either good or bad, but the whose-side-are-you-on theme worked nevetheless. See more isla s 09/02/2022 This is quite a gripping and tense watch, certainly not one for the particularly squeamish though, it has to be said. It doesn't appear especially violent (moreso than many other action films) in the first half of the film but there are torture related scenes in the 2nd half of it, which I found a bit hard to watch once or twice. Still, its a relatively atmospheric watch, with some good cinematography - I particularly liked the long scene set in a train, which adds a bit of a 'Murder on the Orient Express' feel to it. I thought the plot pace was good - at times its really quite fast paced and I was quite engrossed in it and at others it was more low key and I was left wondering when something might happen, what the next twist in the plot may be. As a spy film, its certainly good. There's a good use of music at times, not very often but when it does feature, it isn't over the top of distracting and the performances are decent too, so I'd recommend it. See more Read all reviews
The Age of Shadows

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Movie Info

Synopsis Korean resistance fighters smuggle explosives to destroy facilities controlled by Japanese forces.
Director
Kim Jee-woon
Producer
Choi Jeong-hwa
Screenwriter
Kim Jee-woon
Distributor
CJ Entertainment
Production Co
Dark Circle Pictures, Warner Bros. Korea
Genre
Action, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language
Korean
Release Date (Theaters)
Sep 23, 2016, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
May 6, 2017
Runtime
2h 20m