Mixing “Jason Bourne” and “Mission: Impossible” adrenalin rushes with Korean cool, Netflix is teasing high octane footage of “Carter,” its first Korean original movie of the second half of the year.
The action plays out two months into a deadly pandemic originating from the demilitarized zone between the two Koreas. The outbreak has already devastated the U.S. and North Korea. And the titular agent has to risk his life while figuring out his own identity.
Agent Carter wakes with no recollections of his past. His head is literally a bomb and there is a mysterious voice giving him orders for a special mission. He needs to rescue the girl who is the sole antidote to the virus and stay ahead of the CIA and a North Korean coup.
The trailer shows sequences ranging from intense physical combat, a “North by Northwest”-style chase through the countryside, to daredevil airplane stunts.
What is harder to gauge from the slickly edited trailer is that the film is presented as a one-scene, one-cut actioner in the style of “1917” [which was actually edited] or drama film “The Russian Ark.”
Direction is by Jung Byung-gil (“The Villainess” and upcoming U.S. film “Afterburn”) with Joo Won as the titular star. Production is by Apeitda Production. Netflix uploads the film for worldwide consumption on Aug. 5, 2022.
Netflix has used a large local production effort to become the dominant streaming platform in South Korea. Its Korean content has also enjoyed strong success in international markets, none more so than 2021 series “Squid Game.”