\n<\/p>\n
Stream it on Netflix<\/a>.<\/p>\n The espionage action-thriller \u201c13 Bombs\u201d acutely blends quick back-stabbing with big explosions. In the film, interest rates and economic inequality are running rampant in Jakarta, Indonesia. To even the odds, a Robin Hood-type group, led by a mysterious figure code-named Arok (Rio Dewanto), has planted 13 bombs across the city that will explode if thee group isn\u2019t paid a ransom in crypto cash. As a result, two unwitting crypto traders named Oscar (Chicco Kurniawan) and William (Ardhito Pramono) are picked up by Karin (Putri Ayudya), a steely counterintelligence agent who is worried about a mole in her ranks.<\/p>\n The director Angga Dwimas Sasongko loves a good shootout, and this film brims with them. As Karin races through Jakarta, the highlights include a SWAT-led raid on an office building and an all-out assault on Arok\u2019s hide-out. You could probably fill an entire theater with the number of bullets fired just in these two raucous scenes, and probably slice through glass with the film\u2019s sharp and shattering editing.<\/p>\n Rent or buy on most major platforms<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Marco (Kang Tae-joo) is a boxer taking dives and using the payoffs to care for his ailing Filipino mother (Caroline Magbojos). His father is a rich Japanese man his mother had an affair with, and Marco is an outcast because of his mixed-ethnic parentage. A possible golden ticket arrives when his father, who he has never met and is now dying, flies him from the Philippines to Japan with promises of finally building a relationship. Instead, Marco is thrust into a power struggle between his wealthy half brother (Kim Kang-woo) and half sister (Jeong Ra-el) for the family business. Even worse, an assassin known as the Nobleman (Kim Seon-ho) has been hired to kill him.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n While Marco is a sympathetic lead, it\u2019s the zealous Nobleman \u2014 who switches from hunting Marco to befriending him \u2014 who is the real draw: He is gleefully sadistic, laughing as he savagely kills every goon the half brother sends after Marco. In a film with wonderful verticality \u2014 the camera tilts upward for exciting rooftop chases \u2014 Kim is extraordinarily athletic. By the final hallway confrontation in the bowels of a luxurious mansion, he is soaked in blood and loving it.<\/p>\n Stream it on AMC+<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Recently released from prison, Sam (Nassim Lyes) is just trying to rebuild his life when a hit man comes for him. Sam fends him off but accidentally kills him and flees to East Thailand, where, five years later, now with a wife and child, he is working at a hotel. Desperate to fund his wife\u2019s dream of starting a business, he starts transporting drugs for a local crime boss. When the deal goes awry, the kingpin murders Sam\u2019s wife and kidnaps his daughter. And that\u2019s only in the first 20 minutes!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \u201cMayhem!,\u201d directed by Xavier Gens, is a slick revenge flick, given greater texture through its gory brawls. Sam\u2019s mission is to retrieve his daughter, and he hunts down the crime boss to his well-guarded home. Sam\u2019s dedication is exemplified in the film\u2019s gnarliest scene, in which he tears a machete out of his forearm and uses his exposed bone to kill a goon. This is a man with a particular set of skills.<\/p>\n Stream it on Amazon Prime Video<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n In \u201cMidnight,\u201d Do-sik (Wi Ha-joon) is a serial killer hunting women from his van. He nearly gets away with his crimes until two deaf women, a mother (Kil Hae-yeon) and her daughter, Kyeong-mi (Jin Ki-joo), catch him in the act of kidnapping a woman.<\/p>\n \u201cMidnight,\u201d by the Korean writer-director Kwon Oh-seung, is an action film about gaslighting and ableism; neither the police nor bystanders take Kyeong-mi\u2019s account seriously. The film also features plenty of running: through traffic, down narrow alleyways, up sharp hills. The camera is an active participant, gliding smoothly with Kyeong-mi as she evades Do-sik, speeding toward a satisfying ending that\u2019ll make you a believer.<\/p>\n\u2018The Childe\u2019<\/h2>\n
\u2018Mayhem!\u2019<\/h2>\n
\u2018Midnight\u2019<\/h2>\n
\u2018Ransomed\u2019<\/h2>\n