After four Korean thugs in their twenties rob and destroy a gas station in the first five minutes of the film, they find themselves bored, sitting around with nothing to do one evening. Their solution? Rob the gas station again, of course. But when they find the gas station has no money (because the manager hides his cash away), they decide to do the next best thing. Take over the station for the night and keep the customers’ money for themselves.
And with a simple and hilarious premise, Kim Sang-jin’s breakout film details the escalating events of the night, as the robbers face a constant and interminable stream of problems with gangs, bullies, angry delivery guys, police officers and late-night customers. The tone of the film is light, all for the sake of hit-or-miss comedy as the film essentially operates like a fun sitcom. Some of the jokes work, some of them don’t, but even at its worst, it’s all persistently entertaining.
Attack the Gas Station also ends up thematically addressing problems of society and youth under its surface. Our main characters—all aimless young adults who have lost hold of their dreams— resort to yelling and violence to solve many of their problems, while also maintaining their own sense of justice. It’s the older adults who are portrayed as the film’s most corrupt characters. In effect, we root for the robbers, all played perfectly with their various eccentricities and personalities. Lee Sung-jae plays the calm and collected leader while Yu Oh-seong plays the endearingly quiet tough guy, always walking around with a big stick. Yu Ji-tae, in his breakthrough role, does a fine job as a wild, aspiring painter.
Really it’s the entire ensemble cast that strengthens the film as truckloads of new characters are consistently introduced and made memorable by the smallest events. The script flows very well, coherently juggling this wide cast with few mistakes. The only major problem is the attempt to inject some tragic back story into the main characters’ lives. Despite the insight it provides, it still imposes on the general mood of the film—a primarily breezy slapstick comedy with some unobtrusive social commentary if you want it.
Reviewed by Tarun
