Carter, who awakens two months into a deadly pandemic originating from the DMZ that has already devastated US and North Korea. He who has no recollections of his past finds a mysterious device in his head, and a lethal bomb in his mouth. A voice in his ears gives him orders to avoid getting killed and he's thrown into a mysterious operation while the CIA and North Korean coup chase him close.
Carter (or rather: Kato)
tries to present itself as a one-shot-film, but it is not quite the Korean Hardcore Henry. There is little effort hiding the supposedly invisible cuts, of which there are *many*. The ever-flying shaky camera drone is busy, as are the very dedicated stunt people, and the soros of CGI.
The plot is... and illogical mix of something even C-grade video games wouldn't dare to use; the upside of which is that it is unpredictable.
Three secret agencies, an coup, implanted devices, fast Zombies, save-the-daughter, some Total Recall, Indiana Jones, and Blood Red Sky, with a hint of Extraction and James Bond.
Bullet-proof pigs I'm OK with, infinite ammo magazines we all know - but flea-like zombies, the free fall fight, and the CGI fires are hilarious. Or bad, depending on your expectations.
Apply *plenty* Suspension of Disbelief to be entertained.
Warning, not suitable for fragile Americans: Aside from lots of gory violence, there's also brief frontal nudity, and we know you're easily scared by asian genitalia.
Gratuitous hyper violence eye candy!
For me, Carter feels like a Hardcore Henry re-mix, with a Korean flavour.
This is run and gun, beat em, cut em up, style of film, with a video game vibe. It worked with Hardcore Henry but somehow this one just doesn't quite pull it off.
I think part of the reason for that is unlike Hardcore Henry, its not quite as well paced or polished. Its back story is a bit thin too, not really adding much to the proposition. The result feels somewhat aimless and a little bland.
In short, moderately watchable but fizzles when it needs to burn.
