Shiri was a sensation in Korea, and its ballistic blend of action and detection should serve it well in the West. A ruthless female terrorist (Kim) is planning an attack on a Seoul football match at which the presidents of both Koreas will be present.
Ryu (Han) and partner Lee (Song) are assigned to track her down along with a missing shipment of deadly new explosives before the game, and the killing, begins.
The title refers to a fish that swims upstream to spawn, and is an oblique reference to the unresolved struggle to reunite the Korean peninsula. The political rhetoric sits a little uneasily amid the carnage, although Shiri's action again proves that Korean and Japanese cinema can fill the void left by the foundering Hong Kong movie industry.
A mix of Black Sunday, Nikita and Die Hard, Shiri is best viewed before the Americans mess up a remake.