[New on the scene] ‘Mission: Cross’ director dreams of making unprecedented comedies

Director Lee Myung-hun (Netflix)

Director Lee Myung-hun, who made a directorial debut with the comedy action “Mission: Cross,” has a lot of love for comedy.

“Comedy is definitely a difficult genre to make. When you don’t make it correctly or miscalculate the lines or scenes, the audience can easily turn away from the story. But that also makes comedy an attractive genre, because you get to see the feedback or reactions right away,” Lee told reporters during a group interview in Seoul, Aug. 12.

“Mission: Cross” was initially planned for cinematic release during the Lunar New Year holiday period in February. However, the release was delayed and Netflix announced that it would be available on its platform starting Aug. 7, skipping the planned theater release.

The movie features a detective and her stay-at-home husband with secret pasts. Hwang Jung-min plays Kang-moo who hides his past as a former agent and Yeom Jung-ah plays Mi-seon a former Asian Games silver medalist in shooting and now a veteran crime squad member.

Director Lee, who wrote and directed the film, said he tried to stick to the comedic formula but add some creative elements to his comedy.

“I think following the comedic formula creates a relaxing mood for the audience to enjoy and laugh as they watch. So I tried to make this film based on familiarity. But at the same time, I wanted to make room to apply my own style,” said Lee.

He gave examples of a tunnel car chase with Kang-moo driving a septic tanker truck, and TV personality Jonathan making a special appearance in the epilogue, an homage to Hwang’s hit Netflix series “Narco-Saints” (2022) using his signature lines.

“From a creator's perspective, comedy has so many good elements as a movie genre. But again, it also has risks because comedic scenes can ruin the elements of some other genres that the film may have, such as thriller or suspense. It’s really hard to mix the genres together for comedy,” he added.

A scene from “Mission: Cross” (Netflix)

A scene from “Mission: Cross” (Netflix)

While Lee tried to make “Mission: Cross” attractive as a comedy as well as an action movie, Hwang and Yeom light up the action scenes, with Yeom using her long arms and sleek movement to perform acrobatic jumps and skillful gunplay.

“I did discuss (the action scenes) a lot with Yeom. While some people may not be highly satisfied with the action scenes in our movie, I asked Yeom to form a great partnership with Hwang and to show a variety of sequences such as using 2 on 2 gun shootouts. I think these action scenes are not too bad, considering this is a comedy action,” said Lee.

“Mission: Cross,” which was released on Netflix on Aug. 9, ranked among the top 10 non-English movies on Netflix just two days after its release.

“I hope to work on some funny stories in the future. I don’t have any specific plan for now, I’d like to continue working on comedies that are unprecedented,” Lee added.

This article is the 22nd in a series that introduces Korea’s new and emerging actors and directors. -- Ed.

By Kim Da-sol(ddd@heraldcorp.com)