Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Seoul Vibe’ on Netflix, A Lighthearted Action Caper With Eighties South Korea As Its Playground 

The sights, sounds, cars and threads of South Korea in the 1980s are on display in Seoul Vibe (Netflix), an action film that moves fast and gets furious as a ragtag crew of young drivers and low-level lawbreakers agree to help a law enforcement official who’s working outside the lines to take down a money laundering operation that reaches into the highest echelons of the South Korean government.

SEOUL VIBE: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

The Gist: Seoul Vibe opens up in a region far beyond the South Korean city, with ace driver Dong-wook (Yoo Ah-in of Burning and Hellbound) bouncing a cut-down Chevy pickup across a rough desert track in 1988 Saudi Arabia, his kid brother Joon-ki along as videographer and chief engineer. Sure, this gig running smuggled material into the interior isn’t exactly legal. But it’s damn fun, and it hones Dong-wook’s skills behind the wheel. Arriving back in Seoul, the boys hook up with taxi driver pal Bok-nam (Lee Kyu-hyung) and discover their old neighborhood razed as part of the city’s “maintenance of visible areas” ahead of hosting the Olympic Games. At least their clubhouse in their late father’s old auto body garage hasn’t been demolished. Dong, Joon, and Bok-nam are joined there by resident DJ John (Go Kyung-pyo) and Dong and Joon’s sister Yoon-hee (Park Ju-hyun) as trouble arrives in the form of Prosecutor Ahn (Oh Jung-se). He knows all about Dong’s illegal international work, and plans to flee Korea for the hip-hop and flash of Los Angeles. If Dong and his crew will infiltrate the money laundering operation of underworld kingpin Kang In-sook (Moon So-ri), Ahn will eliminate their criminal records and clear the way for travel visas.

There’s a test if you want to drive for Seoul’s top bad guy. Dong and his fellow baby drivers beat their competition in an illegal street race, and soon start hauling loads of laundered cash for Kang and Lee (Kim Sung-kyun), her grumbly and suspicious top henchman, all while gathering intel on the operation for Ahn. The prosecutor also grants them access to some seized government property, and three castoff cars become one deceptively powerful and souped-up Hyundai Pony pickup. “Drift this car with this rhythm, with this vibe,” John says solemnly, handing Dong a custom mixtape.

With successful runs comes more status in Kang’s criminal bunch, and cash to buy threads and meals at McDonald’s. But Dong suspects it’s all too good to be true, and Lee is the first to show his hand, taunting the crew with his sidearms and hired muscle. Dong also doesn’t trust Ahn’s game. “Forgive our crimes? The visas? That’s all bullshit,” he tells John. And even as the baby drivers are making moves to secure incriminating documents from Kang’s inner sanctum, Lee is putting the muscle on them. With the Seoul Olympics as a backdrop, it all comes down to one last job, and a typically unorthodox play to expose the real criminals and get away clean.

What Movies Will It Remind You Of? There are a ton of fun callbacks to the Fast saga here, from Prosecutor Ahn’s original deployment of Dong-wook’s scrappy driver crew in his investigation – with strings attached regarding their freedom, of course – and his opening a garage full of government-seized vehicles for their use, to the lengthy car customization sequences and the big high-speed finale which incorporates a cargo plane in the manner of Fast & Furious 6.

Performance Worth Watching: The chemistry between Dong-wook’s crew in Seoul Vibe is palpable. But Park Ju-hyun, who also co-starred in the Netflix series Extracurricular, is one of its brightest spots as Dong’s younger sister Yoon-he, whose wits, lighthearted air, and connections with Seoul’s biggest biker gang are a constant aid to the group’s attempts to bring down Kang’s operation.

Memorable Dialogue: “First, the outer part will be the Pony pick-up, so that it’ll look cool.” Dong-wook is describing to his crew how they’ll transform the three cars Ahn gave them into one dynamite vehicle. “The engine is from the Grandeur, 130 horsepower.” And the inclusion of the Grandeur is a cool easter egg here: Hyundai, an official sponsor of the 1988 Seoul Olympics, launched the luxury sedan it developed with Mitsubishi in 1987 specifically to corner the market on well-heeled, corporate account-having Olympics visitors.

Sex and Skin: DJ John and Kang’s personal secretary share an evening in her hotel room, but there’s no funny business observed.

Our Take: Start with the irrepressible chemistry of the actors at its core. If you just consider the sense of driving around town with Dong-wook and his crew, or chilling at their Bbangkku hideout as they skateboard, tinker with vehicles, and listen to John’s DJ sets, then Seoul Vibe is definitely a hangout movie. But then you can add in the sense of social euphoria that spread through Seoul and South Korea in the 1980s, with widespread economic growth, increased access to western products – a big one being Seoul’s first McDonald’s, which Dong-wook and the rest treat with hushed reverence – and the international exposure brought by the country’s hosting of the 1988 Olympic Games. Add in even more niche products and signifiers of the era – Jordan 3’s, Kangol buckets, satin Los Angeles Raiders jackets, RUN-DMC-approved shell-toe Adidas, JVC Super VHS Camcorders, threads from Stussy and Hilfiger, and Joon-ki’s absolutely fantastic NASCAR T-shirt featuring Bill Elliott’s #94 Micky D’s Ford – and pair all of that with a few select music cues (“You be Illin’” from Run-DMC, “One for the Treble” by Davy DMX) and Seoul Vibe’s adoration for vehicles of the age, including Hyundai Sonatas and Pony pick-ups, regional rarities like BMW and Mercedes-Benz sedans, and the Jeep-derived Dong-A Korando, and then toss in contemporary cinematic reference points like the Fast & Furious films, the jazzy heist sequences of Steven Soderbergh, and a cartoonish devotion to Guy Ritchie’s sketches of the criminal world, and Seoul Vibe has a ton of easygoing style and drip going for it even when the plot becomes sodden and stalled out.

Our Call: STREAM IT. Seoul Vibe is a fun action romp with devotion in its heart for the heady look and feel of 1980s South Korea. From the beginning, you know Dong-wook and his crew will win the day. The enjoyment lies in watching them race to the finish.