Weak Hero (Movie Review) | A Heartbreaking Portrait of Silent Strength

I really don't understand why most Korean school-based movies are always about bullies, the one who think they are the strongest preying on the weaker ones, even though the movies are always interesting, I do feel like entering into the movie and smacking those guys. I finally completed a movie titled Weak hero (even though it feels like another season is coming soon). The movie centers on a guy, Yeon Si-eun, who came from a broken home, which really broke him. He wasn't happy (he frowned throughout the movie) and his only escape was to focus on his books. His routine was simple: go to school, then home, then cram school and he never had a friend. His lifestyle really caught my attention. Even though he look calm and weak, no one tampered with him because of his scary face, until a group bullies decided to try their luck. After several failed attempts in season 1, they decided to use another weaker student to drug him during one of their exams, and that triggered Yeon Si-eun anger.

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This calm guy fight with any instrument he can lay his hands on especially his pen. Coupled with the fact that he is genius, he applies physics laws when he wants to strike hard, and he doesn't care if the opponent is severely injured. That reminded me of what they used to say in Sunday School: "An angry man is a mad man". During one of his fights, before he almost killed one of the bullies, a classmate (a fighter and playful guy) had to intervene. Along the line, they became friends, and the once sad boy gradually became happy until they got into trouble with the top street goons. It wasn't easy, they got beaten severely and had to pay a huge fee to be free.

The weakest among the three had to steal his dad's watch to pay, which led to a shocking discovery, the weakest was actually adopted by a politician, and that same politician was the secret leader of this gang. The whole story changed when the weakest fell out. I really didn't blame him, his adopted father was bullying him at home (any altercation always lead to beatings), and he was still preyed upon at school. That got to him, and he betrayed his two friends (Yeon Si-eun and Ahn Su-ho), becoming their worst enemy by teaming up with the same bullies (to him, money could buy friendship). At the end of season 1, Ahn Su-ho was beaten into a coma, which triggered Yeon Si-eun's rage. He ended up destroying one bully's leg with a dumbbell and almost killed two others. As a result, he was expelled and rejected by every school in town.

The second season just came out about three days ago. After Season 1 ended with him enrolling in a new school, he tried his best to be a good student and not interfere in anyone's business, but another group of bullies targeted him again. Season 2 was the coldest and saddest. Yeon Si-eun was in deep pain; just looking at him almost made me cry. I kept thinking, "Can't bullying just cease to exist?" The more he tried to stay away from trouble, the more trouble kept looking for him. He promised himself not to fight anymore, especially since his best friend was still comatose. He visited the hospital every day, telling his friend about his day and how he couldn't sleep.

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The first new issue started when a weakling, Seo Jun-tae, was asked by bullies to steal Yeon Si-eun’s phone. Yeon let it go without reacting. When Seo Jun-tae later asked for help, Yeon quoted Newton’s Third Law ("For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction"). Seo Jun-tae secretly recovered all the stolen phones and returned them to their owners, which impressed Yeon. When Seo was almost hospitalized after a beating, Yeon intervened. They gradually became friends, later befriending Park Hu-min and Go Hyeon-tak.

In the movie, I noticed a strong theme: those in power often use weaker, desperate people as tools for their selfish games. People who aren’t strong enough to resist often join forces with their oppressors instead. The leader of the bullies was also a student genius like Yeon Si-eun. He focused on his studies, becoming the top student while using others for mischief. He also had someone powerful backing him. Overall, the movie is a great watch—I’d rate it 9/10. It's really enjoyable, and for anyone emotional, it might really hit that emotional button. We're now patiently waiting for the announcement of another season!