A dazzling action movie from South Korea, Shiri follows two South Korean government agents, Ryu and Lee, as they pursue a female super-assassin from North Korea. Meanwhile, an elite paramilitary squad from North Korea has stolen a shipment of CTX, an undetectable liquid explosive of enormous power, which they've planted all over the city of Seoul. As their investigations are successively foiled, Ryu and Lee begin to suspect that there is a mole within the ranks of the agency--and it may be one of them. Both hyperstylish and hyperrealistic, Shiri rips along as a smooth fusion of Hong Kong and American action movies. Ryu's troubled romance with his alcoholic fiancée adds a striking emotional counterpoint to the blazing gunfights and high-speed chases; the ending is unexpectedly moving. It's not surprising that this film beat Titanic's box-office records in Korea. --Bret Fetzer