Another heist-themed film from the land of ginseng but this time with an unusual theme, namely Oil Heist, something unique and rarely exposed as a film theme. Usually what is stolen is historical heirlooms, gold, jewelry or money but this time what was stolen was petroleum. Of course the audience will be curious to see the theme and have expectations that this film offers something fresh compared to similar films "eternals facebook".
Pipeline is directed by Yoo Ha "venom 2 facebook" (Gangnam Blues, Howling, A Frozen Flower) who also wrote the script for this film. Not-so-famous actors such as Seo In Guk, Lee Soo Hyuk (The Boy from Ipanema – 2010), and Eum Mon Sook fill the cast of this film. The film was produced by GOM Pictures and distributed to Indonesian cinemas through CBI Pictures. The film was released on May 26, 2021 in South Korea and will be released in Indonesian cinemas on June 25, 2021.
Throughout the duration of 108 minutes, the plot of this film is quite fluid but the robbery scheme is too technical and not too fun to follow because it is very technical and may only relate to people who have experience in the oil and gas industry. The formula for this film is actually a cliché where each team member who previously did not know each other and had their own agenda finally had to unite against a common enemy. Conflict after conflict that occurred finally made them become close and have a sense of comradeship. Don't forget that there are multi-layered conflicts starting from problematic team members so that the theft mission doesn't go smoothly. The cliché formula doesn't really matter as long as the execution is good and appropriate so that the audience can enjoy it both in terms of story and action, but what I feel is flat. The comedy side of this film is also ordinary and not too special, it seems that it is included so that the impression of this film is not too serious because the theme is quite technical. Even though a twist is included, the twist is not too special and has been read.
The feud of the two main characters of this film, Pin Driller and Gun Woo, closes the exploration of the other characters even though it will be more dynamic if each character can be explored more in the background story. Throughout the film we are shown a conflict that always focuses on these two characters so that the other characters do not have an equal share even though they are all team members, their introductions feel just plain. The acting of the cast in this film is also quite ordinary and nothing special, but in terms of chemistry, everything is quite compatible with each other. These factors make us think that if the theme is changed other than oil theft, there is no problem because there is no characteristic of this film that can impress the audience. The motivations of the characters who finally want to work together against their main enemy are less clear due to the lack of exploration. Decent action scenes and comedic elements that emerge from the two police officers who always make it difficult for the oil thieves to act are enough to entertain the audience.
A simple theme is sometimes better and guarantees the success of a film, Pipeline in my opinion is an example that something is cool in a screenplay but when executed into a film it can be ordinary and not as wow as a script. You don't need a theme that's too technical or complicated to look cool, enough treatment of the story plot and fun character dynamics is actually enough. Too bad Pipeline is included in the category of films that will be forgotten among other South Korean box office films.
