On paper, Special Delivery sounds like a cross between Baby Driver meets The Transporter.
Eun-Ha aka Park So-dam (Jessica, Only Child, Chicago, Illinois from Parasite) has a particular set of skills. She is the best delivery driver in the business. She can deliver packages that no one else will take i.e. suspicious or illegal items or criminals, to wherever they need to go.
The film opens with a fantastically choreographed car chase. One that showcases driver Eun-ha’s incredible and formidable talents. She can get her package from point A to B in record time, whilst avoiding the police and any unwanted criminal attention. All without spilling a drop of her bubble tea. She must be an absolute whizz on Grand Theft Auto.
As tends to be the case with this type of movie and protagonist, their perfectly constructed life is shattered when they pick up the wrong package. One that results in a deadly game of cat and mouse from Seoul to Busan (although not by train for obvious reasons).
There is undoubtedly plenty of action. However the film wastes its biggest USP by forcing Eun-Ha out from behind the steering wheel at around the halfway point of the film. By pivoting away from its slickly produced car chases, it does feel like it has let the audience down on its promise. Much like a wasted promise of a Yodel delivery that never arrives!
Thankfully Park So-Dam has enough movie star charisma to carry the audience with her. Even when the plot occasionally stalls or struggles to get out of first gear. She is the total package. She is both beauty and the beast. Equally at ease showing affection for her pet cat or developing a bond with the child she is forced to look after, to beating the absolute living hell out of anyone who attempts to hurt them.
Special Delivery might never elevate itself to becoming extra special but it does deliver a solid, entertaining movie.
Signature Entertainment presents Special Delivery on Digital Platforms 22nd August
Rating: 
Director: Dae-Min Park
Stars: Park So-dam, Song Sae-byeok, Kim Eui-sung
Runtime: 109 minutes
Country: South Korea
