“Revolver” is a Korean “Payback,” another version of the and the Lee Marvin/John Boorman thriller that’s based on, “Point Blank.”

Somebody went to jail, did the time. They get out. They’re owed money. They’re damned sure going to collect it.

The most interesting wrinkle in writer-director Oh Seung-uk’s variation on a theme is that the ex-con is a female detective, that the cops she was involved with are dirty, to a one.

The smartest thing Oh did was cast the star of his 2015 thriller “The Shameless,” the veteran actress Jeon Do-yeon, as the lead. She’s got the gravitas, carrying herself like an ex-cop, wearing boots because you never know when you’re going to have to step on somebody’s toes.

Less smart? Not paying attention to the pace and the violence that drives money-owed/vengeance thrillers like “Point Blank.” “Revolver” is slow, littered with characters, flashbacks and near-confrontations that delay and delay that moment when our anti-heroine turns violent and things get interesting.

Jeon plays Det. Sgt. Ha Soo-yeong, whom we meet the day she finishes her sentence. She shrugs off the scars and the fresh bruise near her eye. She survived two years of being a disgraced cop in prison. That’s enough.

Two people greet her at the gate. Prosecutor Hong (Kang Eui-shik) reminds her that her mob and dirty cop accomplices “forgot you,” that her lover, the ring-leader, Capt. Lim (Lee Jung-jae) is dead. Good luck collecting that cash she must have been promised for her silence.

Flashbacks show Ha and Lim inspecting her new apartment, before prison. That was part of the deal.

The other person greeting her upon release is the bubbly mob-connected “hostess” who goes by Madame Hung (Lim Ji-yeon). As soon as Ha figures out she isn’t there to take her to her payoff, she gets out of her Land Rover and sets out to ensure payment.

But her old blackmailing “evidence” doesn’t work out, and she doesn’t even know who among the surviving members of this “slush fund” conspiracy owes her the money. She accepts a revolver from a broken down cop (Jeong Jae-yeong) and sets out to get some answers.

Veteran thriller fans know the drill. She’s got to go through Madame Hung to get to the manager of the Blue Oyster Club to find out who these “gangnam” (upscale neighborhood) Eastern Promises Ltd. folks are that arranged the payment. She has to deal with a punk (Ji Chang-wook) who made that promise to get to the People Higher Up with the Cash.

Matinee idol Ji and the mercurial Lim bring plenty of color to their characters. Jeon Hye-jin makes a creepy/scary impression as the late Captain Lim’s partner, who has a stake in all this. Leading lady Jeon establishes her character’s tough broad bonafides in the open scenes.

“What’s with your tone?”

“This is how I talk to thugs,” she growls, in Korean with English subtitles.

But waiting for all of this to pay off requires more patience than even Ha appears to have. Flashbacks muddy up the past and complicate the present.

And the viewer, remembering Chekhov’s Gun maxim, know that there’s a revolver, and a deadly retractable police baton that Ha carries with her. We keep waiting for her to use one or both.

The narrative never strays from the formula/quest that Ha is on. But writer-director Oh isn’t shy about boring us half-to-death as we wait for that inevitable connecting of the dots, resolution of the search and the inevitable brandishing of the “Revolver.”

Rating: unrated, violence, profanity

Cast: Jeon Do-yeon, Ji Chang-wook, Lim Ji-yeon, Jeong Jae-yeong,
Kim Jun-han, Jeon Hye-jin and Lee Jung-jae

Credits: Scripted and directed by Oh Seung-uk. A Well Go USA release.

Running time: 1:54