Enloss
dopamine of ignorance
This review may contain spoilers
A movie that had great potential and wasted it all
NO SPOILER FOR THE FIRST PART OF THIS REVIEW
The fact that some people are rating this movie higher than a 6.5 is honestly baffling. I usually never write reviews and prefer keeping my opinion to myself, but I felt the urge to do it for Midnight. So, here's my review of a movie that had amazing potential and could've been a really good thriller, but unfortunately ended up being a barely decent enough movie.
Midnight starts out well with its promising plot and heavy atmosphere efficiently set thanks to the scenography and brilliant acting. Many good stress-inducing mechanics are introduced to make us feel the anxiety and distress caused by the main character's, Kim Kyung Mi, deafness (e.g. audio detection devices, lights reacting to sound).
However, despite the potential and innovative ideas, it all crumbles down very early on. Yes, I was quite excited when I started watching Midnight, and was truly enjoying it. But if you have a good time during the first twenty minutes or so of the movie, you'll slowly become too frustrated to think about anything except how dumb these characters all are, completely ruining the thrill.
Every stressful situation is built upon questionable/idiotic decisions that no human being would ever make, even under that kind of pressure, because it simply goes against what survival instinct and common sense dictate. I'm sure there were ways to have the characters be gifted with intelligence and keep an interesting story still.
Overall, the movie is not completely bad and still enjoyable to a degree, simply thanks to the fact that it is entertaining enough to watch until the end. Still, it doesn't mean it's a good movie. The beginning is great, the ending is fine and everything in-between is... sort of a mess. If you were curious about it, I'd still advise you watch it, but be aware that your expectations will probably not be met, and if you won't be bored, you'll definitely be annoyed.
SECOND PART OF THE REVIEW, BEWARE OF SPOILERS BELOW
First of all, I'd like to mention that I'm usually not very nitpicky. I'll accept a lot of things when watching TV shows and movies, I won't necessarily notice every single detail or plot hole and I'm easy to satisfy. That being said, even taking this into account and letting my suspension of disbelief play its part, it wasn't enough. I'll now dive into it and detail what bothered me enough to write it down.
Okay, fine. I'll accept that the police have some prejudice against disabled people and that they can be utterly incompetent. It honestly wouldn't be that surprising or unheard of. It is frustrating, but not in a 100% unrealistic way.
Fine, I won't argue that it is possible for a crowd to not help someone in distress. Bystander effect, confusion, fear or simply not knowing what to do/how to react can all factor in on this. These people don't have the full story like we do, they just see a panicked girl who is not explaining what the problem is.
Sure, the military personnel bringing back Kyung Mi to Do Shik, thinking they're helping her "brother"... that's barely acceptable, but you know what? I'll let it slide because similar things can happen in a very unfortunate turn of events (e.g. Konerak Sinthasomphone).
Since all these characters are outsiders to the story and only get snippets of what we see, with which they have to piece everything together, I'll be lenient. It's all exaggerated for the sake of the plot anyway.
I won't even mention Do Shik's irrational and erratic behavior too much, for the obvious reason that he is a killer with, more likely than not, many many issues. Him being overconfident, thinking he can outsmart everyone (not like they're making it hard) even when being so careless, and get away with it scot free, is actually not that crazy or unbelievable.
But Jong Tak, this dude... my brother in christ, give me a break. He is by far the most frustrating and dumbest character in this entire movie. Here you have a grown man who has the ability to communicate freely, who knows exactly what's happening, but decides that calling the police is apparently overrated. Granted, they have proved they were dumb and incompetent, but still?
Or maybe that poor guy suffers from a disorder preventing him from doing two things at the same time and I'm just being very mean, who knows? Or well, maybe he can't use his brain, my two cents. I mean, seriously. Why can't he just run to Kyung Mi's house AND call the police at the same time. Same thing when he gives up on her after Do Shik "reveals" where his sister is.
And for the love of god, why does he take narrow little streets when trying to catch up with Do Shik, risking to lose his track, instead of properly following him? How is he even able to not lose sight of him that way? Or maybe he knows the area so well he has a mental map stuck in his head and can predict exactly where the killer and his victim will run to, even without seeing them. But in the unlikely scenario that were actually the case... then it should still be explained to the viewer.
Towards the end of the movie, he fights Do Shik in a back alley, but looks away from him TWICE despite having been tricked into thinking he had fainted the first time already (after a 2 seconds chokehold, that is). Brilliant. And why doesn't he try to scream/get back to the main avenue to draw people's attention? It's not like Kyung Mi can do it for him. If I were that poor girl, I'd rather be stabbed in that alley and just end it already, instead of having to be "saved" by someone so useless.
Also, why does no one ever stay together? I lost count of how many times that happened, but it was way too much. I don't really get why Kyung Mi and Jong Tak's sister had to split. They were right next to the place where they can press a button that turns on every light in existence and blasts an alarm waking up the entire neighborhood, then puts them in direct communication with the police!
Later, Kyung Mi's mother and Jong Tak also split up, and after that him and her daughter did too.
Other details I'll skim over because this review is already too long:
-Right at the beginning of the movie, a woman (completely alone outside, at night) is approached by a guy being weirdly insistent about her getting in his car. Nevertheless, she walks to his suspiciously "deserted" van, that totally does not look like a set-up, a few minutes after? I assure you, no woman would ever behave like that. At least call someone at the same time, just to be safe;
-When Do Shik and Jong Tak were fighting in the police station, why did it take so long for Kim Kyung Mi and her mother to bring back the officers inside? It definitely shouldn't have taken this much time as they were standing quite literally 5 meters away from the entrance;
-How did said officers not hear the commotion inside?;
-After that incident, why were none of the characters kept under police protection, at least for the next 24 hours?;
-When Do Shik infiltrates Kyung Mi's house, he knocks many heavy things on the ground... that girl is deaf, not completely numb to the world. She would definitely feel the vibrations or something. I'm pretty sure your other senses are sharpened when you're lacking one;
-I believe most countries have a special number for deaf & mute people to contact the police through text messages. I might be wrong, but I doubt there's nothing like that in South Korea. Kyung Mi and her mother would definitely know about such a thing. Even when panicking, I'm sure that would still come to your mind.
There are still many things I could mention, or some criticism I don't necessarily agree with, but I think you got the rough idea already. Ultimately, I am angry not because of all the inconsistencies themselves. I spend my time watching shows that are full of them and still manage to have a good time. I am mad because this movie could have been something greater. It had so much potential, and seeing it all go to waste like that right in front of my eyes feels like betrayal. This movie has some good in it, but the bad easily overtakes it. Midnight would barely deserve a 5, if not for the atmosphere and acting. And if I'm being honest, I'm betting my life that if Wi Ha Joon wasn't in this movie (but was replaced by an equally talented yet less attractive actor), the ratings would be way lower.
The fact that some people are rating this movie higher than a 6.5 is honestly baffling. I usually never write reviews and prefer keeping my opinion to myself, but I felt the urge to do it for Midnight. So, here's my review of a movie that had amazing potential and could've been a really good thriller, but unfortunately ended up being a barely decent enough movie.
Midnight starts out well with its promising plot and heavy atmosphere efficiently set thanks to the scenography and brilliant acting. Many good stress-inducing mechanics are introduced to make us feel the anxiety and distress caused by the main character's, Kim Kyung Mi, deafness (e.g. audio detection devices, lights reacting to sound).
However, despite the potential and innovative ideas, it all crumbles down very early on. Yes, I was quite excited when I started watching Midnight, and was truly enjoying it. But if you have a good time during the first twenty minutes or so of the movie, you'll slowly become too frustrated to think about anything except how dumb these characters all are, completely ruining the thrill.
Every stressful situation is built upon questionable/idiotic decisions that no human being would ever make, even under that kind of pressure, because it simply goes against what survival instinct and common sense dictate. I'm sure there were ways to have the characters be gifted with intelligence and keep an interesting story still.
Overall, the movie is not completely bad and still enjoyable to a degree, simply thanks to the fact that it is entertaining enough to watch until the end. Still, it doesn't mean it's a good movie. The beginning is great, the ending is fine and everything in-between is... sort of a mess. If you were curious about it, I'd still advise you watch it, but be aware that your expectations will probably not be met, and if you won't be bored, you'll definitely be annoyed.
SECOND PART OF THE REVIEW, BEWARE OF SPOILERS BELOW
First of all, I'd like to mention that I'm usually not very nitpicky. I'll accept a lot of things when watching TV shows and movies, I won't necessarily notice every single detail or plot hole and I'm easy to satisfy. That being said, even taking this into account and letting my suspension of disbelief play its part, it wasn't enough. I'll now dive into it and detail what bothered me enough to write it down.
Okay, fine. I'll accept that the police have some prejudice against disabled people and that they can be utterly incompetent. It honestly wouldn't be that surprising or unheard of. It is frustrating, but not in a 100% unrealistic way.
Fine, I won't argue that it is possible for a crowd to not help someone in distress. Bystander effect, confusion, fear or simply not knowing what to do/how to react can all factor in on this. These people don't have the full story like we do, they just see a panicked girl who is not explaining what the problem is.
Sure, the military personnel bringing back Kyung Mi to Do Shik, thinking they're helping her "brother"... that's barely acceptable, but you know what? I'll let it slide because similar things can happen in a very unfortunate turn of events (e.g. Konerak Sinthasomphone).
Since all these characters are outsiders to the story and only get snippets of what we see, with which they have to piece everything together, I'll be lenient. It's all exaggerated for the sake of the plot anyway.
I won't even mention Do Shik's irrational and erratic behavior too much, for the obvious reason that he is a killer with, more likely than not, many many issues. Him being overconfident, thinking he can outsmart everyone (not like they're making it hard) even when being so careless, and get away with it scot free, is actually not that crazy or unbelievable.
But Jong Tak, this dude... my brother in christ, give me a break. He is by far the most frustrating and dumbest character in this entire movie. Here you have a grown man who has the ability to communicate freely, who knows exactly what's happening, but decides that calling the police is apparently overrated. Granted, they have proved they were dumb and incompetent, but still?
Or maybe that poor guy suffers from a disorder preventing him from doing two things at the same time and I'm just being very mean, who knows? Or well, maybe he can't use his brain, my two cents. I mean, seriously. Why can't he just run to Kyung Mi's house AND call the police at the same time. Same thing when he gives up on her after Do Shik "reveals" where his sister is.
And for the love of god, why does he take narrow little streets when trying to catch up with Do Shik, risking to lose his track, instead of properly following him? How is he even able to not lose sight of him that way? Or maybe he knows the area so well he has a mental map stuck in his head and can predict exactly where the killer and his victim will run to, even without seeing them. But in the unlikely scenario that were actually the case... then it should still be explained to the viewer.
Towards the end of the movie, he fights Do Shik in a back alley, but looks away from him TWICE despite having been tricked into thinking he had fainted the first time already (after a 2 seconds chokehold, that is). Brilliant. And why doesn't he try to scream/get back to the main avenue to draw people's attention? It's not like Kyung Mi can do it for him. If I were that poor girl, I'd rather be stabbed in that alley and just end it already, instead of having to be "saved" by someone so useless.
Also, why does no one ever stay together? I lost count of how many times that happened, but it was way too much. I don't really get why Kyung Mi and Jong Tak's sister had to split. They were right next to the place where they can press a button that turns on every light in existence and blasts an alarm waking up the entire neighborhood, then puts them in direct communication with the police!
Later, Kyung Mi's mother and Jong Tak also split up, and after that him and her daughter did too.
Other details I'll skim over because this review is already too long:
-Right at the beginning of the movie, a woman (completely alone outside, at night) is approached by a guy being weirdly insistent about her getting in his car. Nevertheless, she walks to his suspiciously "deserted" van, that totally does not look like a set-up, a few minutes after? I assure you, no woman would ever behave like that. At least call someone at the same time, just to be safe;
-When Do Shik and Jong Tak were fighting in the police station, why did it take so long for Kim Kyung Mi and her mother to bring back the officers inside? It definitely shouldn't have taken this much time as they were standing quite literally 5 meters away from the entrance;
-How did said officers not hear the commotion inside?;
-After that incident, why were none of the characters kept under police protection, at least for the next 24 hours?;
-When Do Shik infiltrates Kyung Mi's house, he knocks many heavy things on the ground... that girl is deaf, not completely numb to the world. She would definitely feel the vibrations or something. I'm pretty sure your other senses are sharpened when you're lacking one;
-I believe most countries have a special number for deaf & mute people to contact the police through text messages. I might be wrong, but I doubt there's nothing like that in South Korea. Kyung Mi and her mother would definitely know about such a thing. Even when panicking, I'm sure that would still come to your mind.
There are still many things I could mention, or some criticism I don't necessarily agree with, but I think you got the rough idea already. Ultimately, I am angry not because of all the inconsistencies themselves. I spend my time watching shows that are full of them and still manage to have a good time. I am mad because this movie could have been something greater. It had so much potential, and seeing it all go to waste like that right in front of my eyes feels like betrayal. This movie has some good in it, but the bad easily overtakes it. Midnight would barely deserve a 5, if not for the atmosphere and acting. And if I'm being honest, I'm betting my life that if Wi Ha Joon wasn't in this movie (but was replaced by an equally talented yet less attractive actor), the ratings would be way lower.
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