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Anthojay
Korean martial arts film is rising
Bleeding edge korean action cinema at its finest level of production quality, the sequel is a whole new level of upgrade especially giving korean martial arts film a great boost, hand to hand combat in here is insanely quick and precise, action choreography is packed with high adrenaline and brutality. The cop chase story has great amount of tension yet it won't be too superficial, paired with stylish actions sequence and sensible dark humor, this one's full of thrilling korean goodness. Hope to see more korean martial arts movie soon on the big screen.Was this review helpful to you?
Multinational direction mixed bag
When a movie seeks for a multinational direction, it doesn't always produces effective results, and this movie has not escaped the fate of being sluggish in it. South Koreans hunting for North Koreans and at the end having a war with Japanese all done inside of China, this mixed bag couldn't get any weirder. However the main problem with this movie is how things are always getting done miraculously and in favor of them without much explanations. It all feels like the writers tried too hard to impress the audience out of their wild imaginations of how an international threat would be, which makes it very hard to believe how it could all happen that way.Was this review helpful to you?
Ineffective dystopian worldbuilding
As much as its attempt on the dystopian worldbuilding, it never comes effective due to the largely sloppy plotlines. A world set in the recovery stage of a worldwide mass destruction after a comet disaster, most of the scenes and situations didn't feel believable as it lacks surrealism, the imagination it has is also pretty vague. The main villain is a resource hogging conglomerate heir, the protagonist is a rebel employee planning to wage a war to change the system for refugees, it's a great source material yet this Netflix adaptation was poorly done, the direction of the story is unconvincing, tension between characters is weak and everything just seems forgettable.Was this review helpful to you?
The root of rot
It's certainly not a very entertaining movie to begin with because of its slowburn pace and quiet sound, but what it does is having the ability to dissect into the deeper root cause of humanity's worst life cycle, where the origin of every human evilness started once we're born. The extremely melancholy and low-key tone is actually quite true to life, it's all about feeling numb to the emptiness, where by getting a little bittersweet moment in our worst condition is already considered as a reward.Was this review helpful to you?
Monsterfest turning into snorefest
Expensive sets and costumes, but it comes with an absolutely cringeworthy plot that fails to propel into something that was intended to be bigger. The main monster has a good backstory to start with, but the visual design of the monster is bland and not to even say it's anywhere near intimidating. For the worst part there's just something that doesn't work in its script, there's no cohesion in its storyline and pacing is very dull. Acting performances is actually great though but they're not enough to save this monsterfest into becoming a snorefest.Was this review helpful to you?
Wild and sophisticated
This is one of the weirdest but also highly clever kdrama in such a long time, a really well thought out storyline and crazy cool proof of concept, but it was done with extremely stylish cinematography and catchy soundtrack, the whole thing just looks wild and sophisticated in an unimaginable way. It elevates curiosity in a steady but surprising pace and keeps you guessing on the direction of the plot, but the end results will be absolutely mindblowing and greatly satisfying, because the vast variety of sensations it has to offer is unstoppable.Was this review helpful to you?
More mind games that lacks impact
Originally a remake of Johnnie To's "Drug War", now they've delved into a wider expansion in this sequel and beyond the initial plot on its own. There's even more mind games this time with new characters, but as much extended storyline was added in, it does not seem that it's posing any bigger impact as it should. There's really not enough stakes to drive the threats onto higher ground, the movie stays within its frame and that's not much different than any other standard drug crime movie, it's just ridiculous why Netflix would even cash in a sequel to a movie they do not own in the first place.Was this review helpful to you?
Tremendous storytelling and strong emotions
The storytelling they were able to present in this movie is tremendous, the imagination of the brain cloning concept is almost infinite for a distant future but it's also treated with a very realistic approach on how it would affect the future world. The dystopian cinematography is absolutely stunning and believable, basically the class struggle that comes with the advancement of technology is really well indicated, that's why it is so heartfelt and immersive while watching. Using the personal connection of the characters as the main driver of the plot surrounding this seemingly soulless robotic world, the strong emotions stand out effectively from the rest of the sci-fi movies more than ever before.Was this review helpful to you?
Fight scenes lacks precision on martial arts techniques
A fairly simple storyline that doesn't have too much complexity going on, pacing is quite slow at the beginning and it has largely inconsistent tones, jumping back and forth between dead serious and then light drama out of sudden, which is a weird choice of direction.Now when it comes to action sequences and fight scenes, it was acceptable but nothing extraordinary, it lacks precision on martial arts techniques, and even the use of surrounding props is very minimal. For very big amount of fight scenes they're just throwing punches repeatedly and it's really tiresome to watch.
For instance, I was just comparing it to some of the best Korean martial arts film, like Jang Hyuk's "The Swordsman" and "The Killer", Ma Dongseok's "The Roundup" franchise, and even Netflix own originals "My Name" had much better fight scenes than this. To be honest, they could've reduced some of the fight scenes and mainly focus on a few big ones to improve quality not quantity.
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Confidential Assignment 2: International
3 people found this review helpful
North-South conflict with Americano blend
The usual formula of North-South conflict but with a style of "Americano" blend, overall a pretty high quality production but does have its shortcomings. Despite the complicated three way multinational storyline, it still pale in comparison like this year's best selling korean movie The Roundup, it lacks defining thrills as the villain doesn't even look intimidating enough, and most of the time it was overwhelmed by comedy all over the place. The meaty part kicks off too late and the first half of the movie is basically lifted only by comedy, fortunately it gets better when the main case is on track which provided a satisfying ending sequence with enough pressure points. Action scenes do look very gripping with accurate sound effects and exhilarating scores, but i guess most audiences will be moved by the visuals of the two male leads which is prominently highlighted in here.Was this review helpful to you?
Heartfelt progress throughout every episode
I guess many have underestimated this drama as just a shallow romantic drama, but somehow it has the ability to tap into modern relationship problems deeply, especially during the latter half of the drama where there are serious talks about the effects and consequences of engaging in a relationship. Consideration ranges from workplace, marriage, children, parents, and family, the story involved multilayered factors from several viewpoints. Well of course some may choose to refrain from going into this path, but for those who're already in it or soon, this drama has surprisingly given most of its insights with strong reference to reality. Actors were able to leave a great impression with excellent acting, plus the well built structure of the storyline including its meteorology material, it's been a long time since there's a rom-com that could achieve such heartfelt progress throughout every episode.Was this review helpful to you?
Stylish but unremarkable
It doesn't really capture the essence of Korean independence movement and its fighters, it was more like a plot device to make way for its multiple heroes of abilities, a team that "assembles", similar to some comic storyline that you'll know. The action scenes were acceptable but nothing remarkable, it's a little too kdrama-ish at some point. The storyline itself is a mess for its political tension due to it being intentionally fiction, while the latter episodes were flooded with repetitive gunfights, it just hardly hits the target of an effective plot.Was this review helpful to you?
Lacking visuals and sound
Great explanatory on the time loop concept but that's due to it having access to the original material that this drama was based on. The cinematography itself is somewhat uneventful, even the sound design felt very lacking throughout the whole drama. Fortunately the quality acting performances by the main leads were able to make the scenes feel very believable and saved the drama from becoming a failure. At least the ending is still satisfying if you're able to follow the loop and make a sense out of it.Was this review helpful to you?
Good backstory but lackluster horror
The overall narrative is pretty good in providing a nice flow of storyline and adequate structure for its backstory, though the visual impact on its horror elements might be a little lackluster and falls short in terms of attention to details. Despite that the logical reasoning at the end is relevant enough to justify the grudge held in the train station, and it even comes with a spy-like mission ending for the final resolution, which is a pleasant surprise and a fresh take for Korean horror films.Was this review helpful to you?
Best election theme kdrama to date
The initial story building is extremely brilliant, the setup packs a lot of punch and it was executed cleanly with great impact. Then the story shifted onto the main theme of election campaign, at here we're getting a full range of political agendas and modern election mechanism that are relevant to the real world. The political war is so intense but also very realistic, the direction is clear for each sides of the candidacy in the run, with tactics that are all plenty interesting to watch. Even until the closing part it was still able to shock viewers with its final blow and give the drama a satisfying ending, making it one the best election theme kdrama to date.Was this review helpful to you?
