Reviews

The movie is a sequel that could've been added to the drama's ending and the viewer would not waste 1 hour and 15 minutes to get a fairytale ending. Although the movie provides an explanation as how the leading male recovered, it has a comical atmosphere and lacks a loving mood. The movie also brings back some of the cast from the drama but there is no real plot that can be considered a continuation for these characters. The most bizarre character is Xiao Qing Ting [Little dragonfly] which is obviously Luo Han Tong from the drama and there's no explanation as how he made it back to life after his gruesome death in the drama. Overall, just watch the last eight minutes of the movie to get your happily ever after ending!

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Philosophical flick with questionable details.

Jung_E is great as a starter for some interesting conversations, but it does not really dive too deep into the topics itself. What could have been a great movie that ends on a question mark, became a bit too mindless and random closer to the end, trying to give a “reasonable” ending that lacks reason.

What worked? It opened the door for many interesting topics to be explored and reflected on - what is free will, can you put a price on it, what makes us human. What I appreciated the most, even though it was not the focus part of the plot, was the conversation about human rights, and how much does it cost to have them - since, even though on less “dramatic” and smaller scale, it’s a sad reality we live in right now.

The acting - amazing. I wanted to hug Jung Yi, slap Sang Hoon and both hug and slap Seo Hyun. Kang Soo Yeon did an amazing job at showing all the strong, but concealed emotions the character felt. Kim Hyun Joo’s performance was simply raw and I loved every second of it - well, every second the character actually showed emotions.

Jung_E was also a visual feast. I am one to always complain about CGI, but here they truly ace it. The robots looked greeted, the CGI created environments were amazing, the blend of special and practical effects was perfect.

All the scenes that focused on the morality of the whole scenario were wonderful. Every time they focused more on the philosophical and psychological aspect of it - great, and I wish the movie kept that going till the end. But no, we need some brainless fighting scenes at the end, because they had to flex special effects. Last 20 minutes truly made so little sense the movie went from 9 to 7.5.

Then we have Kim Sang Hoon and how painfully underdeveloped and underused he was. This character had such a potential to present so much depth. The set up was perfect, the potential emotional reaction could have been great, the dilemma he could have felt. What did the writer do? Said “screw it and put it in the trash” as they delivered some of the most random development for this character, that they tried to justify with one line of dialogue…

I also wish they explored some of the rules a little bit more. They gave a few lines and hints how the world works, but I wanted more to make it more believable. Some small details just don’t make much sense to me, the longer I think about them.

That said, it was still a truly enjoyable watch. First hour I was just glued to the screen. I am a bit biased, because I love the topics concerning free will, ethics and morality. It was a rather slow paced, character focused story that tackled a few too many issues while also trying to entertain people with the unnecessary action.

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A masterpiece

I watched Semantic Error for the first time several months ago, so I can't really tell you what are the differences between the series and the film - all I know is that they're very small differences, with no major changes. In case you haven't watched either and you're indecisive, I'd recommend picking the film if you have the time to watch the whole thing in one go (it's about 3 hours long). I feel like watching the film let me enjoy and understand all the scenes to the smallest details a lot better than the series.

I really wanted to write a review for Semantic Error, since in my opinion it's one of the best Korean dramas out there - yeah, dramas, not BLs. I rarely, if ever, use words like "masterpiece" to define anything, even when I really like it, but this time around I believe it's deserved, since Semantic Error has NO FLAWS.
- The story is a very well-made enemies-to-lovers romance. The two protagonists don't start off hating each other in a way that makes their romance seem impossible, but their mutual dislike also has solid foundations that makes it believable. The various events of the story all have the right time they need to be shown, and the pacing is immaculate too: at no point did I think that a certain part should have lasted longer, or that some events happened too fast or not fast enough.
- The characters are all great. The two main actors are very good and expressive, their chemistry is wonderful, and their character development is a delight to watch. The secondary and support characters are also well placed and well utilised, with a special mention for Jae Young's group of friends (looking so comfortable and at ease with each other like real friends is not easy) and Ryu Ji Hye (she had a hard character to portray and she did it so beautifully that she stood out to me a lot).
- The camera work and the small details here and there make the whole show much more charged of meaning and enjoyable. The symbolisms of Jae Young and Sang Woo's character development are powerful and enrich every scene even more, to the point that every moment of the story feels important and memorable. The music and the effects also played a huge role in this.
- As I watched the film and saw everything for the second time, instead of feeling bored or uninterested for watching the same things for the second time, I was surprised at how I took everything in and let it sink deeper. The more I watched, the more vivid the story felt. I loved it.

This is highly recommended for anyone who likes romance, be it BL or not, because it's just too good to miss. It's fun, it's enjoyable, it's romantic, it's sentimental, and it's just so well made. I feel like the entire production team put a lot of effort and care in this project and it shows. You can watch it as a series or as a film, just WATCH IT.

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Unexpectedly enjoyed

After being recommended by a close friend with no other information on what it's about other than it being 'a classic' for her, i decided to watch the first one. In the beginning, I truthfully was not feeling it. Just your average bad boy with a heart and naive rich girl wanting to take a trip to the dark side I guess... Fortunately, it does improve. In the short time of an hour and a half, we see her interacting with not only the main male but the side characters too, giving us enjoyable interactions we look forward to seeing once more and others not so much. By the end, you're biting your nails wondering what is going to happen in the last few minutes and it does not disappoint. This definitely set the standard for the rest of the trilogy, especially their endings... I would be lying if I said the ending wasn't the most impressionable part and by far the best. This movie leaves you thinking back days after, which ultimately led to me finishing the trilogy a day later.

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Just close your eyes and feel the emotion

Blackpink is a special Kpop group. I've got into Kpop since 2009. There're so many memories as a fan of Kpop. I can say as a Kpop fan, I've been through a lot. You can not understand every angles of this film if you're not a Kpop fan. Easily for someone who do not know what Kpop is and why every Kpop group has their own colors, why they act cute with their fans, and what K-culture is_ those judge and think this is a boring Doc. Ok if you want to know more about Kpop, I think it's a little too late now (you should have known Kpop 10 years ago at least), but it's fine, keep searching and learning Kpop then when you're good at it you can come back here and watch this Doc again I guarantee you can find the truth how interesting it is. As an ordinary audience, I can not say this is a excellent Doc film, but I'm happy that I'm a Blackpink fan and I watched this with an automatic smile on my face. I'm so so proud. Blackpink've won many awards but they already won a most precious cup, it's all their fans hearts and mine is one of them

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One of a kind

I've seen this movie 3 times, and it's hard to believe that such a bloody and murderous movie can give you such strange emotions. Each scene of the movie is edited very clever, each character has their own role and leaves their own mark, no character acts unreasonable. With such a film with so many characters, this is really the excellence of the director. I also feel fine when they put symphonies into the movie, such as the loudspeaker announcement, after gore and scary scenes, the symphony plays to soften the atmosphere, reducing the tension a bit in necessary way.

In terms of content, this is a sensitive and unique topic that is not easy to make into a movie, so this is a successful movie, the couple Nanahara and Noriko performed well and created a highlight, every viewer would love them. Actually a lot of characters in this movie can attract the audience's attention, even Mitsuko, Hirono, Chigusa, savage girls also have their own charms, I like them all. Although there are still some limitations such as why does the army come and go so quickly while the winner is not clearly determined? The military force in this movie is just a puppet in the hands of teacher Kitano, and in the end the army leaves, leaving Kitano with an unstable mind? While this is a special project of the Government and is noticed by the media. And some scenes are a bit weird I'm talking about acting, anyway, this is a special movie for me, we can see the message of a generation of young people with worries about the future, and the sadness hidden deep in the hearts of families like the Kitano family, the Mitsuko family, Nanahara, Nobu,... even violent people like Kiriyama. They are mirrors that reflect the dark sides of society, things that are unstable even in real life and even right now, those things still exist. Somewhere out there, in those families, innocent children will have to learn to grow up with hidden pain. I love the flashbacks in the movie, they're so good and right-timed.

This is the kind of movie that after you know it and watch it, someday in the future, sometime, when you watch it again, the movie will make you think about it, for me personally, in addition to watching and thinking about the message of the young generation, the movie also made me feel emotions, a little sad, a little happy, like the first moments of the movie when the whole 9B class went sightseeing/picnic and had fun joke together on the bus. And then bad things happen, the students have to try to kill their own classmates. Oh my!

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Martial arts are top notch, but...

I knew about Ip Man but only now had a chance to watch it. The movie gives the viewer a feeling of Chinese history in the 1930s-1940s, and I really like the way the setting, the costumes, the Chinese neighborhoods are beautiful and give a very old vibe. But not only that, this is a true story of a martial artist, a talented and humble person, the film has brought out a very cool character. I really admire Donnie Yen's talent. The fighting scenes are too attractive and beautiful. I love the final battle between Ip Man and Miura, can only say Wow with the amazingly choreographed martial arts combat.

However, the story of the master facing the threshold of war is actually quite simple, the story has no twists or anything special. Because it is so simple, the character Ip Man also does not have much opportunity to show the inner happenings and bring empathy to the viewers. Ip Man's family is also a problem. The wife and son received little attention, especially the relationship between the three of them. I feel that the link between Ip Man and his son in the movie is problematic. I mean, every time the Ip Man family shows up, it's kind of weird. It is difficult to ask martial artists to express a lot of emotions in quiet scenes. However, Ip Man's feelings in the face of his enemies, his love for his country are shown more clearly. Perhaps the detail I like is about the brother who was given an iron box containing a kite by Ip Man, which the late brother always treasured. Although it has not been properly described.

This is a great entertaining movie, you can watch it over and over with your friends in your spare time, but if you need a movie with depth and emotional quality, this movie just isn't that type of movies.

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Beautifully sad love in a illusory and unrealistic story

Distinguish between movies that create interesting fantasy stories and movies that talk about stories that happen in everyday life but make no sense. The first one is a movie genre, but the second one is a failure. If you want to create a compelling story that happens in everyday life, you're going to want the story to be as real as possible, I mean, the characters, the dialogue in the movie has to be very natural and look good, like a documentary film. About this movie, it's pretty illusory. I mean, there are details that make me laugh, they just can't happen in real life. So the story in the movie also has no truth.

It's really a pity, because I really love the love between the two main characters in the movie, the relationship between them is as gentle as the wind, very poetic and beautiful, I mean their acting, very natural and attractive. I can compare this love to everyone's childhood memories, things that are beautiful but no one can experience again in their life. Because I liked this love story so much, I was even more upset with the detective investigation story in the movie, too complicated and confusing. The detail of Seo-rae going to the police station making the fire alarm ringing is too ridiculous, it's a police station, not a school. No matter how smart she is, she can't do it so comfortably, she's no god. Even Hae-joon and Ji-goo's chase scene and the scene where they fight while Miss Seo-rae peeks from inside the car, what? She's not a super cop to be able to drive after them from start to finish. This makes no sense. The character Seo-rae is a complicated and unpredictable person who falls in love with Hae-joon, but the director only shows us that she is a girl like Gone Girl's Amy Dunne towards the end of the film, due to so I can't sympathize with her death, which the director could have done better.

The fact that Seo-rae was brutally beaten by Do-soo was only mentioned once, through the doctor's account with Hae-joon. Do-soo even stamped his wife, right? And with Hae-joon's love and concern for Seo-rae, he doesn't question her injuries, not even a word. Am I missing something, or does Hae-joon have amnesia? Or the doctor gave the wrong patient's medical record and X-ray film? Not to mention the absurdity of Hae-joon having feelings for Seo-rae just because she's pretty and good looking? Give me one good reason why a police officer who is questioning a suspect falls in love with the suspect. Even the identity of Seo-rae's grandfather is a detail that needs attention, it can't be used as a reason for Seo-rae to kill her own mother.

It is also a pity that the supporting characters in the film, Hae-joon's wife, young inspector Soo-wan and the female assistant, Hae-joon's boss, Hae-joon's son, Ho-shin, Do-soo, San-Oh, Chul-sung... they're all just useless puppets in the movie, none of them leave an impression, it's a waste of characters. The fact that there are so many characters that do not affect the two main characters makes the story of the supporting characters seem to be thrown away.

Another unfortunate detail that is missed is that Inspector Hae-joon has dry eyes, is it because he has trouble sleeping? Anyway he often uses a bottle of solution to put in his eyes, and after all this detail is not important, just a guy who likes to put liquid in his eyes, over.

I really wish Park Chan-wook could have made this movie simpler, with fewer supporting characters, connecting them with the main characters so deeply and solving the absurd details, turning Seo-rae into a The girl looks like a normal person. This could make this movie a living novel. Because I really like the scenes in the movie, the angles, the scenes with the colors in the movie, even the metaphorical details and the cutscenes, they are all very unique and personal. Music is also a point of interest for me, sometimes the tunes appear very timely and full of passion, but sometimes a bit too much, making me not like it very much.

And lastly, I don't know if this is true or not, but it seems that the police characters in the film are portrayed unduly poorly, they look almost incompetent and useless, or this is a hint of disparagement of the police industry by the director? I don't know lol and in the movie too much use of cell phones and smart devices, as well as scenic locations, I guess this is for advertising purposes? Too obvious, isn't it? To me, these things made the movie less interesting. They should reduce these.

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Great CGI, incomprehensible plot with no substance.

I will be brief in this review because there are not that many things to say about this movie. It's main problem is the lack of a comprehensible plot and not the lack of special effects that are top notch but they can't save the inconsistencies of the plot.

Here are some of the things that didn't make any sense in this story.

Why they kept for forty years the development of Jung_E by the time that they had already alternatives, well developed and combatable humanoids that not only did what they were ordered to do but also didn't hurt when they got injured and had complete lack of feelings? Why did they spend all these resources, time and effort and human work hours in order to develop this particular model with the conscience of Jung?
The project wasn't public to start with, in order to satisfy the public's feelings that considered Jung a hero, and trying to develop a humanoid that would work with Jung's conscience in combat conditions didn't serve any purpose because they already had such kind of humanoids. And the war was about to end either way and there was no point to repeat again and again in simulation the same old last Jung's combat that after forty years would have been out of date on regard of the technology used in it.

Also why Jung's daughter (Yoon Seo Hyun- that is the name of the daughter) released her mother into the body of another humanoid? To serve what purpose? If she wanted to save her from this thing, she should have deleted her completely.
And what about the other versions of her mother's conscience and the backups?
Her mother's conscience was in a digital form so there should have been copies of her brain mapping all over!

And how did it happen and she didn't know what were the terms and conditions of using someone's conscience in type C contracts? How did it happen and she wasn't aware of the terms of these contracts by the time that she was so deep into R&D of this technology and she used it without any moral doubts at her own mother's conscience?

Anyway.. the whole plot doesn't make any sense because it can't justify and explain the characters' actions in order to justify their feelings and reactions too. The melodramatic end is not justified by facts.

The characters are the only ones who know the true reason why they are crying their eyes out! We just don't!

The plot is hollow and without any substance and the CGI that were very good, simply can't save it...

2 out of 10 for the CGI ( I feel for the FX artists and the work they've put into it).
Skip the rest, because they don't make sense and they don't worth your watching time.

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Boring

While the story seemed to have a promising start, the fact that it was only for 1hour plus made it feel rushed. Guess I am just more used to dramas with 16 to 20 episodes.

To actually highlight KHJ as the lead was a bit misleading. Yes, she can be one of the main characters, but her screen time is definitely less than the others. The CGI was so-so for me. The movie gave off Terminator vibes, what with the AI army and those fight scenes.

Honestly, I do not know what to write about when it feels hollow. There wasn't much substance to it. It would have probably worked if they made it into a miniseries.

Netflix definitely got it wrong ranking it #1

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A patchy retelling of a classic trope

This movie certainly started like an action movie. Elaborate action sequences filled the screen with loud noises and pyrotechnics. It is all done with good quality CGI. It launches the plot and introduces all the key players. The premise of the movie is not exactly new. The use of AI/robots in combat was cause célèbre before the first Terminator movie but that franchise certainly made it a pop culture phenomenon.

The special sauce in this case is the combat AI in question was extracted from the dying brain of the lead researcher’s mother. She is a famous mercenary who nearly died years ago during her last mission to earn money to pay for her daughter’s surgery. She has been kept alive but in a vegetative state.

The research project led by the selfsame daughter (2FL) is the central plot. It largely focused on honing the AI’s combat and tactical abilities as captured at the height of the FL's fighting prowess. However, it is treated as a closed loop and each time the experiment ends in failure, the android’s mind is wiped.

Everything changed when the research programme is cancelled with little warning. At first, the 2FL was just going to pass on the data and shelve the programme, but she found out that her mum’s memory is intact and the android will behaves as if her mum has come back to life if the restraint on its programming is removed. That realisation triggered the final cascade of events.

I gather the writer-nim and director-nim are trying to make a grand statement about the morality and pitfall of using AI created by mapping a living brain or the sanctity of one’s mind. Unfortunately, the message is not particularly strong nor clear and is mixed in with all the political/business imperatives and feels muddled.

What I did notice is that the process and legality of transferring a dying person’s mind to an android seems to be well established and there are even a price list for perspective clients which diluted the message further. This makes it hard to explain why the 2FL, being a leading scientist, is caught off-guard by her own discovery.

While the start and end sequences are impactful and quite entertaining, the middle section is slower and meandering. It is filled with pseudo-science and the movie tries to use the narrative to fill in some of the backstory. It is watchable but the complete change in pace did the movie no favours. It just feels like there is too much exposition about contrived theories.
As I mentioned before, the ending was an even bigger rollercoaster thrill ride. It was certainly well made and keep your attention to the end. However, the ending is rather tropey. It just about confirms the whole movie is a retelling of the liberation of a trusted slave/horse/mum trope. The final shot of the FL was “interesting”. It is cheesy but does leave the door ajar for a sequel.

Acting wise, it is a mix bag. The female leads did well especially the mum/android role. It is very demanding both physically and emotionally. The 2FL earned her keeps but the script doesn’t really give her much time or room to grow. She has a job to do, and she did it to the best of her abilities. The ML is a caricature and prone to overacting. Most of the support cast are just living props. That is probably why the middle section is the weaker link because we have to rely on some of those secondary roles to push the plot along and they are not always up to the task.

All in all, it is an enjoyable popcorn flick. There is a hint of grand ideals but the setting and execution was too restrictive to truly deliver a knockout punch.

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plot twist

I loved it !!! They act so well togheter ,I,m really sad that he died in the end , a total plot twist , they are a work of art ,I can't imagine how they worked togheter in a romance k-drama too!!!?
If you are scared easily ,I think you shouldn't watch this,maybe with a friend ?
It has a lot of blood ,but It's a masterpiece,really!!!
I watched season 2 also, we want the next part !!! As soon as possible ,and Lee Jong Suk should play also ,again!!! I'm very sad that he doesn't have long hair anymore ,but it's not really a problem ,he plays his role very well and he also looks like a psycho ,really!!

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Wang Xiao Shuai had everything but didn't do enough with it

For a three hour film you really REALLY need a GREAT story. I know there are exceptions to this rule but all great stories are told chronologically, from A to Z.

SO LONG, MY SON has an okay story. To artificially make it seem better, the writer/director Wang Xiao Shuai decided to tell it out of sequence. What this does is turn many simple events in this story into fake 'reveals', creating an artificial tension.

An analogy. Everyone knows the alphabet, right? A, B, C, D, E, F... and so forth. Great writer/directors take the very familiar alphabet and make it compelling. Just the way any Christmas tree starts plain and dull but can be decorated into something lovely.

Writer/Director Wang Xiao Shuai decided that simply moving the letters around -- A, E, B, D, C, F is far more interesting.

But not really. All it does is make the story a little difficult to follow. This trick also hides the fact that the sequential story turns are tepid instead of clever. I believe someone should edit this story back into chronology so that you'd see it isn't really a masterpiece but just a long okay story shot beautifully.

You'd also see that despite 3 hours they did very little with the actors. I had just finished LUOYANG and was desperate to see more of Yong Mei. Here she was the female lead and I was waited and waited to see her skills in action. But because the film lacked compelling dialog exchanges Yong Mei was wasted as basically a 'prop' sitting in rooms or disappearing into walls.

The direction, the photography, lighting, OST -- were all the stuff of a possible masterpiece. But the story wasn't as emotional and dynamic and COHERENT enough to justify its length. Wang Xiao Shuai had everything but didn't do enough with it.

I will say this: the 2nd viewing will be less confusing and therefore I may be able to enjoy the story instead of wonder where the hell I am and which boy is which.

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