Reviews

Misleading Title Upheaval

I feel the urge to write this as seeing people kind of disappointed with the movie. I empathize their disappointment since the hot scenes scattered were not explicit or long enough. The kingdom(not empire) itself wasn't that lewd. Even the king himself slept alone, never engaged in any sexual activity. Perhaps he already reclusive in celibacy vow? The title will fit more in Tinto Brass' Caligula. There you'll find the true lust there is, so decadent he lost his soul.

As for the story, how fictitious it may be it deserved a laudatory applaud for creative penning and imagination. The evil prince in the end was disclaiming the story as he ordered them to be erased from history. Here you will find romance, politic, social condition of the period. The costumes and production value of the flick was great, I couldn't ask for more.

The acting is natural, somewhat believable. However, there are several times when the actors twitched. They were negligible though. You need to look at closer eye to know them. Both the ML and FL had sculpted body. You can see Shin Ha-kyun's muscle-fat ratio so gorgeously. He had a very fit body. Well, Kang Han-na too had a very good proportional body of her own.

The music is adequately decent to accompany the atmosphere of the plot. Nothing special though, a bit forgettable.

Should you re-watch it? I would, since I am bit of loss to find the raped girl was actually FL. I kinda slipped that scene portrayal, since the face is a bit obscured for me.

8.4 overall
Never judge book by its cover

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First come, first served or first killed, whichever comes first

A shy assassin assigned to guard a yakuza's teenage daughter finds himself in the middle of a revenge fueled war that takes place in a nearly empty school. Undercover as A Janitor, he ends up having to clean up more than empty juice boxes.

Fukima Akira saw his father murdered when he was just a boy. His father's blood brother, Majima Yoshiki, took him in as a son and trained him to be an assassin. Majima's biological son, Honda, grew up to develop his own gang to oppose his father. Eventually, Akira finds out that Yoshiki had his father murdered so that he could take over the gang and honor dictated Akira now had to murder his father figure. Other leaders were involved, including Honda, because everyone wanted to take over Yoshiki's turf. Yui, the daughter, was needed to biometrically open the vaults thus creating the deadly situation at the school with only Akira between her and 9 assassins.

The film bordered on the absurd at times with a baby faced serial killer, two female high school assassins, a geriatric assassin, two bozo bro assassins and one that resembled a terminator. Some of the acting could be over the top. Honda, looked like an IT specialist, but what he specialized in was killing, especially his own men. I kept expecting to hear him say, "have you tried turning it off and turning it on?" This was a kill or be killed free for all, where the only ones who would be paid were the ones who completed the job first. First come, first serve. What the assassins learned the hard way was that the gentle spoken janitor had no intention of letting anyone collect a pay day.

A Janitor (the most commonly used title name) looked like it was cheaply made. The school shots were that blown out blue/gray and white that many Jdramas seem fond of. Scenes with Yui and her father having dinner, steak of course, murderous villains tend to like their rare beef, were tinted red.

Some of the scenes were gratuitous in nature, and fair warning, there were a few random high school kids murdered. At times the fighting seemed brutal and real at others times it could seem ludicrous. Suppressing fire is one thing, wasting bullets shooting at something you can't see when you have limited ammo is something else, something stupid. Speaking of stupid, if you have an amazing hiding place don't crawl out in front of the villains in plain sight.

The acting was all over the place. Fukushi Seiji did a fine job as the conflicted and loyal Akira. Imou Haruka asYui had the tough task of playing the high school girl getting dragged all over the place with little agency of her own. Most of the rest of the cast set their acting on crazy overkill.

Despite the limited acting and sets, the movie was entertaining at times. Like a Godzilla movie, the monster didn't show up until 40 minutes into the story, at which point the action began and it became more interesting. Ultimately, a cute assassin wasn't enough for me with the huge gaps in logic though. The film is part of the Baby Assassins world which I know nothing about. So if that franchise is something you enjoyed or you like yakuza assassins pummeling and shooting each other, this might be something to try. It is thankfully as short as much of the logic in the movie, clocking in under 90 minutes.



9/26/22

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Jeon Do-yeon as Lee Shin-ae goes through an enormous amount of pain. We are introduced to someone that misses her deceased husband but has passed the stage of agony, only for it to come back when another death comes her way, in a truly tragic way. And we bear witness to the process. Grief. Raw, ugly grief that comes in all different ways. Mostly ways in which were uncomfortable to watch, physically harmful for those involved and, occasionally, amusing in its own sort of way (specifically due to the irony of the situation). Alongside her is the cheerful and helpful Kim Jong-chan (Song Kang-ho), acting as the good samaritan. He, too, goes through some changes of his own. His intentions are very self centred but he too finds peace in God, more so than Shin-ae could, despite her best attempts and in the end chooses to be the good guy and not take advantage of a deeply depressed, grieving mother. There isn’t a lot of joy in Secret Sunshine. There is an endless wave of hurt and visceral emotion, the kind that gets stuck in your throat and you’re in pain at the mere thought of. But there is some solace in the ending. Because despite everything, there is light at the end of the tunnel. No matter how you interpret something as simple as the rays of sunshine.

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Kingdom’s older brother with cheeky Hyun Bin.

Quite an enjoyable tale. One that you know the ending of from the beginning, but you still enjoy the journey itself. Nothing too deep, too complex - nothing that requires much brain power. Perfect for a fun evening.

Since I saw Kingdom first, this zombie in a historical setting did not feel as groundbreaking as it actually was. Giving credit where credit is due, even though I was personally spoiled with this fun mix of genres with Kingdom.

Except for that refreshing mix though, the movie does not really serve any innovative ideas. Stereotypical characters following the arcs we all are familiar with from other stories. It’s not exactly a bad thing - the movie is obviously made as an entertaining historical action flick and it delivers in that aspect perfectly.

The thing I had complicated feelings about was the villain and especially the moment that led to their downfall - it was both anticlimactic, leaving me with “that’s it?” feeling, but also surprisingly fitting based on how he was built from the start. Quite some time before the movie finishes we know, he won’t win - no matter what. Keeping him in the story was, from that moment, quite pointless.

I enjoyed most performances, but the one that caught my attention the most was Han Ji Eun - great emotional delivery, both when she was in the spotlight, but also during the action scenes, where she was more of a background.

While I don’t really remember the majority of the soundtrack, the instrumental that played during the big finale was amazing and perfectly fitting the scene and the great fighting choreographies.

Overall, I had fun. Could have been slightly shorter, could do with a better villain.

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Easy watch

This movie expands on the short show of the same name. I saw that Yokohama Ryusei was in this, so decided to give it a try. It was cute, for what it was. It was sort of like watching a live action cartoon, with over-the-top sound effects, exaggerated movements and facial expressions. Because it was so cartoonish, I wasn't able to feel anything for the characters.

It had your typical, excessively socially awkward teens that are seen in a lot of the Japanese shows. Sometimes, it's like watching people that have been raised with wolves coming into contact with humans for the first time in their lives. Fearful, skittish, unable to maintain a conversation. This movie did have the addition of a cousin to supposedly create some tension between the couple. My only thoughts of him were, "Did they use an egg beater to arrange his hair?!"

This show used the trope of misunderstanding/lack of communication, which is always frustrating to me. The movie as a whole was okay, I suppose but it never drew me in. I think I was probably slightly generous with my rating, only because the movie was completely innocuous and didn't irritate me.

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One of my fav movies!

Okay, so this is a Zhang Yimou film so you should already have high expectations and this one absolutely delivered! The main leads' love story is so sweet and tragic. I cried so much it was insane. When she realizes he does really care for her because they spent the night together and when she didn't want to have sex he was perfectly content with just holding her in his arms.

One of the things I wanted to touch on is Zhou Dongyu's acting. I first saw her in Sparrow 麻雀 and honestly I felt her character was so whiney and the fake crying was just really bad. I think this is where having a good director and a good script really pulls its weight. Her acting was so good and when she cried it was really believable.

I will leave it at that because you should really watch it for yourself!

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The beginning really confused me
Things happen here and there.
Some scenes scared me, there's a lot of jumpscare.

As the movie goes i started to understand what's going on. It was funny then scary then funny again then heartwarming. The plot twist were really unexpected!

The ost was really good! Especially the one playing at the end.

However the poster is misleading. It made me think that the pink hair girl is the FL, but she actually isn't.

This is a movie that needs to be watch few times so that i could understand. But i can't stand the scary scenes, i don't think i could ever rewatch it alone.

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This could’ve been yet another quasi-snuff film, instead we get a cult classic

Right, we don’t need yet another key observation regarding the graphic violence, both phiscially and sexually, in the film. But what does need to be brought to attention and be a bigger talking point is how hilarious Ichi The Killer is at times. I’m serious as well. The film blends the tone differently depending on where in the film but in the final scenes, the climax of the film has some brilliant comedic moments. Kaneko’s son booting Ichi on the floor was a legitimate laugh out loud moment. And the actual stand-off between Ichi and Kakihara is very cartoonish. Yet another big laughing moment was Kakihara trying to bring an injured Ichi to his feet, only for Ichi to collapse under the pain once more, much to his disappointment. It’s purposely lacklustre rather than being a big dramatic fight to the death; it’s bold and admirable in that way. Enough about Kakihara and Ichi, what about Jijii’s muscular body? I’m dead.

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I am extremely annoyed. Read second paragraph if you dont want the movie spoiled.

(skip to next pargraph for short summary without spoilers) SUMMARY WITH SPOILERS: To summarise this movie: annoying. There are so many scenes where the thinking of the leads isnt logical. How are CRIMINALS so afraid of a single guy as if he's a vengeful spirit that they cant easily get rid of lmao. It almost feels like the director got a criminal heist storyline from someone layed out in front of him on a table and just decided to scribble horror elements all over with a crayon... There were plenty of moments where Han could have been killed, but for some reason these three buddies decided to keep running and running. I havent even finished the movie. I was so bothered that i decided to share my annoyance before finishing this movie. The scene right before the 2 hour mark where one of the friends died was my last straw. He did not have to die if it wasnt for the main lead being an idiot. In that parking lot scene he couldve shot Han in his head, but he decided to be a pussy.. i mean the acting was amazing, but that wont make up for the amount of times ive been bothered by the horrible storyline and the horrible decisions that were made. And the chase that broke out when one of the friends left also has me annoyed. Han keeps popping out a cigarette whenever he feels like it and he starts smoking out in the open as if hes inviting them to shoot at him. BUT THEY DONT. THE ONLY MOMENTS THEY DECIDE TO SHOOT IS WHEN THEY ARE GETTING SHOT AT. The thrill during the first half of the movie was insane, but now im just left with frustration which ruins the whole movie. It honestly gets cringe. Suspenseful music starts playing when the main lead decides to confront Han after his friend got killed. It took the death of a friend for him to come to his senses. At this point he might aswell lay next to his dead friend and wait to get shot. I cant believe a movie managed to pull so much hatred out of me. Its also hella annoying how Han manages to dodge every bullet, but is also able to hit shots unlike others. By the way im updating this as im watching the movie. Im proud to announce Han finally got shot. In his shoulder... Make it more fatal cmon now. Ok so i finished the movie. Han gets shot multiple times, falls into the sea but doesn't die so main lead decides to chase after Han. His friend that went back to his parents is also supposedly dead and the end of the movie is main lead leaving Hawaii to go back after Han.


SHORTLY SUMMARISED WITHOUT SPOILERS: Plotholes, stupid decisions that make the movie unbearable, not enough backstory, horror elements thrown into a money heist movie (done in a horrible way), the bad guy is portrayed as way too mighty and the only good thing about this movie was the acting. Its crazy how a newbie director managed to get hold of this cast, but please someone take away the writing from him cuz multitasking is not for him. The great acting sadly doesnt make up for the bad story. And the end is an open ending if anyone cares about knowing that.

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Looking at Kim Dae Hwan’s filmography, I see that he had an appearance in the Sageuk, Jang Hee Bin and this is his second film (first being with him writing behind it). It’s clearly a cheap production with a hand held camera for even the tracking scenes but the amateurish camera work adds credibility to the realistic story of two soon to be parents that are forced to meet each other's parents, both of whom have a tense relationship with. There is a bit of a social difference between the two but that doesn’t play too much into the story, only serving to put a slightly wider wedge between Ji Young (Kim Sae-byuk, The Woman Who Ran) and Ji Young’s mother, who pushes Ji Young into doing things that she can brag about to her friends. And likewise for Su-hyun (Jo Hyun-chu, Inspector Koo) and his father, only the difference being that his verbally abusive father thinks it's a step to being a man, likely revealing why the son doesn’t see his family. The family greetings turn from pleasant to awkward very quickly. But the couple are great together. Both are mature and will talk things out when there are disagreements. Both are understanding when it comes to each other’s families. And then in the end, they were happy in their fates, just walking among the nightlife of the city.

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Absolutely Ridiculous

This movie is terrible. That's it. That's all!

The Mimic has a good concept but the the execution of the movie is just dumb. The FL/mother's actions throughout the film were nonsensical and yes I understand she's mentally unstable and that she is grieving the loss of a child. She is warned mutiple times not to trust the apparition and time and again she chose the opposite! MADE NO SENSE. I felt like she didn't even care for her daughter who was alive and well (well maybe I'm really not sure she survived the night!). She totally abandoned her in the end.

The only positive thing I have to say is that the young actress Shin Rin Ah, was fantatsic.

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They could have done better... but I kinda liked it

A big disclaimer before starting to watch the movies that you should remember.
It's a live-action. It means that the actors are humans and that it's impossible to recreate the same exact effects of the anime (or manga). I accepted this truth and the whole experience became way more pleasing.

POSITIVE POINTS
-they really worked hard to try to recreate the characters in all their physical details (apart from Winry, I honestly don't understand why she's the only one without blonde hair. WELL). If we ignore the fact that the original characters don't have "asian features" (at least not all of them), I think they managed to represent everyone at their best. Even the characters that appeared for a few scenes were as close to the original as possible.
-the acting was kind of cringe in some parts, especially when they tried to recreate the comical scenes, but apart from this, all the actors did a good job recreating their characters.
-the music was okay, but nothing will ever win against the anime OSTs.
-CGI/Special effects. Yes, I liked them. They weren't super realistic, but I mean the point of this story is not being realistic. They were pretty similar to the anime and they worked pretty well.

NEGATIVE POINTS
-WHAT HAPPENED TO THE PLOT? I don't know what they were thinking when they were making the script for the movies, but they surely got lost somewhere. They had a solid plot to start with and I understand that you cannot fill EVERYTHING in three movies, but there were some parts that were essential. Also, for some reason, they mixed some parts and changed the order of the timeline. For some scenes, it wasn't that bad, but knowing how it was supposed to go just made everything so confusing. And if it was confusing for someone who knew what the story wanted to tell, I can't imagine what people can understand without the anime/manga background.
This was the biggest flaw of all three movies and I was kinda disappointed because they already had a story to work with.
-Another negative point was some important missing characters. Where is Dr. Marcho??? He is super important for the whole plot...

At the end, I gave a high mark because I truly enjoy this story and I despite everything I also enjoyed the movies. They could have done better, yes. But if you are a fan of FMA they are a nice way to spend a rainy weekend. And to remind you why FMA is such an amazing masterpiece.

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Painful lack of direction and vision.

Here’s the thing - I actually enjoyed it quite a bit at the beginning, up till they introduced the last group of characters. And that last group completely ruined the experience for me. I just did not understand what this movie wanted to be.

It tried to be a fun action, survival, drama, dumb blockbuster… and it ended up being nothing truly worth watching. The emotional scenes were flat and unearned, the action was decent, but the car chase scenes were laughable with full CGI cars, one whole side plot was useless and brought exactly nothing to the story except getting my brain boil from the stupidity.

I truly wanted to like it. I waited long enough to be able to separate it from Train to Busan, and see it as a stand alone movie. Sadly, it’s an awful sequel, and mediocre at best stand alone.

The movie lacked focus - too many characters, too many groups with their own individual motivations, too many plots to make it a well written and presented story. The more they added, the worse it got.

Some scenery shots were beautiful, some had such a strong game quality because of the editing and CGI, it ruined the scenes. Even the zombies were worse than in the Train to Busan. One would think they would improve over the years… It’s not like the special effects industry got worse in the 4 years gap between the two titles.

The acting was good, but the characters were so boring and had close to zero personality, it was not exactly a hard job to deliver a decent performance. Kids did the best. Loved their scenes the most.

Overall, skippable. All the driving in the dark got me thinking I'm watching the Fast & Furious Zombie edition. The movie ended and I went - that’s it? It lacked the impact - be it action and entertainment or emotional delivery like the first movie had.

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A suicidal road trip taken by a drunken ex-civil servant (Asano Tadanobu) and a depressed bar hostess (Koizumi Kyoko) proves to be threputic and life changing but it takes a while to get there. There is drug taking (sleeping pills, mind you), painful reminiscing and drinking. Lots of drinking. The flashbacks peel back the layers of our characters and what led them to this path, doing it in a backwards manner similar to the structure of insomnia, which only added to the tragic events. Eventually we get a happy ending to the story. A mother changes her life and gets her kid back while a drunk feels satisfied for the first time in a long time without needing the influence of alcohol. I like to think that they eventually would meet up again and become happy together but being happy separately is just as fine an ending as any.

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