Great promise with bad execuation
The idea of this film was very promising and attention-grabbing, especially for lovers of action films and thrillers (for me!). However, the execution and direction of this film just weren't satisfying enough.In the beginning of the story, I was already doubtful after seeing the sauna scene - "Carter", a single man with no memory, manages to kill over 20 (probably 30+) men, all with knives and other kinds of weapons, basically single-handedly and without a scratch. Even the best-trained killers wouldn't be that capable. The opening already tells you how the story will go. The action scenes are way too unrealistic, almost fantasy-like. For a film that's classified as an action thriller, that's not so good.
The one-scene one-cut technique used during the camera work was nice and refreshing at the beginning but later on became frustrating. A lot of "empty" scenes showing empty rooms, the underneath of a car etc...just absolutely unnecessary scenes.
The non-Korean actors ruined the show for me. Their acting was simply bad, very amateur-like and mediocre.
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Non stop action!
This is the movie for you who like over the top-non stop action. Don't think too much and just enjoy the ride.Want a solid story? Forget that, Carter is more like "The Raid" - its truly ALL about the action.
Carter has some of the craziest action scenes ever made and the camera work is absolutely insane. I was blown away. I wonder how the heck they even filmed many of the scenes, they must be wizards or something. The CG was obvious at times but it still didn't look cheap, and remember this isn't a 200 million dollar Hollywood production.
I can see it becoming the next Korean production everyone talks about globally, that's how iconic i found this movie to be. Good job and congratulations to everyone involved!
(⚠️ It has full frontal nudity and brutal throat stabbing etc)
9/10 from me, a must watch if you like intense over the top stupid fun non stop action!
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This review may contain spoilers
Action on Action
TW: This movie contails full on nudity, violence and gory.First off, a huge round of applause to all of the actors and actresses! This movie, from beginning to end, was jammed packed with action scenes- literally action on action. Joo Won carried his action scenes terrifically. 👏 Happy to see JW back on the screen!
💭 What I enjoyed 💭
1. [ The cinematography ] - I appreciate the switch from 1st person to 3rd person perspective from time to time. It invites the audience (you) to be a part of the movie with the characters. It gives off this feeling like you're playing a video game. The movements of the camera will have you drifting in and out of an "interactive" video game to movie style.
2. [ The action scenes ] There are a lot of action scenes! I never once felt bored. The enemy emerges from any and every direction, LOL. I like that the director did not shy away from bloodsheds! There is a big considerable amount of gore.
3. [ The portrayal of virus is different ] Yes, the plotline is centered around this virus called "DMZ virus". However, it's not your typical bitting-eating-flesh mutants. Politics and distrust between NK and SK is in the plotline too.
4. I like the added mystery concept of: "What is real and what isn't?" shown between Carter's memory and what is told by others about his true identity.
💭 What I think can be improved on 💭
1. [ Acrobatics ] - In some action scenes, the camera could've just stayed still and have the entire scene pan out wide & we all would've been perfectly fine with it. Instead, the camera twirled in circles, constant up in the sky then back down on earth, then zig-zag from one car/motorcycle to the next.... beware if you have motion sickness. There were too many unnecessary acrobatic camer movements.
I wholeheartedly think the camera crew deserves a raise- they most definitely broke their back doing all of the extra camera movements.
2. [ The ending ] I personally felt like the ending ended abruptly.
3. [ Too many side characters ] Anytime any new side characters get introduced to us, it feels like there's going to be more to the story... but nothing happens. Although I appreciate the appearances of the stunt doubles & extras (such as Mike Colter), they did NOT add any depth to the storyline. Could've replaced those with scenes that would deepen the storyline & characters arc. This was a missed opportunity IMO.
4. [ Virus ] Aside from knowing the name and *possibly* where the virus started from.... we don't really know much about the virus? Wish they could've elaborated more on the global and health crisis.
• My overall thought: Lots of action and style... with no substance. If you're a big fan of action and thriller movies, I do think you should give this a watch! This movie definitely live up to those two genres. And those two genres only.
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No, no, no
It was the worst action film ever.My feelings after watching it: frustration, anger, depression and foolish laugh.
Reliable and solid story? - forget it
Interesting characters? - forget it
Decent director’s job? - forget it
It was awful, ridiculous and the level of stupidity was really high. The game style of filming does not help. Who was the main lead? I don’t care and obviously, the writer does not care either. It’s all about killing and vehicle catastrophe.
And the actors' faces were yellow. Why? Why?
Why I did watch this masterpiece - I do not know. I have no idea why anyone would watch it.
To kill time?
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This review may contain spoilers
Action or fantasy?
Let me start this off by saying that I love both action and fantasy movies. However, to me this movie was just a series of gory and extremely unrealistic action scenes strung together by a thin story line. It seemed more like I was watching a game than a movie at times.At one point I honestly wondered what the genre was.
It starts of with a lot of blood. Followed by loads of falls and jumps out of windows, numerous fights on the road and a lot of zombie like infected people.
Also, the camera work was brilliant at some point but nauseating most of the time.
The acting was ok and I did like the overall vibe of the movie, the quality was there but it just didn't come to fruition.
All in all it's fine to watch it without having to use your brain and if you love action packed movies. Just don't expect an elaborate story or characters with a lot of depth.
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Action over logic?
I will start by saying action thrillers are among my favourite genres, and The Villainess is one of my favourite movies.However, Carter was a swing and a miss for director Jung Byung Gil.
The trailer immediately caught my attention initially, and the plot, while a familiar trope, held some excitement as I was eager to see that Korean twist I have come to love. Regrettably, the execution of Carter left me sorely disappointed. Nothing about it made sense or made an effort to. At some points, I found myself laughing at the sheer ridiculousness of the fighting scenes. I don't usually watch movies for their realism; that's just not what movie magic is. But the disconnected plot and overdone fight scenes were just too hard to accept. I tried to follow the storyline to no avail, and the end left me annoyed rather than curious as I assume was its intended purpose. The foreign actors playing the CIA were frustrating as it seemed they were acting bad on purpose. Their lines felt forced and their movements robotic, like some weird caricature.
I had hoped for the best with Carter. I went in with average expectations but left feeling disappointed. Had I watched it solely for the action and had no expectations for the storyline or plot, this movie would have easily been an 8 or 9. But, I have seen far better movies and dramas with a similar premise that have both action and story to satisfy the senses. But, for lack of a better phrase, this movie was not it.
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Just like the US POTUS with the same name: no good
From the beginning to the end Carter is on a killing spree in order to ensure an impossible cure for a virus, which at first hit North Korea. The cure is impossible because you can't develop a vaccine from the blood of one survivor (it only works in Hollywood), and the virus makes no sense either in terms of contamination, incubation, symptoms, recovery, etc.The pseudo-plot relies on murdering 300-400 people (I lost count) along the way, and in the end turns out that everything was done for naught. Yet, digging a little (femtometers will suffice) under the surface of the movie, the whole thing could have ended at the beginning or at any point in the movie: the threesome Carter, a "scientist" (the actor who was great in "The plan man", and should have avoided being associated with this trash), and the latter's daughter, was needed for the killing to go on.
Pure nonsense, just like the US president with the same name.
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Cyberpunk inspired third person virtual reality
A totally experimental and ridiculous action thriller that somehow able to achieve the director's ambitious vision. It's sort of a cyberpunk inspired third person virtual reality mixed bag, and I believe majority will be put off by its nauseating camera works, but getting motion sickness for 2 hours is totally worth it, I'm in for it. Joo Won gets extremely physical and maximum adrenaline in every action scene from the start to the end, not really sure whether it can be said as an enjoyable cinematic experience, but it does look sick as fuck. This format may not work for the silver screen, but for Netflix at home, hell yeah!Was this review helpful to you?
Technique over storytelling
I'll start by saying that I loved The villianess by the same director and that enjoyed the long takes it had. Carter, however, is one long take that pretend to be a movie because everything serves to keep the long take, and though it has its merits (like the flashbacks) everything else suffers, because this movie is only about make a long take. The story and the action suffer because of it and both end up being confusing and tiresome.I wanted to watch a good action movie but I didn't find it though it could've been awesome and where I don't care about the characters or their story.
The acting is not bad though sometimes the actor's line of vision is weird (probably because of whatever they do to mask the cuts between the scenes so that it looks like one take).
Oh, it was nice to see Mike Colter even if his part was short.
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Should watch before 2022 ends
This movie was one of the most perfect action movies I've ever seen Firstly it's Netflix series,and it end with cliff. When movie starts, you're like"why I'm seeing naked people's"but later on, everything turn out to adrenaline rush,the actors, actress, characters, happenings are just perfect.You can not like this movie, because everything is perfect, Koreans should do more action movies. That's one thing I like about Korean movie industry. they always do perfect at horror and action movie. if you're interested in South and North Korean ,virus related thing,about how people reacts it,how action thing can be perfect just watch it. you'll never be disappointed I assure thisWas this review helpful to you?
Ummmmm....
The movie itself is well thought out and there is a plot with non stop action. A good Korean cast that pulls off the acting really well. However.... at some points of the movie you're just like HUH?Firstly the acting by the non-korean actors is just so mediocre and ruins the movie's suspense.
And secondly some may like the camera work but it's honestly too much at some points with really unnecessary angles and POV's.
Also very shoddy CGI that is so obvious at times.
Expected much better from a netflix show.
But overall it's a decent one-time watch in my opinion.
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This review may contain spoilers
It's.....ok
Not the world's best movie but it's also not the world's worst movie. Other people out there that will like it but it wasn't for me. personally I've seen better movies. Watch for yourself and be your own critic. Overall I did like the action and acting overall was pretty good. But the movie was a little disorienting with all the different crazy camera angles and stuff. I didn't like how it ended not necessarily a cliffhanger but when you go through all that stuff that these people did just for somebody to blow up the bridge of the train can get derailed and fall into that River kind of a crappy end.Was this review helpful to you?
