South Korea's Charlie's Angels
Okay don’t go in expecting a masterpiece, this is basically South Korea’s Charlies’ Angels… if they had yo-yo’s and stressball grenades. And if it was set in the 19th century. And starring a real-life kpop diva.But for what it’s worth, I enjoyed this. It’s cheesy as hell but when you have 3 charming girls like this kicking ass flying on wires and swinging metal yo-yo’s around the place while delivering heavy-handed dialogue, I’m in awe as to how exactly a movie like this got made.
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Stunts - 58/100 | Lots of cutting around to hide the CGI and stunts of average quality.
Narrative - 65/100 | Okay I may be getting a little generous on this one. But I didn’t mind the cheesy storyline so yeah. 65 it is. I liked the gender-reversed situation at play here, with the rescue operation.
Fight Choreography - 64/100 | They’re using yo-yo’s to seriously hurt people. And swinging around like Spider-Man.
Enjoyment - 74/100 | I think this movie establishes really well that the lead Ha Ji-won is incredibly photogenic, that much is certain.
It was an energetic and fun movie with lots of silly moments and a trio who are basically the three female musketeers and I liked it. The main theme, which starts every time the three girls get into a fight, is also exactly as corny as you would imagine from the poster.
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Fun concept
I like concept shows/movies like this. This one's hilariously and terribly awkward throughout. The leads were good, and also the main character's sister provided some great laughs.I wish the male lead had a bit more spine. He has great values and is a great guy in general (a refreshing change from toxic male leads) but he comes out as a weakling, unfortunately. A bit more "punch" would have been welcomed.
Also, Han Ji-su is not really a nice person, I think. The real "catch" here is actually the main character's sister if you ask me (well, for anyone but the main character, obviously)! She shines through as early as the first episode.
If you're up for some light-hearted awkward slow-burn romance fun this does the job, but it does stall sometimes. I wish the show had shown a bit more the "celebrity life" part of Han Ji-su's life, it's like they went all-in for the first episode then promptly forgot all about that part. But that first episode is really, really good.
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Must watch for body swap fans, the rest not so much
Aside from the few episodes dealing with the body swap, which are amazing and hilarious by the way, this show is really nothing special once it goes back to painfully average melodramatic romantic comedy stuff you've seen countless times before.But you've got a few episodes in there of Ha Ji-won playing an incredibly arrogant man in a woman's body and well, I don't regret checking it out. Also male lead Hyun Bin was excellent even though his character was a bit toxic.
Overall, it was kinda mediocre. You even had scenes changing colors midway through. That production quality!
Also a contender for worst action directing of all-time, the chase sequence in the first episode was truly nauseating (luckily it's about the only action sequence in the whole season so… not a big problem ultimately).
I think the most hilarious part was Ha Ji-Won being handed the script to Sector 7, a dreadful movie (in my opinion) she played in right after. But she looks cool in it wearing a tank-top, so I guess there's that.
Now I need to find more of this kind of stuff because I'd watch a whole show of just these body swap shenanigans. Any recommendations?
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Not very faithful to the manga, but great adaptation nonetheless
In a world where Squid Game is comfortably Netflix's most popular show of all-time by far, and everybody in the whole world has seen it or at least heard of it, it's a bit surprising that Liar Game hasn't caught up at least a little bit, especially since Squid Game's creator has openly said that Liar Game was a direct inspiration for it (along with Battle Royale, unsurprisingly).Probably because it's a pain in the ass to find in the West?
Liar Game is basically like a reverse Squid Game. While the latter is filled to the brim with violence used for shock value, in this one, violence is… forbidden!
Where Squid Game is raw and almost animalistic, Liar Game is reflexive, psychological, methodical. Lots of characters thinking, staring. Lots of dialogue. Lots of double-crossing. Suspenseful music everywhere.
And, contrary to Squid Game, Liar Game actually spends a vast majority of its runtime during the actual games, not showing us weird filler for about half the runtime. I think they could have cut even more of the stuff outside of the games, like the Japanese adaptation did. Doesn't mean it's better though, more on that in reviews for the Japanese adaptation coming up soon-ish (still watching)
Anyway, I guess if these things are about anything, then both Liar Game (through greed) and Squid Game (through both greed and survival) aim to show the ugly side of human nature when faced with difficult choices under immense pressure.
Overall I'd say they are roughly the same quality, but I enjoyed this one more because it's thoughtful instead of shocking, and hella entertaining. Definitely one of the most purely entertaining Korean shows I've watched, even though it's not the best (that would be Kingdom... for now). Also the leads were more charismatic here.
The original manga is leagues ahead of both though. It's actually one of my favorite manga ever. Even nonreaders of the manga could tell where they are deviating… rule of thumb: when it's bad and not making any sense (so basically, mostly everything that happens outside of the LIAR GAME tournament), they're probably deviating!
Now, I'm not sure why they had to change some of the actual games, especially the very first one, that was entirely unnecessary and many of those changes (but not all) introduce some logic problems. And by the final episode they changed so much it was basically a shadow of its former self. But the rest was great!
This show promises two things by the name alone and gives them plenty: lies, and high stakes games.
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The Baby Assassins franchise is back with a killer entry
Baby Assassins: Nice Days is closer in quality to the first than the second one, at least for me.I'm so glad that these exist. They live in their little corner of the universe, giving us peculiar but charming assassin slice of life nonsense alongside neatly choreographed action that has a unique flair to it. You'd be hard-pressed finding anything like it.
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Stunts - 80/100 | And this time, there's even more action. It's definitely the most action-packed of the franchise so far.
Narrative - 68/100 | We're veering into John Wick territory here. I hope the 4th installment will be assassins vs the guild. Pretty please?
Fight Choreography - 93/100 | Yeah, this is the shit. If you wanna know why this type of choreography works read my review of the first installment, or more accurately: my summary of Tao A's review. More of this please! More!
Enjoyment - 82/100 | As long as the quality stays like this I'm gonna watch for sure. The sound editing and uneven mixing remain the only criticism I could give these movies on the technical side.
I love that Japan is carving a place for itself in the "great martial arts movies" category these days. They're picking up the slack left by some other countries. Well, the more the merrier!
Main Fighters: Saori Izawa, Sosuke Ikematsu
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The secondary characters are the only reason you'd wanna watch this.
Between the batshit insane, unhinged female villain (the actress ruined her voice for weeks after shooting due to excessive screaming), the somewhat comic relief yet murderer husband, and other interesting side characters, there are a few decent servings to choose from.It's a shame that the main leads aren't interesting though. They're not really the main draw and are rather boring.
Normally when the hysteria ramps up near the end of kdramas it bothers me but in this one it's quite funny because of ramped up dramatic irony. So it becomes a lot more watchable. It's a convoluted mess of betrayals and backstabbings and plotting and it's fun enough.
I would say this falls under the "Soft Revenge" genre. It's a revenge story but not that intense, and with a big focus on romance too. And the hijinks of some side characters.
What's with the insane product placement though? It's so funny with the characters saying uplifting marketing crap in-between two serious scenes. Comedy gold.
Yeah, not great, but certainly watchable and contrary to many kdramas, full of surprises until the very end. Song Ha-yoon is certainly the highlight.
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Woo Young-woo is so wholesome.
The first half had unbelievable writing quality. I especially admired how it simultaneously developed the overall narrative and cases while still finding ways to seamlessly weave in personal development for the main character throughout. And so many intricate details. That was pure genius. As an aspiring writer I'm kinda jealous at the feat they pulled here tbh.Unfortunately, the show couldn't maintain that level of quality in the second half, at which point it settled for… "still pretty damn great".
Massive kudos to the person who made the subs for this on Netflix, a certain Cho Hyun-soo apparently. Good subs help tremendously when listening to foreign media, and these subs were among the best I've ever seen, translating everything that's written on screen flawlessly, and even providing context for some jokes that couldn't translate well from Korean to English.
I'm not sure if a 2nd season of this show really makes sense but hey, I'm open to being wrong.
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Easily the most outrageously ridiculous premise for a body swap story I've seen so far, and I've seen quite a few. Guy falls in a hotel pool and wakes up 200 years ago in the body of the Queen of Joseon? Get out of here!
And yet… it's pretty good and funny
There are Some lulls here and there but this is entertaining, even though it's a bit too much sometimes. Starts off really funny but the comedy makes way for a lot more drama in the back half of the show.
The action wasn't very good. Lots of shuffling around with lots of cuts so the fights were a mess. It was hard to tell exactly what was going on. They probably rushed the filming for them.
But Shin Hye-sun is firing on all cylinders here. Great wide-ranging performance. I knew the minute I saw her in a supporting role in The Legend of the Blue Sea that she was way more talented than her role let on, and well I feel validated now!
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Refreshingly low-key
Kim Seol-hyun headlining a romance drama? Yes please! Such a rare sight.They sure were trying their damn hardest to make her appear as average-looking as possible (unflattering makeup, messy hair, ill-fitting clothes), but as it became quite clear it just wasn't achievable, halfway through it's like they just went screw it and gave up lol. Then cue other characters going like "wow you're so pretty" well no shit, do you have eyes?
This is actually, and surprisingly, very well written with many complex characters and dynamics, although it is a bit contrived at times. I really enjoyed how mature it was in its themes. It's pretty much entirely devoid of cheese (but definitely not drama), so rest assured that you won't find any of the usual kdrama clichés here, so if you're looking for something different from usual kdrama this is one of them. Feels more like a slice of life drama, with a side serving of darker moments.
I think this series's strongest suit is the writing, especially character interactions, while its weakest would be tonal consistency.
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One of the best kdramas out there
Korean revenge stories are basically a subgenre of their own at this point and this is another one you don't wanna miss. After the very good My Name (2021) we have yet another—and bigger—winner in the form of this newly-released title (it says 2022 but it finished only a couple weeks ago)Watch the first episode and tell me this is boring. That's right, you can't.
It's also full of surprises. Don't expect much action though, that's just not what this is about.
I think what sets this story apart from other revenge stories in this genre is the fact that we follow the antagonists quite a bit. A lot of screentime is dedicated to them actually, and yet it works so well because they're so colorful, dynamic, and multi-layered as they progressively sink deeper into the protagonist's schemes. We even see glimpses of humanity here and there. It's a delight sometimes to simply watch the chaos that seems to follow them around unfold. Their lives are a hypnotic, convoluted mess to watch, and it's definitely what I enjoyed the most in this show.
Well, aside from the acting. The leads killed it of course but a shoutout too to the young actresses playing the main protagonist (Jung Ji-So) and the main antagonist (Shin Ye-eun) in their school years, now that was some brilliant acting. They'll be ones to watch for sure.
Word of warning on the first episode though: it gets pretty intense. Sexual assault, torture, psychological abuse… I've seen worse, graphically, but due to the context, the amazing performances and directing and the score here it's just so… harrowing. So yeah, trigger warning I guess.
But it's really well made, and necessary. How else are we gonna root for someone who's essentially dead set on ruining a bunch of people's lives in return for what they did?
Because they deserve it. Without question.
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This review may contain spoilers
Second leads in this ruled!
Fun romance/drama/comedy with a few unexpected creepy suspense moments.The secondary leads Jae-jin and Hye-sun killed it, completely stealing the show from the leads in this.
Unfortunately for the ML, I wish the FL had chosen the other guy. Lol. That's never a good sign. I don't know he was more down to Earth and cool. The ML was too controlling. But it still works I would say. I liked the Mountain Spirit's role in the story, and the FL was really, really good.
This show excels at nothing but does a lot of little things right that do add up. The story progresses well.
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Amazing historical blockbuster with great performances and action
Against all my expectations going in this is easily one of my favorite new watches of the last couple of years. And I'm really picky with my 10 ratings. I love discovering new unexpected personal favorites like this!Same historical backdrop as the The Handmaiden too… coincidence? I think I like that time period.
Due to the long runtime I came in with a pack of pistachios to eat whenever I figured it'd get boring (read: when Jun Ji-hyun wasn't on screen, or so I naively thought) but then I couldn't find any time to actually crack them open because I got fully invested like 5 minutes in and promptly forgot about them.
So this was pretty popular at the Korean box office, currently resting in the all-time top 10 by admissions as of 2022, and I can see why.
What it lacks in distinctive style it compensates for with lots of twists and surprises, varied, dynamic characters, and a compelling story akin to Inglourious Basterds (another one of my favorite movies), making it an instant classic in my book.
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Stunts - 90/100 | The set-piece during the aforementioned "assassination" is delightful, splendid execution and editing. Hollywood proving once again that lots of their ginormous budgets are flushed down the toilet... This movie looks and feels like a historical blockbuster for a mere fraction of the money.
Narrative - 96/100 | Ha Jung-woo shines as the enigmatic killer-for-hire 'Hawaii Pistol' for sure, if he keeps this up he's gonna be my favorite Korean actor soon enough, and Lee Jung-Jae (from Squid Game) also brings his A-game to this.
Fight Choreography | No real fights.
Enjoyment - 98/100 | Of course you have to like war espionage stuff but it's crafted really well with a smart, well-rounded script that has multiple pay-offs and high-impact action beats. The attention to trivial details in this movie is lovely, and makes the world feel much more real.
And then, well, if you've ever wanted to watch Jun Ji-hyun play a hardass sniper infiltrator (who wouldn't?), now's your only chance.
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Stunts - 78/100
Narrative - 86/100 | Incredibly well-rounded script, intricate characters, and fully-realized villain that unfortunately don’t do much for me on a personal level... BUT this film is so well-crafted and delightfully twisted that it’s a great watch no matter what. Park Chan-Wook is a wizard behind the camera.
Fight Choreography - 88/100 | What is there left to say about the hallway scene? Hundreds of YouTube comments reading something along the lines of "best fight scene ever" having thousands of upvotes summarize it quite well, albeit being a bit short on the descriptive parts. The scene is so stylish with the groovy music, our main character here never abandoning, cleaving through ranks and ranks of featureless thugs, fighting for his life. And falling.... And standing up again! It's all filmed in one beautiful take, and results in one rough and truly unforgettable fight scene.
But mark my words, this fight scene is not even in the top 5 reasons why you should watch this movie.
Enjoyment - 76/100
Overall 8/10
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I love how this movie takes itself seriously and presents a well-flowing narrative that keeps you on the edge of your seat constantly, and not because of contrived reasons but because of dynamic and varied characters with their own goals... AKA a well written movie.
The plot and main beats are quite predictable but that doesn't detract from the movie at all. The zombies' traits are clear, and played to both their strengths and weaknesses.
Huge praise should be given to the stunt crew who made it all believable by throwing themselves like the batshit crazy people they are on every object in that movie. They're scary and completely insane and I loved it!
The contrived setting adds to the movie immensely.
Incredible work and a worthy addition to the zombie genre. It has emotional gravitas too which is also quite the rare sight in this genre.
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Came for the action, stayed for the story
I don't know why a lot of people praise the action in this movie, I must commend them for their dedication and it sure must have been quite the effort to stage it and film it, but it's shot in a horrendous and chaotic way. We lack proper perspective or setup for most of it. It's hard to follow when it's first person as well. I think action works at its best when it's a series of "push - release" moments that, in combination with great framing and editing, create a kinetic flow to it.The motorcycle chase scene in particular stands out as the worst. It's just a mess of shaky cam, awful under-cranking which seems like they actually cut some frames out, and weird editing.
I mean, a lot of the action shots are continuous but they still manage to make it look less slick and coherent than many movies with five times as many cuts. I guess I should blame the camera work.
In fact, this movie is living proof that shaky cam is a lot worse than having many cuts in an action scene. Hong Kong director Corey Yuen is at the opposite end of the spectrum, his action movies have lots of cuts but due to the steady camera work (and precise editing through the cuts), the action stays coherent throughout.
The worst combination is, of course, both of these extreme issues joined together (see: most of Hollywood productions)
HOWEVER, I loved this movie. Came in for the action, stayed for everything else.
The narrative used a lot of wonderful "push-pull" dynamics. If only the action did as well...
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Stunts - 70/100 | Not sure exactly how they filmed some of those stunts which is a plus I guess? This movie is an example of something impressive done behind the camera resulting in... something relatively good on screen but not anything more than that because it's hard to actually see it.
Narrative - 81/100 | I was almost dreading the action-filled finale because the story really drew me in. A great balance of action and drama, shock and tenderness, romance and animosity. It's melodramatic at times but I didn't mind.
Fight Choreography - 67/100 | What I said in the stunts category also applies here. What the action scenes lack in cohesiveness though, they compensate for in terms of violence.
Enjoyment - 84/100 | Kim Ok-bin is the MVP of this movie. Or rather, I thought both actresses playing her character were the MVPs of this movie. But then... apparently she played both versions of herself. How on Earth did they manage to make her look so different before and after plastic surgery?
Or is it what Patrick Stewart refers to when he says "Acting." in a deadpan tone?
If you liked either of LA FEMME NIKITA or THE MAN FROM NOWHERE, be sure not to miss this one.
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