So basically, what if Park Chan-wook decided to try his hands on One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest... but without the incredible story developing throughout the runtime?
Not really my groove, this movie is just too weird and idiosyncratic, but I must admit that the ending was really sweet. It's mostly just a series of oddball events shining light on the setting and colorful characters until the inevitable happens.
I need to gush over Park Chan-wook's directing abilities, yet again. Amazing framing and cinematography as usual. Odd of him to make a romantic comedy, but don't take it to mean that this is a usual romcom, as it couldn't be further from the truth. He heavily injects his own style into it, a style I usually love but here only found serviceable.
By virtue of the quality of his filmography this is, as such, my least favorite film of his, but it's not a bad movie. It was decent. Well at least Stoker isn't at the bottom anymore.
I'll be eagerly waiting for his next movie!
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Aims for the stars, doesn't reach them, but a valiant effort nonetheless
Always count on the Koreans to make the most batshit crazy movies these days.When laying out their space opera story, I suppose the question they asked themselves wasn't whether they could do what they envisioned, but instead, how they were gonna do it. Whether they had too much on their plate doesn't seem to have been brought up on the table at all. And somehow, I'd say it worked for me.
My theory is that they threw everything at the wall and hoped something would stick. The human parts did, at least. As did the set design/production design, which were great. Obviously this movie was inspired by American sci-fi movies. Nearly ripping off them, in fact, but since they added this unmistakable Korean touch as soon as the ship crew were brought into the narrative, we'll let it fly. Off the top of my head, I recognized elements of:
WALL-E
Elysium
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, and just Star Wars in general.
Firefly/Serenity
Guardians of the Galaxy
And add in The Wandering Earth into the pile, although that's not American.
You get all the crazy, shoddy special effects and endless display of ambition typical of Chinese mainland movies, only without the propaganda. What surprised me the most was that the special effects weren't so bad actually. A few cheap shots here and there sure, but there were many gorgeous effect shots throughout this movie, which was surprising considering its low budget. They managed to accomplish a lot with the resources they had. Also it's worth mentioning but I loved the film's multi-lingual aspect. I heard over 5 different languages spoken extensively in this movie, but it's fine because the characters have universal translators so they understand each other. It's purely there for flavor and worldbuilding, and because they could so they did, which I liked.
The wishful thinking behind the movie's ending was unintentionally hilarious though. Oh sweet summer child…
Speaking of child, the "Cute Kid With Superpowers" MacGuffin is starting to become a bit of a tired cliché.
As for the characters, look... wherever Kim Tae-ri goes, I follow. Firefly-style, drunk and down on her luck captain who's hella badass? Quite the change of pace from her role in The Handmaiden that's for sure. She doesn't look the part, AND gives a speech that essentially inspires the whole planet to fight against corporate overlords (who are headed by Richard Armitage?!) and, however cheesy that was, there's no way in hell she wouldn't win me over. Like nick atkinson on letterboxd said, she makes looking cool so effortless.
You know what, in today's climate, a more realistic take on the ending would have been to show the UTS citizens cheering at the mention of the villain's idea of blowing up this shithole of a planet. "Better them than me! The poor can go hang in the dirt for all I care…" Doesn't sound so far-fetched when you think about it. This movie's sense of morality is a bit too on-the-nose for it to be realistic or believable.
Lastly, the robot who wanted to become a woman was also a highlight for me.
Verdict: Fun and ambitious, albeit uneven. Lots of ideas meshed together. Tonally inconsistent and a tad too long. Aims for the stars, doesn't reach them, but a valiant effort nonetheless.
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The Jun Ji-hyun show
I'm hard to please on the love story front so that was great. So refreshing to get away from American movie tropes especially in the later parts of the story.>>>> Wanna die?
Jun Ji-hyun is so dorky I love it. Her superstardom begins here and would seemingly continue until the end of times. Sure she's mostly a trash person but she's somehow still endearing because her humanity shows through. Also most guys would just bail out with this kind of behavior but he doesn't because he likes her, and that's relatable.
Great ending, great movie, great story, maybe not ethically the best of morals here but it shows something very real.
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[Director's Cut]
So many twists and turns, it's like the filmmakers watched MEMENTO and dialed it up to 11. I hear that maybe I shouldn't have watched that version first from some, but what's done is done.How dare anyone try to murder Kim Seol-hyun though? That I can't forgive!
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Stunts - 80/100 | Surprisingly good stunts here, and quite a large number of them too.
Narrative - 70/100 | Terrific performance by lead actor Sol Kyung-gu, impressive from start to finish. Really that's one hell of a show he gave in this movie, by far the best part about it, in fact. The rest of the movie was a bit too convoluted for my tastes, especially the ending which introduces a few problems. Unreliable narrators can be a great tool but sometimes they're kind of annoying.
Fight Choreography - 70/100 | Not much typical choreography going on but the final fight is lengthy and brutal, somehow. Good action directing and stunt work, although this is far from an action movie so don't expect Hong Kong choreography here, it's just fighting for survival.
Enjoyment - 68/100 | There's grim and there's this. This movie is like an endless pit of despair. Goes a tad too long.
But South Korean thrillers are always a good choice because they frankly know how it's done.
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Romantic Demolition
Well that was a rollercoaster.So first of all this movie certifies without a doubt that Jun Ji-hyun's hair is gorgeous and has virtually no equal. It has to be seen to be believed.
As for the story, well it would be hard to pinpoint the genre exactly. It seems to me like this movie tries to balance many different tones, tones that would make the sum of it something resembling a Romance/Drama/Comedy/Action movie (in order of importance according to yours truly).
And I loved that about it. It's not afraid to drastically change tone, and it does so to great effect. The movie does veer into excessive melodrama at one point but apart from that, it's wonderfully executed and the drama packs a wallop. Killer score. The central relationship works really well too.
Needless to say that Jun Ji-hyun knocks it out of the park as is tradition.
Credits to Tim on letterboxd for this expression, but it's indeed a worthy addition to the "Romantic Demolition" genre. Some whiplash to be expected.
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Korean American Pie
Whoever makes Ha Ji-won cry will have to answer to me!! 👀The things I put up with to watch her in anything... Ashhhhhhhhhhhhhi
It's en entertaining movie but it's crude and gross (expected) but just not very good, unfortunately. I hear the sequel is better but at this point I'm giving up on this "franchise", if you want to call it that.
Only recommended for Ha Ji-won completionists, and only that. Or you're curious to see a Korean take on American Pie (why would you though?)
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And then it gets even better. I never thought in my life that I’d ever watch a South Korean movie ending on a Zhang Ziyi cameo flying around Crouching Tiger-style and fighting to the tune of—yes you guessed it—I WILL SURVIVE
Oh my god, YES
Kick-ass movie! And kinda trash at the same time.
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Stunts - 80/100 | When the guy drops Eun-jin at the beginning I physically cringed, especially since I fell this way once and had a concussion from it. It’s like a short blink and you’ll miss it stunt that nobody probably remembers, but it was the most impactful for me lmao
Narrative - 72/100 | What I like most about this movie is just how much the character of Eun-jin grows. There’s a deplorable attempted rape scene in this movie (played for laughs…) but apart from that I was engaged throughout. Might not be everyone’s cup of tea since nothing happens for a while with the plot but I thought it was an interesting character-driven story carried big time by Shin Eun-kyung’s central performance in her role of Eun-jin. Wonderful range of expressions, demeanor, and body language on this one. Oh and a very physical performance too.
Fight Choreography - 81/100 | Haven’t seen the third one yet but the fights in this sequel are a definite step up. I really liked how they just went all in on the wires and crazy stuff, I dunno I thought it fit pretty well with how the character is basically a legendary figure at this point. It was filmed and put together a lot better.
Enjoyment - 82/100 | You can feel the Hong Kong influences here, they’re everywhere, but with this lovely touch of South Korean out-of-place comedy that I very much appreciate as well. I love amnesia-fueled stories. It just brings so much to the table sometimes, as evidenced by how much I enjoyed this, however nonsensical it was at times.
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Stunts - 69/100
Narrative - 48/100 | It’s way too silly at the beginning. The tonal shifts in this movie and weird editing in the beginning are quite jarring, whether they’re intended or not. It seems nobody stopped at some point to ask themselves the question “wait, what are we going for again?”
Fight Choreography - 77/100 | This is basically sword-fighting ballet. If I got this right, they meet and engage in metaphorical sex through duels? Except yelling at each other there doesn’t seem to be anything of substance to their relationship. Eventually becomes excessive slow-mo melodrama for no reason, but it looks damn good.
Enjoyment - 52/100 | The mise en scène in this movie is quite something, and so is the cinematography. Great-looking movie, that’s for sure. But I’m not sure I got the message, if there was any to begin with, except the usual “love is not something you can control”. And I’ve always preferred plot and characters (basically, writing) over visuals.
If you liked Wong Kar-Wai’s The Grandmaster, give this movie a try. It’s basically a more messed-up and less coherent version of it.
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…
> Mission: Operation Nun Sense
xD my sides
Quirky and effective South Korean comedy that I found way better than it had every right to be, thanks to the charming performance of lead Kim Seon-a and some surprisingly good action sequences for a movie in that genre.
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Stunts - 71/100
Narrative - 72/100 | It helps that I have a special (and biased) fondness for pretty much everything that happens in this movie: quirky lead performance, awkward high school setting, undercover high school setting, "forbidden" romantic undertones, good fight sequences…
Fight Choreography - 79/100 | You know, I wasn't expecting good fight scenes in a movie like this. The lead could certainly act the part of someone who could fight. Not too many cuts, decent stunts, good choreography, good flow… Some hits could have hit harder but thumbs up!
Enjoyment - 80/100 | I was never bored, not a single second throughout, and that says a lot since it's a 2 hour comedy movie (which usually bore me at some point). As usual with South Korean movies, expect some tonal whiplash near the end. However, I appreciated the melodramatic turn at the end, I thought it fit the moment and wasn't out of place.
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Too slow
The nonsensical writing sinks this. Also the pacing, which is terrible with easily 25 mins of bloat, but I kind of expected that one. There seems to be this unwritten rule with Korean films where they need to clock in at around 2 hours even if they have nothing to show for it, not sure why. A shame because the actors were good and the story was compelling.I know that they're supposed to be the same age in the movie, but in real life, Kim Ah-joong is 5 years older than Joo Woo, which I thought was interesting because you don't often see a casually older female lead like this. Well, as far as Hollywood movies are concerned.
I guess Korean films couldn't be further from them in that regard.
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Gritty revenge story in the style of John Wick
Korean Netflix productions are where it's at right now, apparently. Add this one to the pile of cool shit coming out of there recently.It's basically a revenge story in the style of John Wick mixed in with Infernal Affairs, had it been stretched out to an 8-episode mini-series.
Aside from the titular character though, it's astonishingly lacking in female characters. It's like the entire police force and pretty much all speaking parts are men aside from the main character, so she sticks out like a sore thumb. Kinda feels intentional to reinforce how alone she is but… such a weird choice.
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Stunts - 85/100 | A bit of annoying CGI fixes here and there but nothing that bothered me all that much. Great stunt work for the most part.
Narrative - 68/100 | This show takes itself very seriously, it's dramatic and emotional and tense. It's also exciting and has quite a few enjoyable action scenes, however the last 3 episodes or so become quite a bit needlessly convoluted. Could have easily cut 1 episode overall for much better pacing. Lead actress Han So-hee gives a great, wide-ranging performance. As far as how she postures herself, she reminds me of Hong Kong action star Moon Lee in how earnest she approaches the role of a tough petite woman up against the world. She's not nearly as acrobatic though.
Fight Choreography - 80/100 | The fights start off pretty damn amazing in the first half but get progressively worse as the episode count increases, which bums me out because the earlier ones got me so excited. Early sequences have a wonderful flow to them. Precise and concise choreography, it looks real. Later on, overdone editing comes in the picture and, while it's decent, it looks disjointed a bit, and not as good. Sadly, it's a typical outcome in films and shows involving martial arts, fights, and stunts. The earlier fight sequences usually star background stuntmen and/or martial artists who can sell the hits and perform better stunts. As more important characters become involved in fights (because the narrative demands it), fights get worse because those primarily dramatic actors aren't so good at selling the hits, and performing the stunts. And so the director has to hide some things behind editing and framing wizardry. Or sometimes it's a different team and they approach the fights differently. Previs is key here to help prepare for that.
That being said, the fights in this series aren't anywhere close to being bad, they're great and the lead (who fights throughout the series) is really dedicated to selling everything she can. But the tumble in fight scene quality is quite noticeable between the first half and the second half of this show, it's actually interesting to see it unfold, and is a subject I wanted to broach one day or another, so this was a good time to do so. It happens in martial arts movies too, all the time.
Enjoyment - 72/100 | Thrilling show with lots of hard-hitting action and dramatic heft. It gets bogged down in some weird narrative beats near the end, but overall it's still an impactful winner. And I loved the killer synthwave soundtrack that started almost every time an action beat kicked in. That was simply awesome. If you want to win me over when making something, definitely do that!
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Fresh and interesting, although a bit nonsensical
This is a fresh take on the genre, going full meta on it. I might have enjoyed it more had I seen more kdramas (working on that)The lead was... okay I thought, definitely lacking in some charisma. But the storyline was intriguing and engaging, even though it's short. I like how they explained why some people spoke English, others Korean, and it made sense. The premise is good too.
The villain mostly worked I should say, although his plan seems to contradict the rules they set up in Dramaworld.
Either way, recommended for those who want something different, and will check out season 2.
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Another good entry in the Zombie genre
Both the cafeteria and the library set pieces in the earlier episodes were action highlights, splendid zombie mayhem scenes.As with any zombie show starring teenagers in a narrative that has to span over many episodes, you need to expect melodrama a bit. But it was handled mostly well I think, considering the backdrop and characters. Plus, they weren't dumb. Although they did make a few questionable decisions, you had the feeling that they were really trying to survive and trying to be resourceful in face of an apocalypse and nothing too egregious happens.
So yeah, I thought it had great and varied characters (who didn't have plot armor), the mayhem scenes were of the typical kind we're used to with Zombie Korean stuff, so mostly excellent, and the story progressed in a neat way that didn't feel contrived. I thought it was quite sincere in the way it portrayed how the Korean government would react to a situation like this.
I really liked this show, a respectable new entry in the Zombie genre.
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The Korean title "3rd-Person Revenge" is so much better than the English one. They should have just translated it directly.
What puzzles me the most here is, considering the fact that lead actress Shin Ye Eun is by far the best actor on the show (shouldn't really be surprising to anyone who's watched The Glory), why have her basically take a backseat in her own story? Because that's what the writers did. That made no sense to me, and is the show's biggest sin. They also failed to give her character any kind of depth beyond the initial shock of her brother getting murdered. Sadly, it's a recurring phenomenon in kdrama where the female lead takes a backseat in her own story. It keeps happening over and over and over and I tire of it.
There's a word for that… it ends in -ism.
I like pretty lead actresses as much as the next guy but I also want them to have a personality. Depth. Character. Personal growth/development. Agency…
Anyway, I was a bit bored by the end.
However I would still give it a passing grade because it was decent and interesting enough. Music was quite good too. I just wish it was a lot better. I'm aching for a new show that's as good as The Glory, but… this ain't it.
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That being said, this show is garbage, even if it has its moments. And I usually don't notice those things too much, but the casual racism on display here is sickening. It's so unsubtle...
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Fight Choreography - 65/100 | Over-the-top silly fights that make no sense, but they're funny and aren't actually bad. I'm not sure if there is more fighting in the latter episodes, I didn't stick around to find out. Somehow the lead actress is a black belt in Taekwondo and it's obvious she has training. Doesn't make the fights great though. Just passable. Blame the team behind the camera.
I'm not even gonna bother scoring the rest as I dropped it. Not watching this would be my advice.
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