Reviews

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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Those that taking up space at Gwang Lim Mansion

whats up with these 7.5 ish scores. hahaha, its a supernatural movie and I'm really glad it barely use the typical "Jump Scare" tactic to get a rise out of me....

Right, so, I've concluded my horror supernatural watching for the month of October with Sung Joon starring in The Grotesque Mansion.

Looking at Ji Woo; he's a struggling webtoon artist and has tanked with his previous toon but not wanting to draw/write another failure went looking for inspiration at the massive Gwang Lim Mansion Apartment.

He sits with the caretaker for a bit of 'tea and tale' of the tenants.
With these interwoven tales and my over thinking "the rules to a good scary movie" plot, I figured out what was to come for Ji Woo half way into the movie.

Keep in mind of my not expecting much from the movie other than a win for Ji Woo, I enjoyed the tales told at Gwang Lim Mansion and its dark leering spaces as each were moral tales.

I say peep this one on Viki or Tubi, If you can handle dark corners and scenes, the unkempt, minor grossness and the hues of blues, black and grey used to tone film the movie.

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a warm cup of tea on a rainy afternoon

{It will warm your heart like a cup of tea...with youthful laughter and the innocent blushes of first love...yet you will still feel somewhat sad and melancholy...as one does on a rainy afternoon.}

20th Century Girl is definitely a solid high school, nostalgic rom-com. Admittedly, it is nothing original with a cliche plotline, and typical misunderstandings make up the biggest backbone of the plotline. However, the actors give life to their characters; Kim Yoo Jung's range of emotions never fails to astound me, and her co-lead Byun Woo Seok represents his character's subtle warmth perfectly. (AND OMG all the cameos--Han Hyo Joo, Gong Myung, & Ong Seung Wu--were a surprise to me, and all of them were faves, so I was genuinely happy to see them, too <3)

My only gripe is that I don't think it was quite the tear-jerker like fans on TikTok and other social media made it seem. I was definitely not sobbing or bawling at the middle of the movie, and I was not a puddle of tears at the end. (BUT I DO WISH that we could get a happy ending FOR ONCE in kdramaland 2022. Why do writers hate us this year!? Why WON'T YOU GIVE A PERFECTLY GOOD COUPLE their well-deserved happy ending?!? I'm also definitely unsatisfied with the lingering, unanswered threads at the end of the movie, but I appreciate how other aspects did come full circle. )

Nevertheless, the nostalgic color palette and grading of the film make this movie feel like a warm cup of tea on a rainy afternoon, and the overall production quality raises what should be a 7/10 story to a 8.5/10 cinema. (The silhouette scene of their side profiles in the closet? LOVE.) Because even I, no matter how cynical of a critic hat I pretend to don, am a slave to my feelings, and the predictable plot could not prevent my tears at the end. The simplicity of the dialogue still pulled at my heartstrings, proving that a trope done well...will always hit home.

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Heart-pounding, great at characterization

I can 100% understand why this became a classic and why it birthed an entire genre. I absolutely loved it and I felt so much tension from the start of the game to the end.

I think what this film does really well is characterization; there are 40+ students and the film manages to humanize all of them in one or two scenes. I think the main characters were actually pretty bland compared to some of the side character so I was glad that we got different perspectives. In that sense, the film feels almost like an anthology of different stories.

There's some iffiness around how the law was passed and how things work in this world, and also around some plot points that were annoying or simply triggered by stupid decision-making.

I think the acting in some of the scenes were also a little stiff — especially in some death scenes — but overall this is a film that holds up.

I know there are a bunch of comparisons to Hunger Games which took inspiration from this, and as a baby of the dystopian YA era I have to make a comparison too. In one quick sentence, it's this: Battle Royale is better with its characters, Hunger Games is better with its world-building.

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cute movie

Ok so like 10 minutes in I thought about switching this off but I tell myself to just wait and see how things play out cause I did like the premise. I eventually finished and am surprised that the writer committed to that ending. Instead of pleasing the audience with a happy ending, we were given a realistic one and I can't be mad about that.

The plot was extremely easy to follow and even seemed a bit too easy at times. I wanted an event or character to come in and mix things up to create some good conflict but that didn't happen. Then I realized that this movie didn't need conflict. It was perfect the way it was. It really boils down to how people can come in and out of your life, some staying longer than others, but some people can have such an effect on you that they end up changing your life for the better. In terms of the movie, Seunghee had came into Wooyeon's life at a time where he was lost and didn't have a single sense of direction. Their friendship and his eventual feelings developing for her caused him to have a new outlook on life, and suddenly he began to think seriously about his future. Although Seunghee never knew found out about Wooyeon's feelings for her, he at least got to tell her after all those years that it was really because of her that he can now live a good life and be confident about it, and he only wishes her a good life and happiness in return. Yet even after this confession you I felt a twinge of regret from Wooyeon at Seunghee's wedding ceremony. The ending was sad but very much like life so that made the ending beautiful. 7/10.

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A solid companion movie

It was unexpectedly good, given that I didn't expect much.
The story is solely Watanuki-centric, and it's a logical choice because it's a movie, not a series.
Kamiki Ryunosuke acting is perfect, his Watanuki is pretty believable and sympathizable. I wasn't sure about Shibasaki Ko as Yuko after seeing the photos, but she actually fits. Their relationships are a bit cut up because obviously they should have sacrificed something, and Yuko and Watanuki relationships are built on many client cases. So, yeah... There is a slight disbalance, but I consider it to be a companion movie to the original manga, so I'm okay with it.
Also, I loved how visuals and music mix together to show the bizarreness of the story. I think, without them, this movie wouldn't work half as well as it did.
Overall, I would definitely recommend it to dive into the nostalgia for the original xxxHolic.

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I feel like there weren't many negotiations...

So how do I feel about this movie? I feel like there weren't many negotiations. Someone was constantly interrupting the negotiations Chae Yoon was trying to conduct. And this led our main character to break down, cry and beg hysterically for the hostages to be released.

Hyun Bin and Ye Jin did a great job playing their roles. They portrayed their characters' sudden changes of mood very well. Besides them, many of the characters that appeared in the movie were just an addition, meaningless to the plot.

This is an enjoyable movie to watch once. Pretty predictable.

I cried a little.

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LOVED THIS MOVIE

The storyline was so beautiful. The movie had me squealing and gushing and smiling all throughout. At moments I would just yell out, " KISS ALREADY! GET MARRIED ONG" I absolutely loved this movie. So why not give it a 10? Because the ending just didn't go how I wanted. It seriously had me crying my eyes out. ( Still am because I just finished the movie like 10 minutes ago). WRITERNIM GIVE US AN ALTERNATE ENDING PLS ??
But besides that, I loved the cast! They were perfect for this movie. Their acting was just mwahhh chefs kiss. And The main cast was just so attractive, my jaw dropped. And I coulda swore I saw Kim Gong Myung lolll. Anyways to all who want to watch, I HIGHLY recommend it(●'◡'●)?

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It was a total tearjerker for me..

I haven't watched the Japanese version yet, but I love the Korean version. It was a total tearjerker for me. As it is a Korean production there were also some funny scenes.

This movie showed the concept of true love. It was cool that we got an explanation of why the late Soo Ah reappeared for a while in Woo Jin and Ji Ho's lives. If it had not been explained, it might seem that something was missing from the film.

The thing that she only showed up during the rainy season was interesting. And the scene where Ji Ho, during the school play, mentioned all the things his mom had taught him to help his dad, was perfect.

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I was going through my completed list and found this movie, then decided to rewatch it despite my growing ptw

At first i was pissed off by how much of a spoiled brat FL was. But after the arranged marriage, she shows a different side. She's willing to learn and super positive about everything, her naivety kinda frustrating at times, but that's her charm.
ML's character was kinda dull. I don't think he got much development.

Too many cliches, that whole marriage arrangement is silly, SML was unlikeable, and the acting was pretty convincing. However, it doesn't mean it's not entertaining because i find it super fun and extremely hilarious. I have rewatched this movie again and again. Why? I have no idea. There's something addictive about it to me.

Watch this movie for pure entertainment and don't take anything seriously, you'll enjoy it!

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So Much Potential, All of It Wasted

Project Wolf Hunting had the cast that it needed to become a hit, but the scriptwriters squandered its potential.

A group of despicable Korean criminals – rapists, mass murderers etc. – are being expatriated to South Korea from the Philippines by cargo ship. When one of these notorious convicts, Park Jong Du, sets his plan to escape into motion, all hell breaks loose on board.

This premise, while not unique to the genre, is solid. Had it been well executed, this movie would have been enjoyable, especially if action is your cup of tea. The scriptwriters made a mess of the story, though. The script is all over the place. It can be used as a guide to how not to write action:

1. Do not complicate the story too much.

In action movies, the bulk of the screen time is devoted to action scenes. This means that if your movie is two hours long, you have an hour or less for plot, so your approach has to be realistic and economical. You should not attempt to cram the story with a zombie-like monster, sci-fi tropes, and dystopian world-building. This is enough material to base a whole series on. You should not try to fit it into a movie about notorious convicts escaping captivity because the result will be absurd, disjointed, confusing, and boring.

2. Do not kill the most interesting character in the first half of the movie.

Nothing adds as much flavor and thrill to an action movie as a charismatic main character. What would Pirates of the Caribbean be without Jack Sparrow? It would be what this movie becomes without Park Jong Du. Evil, creepy, and completely crazy, he catches your attention immediately and does not let go of it. You are torn between hating him and being entertained by his murderous flamboyance. Most importantly, you become invested in his fate. Whether he will manage to escape is the question that keeps you watching. When he clashes with another convict, Lee Do Il, sparks fly, and you are promised a great dynamic: chaotic vs. lawful evil. Then, Park Jong Du is suddenly killed.
Scriptwriters, why did you make such a poor choice? If you wanted him dead, you should have killed him in the end. Instead, you made us viewers lose interest by answering the question way too early. Furthermore, you tricked us into thinking that a character is important only to kill him off like an extra, not even halfway through the movie. The only difference between his death and those of the extras is that sad music plays when he dies. Underwhelming.

3. Do not introduce two-dimensional characters only to utilize them as one-dimensional extras.

It is nothing new, of course, that in action movies many people are shown just to be killed. However, there is no reason to waste screen time on lines and scenes for these characters if they will not contribute anything to the plot. You do not make the viewers sympathize with them. You make them wonder why these characters were introduced if they die quickly.

Overall, this movie is not worth watching unless you are into plotless, extremely graphic gore – Squid Game level gore, if not worse. It does not deserve the rating that I am giving it. I would have rated it lower, but the actors all delivered brilliant performances. Seo In Guk is phenomenal as Park Jong Du. The unhinged look in his eyes alone deserves praise. Such great acting should not have been wasted on this mess.

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