Reviews

Wasn't the film I was looking for, but...

It was definitely suspenseful. I was hoping the lead teacher lady was gonna be the winner in this story, but things went awry in this film. There's no wholesome characters in this, everyone's a victim, because of everyone's flaws with jealousy, deceit, and power.

I was cheering for the lead teacher lady, because she had it rough. From her own relationship to what she lives through with the other characters. It's like, you wanted her to get something out of this. In a way, she did, but ended up hurting everybody.

The acting was fairly good from everyone. The male lead was quite impressive playing an innocent high school boy, you felt sorry for him early on, then later, you get a surprise.

This film is worth watching once, but it's really twisted! Haha. If you're looking for a love story, this film is not it. There are better ones out there, but...If you want some betrayal and maybe some hot scenes, this is yours to watch.

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Such a nice movie!

The plot is beautiful. I personally love these kind of stories. We were given some graphic scenes which is appreciated.
For a movie that its about a serial killer, we don't see him killing in many scenes. Actually we just see Morozumi hurting Yamashiro once, but I think this might be intended hence the ending.
The actors did well, Fukase Satori's role was nailed, he really looked crazy and its good that way. I was expecting a "fuckboy" style of murderer because that's what's hot right now and it was a nice reward it wasn't that way.
Midway through the movie I got a little bit lost regarding time lapses. The movie appears to go slower than it really is, which is confusing. Although with the crime scenes you can notice time has passed since the bodies are rotten, its strange and it feels like they were running out of time when they actually had plenty.
The details put into the backgrounds and the scenery shows this movie was made with love and care. It was pleasant to see so many things, so stimulating and encouraging to rewatch and not lose any detail! It does makes you want to read the manga.
Characters could've been developed/described better but overall a nice movie, enjoyable and would rewatch of course.
It leaves some holes and a semi-open ending, I'm afraid a sequel could screw up what we have, I didn't see any news about it, but I hope its good in case its coming.

TL;DR
Good plot, excellent scenery, nice actors. Weird execution regarding time, characters could've been better.

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Exit is a top-notch disaster survival thriller that'll have you gripping your chair and audibly shouting from the suspense

PROS
+ The outstanding lead cast has delightfully charming chemistry
+ The humor-to-seriousness ratio is incredibly well balanced
+ There are a lot of impressive effects that push the thrilling climbing scenes into a moderately believable realism
+ Even the dramatic elements shine through, without losing the suspenseful tone
+ The interesting, decaying urban environment is a visually captivating setting

CONS
- There was no explanation for the motives of the attack that engaged the plot
- Initially, the film gives little excitement and leaves a goofy first impression
- While the main cast is superb, some of the child actors don't portray their roles as effectively
- One pivotal moment is not shown on-screen and the implication was less clear until a slide during the credits
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Exit was a surprise to me! I would probably rank it the highest of all the K-survival/thrillers I've watched this year (Tunnel is a very close second). It's not hard to imagine myself re-watching this at some point due to the cool action segments and excellent characters.

I can't even think of any other thrillers where climbing exceeds more than one scene.

8.5/10

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Greased Lightning!

99 Cycling Swords is an almost average Taiwanese kung fu film from this era. I say almost average because the plot was particularly obscure even for a 1970's kung fu flick.

What this film doesn't give us is 99 of anything. What it does give is a plot that might give you a headache as it goes round and round and round as the main characters try to discover the real identity of the traitorous Chu Er Ming who has been killing off the Four Dragons. There are plenty of mistaken identities, subterfuge, cross-dressing, and double crosses.

Polly Shang-Kuan Ling-Feng ( I know, it's a mouthful of a name) once again cross-dresses to appear as a man while investigating this killer always dressed in white. She runs afoul of Yueh Hua because she always dresses in white, too, and he suspects her/him of being Chu Er Ming. Yueh Hua actually gives a relaxed performance in this role. He can often appear overly uptight. In a small supporting role, Lo Lieh appears as a disciple of her uncle who is looking for her in her female form. Hu Chin plays the comely barmaid who may or may not be colluding with the Big Bad.

The fights seem never-ending from the first scene to the last. Lung Tien Hsiang as the Man in White did a fine job of kicking while fighting, a standout in a rather drab fight choreography overall. The director overused the backward filming and trick filming. I've never seen so much dinnerware kung fu! There were some creative uses of weapons, but much of the fighting came across as kung fu posing. Polly seemed quite slow.

The ending which involved magnets, compasses, green lights, and supposedly 10 of the same bad guy was rather confusing but that may have had to do with the poor dubbing. Then again, maybe not. There were few highlights in this film. I still haven't acquired an appreciation for Polly's acting yet, she tends to ham it up. I'll keep trying as I work through her catalog of films. Lo Lieh, as always, brings a solid presence, even in a small role.

If you enjoy old Taiwanese kung fu films or are a fan of Polly's, this is one to try. If not, you'd be best skipping over it.

12/7/22

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Too much into a small movie

This had potential. The cast is fantastic and I really wish this was a series rather than a movie. There were a lot of details as to what could have happened between the two main leads, but you can only fit so much into a film. As I am writing and deleting what I want to say about this review, I'm starting to understand why the short film. I think the impact of a short film with all the details that could have been expanded in a series was shortened here. But I was left unsatisfied and empty. The unknown as to why the ML died still doesn't make sense to me. Did I miss something? Did I overlook symbolic meaning? Was there a sentence that explained this but I skipped it? Also, what was the reason to film the sunrise? So many unanswered questions that I just didn't understand which is why my rating is low.

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Whose got the weed killer and a giant fly swatter?!

Louis Koo and his production company produced Hong Kong's biggest Sci-Fi movie to date. A CGI extravaganza, Warriors of Future pits man against nature in a dystopian future not too far away.

Due to man's greed and technological negligence and nearly endless robot wars, the planet's water and air have become polluted to the point of toxicity. Great domes are being built over the cities to try an give people a healthier environment. All seems to be going well when a meteor hits and a giant plant starts taking over. On the plus side, the plant is cleansing the air. Hong Kong now called section B-16 will be destroyed by the planted dubbed Pandora when the next rain hits. Carina Lau's military character is wanting to drop a bomb on the plant that will kill 160,000 people. In come Louis Koo and Lau Ching Wan to save the day by going into the belly of the plant to set off a bomb with a virus which will make the plant go dormant. No problem, right? Aside from the plants deadly ability to defend itself, it also has a host of giant bugs at its disposal. Throw in a traitorous human's evil doings and the good guys have their hands full. Phillip Keung also appears as a man in need of redemption.

The problem with Warriors of Tomorrow, aside from its obvious lack of an article (at least one "the") in the title, is that it dumps the viewer into the middle of the story. I can only guess that they thought the audience only wants to see the battles. The movie would have benefited from us feeling the relief of the domes being built along with the people and then the devastation of the meteor hitting and the giant plant erupting and destroying cities. We weren't there when the race to find a way to destroy or slow the plant was developed. Instead, we are told this information in flashback along with Koo's brief backstory and thrown right into the battle. There was little ebb and flow, just high speed, high tech fights against other tech and the enormous flora.

Koo, Lau, and Keung all gave emotional, compelling performances. Much of the rest of the cast came across deadpan and stilted. There was little humor to break up the lethal action. The CGI was actually high quality, especially for a Hong Kong film, and it's a good thing because there was a lot of CGI spectacle from beginning to end.

I actually found the movie entertaining, even if the writing let it down. It was obviously highly influenced by other films. I almost found myself quoting those films when the similar scenes popped up on the screen. I wish they'd spent as much time and money on the writing for the film as they had the sets and CGI. This would have been a far better film if they had.

In the end, who doesn't like to watch a bunch of men in metal tech take on an invasive plant species and carnivorous bugs. Anyone who has had to deal with kudzu and/or fire ants might feel the need for such superior hardware themselves. There are better movies in this genre, but for a first try it still managed to be fun.

12/6/22

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White umbrella

This is a cute movie. You watch it and time flies by.

Things I liked:
- No annoying second female lead, she knew when to walk off.
- DJ and Writers chemistry.
- You can see DJ likes her from the beginning and it's cute.
- I like how he tried to understand her, he read her articles and her book.
- You can see she tries to be tough but she is a softie.
- Her running home to listen to his radio show.
- Two of them dissing each other.
- Her article about lost love and white umbrella, so beautiful.
- The song he dedicated to her.
- Their smiles at the end, I melted.

Things I didn't like:
- Her current boyfriend, he is never supportive and she pretty much just tolerates him.
- Her first love, he took advantage of her while she was vulnerable. I liked how she asked him why they broke up and he didn't know why.
- The glasses girl and guy. I didn't like anything about that plot. If they erased it and gave that time to main leads this movie would be better.
- I want more of the story, I wanted to see their life after they got together. At least one date or her moving in with him. Literally just one scene would be enough.

Overall, a weird cute movie.

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Could've Been Better

The story is bearable but could've been improved. It's basically a light take on trials married couples go through. I like the acting the two leads showed, they somewhat gave justice to how married life is in a cute way- mostly during the first half...

What didn't seat right to me was the cheating and how the other woman even had the audacity to lecture the wife and act all wife material during a certain event. I'm also annoyed at how the husband didn't even seem guilty for doing what he did. That major part of the story was just shoved under the rug when it seemed like one of the most important aspects of the movie.

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Basic plot sandwiched between fun opening comedy and great ending action.

Been awhile since I laughed so much during the opening few scenes of a movie. Does not happen a lot that I rewatch action sequences. Both happened as I was watching Mission Possible, sadly only at the beginning and the end.

It’s a goofy and lighthearted comedy with a small twist that could have made it even better, if it was used to its full potential. I wish they used the duality of Woo Su Han more - it would serve for both great comedy and great action.

There is nothing truly special about the plot, but with action comedy, it’s not a bad thing. I honestly believe the complex plot should not be distracting viewers from the entertainment a simple comedy delivers.

Acting was great. Especially liked Kim Young Kwang’s performance. I knew from the start the character he is playing is not what he presents himself to be and the acting perfectly carried the “unexpected” situations.

Overall, it’s a simple comedy with simple characters and nicely done action and choreographies. I wish they pushed a little bit harder on the jokes, kept the slapstick from the beginning more present till the end. The middle part just felt a bit empty and stagnant.

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Of course, I decided to watch this movie because of the cast. I remember when it was released in 2017, a lot of people were talking about it. And I can understand why.

Besides increasing Kwon Yoo's determination when he was in prison, higher technology plays a large role in this movie. I like it. The concept of picking people who fit into being the criminal in a given crime and framing them is interesting. But overall, this movie is somehow predictable. It's pretty obvious who the real bad guy is. It's kind of typical, and there's really nothing that makes this movie stand out.

The movie didn't bore me, I watched it with interest, but nothing about it captivated me.

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Time travel on crack

Having seen no other entry of the franchise and thinking this would be mostly a romantic comedy based on the trailer, I was surprised to see that this was a mixed bag of comedy, action, romance, time travel and slice of life. One of its strengths is that despite the movie being 2.5 hours, it does not drag all that much. Granted, I watched it with a friend, so we were commenting on it a lot, but still!

I realize now that there is a direct prequel, but at first I wrongly assumed that they were just different stories under the same umbrella. Yet, it feels like nothing was truly missed by not seeing the first movie. Yes, the previous lives are mentioned throughout, but it's not really what the plot is about in the end. Phop wanted to win her over and Kesorn wanted to do her own thing, but what actually brings them together is Methas, a random time traveller from the future. So, you get into this story knowing that the main 2 characters were reincarnated versions of some specific names, then you learn that Kesorn's previous life was basically someone from the future stuck in a past body and then you have an actual time traveller. It makes no sense, yet it is fun.

So, the point of the movie is really about Methas and his effort to get back home and in the meantime, they come across political games. Of course, Phop's goal is just to win over Kesorn, so everything he does in the movie is to basically make her look at him, which eventually works more or less. It is commendable that despite the obvious jealousy Phop felt around Methas and Kesorn, there was a beautiful friendship born among the 3. Their scenes were often on the comedic side and Methas was such a surprisingly cute character that no one could ever really get mad at him. At first he makes you think that he is an irresponsible kind of loser, but he is adorable and sticks true to his character. If anything, this movie is fun to watch them all interact.

Sound-wise, it was trying too hard sometimes. It tries to make some scenes funny by adding a funny sfx, but most of the time those sfx were out of place and there was no continuity with the story, so they stick out like a sore thumb. Acting-wise, their chemistry was natural enough and often were on point with their exaggerrated gestures/faces. The action itself is mediocre, but still there was enough attention given, albeit not great sometimes.

You want to watch something fun with a friend? This is for you! The story could have really been half, but it's easy with a friend. Want something with substance? This is not for you! This is more a pointless fun with lots of convenient and unrealistic things going aroun (apart from all the reincarnation/time travel stuff, of course).

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Don't waste your time on this **** !!!

The only thing good about this movie is the visual FX.
Other than that, there isn't anything interesting.
The story is really bad. The decisions that the characters make, make no sense at all.

Just like all Chinese movies and tv-shows:
Their way of filming is strange;
They are not good at acting;
The scenes move too fast, they rush the story. ( They could easily have made a 2-hour movie to prolonge certain scenes to give them more depth.

Plus the story is so predictable and done hundreds of times.

I really don't get why it is so hard for the Chinese to make good movies and tv-shows.
I mean the Koreans, Japanese, Taiwanese, ... can all do it. So why is it so hard for the Chinese?

Please, save yourself some time, and don't watch this garbage.

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I was really expecting more

This is my second time watching this drama. I first watched it in 2021 soon-ish after it came out I think, and I watched it all at once but as separate episodes. Second time round I watched it in December 2022 as a movie. I would definitely reccommend watching the movie form, it flows so much better and it's just a lot easier to maintain what's going on ygm.
Okay I'm gonna be real here: I expected this drama to be way better ngl I AM SORRYYY. (Heads up this review is gonna be a bit all over the place).
I feel like the weighting of the different plot points was skewed, like there wasn't exactly lots of romance, but there wasn't a lot of anything else specific either? I really do think this is down to how short the drama is, it was a webdrama after all so I can't expect them to fully flesh out the plot because they simply don't have time.
Also, the way the plot was set up is very odd lol, you can tell they were grasping for a way to introduce the characters at all and set up this romance. It is unrealistic because like, in what world would Seo Joon just start *living in the house* without Ji Woo being made aware and just like *wha*- Bit whack but you know what I can let it slide, this is a drama and it is allowed to be unrealistic, we watch them to escape reality after all.
Anyway, following on from that I feel like because of the whack world building and things they had to twist to make their relationship possible introduced lots of random things that didn't really make sense or add anything to the movie/drama. It's like a lot happened but nothing happened at the same time? Some things were mentioned but not explained, and there was one very specific character that was introduced later on that had pretty much zero relevance whatsoever.
The two leads were cute, but I wish the drama focused more on them and their relationship. Yes we do see how they grow fond of each other, but only juuuussstttt enough to justify saying they like each other. Tbh barely enough. Again I think I can put this down to the shortness of the drama, but simultaneously if they had balanced things out better there would've definitely been enough time to focus on the relationship. My favourite part of the drama was definitely Seo Joon's character, he's just so happy! What a bean. And I do always like an opposites attract kinda situation, so that was nice. But as said, I just needed more cute moments and more focus on the romance personally.
One last thing: "I'll be there" by Johnny, what a great song, I love it and think it is a wonderful OST for the drama.
To summarise: it's good but could've been better. Production was good and the main leads were good characters, but the world building was a bit whack and where the plot was weighted wasn't the best. I wouldn't go running to it ygm.

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