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Anthojay
Mindless actions for late night fun
Set in the future timeline inspired by Concrete Utopia, this Netflix originals film does little to retain that brilliant legacy, but instead turning it into a trashworthy bloody action B movie that's hot for streaming services. Gone are the deep level of social commentaries, here it's all about mindless actions for late night fun. Make no mistake, the fighting sequences are actually really impressive with striking martial arts techniques and crispy visual effects, but the storyline is such a huge disappointment which is going nowhere. The plot didn't fit well and it felt like they overdid most of the elements without sufficient reasoning, however for those who're ready to see Ma Dong Seok packing mighty punches, this could be great.Was this review helpful to you?
Crying for 2 hours straight
The Koreans have proven their ability to produce world class VFX standards and without a doubt they've done it again in this movie, but what surprises even more is how the moon expedition story was written in such a direct yet highly emotional way, the script is almost perfect and acting performance is just unbelievable. The action sequences were designed to move the audience's heart and the director succeeded it by keeping the tension at maximum level throughout the whole movie tragically. My tears keep rolling in my eyes for 2 hours straight while I'm gripping the edge of my seats, as it propels to become one of the best movies I've ever watched in theaters.Was this review helpful to you?
Politics within politics
The movie is having such incredible depth in its conspiracy plot is so unbelievable, the politics within politics, to control the seemingly uncontrollable, and all the dirty tactics are all executed in superb clarity. Every little details in the scenes are perfectly designed, along with acting performances that are just top class, so much tension can be felt on the screen. This really tops the best korean movie in the politics genre especially those related to elections, it's so freaking dark and thrilling.Was this review helpful to you?
The whole drama went off topic
A supposedly social commentary drama got swayed away into making cult movie storyline and the decision making of the characters were never realistic to begin with. At first it was fine, modern human behavior was shown in this urban digital society, but when all the killing fest started, the whole drama went into downfall and became an unnecessary convoluted revenge drama that was totally off topic from its initial material. There were some quality scenes at the beginning but that's all about it, it's really confusing why the writers would take this route instead of making it into those tech focused dystopian story.Was this review helpful to you?
To shaman or not to shaman
It's technically a generation battle of shamanism between an evil mystical being and the Cheon clan, led by the untalented grandson of the chief shaman for revenge, overall it has great visual effects and cinematography. However the direction of the storyline somehow felt lost, it's using a mix of both practical combat and psychic powers for the fights, which gets muddled on whether the movie is trying to be tactical or mystical, because even the resolution part gets the same treatment. Just like its intro part when they're showing how shamanism is a con with staged props to scam money, but then afterwards the whole movie turns out to be a huge shaman battle, it's quite contradicting at some point.Was this review helpful to you?
Very believable mirror scenes
Great proof of concept that works well enough despite its high complexity of plotline. The director had precise accuracy to execute on scenes that may seem impossible to achieve, yet providing a fresh new thrilling material for Korean action cinema. Its powerful soundtrack greatly heightens the suspense, coupled with incredible acting skills from Yoon Kye Sang that's very technical, making scenes look gripping and cinematic that you'll believe it's really happening in the way it's supposed to be.Was this review helpful to you?
The game has just begun
The expectations came very high for this drama, but honestly speaking, the impact is not as powerful as it was designed to be. A school bully revenge arc storyline isn't something new as we've seen plenty of them in kdrama, but to put it into this kind of lifelong grand scheme, it is still a decently respectable plot, and it was mostly lifted by the great acting performance from the actors. The details it has are quite enormous in scale though some of it may happen like magic science but that's forgivable, it's just that it gets extremely soapy towards the end. Definitely have to wait for part 2 to come as things seem pretty exciting at the moment and the game has just begun.Was this review helpful to you?
The world of sleeping
The chilling effect of this movie is very prominent right from the start, setting the threat at the closest person you could ever trust in the most unbelievable way. The acting performances are of course top notch in order to achieve that, even the snoring act was designed precisely to elevate the creepiness of the situation. The storyline buildup was good, the ending though could be better, as the tension control at the end was a little off balance. The way it handles its logical sense was technically ignored as the characters sleep in, and audiences should do the same.Was this review helpful to you?
Korean martial arts film is rising
Bleeding edge korean action cinema at its finest level of production quality, the sequel is a whole new level of upgrade especially giving korean martial arts film a great boost, hand to hand combat in here is insanely quick and precise, action choreography is packed with high adrenaline and brutality. The cop chase story has great amount of tension yet it won't be too superficial, paired with stylish actions sequence and sensible dark humor, this one's full of thrilling korean goodness. Hope to see more korean martial arts movie soon on the big screen.Was this review helpful to you?
Multinational direction mixed bag
When a movie seeks for a multinational direction, it doesn't always produces effective results, and this movie has not escaped the fate of being sluggish in it. South Koreans hunting for North Koreans and at the end having a war with Japanese all done inside of China, this mixed bag couldn't get any weirder. However the main problem with this movie is how things are always getting done miraculously and in favor of them without much explanations. It all feels like the writers tried too hard to impress the audience out of their wild imaginations of how an international threat would be, which makes it very hard to believe how it could all happen that way.Was this review helpful to you?
Monsterfest turning into snorefest
Expensive sets and costumes, but it comes with an absolutely cringeworthy plot that fails to propel into something that was intended to be bigger. The main monster has a good backstory to start with, but the visual design of the monster is bland and not to even say it's anywhere near intimidating. For the worst part there's just something that doesn't work in its script, there's no cohesion in its storyline and pacing is very dull. Acting performances is actually great though but they're not enough to save this monsterfest into becoming a snorefest.Was this review helpful to you?
Ineffective dystopian worldbuilding
As much as its attempt on the dystopian worldbuilding, it never comes effective due to the largely sloppy plotlines. A world set in the recovery stage of a worldwide mass destruction after a comet disaster, most of the scenes and situations didn't feel believable as it lacks surrealism, the imagination it has is also pretty vague. The main villain is a resource hogging conglomerate heir, the protagonist is a rebel employee planning to wage a war to change the system for refugees, it's a great source material yet this Netflix adaptation was poorly done, the direction of the story is unconvincing, tension between characters is weak and everything just seems forgettable.Was this review helpful to you?
The root of rot
It's certainly not a very entertaining movie to begin with because of its slowburn pace and quiet sound, but what it does is having the ability to dissect into the deeper root cause of humanity's worst life cycle, where the origin of every human evilness started once we're born. The extremely melancholy and low-key tone is actually quite true to life, it's all about feeling numb to the emptiness, where by getting a little bittersweet moment in our worst condition is already considered as a reward.Was this review helpful to you?
Wild and sophisticated
This is one of the weirdest but also highly clever kdrama in such a long time, a really well thought out storyline and crazy cool proof of concept, but it was done with extremely stylish cinematography and catchy soundtrack, the whole thing just looks wild and sophisticated in an unimaginable way. It elevates curiosity in a steady but surprising pace and keeps you guessing on the direction of the plot, but the end results will be absolutely mindblowing and greatly satisfying, because the vast variety of sensations it has to offer is unstoppable.Was this review helpful to you?
More mind games that lacks impact
Originally a remake of Johnnie To's "Drug War", now they've delved into a wider expansion in this sequel and beyond the initial plot on its own. There's even more mind games this time with new characters, but as much extended storyline was added in, it does not seem that it's posing any bigger impact as it should. There's really not enough stakes to drive the threats onto higher ground, the movie stays within its frame and that's not much different than any other standard drug crime movie, it's just ridiculous why Netflix would even cash in a sequel to a movie they do not own in the first place.Was this review helpful to you?
