Reviews

A must-watch film, and a compelling narrative, leaving a lasting emotional impact.

My Name is Loh Ki Wan" is a cinematic masterpiece that seamlessly blends drama, romance, and the complexities of identity. The film's portrayal of Loh Ki Wan's journey as a North Korean defector seeking refuge in Belgium is both poignant and riveting. The unexpected romance that unfolds with Marie adds a beautiful layer of emotion, making it a story that resonates deeply.

The performances are outstanding, with the cast delivering nuanced portrayals that breathe life into the characters. Song Joong-ki (SJK) delivers a compelling performance in "My Name is Loh Ki Wan," portraying the North Korean defector with depth and authenticity. His nuanced acting captures the emotional complexities of the character, adding a powerful layer to the film.


The cinematography captures the essence of both North Korea and Belgium, creating a visually captivating experience. The pacing keeps the audience engaged, and the screenplay skillfully balances moments of tension with heartwarming scenes.

At its core, "My Name is Loh Ki Wan" is a celebration of resilience, love, and the pursuit of a new beginning. It leaves a lasting impact, prompting reflection on the universal themes of human connection and the quest for belonging. This film is a must-watch, offering a rich tapestry of emotions that lingers in the viewer's mind long after the credits roll.

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A Cinematic Masterpiece

What can I say about this film? As someone who has seen more movies than I can count, it really takes something special to leave a lasting impression on me. And that's exactly what this movie did – it burrowed its way into my mind and heart, creating an experience that will stay with me for years to come.

The storytelling was masterful, weaving together multiple narratives into an intricate tapestry that kept me on the edge of my seat. The characters were richly drawn and multi-layered, each with their own struggles and triumphs that resonated deeply. I found myself invested in their journeys, laughing and crying alongside them as the plot unfolded.

But what truly set this movie apart was its visual artistry. The cinematography was nothing short of breathtaking, with every frame composed like a living painting. The use of color, lighting, and camera angles created an immersive atmosphere that transported me to different worlds with each scene. I was in awe of the attention to detail and the seamless blending of practical and visual effects.

Performances were also top-notch across the board, with the ensemble cast delivering nuanced and powerful portrayals that elevated the material. Each actor brought their A-game, and their chemistry was electric, making even the quietest moments crackle with intensity.

In a sea of forgettable, cookie-cutter films, this movie stands out as a true work of art. It's a testament to the power of cinema to challenge, inspire, and entertain on the highest level. I left the theater feeling enriched and invigorated, eager to discuss and dissect every aspect of this cinematic masterpiece.

In conclusion, this film is a testament to the power of storytelling and the magic of cinema. I wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone seeking an engaging and unforgettable cinematic experience. Ignore the naysayers – this is a must-watch masterpiece.

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Masterful Film

Amazing acting from everyone, great storyline, beautifully shot film, and fantastic costuming. It also taught me more about Thai culture, which was an absolute plus! Seeing the dancing, learning a little about social class and political climates of the time, witnesses customes and seeing traditional dress was all very interesting as someone with extremely limited knowledge on traditional Thai culture. Overall, wonderful film. The only reason I didn't give it a full rewatch score is because of the amount of twists in the movie and how a lot of my love comes from my reactions to the twists in the story. Experiencing it a second time wouldn't be the same or as intriguing because I know what the twists are - and they are awesome! But that's a "me thing" lol. A must-watch!!

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A Compelling Journey of Peril and Perseverance, Abandoned for a Ridiculous “Love” Story

Started off as a brutal look into the struggles in immigrating from North Korea. The journey was tough to watch as Loh lived off the grid with his mother in China while she worked to raise enough money for them to escape to some European safe haven. Things don’t go exactly as planned when they are discovered by the Chinese police and his mother is killed while they’re attempting to flee.

Loh makes it to Belgium but continues to encounter some very difficult hardships. Though his encounters with the locals always escalating to violence, on their part, was heavy handed and unrealistic, his struggles for work and warmth and a roof over his head were authentic.

The part where this story goes off the rails is with Marie. A woman whose rebellion against her father over the death of her mother involves doing drugs and being the pawn of a Belgium gangster. It’s not love at first sight with these two being that she steals his wallet, which has all he has left of his mother and what little money he earned from her death. But soon their lives become entangled when she promises to get his wallet back and gives him a tip which results in a job.

There’s nothing more to their love story except a shared meal over which they didn’t talk but spent the entire time stuffing their faces, but somehow they came out of that being deeply in love, with Loh willing to do everything from OD on drugs, face off with gangsters and risk his ability to gain citizenship to save Marie. It was utterly ridiculous.

The movie seemed to have spent more time on the “love” story and Marie’s drama than on what should’ve been the focus of the story, Loh’s journey to freedom. In the end he finally gets citizenship in Belgium and in a voiceover states that he faced “many storms to get there. It would’ve made for an excellent story if we’d actually seen it. Instead his story became about saving Marie, then giving up his citizenship to go be with her on some island in the South Pacific. Needless to say I was left a bit perturbed by this waste of two hours.

I will say the Korean actors were great in this, but the premise advertised is not what this turned out to be.

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I can feel their pain

It's a great story the movie itself tells the story of being accepted in the community that you loved to be belong to.
Song Joong Ki is not so glamorous in this film, his not the oppa material that we used to see him. She showcase his talent in acting wherein I can feel his pain. The story tells to faced the trials and pain to never give up. I can feel his pain in betrayal the person that you didn't expect to betray you is the most painful one.
The girl Marie is gorgeous they have resemblance with the actress Yeo Sea Ji they are the same as good actresses. I can also the pain of Marie when she loss her mother.
Together they embrace their pains and together they faced it. In the end they find the real happiness after all the pain they been through.

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"Who would have thought time was so important?"

Once Upon a Time in China 2 reunited Jet Li, Rosamund Kwan, and director Tsui Hark. Max Mok joined the cast as Leung Foon. This time around Wong Fei Hung had the White Lotus Cult to deal with as well as a deadly Commander all while helping Dr. Sun Yat Sen and his rebellion. And there was a secret list in true traditional kung fu film style!

Whether it was led by Lo Lieh in a white wig or Xiong Xin Xin, the White Lotus Cult was always full of crazed and dangerous followers in Kung Fu Land. Based on a real sect, in this iteration, they wanted to rid China of anything remotely Western. You know they were evil because they even threw a Dalmatian dog on the bonfire for being too Western. Wong Fei Hung takes his first train ride to Canton along with 13th Aunt and Leung Foon arriving just in time for the burning and murdering. He also meets Dr. Sun Yat Sen at a medical symposium and befriends him. Along the way they rescue Chinese children who were taking foreign language classes and are on the cult’s hit list. Commander Lan appears to be all helpful and loyal but the audience knows better.

I enjoyed this film better than the first one. The story kept the action and conflict cranked but most importantly we were given two amazing fights between Jet Li and Donnie Yen. Yuen Woo Ping won the HKFA for best Fight Choreography and he earned it. He pushed Jet and Donnie and they excelled. There was wire work to be sure, but these two fast hitters were in their prime and sold every move with fists, kicks, poles, and wet towels. The fight with the cult leader relied too heavily on fantasy wire work, while entertaining, it wasn’t as good as the other two big fights.

The drawbacks for me with this film usually involved Leung Foon. His weird arousal every time he was near 13th Aunt was creepy and I didn’t find him amusing, mostly annoying. I also didn’t need to see three vomiting scenes. Because of the conflation of a cult attack, rebels with a secret list, 13th Aunt wanting WFH to notice her, a British embassy and children to protect as well as a murderous corrupt official to deal with, the story bounced around a lot and also dragged in places.

What drew me to this film and made it enjoyable were the fights between Jet Li and Donnie Yen. Without them the film would have been lackluster. It was fun to watch two kung fu movie legends go against each other in a no holds barred pole and wet towel fight.

2 March 2024

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"Dying is easy, surviving is hard" Getting through this movie was harder

Fist of Legend (2019) aka Legend of Chenzhen aka Fist of Legend/II was a prequel of sorts to Jet Li’s Fist of Legend from 1994. This was a cheaply and poorly made movie that would have looked out of place in 1994.

Chen Zhen is in Japan as a student to learn about the enemy so that he can go home and help protect China. He falls for Mitsuko whose uncle is the virtuous president of the Black Dragon Society. Also interested in Mitsuko is the vile Black Dragon VP Chiyo Shinobu. Chiyo is in cahoots with evil military Col. Fujita. They are looking to bring down the Black Mask who has made fools of their samurai on the streets and they think it is Chen Zhen. Chen Zhen has been ordered to keep his head low which he accomplishes until Chiyo goes too far.

This movie lacked any spirit to it and was filled with problems. Chen Zhen was given zero personality. Huang Wei Ting as Mitsuko tried to double up her energy level to replace his. One of the problems with non-Japanese playing Japanese is that they don’t know how to walk in kimonos and as someone who has watched my share of Japanese movies, it comes across as awkward. Xu Shao Hang was a handsome if heartless Chiyo. There were “Americans” who looked anything but. The military uniforms appeared to be more Russian or German than US. You know a movie is desperate when it contains not one, but two sexual assaults and a repeat of one of those. The dubbing was awful, the green screens obvious, and the music played loudly over the dialogue on several occasions.

It’s a kung fu film, so maybe the fights were good. Unfortunately, most of the fights were awful and relied on quite a bit of wire work. The trained samurai were nice enough to come at Chen Zhen one at a time and not know how to swing their swords while samurai in the background just waved theirs around in the air. The fight choreography was abysmal for a 2019 production. It’s too bad because Tiger Xu moved well enough to handle better fight scenes. And story-wise, why would Chen Zhen wait until what appeared to be midday to rescue his girl after he knew she’d been kidnapped that night? Good job there hero.

Fist of Legend was populated with pretty people but lacked in everything that would make a film interesting. Even at 77 minutes it felt overly long. Plus, it might cause eye strain for all the times you'll feel like rolling your eyes at the ridiculous scenarios and terrible fight scenes. This film is just watchable, especially if you aren’t familiar with martial arts movies or have a need to watch all the movies about the fictional character Chen Zhen. There are better movies about the Black Masked warrior out there.

2 March 2024

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not Brussels, not the procedure for refugees

I'm not really sure what the intention of this movie was.
First, for anyone located in Europe who has been in and knows different major cities, it's immediately visible that they did not shoot this movie in Brussels. I meanwhile found out it was Budapest. Very different city and vibes, it's just weird. I guess it would be like Euopreans would shoot a movie that is supposed to take place in Seoul and they instead shoot it in Thailand? Why?

Next thing, apart from me just knowing that (as basic general knowledge) I even rechecked it: if you arrive as a refugee in Brussels, yes, then you have to fill in an applications, you will get an interpreter who helps you through these paper basics and then? - you will not just get send out to the streets to live rough, eat mouldy food out of dustbins, sleep in dirty public toilets and as the interpreter said in the movie you 'just have to hang in there for a year' until any kind of decison is made. That's just nonsense. I will quote this now from the official website, it says there: 'when the applicant has made his application for international protection, he can ask Fedasil for accomodation in a reception center, material help, as well as social, legal and medical guidance. There are about 50 reception centers in Belgium. They are run either by Fedasil or partners like the Red Cross.These centers are open centers and each of them offers the same service for new arrivals: accomodation, guidance, support in daily life.'

So what exactly was all that storyline of the main character stumbling wet and hurt and hungry and dirty through suppossed (but not) Brussels, only meeting criminals who beat him up, steal from him and that's it? And the movie is visibly set in the year 2023?

Also the female lead character was totally unrealistic. If you live a rough and drug-ridden life in these kind of circles, you do not have full shiny wavy fresh washed hair and a clear-skinned flawless face. People who (have to) live like that look veeeery different. Also there is no way she is totally addcited to h and whatever else from that pimp guy, and then all of a sudden she isn't and works at a nice beach resort in the last scene. And I could list at least 10 more rather nonsensical things, I don't even know where to start and end here.

So, wow, I was actually looking forward to this movie as the story sounded interesting but whoever made ths movie totally ruined it.

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Movie that makes you feel like you’re constantly on edge

Alright to be fair I kind of didn’t know what the hell was going on throughout the movie but that was just because I watched it on an app that translated it really badly- so most of the time I just had to guess what they were trying to say LMAO

But , I do have to say this movie kept me on my toes. I wanted to start this mainly because of Kim Seonho because I Looooove his acting, and he definitely showed how much of a versatile actor he is, because after seeing him in such a serious/badass light- I want to see him in a romantic one too!!

Anyway to go back to the movie, I really liked the concept and the theme of it, although I think the pacing was a little messy because half of the time I got confused about what the hell was happening, unless that was the point of the movie…then they did a great job.

Towards the end though, I wish they gave a little bit more of a solid reason why Seonhos character decided to help Marco instead of the whole ‘they’re both from the same organisation’, like why the sudden change of heart? He was going to earn money either way. But I guess that doesn’t really matter, the story wasn’t about him I guess.

And I also wished they maybe explained why the fake dad was so insistent on Marco to stay, they had me seriously convinced that they were father and son— unless that old man just wanted him to stay to get his surgery lol…

Anyway the thought of being in that situation is honestly terrifying but the plotwist was crazy, but nonetheless a very sweet ending.

I also can’t help but wonder if maybe Marco and Seonhos character could be related? But maybe those were just my hopes speaking. They look nothing alike to be related LOL but still, they have the potential I guess.

Overall the movie was pretty entertaining , a bit confusing but good. Kim Seonho doesn’t disappoint! Very good action movie!!

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A promise that wasn’t

When this movie was announced during the world tour, my heart danced. It was supposed to be a story between a drummer and a dancer. Following the production, the direction has changed to what we have now.

The story: Mansuang tells a story of 2 men( Khem and Wan) of low born status, who by a stroke of bad luck, got sent to Mansuang to uncover a government secret. There they met CHATRA who is on a mission of his own. There is a huge lapse in logic at the methods these men have chosen their individual objectives-

1. There was no foundation to the trust, that allowed Khem to so openly divulge this massive secret that have cost the life of people to Chatra.
2. The Khem character who was on this important mission, seemed to make it a point to engage in unnecessary conflict, thereby drawing unwarranted attention to himself.
3. How did the trio, who have been established as lowborn, earn the right to question the people of higher status, regarding their involvement in said scheme.
4. Why was Khem and Wan sent, when they knew no English, and the document was in English?

The acting in this movie was brilliant and that is to be expected of actors of their calibre. My personal favourite would be Hong(played by Tong) and Chatra(played by Mile) - these two(2) presented a reverse charm to the characters they played in KP, and did it beautifully. Their search for answers amidsttheir grief, was interpreted beautifully with gorgeous micro expressions. I enjoyed watching them.
For Apo(Khem), I had high expectations for his performance, but cringed so hard at his dancing but he looked beautiful so it was bearable. Also, his acting came across as exaggerated at times and in some scenes, seemed to maintain only one facial expression. It broke my focus a little bit. However, he embodies his costume and was a treat for the eyes.
Personally, it was also a discovery of Bas, who played the character, Wan. I went into this not knowing what to expect from Bas as his part in KP was minimal, but I am thoroughly impressed.

The pacing of the movie could have been better. It was fast at times and slow some other times. The emotional scenes came out of nowhere and was short lived. The cinematography and shot was really beautiful, as expected of BOC.

I also wasn’t fulfilled with how much dance or Tanphon was integrated in the movie. Considering this is was the main marketing point, I expected more.

Mansuang could have been something beautiful if more time has gone into the plot development I believe.

Overall, it’s not a bad watch but not the best either. You won’t regret watching it if you set your expectations low.

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This is what JB Priestley must have envisioned when he wrote an inspector calls

For those of us who have studied the text for our GCSEs I'm sure we can all agree just how accurate this movie is, and how true to the original text.

I did some research after watching this film and found out that in some of Priestley's notes he had written about Yvonne Kwon, but had decided that she was too much for the 1940's audience he was producing it for. So I'm glad that this version included her.

Anyone who has read the play would know just how comedic it is, which a lot of adaptations tend to miss out, so again I'm happy this film kept to the original plot.

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