Tag Archives: Korean Cinema

Hope (Hopeu/호프) – Movie Review

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TL;DR – This is honestly one of the most bonkers films I have ever watched, both good [the action] and bad [the animation], and everything in between [the tonal whiplash].

Rating: 4 out of 5.

And/Or

Rating: 2 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is a mid-credit scene.

Disclosure – I paid to watch this film.

Two men stand on either side of a creature sized hole that has been made in the wall of a building.

Hope Review Introduction

Today we are looking at a profoundly odd film, a film that bamboozles and weirds you out in equal measures. I will be honest: I spent the entire time I was watching this film on the edge of my seat, not knowing what would come next, good or bad. It constantly keeps you off balance, not knowing what will happen next.  

So, to set the scene, Ko Bum-seok (Hwang Jung-min) is the police chief of Hope Harbour, a town in South Korea near the border with the North. Early one morning, he is called out of town by his cousin Ko Sung-ki (Zo In-sung), where they find a large bull that has been eviscerated by something larger than a bear. Concerned that a wild animal is this close to the town, Ko Bum-seok makes his way back into town to try and organise patrols to keep people safe, which is when explosions and screams cry out into the early morning.

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The Great Flood (Daehongsu/대홍수) – Movie Review

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TL;DR – A wildly ambitious film about a catastrophe in motion that struggles with its scope as it explores deeper emotional constructions.

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is a mid-credit scene.

Disclosure – I was invited to a press screening of this film.

Water reaching the 10th floor.

The Great Flood Review Introduction –

There is a reason that floods get the moniker “biblical”, and it is not just what was described in Genesis. Water has an immense, indiscriminate power behind it at the best of times, but when rivers break their banks or waters surge from the ocean, nothing can stand in its way. It forges canyons, it cleaves buildings, and it kills with little effort. It is that power that guides the story today.

So, to set the scene, it is a day that started as typical as anything else as Gu An-na (Kim Da-mi) wakes up to find her son Ja-in (Kwon Eun-seong) already in her bed wanting one more day diving in the pool. But the normalcy was interrupted by rumbling sounds in the distance that the rain could not account for. Rice gets spilt, heads get hit, and a parent is overbearing. It’s honestly not a great start to the day. But when water starts seeping into her apartment from outside, when she lives on the third floor, Gu An-na realises something is very wrong, even if her son thinks this is the best day in the world.    

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Mickey 17 – Movie Review

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TL;DR – Weird, I mean profoundly weird, but maybe not weird enough

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene.

Disclosure – I was invited to a press screening of this film

Warning – Some scenes may cause distress.

Starship over an icy planet.

Mickey 17 Review –

There are some movies that you will see just because they have a specific director attached to them. For me, one of those directors is absolutely Bong Joon-ho. My first introduction to his style of films was Okja, and what an introduction it was. Indeed, I’ll steal a moment from my conclusion and recommend watching Okja right now on Netflix, though it may change the way you view the world. This was followed by the phenomenal Parasite, which made me immediately hit yes when I got the invitation to see his follow-up: a weird political sci-fi about a man who can’t die.    

So, to set the scene, friends Mickey (Robert Pattinson) and Timo (Steven Yeun) made some bad deals on Earth, and to stop themselves from being cut up into little pieces by a load shark, they decided to jump on one of the new colony ships heading out into the beyond. Theirs is going to the icy world of Niflheim, and while Timo can sweet talk his way onto the ship, Mickey must sign up to be an ‘expendable’. This is someone who has his body and mind scanned so that they can take on dangerous jobs, and if they die, we just make a new one. Well, we start the film off with Mickey 17, who is currently in a very precarious position, and I am not sure anyone immensely cares.

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Officer Black Belt (Mudosilmugwan/무도실무관) – Movie Review

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TL;DR – While the action scenes hit, unfortunately, we get a tonally confused film that never quite finds its feet.

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene.

Disclosure – I paid for the Netflix service that viewed this film.

Warning – Contains scenes that may cause distress.

Police Car in the rain.

Officer Black Belt Review –

Today, we are looking at a fascinating film that, for all its strengths, never quite came together. Conceptionally, you have an interesting story, the scenario is solid, your leading man is charismatic, and you are exploring an essential area in society. However, even with that strong foundation, what happens when you don’t land the tone? Well, that is what we will explore today.

So, to set the scene, Lee Jung-do (Kim Woo-Bin), who loves the competition that comes with sporting achievement, will try every martial art, race to deliver food orders, even dabble in some esports, anything he can find ‘fun’. He works so hard at this that he has multiple black belts across numerous disciplines. When Jung-do saves a police officer from being attacked by a former prisoner, he is propositioned by Kim Sun-Min (Kim Sung-Kyun) in the Seoul Probation Office to become a Martial Arts Officer to help monitor released felons and intervene if they re-offend. It is a job where you sit around, not doing much, interspersed with high action.

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Goodbye Earth (Jongmalui Babo/종말의 바보): Season 1 – TV Review

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TL;DR – This is an interesting premise that is well acted, but the glacial pace holds it back when there is such a specific counting clock driving all the motivations.  

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Netflix service that viewed this series.

Warning – Contains scenes that may cause distress.

The destruction of the Earth mural.

Goodbye Earth Review –

In the past couple of years, there have been two huge surprises. The first was how emotional Greenland turned out to be, and the second was how impactful All of Us Are Dead turned out to be. When I heard that there was a series that could be the Venn diagram between these two, well, I had to check it out. In today’s review, we will be looking at the first six episodes to see if it captures us.    

So to set the scene, we opened in an abandoned construction site for apartments, with cranes left standing, swaying in the wind mid-load, as if society shifted in an instant. In this world, a young girl lives alone on the top floor in a society that is starting to collapse around them because on February the 22nd, 2026, an asteroid Dina is going to crash into Earth, striking the Korean Peninsula, and there is nothing anyone can do about it. There are just 201 days before the end of most life on Earth. While anyone who can get out of Asia is in the city of Woongcheon, Korea, at Cheondong Middle School, people are trying to go on. Now from here, we will be looking at the series as a whole, so there may be [SPOILERS] ahead.  

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Badland Hunters (Hwang-ya/황야) – Movie Review

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TL;DR – While some moments hit hard, it felt like we had a world that was only ankle-deep deep, and you really wished you could dive in.

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene.

Disclosure – I paid for the Netflix service that viewed this film.

The destruction of Seoul.

Badland Hunters Review –

The thing that makes the post-apocalypse setting such an excellent world to explore is that you can explore human stories without the frameworks that hold everything in place. But if you are going to dive into that world, you need to bring something to the table.

So to set the scene, a scientist, Yang Gi-su (Lee Hee-joon), was involved in many unethical experiments in an attempt to bring back his daughter. However, just as the authorities reach him, Seoul is struck with an earthquake so severe that it destroys most buildings and leaves much of the Korean Peninsular a barren wasteland. If you are lucky, you will find a place to barter on what food and water is left. If you are unlucky, you will see yourself set upon by cannibals. Nam-san (Ma Dong-seok) and Choi Ji-wan (Lee Jun-young) work as hunters bringing food to the local settlement, but when people kidnap Han Su-na (Roh Jeong-eui) with a bad habit of not dying, well, that is not on.   

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The Moon (더 문/Deo Mun) – Movie Review

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TL;DR – A film that is fundamentally frustrating, but even with all that, you can’t help but get caught up in the emotion.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There are mid-credit scenes.

Warning – contains scenes that may cause distress.

Disclosure – I paid to see this film.

Hwang Sun-woo on The Moon.

The Moon Review –

Today we have a fundamentally exciting film because it strikes two vast divides. On the one hand, it was a compelling work of fiction that captured my imagination and emotions. However, it was also an entirely frustrating endeavour at times. These two halves should not work in the same film, but today we see an example where it does.

So to set the scene, in 2029, five years after South Korea decided to strike out on their own in the space race that led to their first mission exploding and killing all three astronauts, they are back for a second attempt. Everything has gone well as the craft approaches the Moon until a large coronal explosion from the Sun fries everything onboard. Lee Sang-won (Kim Rae-won) and Cho Yoon-jong (Lee Yi-kyung) have exited to fix the ship when tragedy befalls them, and Hwang Sun-woo (Doh Kyung-soo) is left alone on a failing vessel where no one can help.   

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Jung_E (정이) – Movie Review

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TL;DR – It sets up an interesting conundrum about a world of combat AIs and then revels the story.     

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene

Disclosure – I paid for the Netflix service that viewed this film.

Many Jung_E's in a row.

Jung_E Review –

We are thankfully back at the point where there are multiple new films every week. While this is great, it leads to the problem of trying to find which one of the many you take the time to watch? Well, when you hear that the creator behind Train to Busan has a new film out, that choice becomes quite easy.

So to set the scene, it is the far future of 2194, where humanity has wrecked the planet, and after climate change leads to drastic sea level rises, most humans escape to shelters built near the Luna orbit. With those left on Earth working in the factories. But this respite would not last as some banded together to create the Adrian Republic waging a decades-long war against The Allied Force. Everyone is trying to find a way to win the battle before humanity is wiped out, and for Yoon Seo-hyun (Kang Soo-youn), that weapon is the cloned android of a great leader of the past Jung_E (Kim Hyun-joo), or as she knows her as, mum.

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The Pirates: The Last Royal Treasure (해적: 도깨비 깃발/ Haejeog: Dokkaebi Gisbal) – Movie Review

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TL;DR –  A fun romp across the ocean that does lean quite heavily into that slapstick world but nearly always lands the joke.  

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene

Disclosure – I paid for the Netflix subscription that viewed this movie.

The Pirates: The Last Royal Treasure. Image Credit: Netflix.

The Pirates: The Last Royal Treasure Review –

Ever since the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise floundered, I have been looking for another film to step up and show just how good pirate films can be. Well, it turns out to find just such a film, I needed to dive up to Korea into a world of comedy and adventure.  

So to set the scene, in 1388 Goryeo Dynasty was collapsing, and some patriotic generals plundered the Dynasty’s wealth and took it far out to sea. Sometime later, we open with a group of bandits led by Woo Moo-chi (Kang Ha-neul) floating on a wreck ready for death when they are rescued by the famous pirate Hae-rang (Han Hyo-joo). Three months after the recuse, there is still friction between the two as they capture Japanese Pirate ships. However, this particular ship they captured is searching for a treasure, a lost ship of Goryeo treasures, and now they have the map.

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Minari – Movie Review

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TL;DR – It captures a snapshot of a life so perfectly that it is almost difficult to watch sometimes because you feel like a voyeur eavesdropping on someone else’s life.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene

Disclosure – I paid for the Stan subscription that viewed this movie.

Minari. Image Credit: Madman Films.

Minari Review –

Some films you can tell are works of personal nature because of the breath intimacy at every turn. You feel it in the story, the world, and the characters. This makes it a more intimate film, but it also can be more challenging to watch. Today we look at a movie that might be the most personal film I have ever seen that wasn’t a direct autobiography.

So to set the scene, in the 1980s, the Yi family make the trek inland from California to Arkansas. Jacob (Steven Yeun) picked the house because of the land, but his wife Monica (Han Ye-ri) is less than impressed that Jacob bought a trailer and not a house. Jacob wants the land to be a farmer to grow Korean crops for the diaspora, while Monica is fearful that they are too far away from the cities as their son David (Alan Kim) has a heart problem. Things get better/worse when Monica’s mum Soon-ja (Youn Yuh-jung) arrives to watch David and his sister Anne (Noel Kate Cho) as Monica and Jacob spend their days sexing chickens in a local factory.  

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