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Bloody juicy cult film
An extreme cult film that serves a very specific midnight thriller genre. Even though it is so bloody juicy throughout the film with blood gushing out everywhere at anytime, those bloodshed are somehow bland and tasteless because of its absurd storyline that is hardly believable . When they put in gore in literally every scene, it just defeats the purpose of realistic violence and makes everything look cartoonish, but for anyone seeking a no brainer fun slaughter fest, this movie works as it is.Was this review helpful to you?
Gigantic and visionary
Having the main lead changed was a very huge loss to the production, yet they were able to make up for it with some extravaganza stuff that is completely out of this world. An ulimate world building of complex systems with a full blown religious war that spans across the far stretched political spectrum. All the buildups that lead to the action sequences were perfectly executed in great cinematic techniques and how it plays out with the plot is just extremely clever. It is truly a visionary production for Netflix Korea, unbelievably intense from the start to finish without a break, a complete madness that will leave everyone speechless for sure.Was this review helpful to you?
The Echoes of Survivors: Inside Korea’s Tragedies
17 people found this review helpful
Devastating
It's too well made and very devastating to watch, even more mind boggling than its predecessor, but also extremely graphic disturbing as real footage was used extensively the whole time. The information here is overwhelmingly complete though, by living literally means surviving at who knows what cost.Was this review helpful to you?
Redefines the sci-fi disaster genre
Mindblowing, presented in its most literal way, still isn't enough to describe this almost 30th floor tall of emotions flooding onto humanity's peak evolution, the scale of this movie is literally earth shattering cinematically on steroids. The visuals are extremely realistic and you could really feel the apocalypse in the first half and the determination in the second half, though a little bloated at its plot development but understandable as it is necessary for that enormous buildup to work out, at least the ending did pay off for it. The whole premise is one very ambitious act done in an unthinkable way that redefines the sci-fi disaster genre, truly unprecedented like never before.Was this review helpful to you?
Entertaining and fun
A chaotic slapstick comedy mess that has all sorts of elements in its trickery, school flashback, foreign backdrop, intimate brotherhood, unrequited love, though they all felt like side dishes that made up for a loose plot with an okay-ish ending. The movie production itself is not bad, in fact quite entertaining and fun for most of its runtime, but it's that kind of lightweight family friendly weekend getaway genre aimed at the masses, while boosted by enormous star power with big names cast, just it was never meant to be taken seriously.Was this review helpful to you?
We had no other choice
Electrifying dark humor and classy satirical reflection of society's cruelest reality, the cutthroat job and career struggle, also the only means of survival in this modern humanity, all masterfully crafted into pin point accuracy of irony that is deep down at our heart. Director Park Chan Wook's signature touches at the panning and transitions are still as significant as ever, he is literally the acclaimed king of cinematography in Korean cinema. The plot is really exhilarating to follow and with character design that properly resembles the dread in this reality, the acting performances definitely injected the soul needed for this movie, it's a complete package of audio visual feast loaded in clever ridicule of how fragmented this world we are in.Was this review helpful to you?
The best sports movie of all time
The attention to details in its storytelling is just extremely delicate, not solely focusing on the game or the legacy itself but rather the story about the characters and the human relationships surrounding them, every action and consequence while becoming a pro player as their life career, and to see things and life lessons out of the outcome of win and lose. It's just so well made in every department, the cinematography and the sound design, that insane acting performances, really, there is no other sports movie that could top this one, it is really that great.Was this review helpful to you?
Brilliant and well calculated
It's not exactly the freshest cop hunt concept but they were able to outdo every scope of potential and achieve the unthinkable, almost reminiscent of the joker level of intellect and mind battles, while the action scenes that come with it are so potent it doesn't even need to be purposefully stretched out for it to be good. There is some comical effect but it didn't really matter because all the little details are so compelling and the dialogues are cleverly written, the suspense it offers is just brilliant and well calculated.Was this review helpful to you?
Tragic and brutal, but quite superficial
A great representation of the social ladder within a limited setting, it was able to fit in huge social commentaries that were remarkably brutal and precise. The plot however is slightly superficial for most of the time, even though it was psychotic enough to raise enormous emotions, it lacks the logical sense that could realistically reflect against the outside world, and the excessive use of abstract concepts can only serve that much for its artistic purpose.Was this review helpful to you?
Improved screenplay over previous installment
The major box office success of The Roundup series has brought us here to the fourth installment of the franchise, Punishment. Similar structure to the previous one, it had lesser action scenes and more towards story focus, but somehow this one is twice as much better than the lukewarm effort in No Way Out. All thanks to its improved screenplay and smoother flow of plot, it is much more cohesive than before, and the digital gambling case is interesting enough to provide a great hook for audiences. The cast is also much more favorable here, we have the return of Park Ji Hwan and his performance is simply too magnificent, till a point he almost carried the whole second half of the movie. Then we have new villains, Hyun Bong Sik is surprisingly underrated and his presence is massive even though he's just the villain sidekick, and finally needless to say, Kim Moo Yeol as the main villain is the ultimate right choice, he's freaking intimidating and quick at stunts too. Meanwhile the choice of ending is a little too weak because they've made the villain look thoughtless given how he ended up at the final fight location, but nonetheless they've regained their reputation this time around as the most prominent movie franchise in Korean action cinema.Was this review helpful to you?
So little has been done to its storyline
So much potential on the premise yet so little has been done to its storyline, let alone the style of shooting and overall structure of the drama. There's a mutant, a serial killer, bunch of thugs, and that's pretty much it, the story didn't really progress a lot despite having shorter runtime. The gore content also does look somewhat cartoonish where of course they're taking reference from that famous comicbook superhero production you know it. At least Jung Hae In and Go Kyung Pyo still did their best in their acting skills, which is the only thing appreciable in this drama.Was this review helpful to you?
Unfolds like fine makgeolli
The plot style is none other than classic kdrama formula but that's not the problem here because the execution was so good it's worth its production value. It works great mainly due to the fact of it being only 4 parts weighing at 180 mins of total runtime, it's super lightweight yet able to fully support the storyline while eliminating excess clichés. The chemistry between the leads is so distinctive it unfolds like fine makgeolli, fizzy and tangy at first, but warm and bittersweet afterwards.Was this review helpful to you?
Money Heist: Korea - Joint Economic Area - Part 1
1 people found this review helpful
It's tough to even live a simple life that we've all dreamed about
Great plot arrangements and good use of every character in this clash of political ideology not particularly suited only for korea but a phenomenon happening globally. The underlying problem of this society is straightforward, it's tough to even live a simple life that we've all dreamed about under such discriminatory economic distribution. A team of distressed people trying to form a new ideology by reaching extreme means because nothing really matters anyway, and in its course, it's apparent that "bad persons" are not always too bad, and "good persons" who rule the society with wealth and power are not too good either. To relate the tragic situation, the drama is beautifully shot in dystopian fashion, battle strategies and action scenes are cinematically crafted, can't wait for part 2 to release soon!Was this review helpful to you?
Feels awkward
A tasteless rendition of Ma Dong Seok's prowess that most probably exists just because of the success of the Roundup franchise, where they thought they could exploit the same formula and use it in every other movie genre. The acting in this one is awkward and the presentation seems lacking of resources, as he continues to kick and punch not only the criminals, but doing serious exorcism with his bare fist. It's just difficult to treat it seriously because it really looks like a comedy skit or something, and brand power alone isn't going to suffice in this movie.Was this review helpful to you?
One of the best intimacy in any Korean movie ever
Strikingly hilarious right from the start till the end, and the great chemistry between Seohyun and Lee Junyoung, it has so much warmth in them and they're totally immerse with each other's acting, all of the scenes are also shot with really delicate touches like the color tone. The flow of the story works practically well which is relevant to the reality, peaked with an epic ending that's very lovely to see. Even without being explicitly sexual, the movie is able to achieve one of the best intimacy in any Korean movie ever.Was this review helpful to you?
