andjel

Surprisingly fun superhero movie with a strong focus on action, comedy, and some science fiction. The science fiction part is the one I probably liked the most, although it wasn’t developed as much as I would have wanted. The main story follows a group of people who suddenly receive different superpowers and become superheroes. The powers are reminiscent of earthly elements like wind, water, and fire, but here they are connected to human organs. I wish that had been explained a little better.

This is the first real superhero movie in Korean cinema, and I appreciate that. I mean, we’ve had movies where people have superpowers, like Jeon Woo-chi: The Taoist Wizard (2009), Haunters (2010), Psychokinesis (2018), The Witch: Part 1 and 2 (2018, 2022), and oh, there’s also Lightning Man (2016). But this is the first time I felt a true superhero vibe, similar to Marvel or DC, in a Korean movie.

The name of the movie and the superhero group is Hi-Five. The name sounds catchy, but the way it was introduced in the movie felt a bit cringy, I must say. Picking the superhero names for each character, though, was done comically well. One scene in particular showed how superheroes might appear to other people as gods. So imagine becoming a god that others look up to—how would you use your godly status and treat other people?