I believe Mu Jin also used Ji Woo for his revenge on Gi Ho for planting an undercover cop on him, and let her…
When you think an angry police officer murdered your father and used his power to cover it up, it won't make you think "police = good guys". Also, the other policemen were harassing her on the way to school every day, and they just seemed like additional bullies. That's why upon being kicked out of school for bullshit reasons, the first thing she does is kick off the police car's side mirror.
At the police station she saw there was no interest in looking into her father's death, which again helps her see the police as accomplices to murder.
She swore absolute loyalty to 'the organisation' and had their logo tattooed onto her chest, so helping to cover up their drug dealing isn't far fetched, which of course is a minor conflict point with Pil Do, whose sister died due to drugs.
I wouldn't say that she "hated all policemen" during her time in violent crimes and after, she rather seemed very good at her job?
This movie was enthusiastically recommended to me by two MDL member/friends whose opinions I respect but I can't…
I guess the Mean NK Officer was going for his radio, the two SK soldiers thought he was going for his gun right next to it, and then both went on a murder spree, with the 'ML' SK soldier even trying to kill the nice NK soldier Sgt. Oh.
During the standoff, Jung pretty much switches loyalties from his three "brothers" to the NK state, and then as a sort of soldier reflex to the Mean Officer being shot, Jung tries to shoot Lee & Nam. During the standoff Nam seemed like he was about to burst from the pressure/stress into full-blown paranoia ("is this a trap?" subtitles). Nam goes on somewhat of a murder spree and shoots an endless rain of bullets into Jung's dead body, and has a sort of "psycho smile" for a moment, but it's Lee who actually kills Jung in the first place, recalling his "NK enemy headshot training" from an earlier scene.
So if you so want, it's misfortune due to the cassette player and radio call going on at the same time, combined with base tensions, combined with the reflexes of soldiers as trained killers.
[In general, I agree with your reasons and your rating.]
I'm not really sure what meaning it has that both Nam and Lee immediately seek to commit suicide when the female investigator Major Jean finds out about their respective deeds. Maybe there's a rule in SK cinema or Asian culture that a Fallen Hero archetype must not survive for a Happily Ever After? I've seen a lot of movies and shows where the protagonist kills various people and later is forced his into death by the screenwriters before the credits are allowed to roll. There's surely a rule that a good North Korean character may never betray their homeland and defect to the South. You see that here with Sgt. Oh, but also in Crash Landing On You, Steel Rain and many other titles.
I really wanted, and expected, to like this, but the middle hour seriously dragged. Lee Young Ae's English was…
There's no reason a European should be expected to have perfect English though?
The other two Europeans also showcased various struggles with the language, as you wrote, and one (her boss, from the same nation) kept trying to say French-y things to her.
And yeah, I quickly started hunting for a better subtitles file – there is one on OpenSubtitles now, which has the majority of the English subbed.
Especially in the first half hour or so there's so much going on at once that it warrants watching a few scenes multiple times. Some great filmmaking on display, even if the parts of the story could ultimately be fleshed out more or infused with more clarity. (See comments below w.r.t. that.)
I guess it made a lick of sense, but not that much more.
Most problematically: - The girls' grandparents just disappear from the story entirely. At 40 minutes, grandma tells kid1 to feed kid2, and at 55 minutes grandpa (alone!) seems to be departing with livestock. After that, there's a break in, bird onslaught, poisoning attempt, leaving the house with mysterious money to run away, etc. No grandparents! - At the end, the bleeding king-demon-stars teleports from one car into the other, silently and all. How does he do that?
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Why does Twin Sister even die? Because she achieved her dharma? Is she 'a demon', or to counter the Big Evil? How does the onset of puberty suddenly make her more human and also capable of speaking?
What's the point of ordering the four adopted clowns to die one by one? It prevents a fruitful law enforcement investigation, but otherwise? Is there a prophetic point to it?
How does the Big Evil overcome death anyway, assumably in his 30s? Does he get corrupted by power later on, or is he evil to begin with? [Perhaps the Tibetan monk's prophecy makes "his eyes change" (and thus his soul become the evil snakerino).] Is anyone actually the 'Maitreya'? The scriptures as prophecy source are obviously authored by the Big Evil, so they can't be taken too seriously. [I guess the Twin Sister is the real Maitreya, and turns the demon-king into a force of good, at which point he "does not fear elephants" and is shot for that.]
All the characters somehow seem pretty rich anyway (Lotte going overboard with the scene design?) so why do they need to steal to make a living?,
the story doesn't make the most sense,
the filmmaking isn't that fantastic (in the club scene early on: completely meaningless ultra-closeups of a beer bottle and a ringing phone),
ML's back story / emotional angle is badly glued in at random points,
the bad guy is just over the top evil and quite boring that way,
and like an IMDb reviewer wrote, Lee Ji Hyuk isn't just the Danny Ocean of this movie but he's Ocean's Eleven all rolled into one person — his two team members have very, very little to do in the actual heisting.
The warehouse scenes all kinda make no sense given how Park Hee Soo's unnamed goons just stand around doing absolutely nothing, how they let the three "betrayed" swindlers live, how ML teleports into a disguise & into a moving car....
And how ML, impersonating Jang, gets into a four way telephone conference with the two people above Park Hee Soo in the scene when Park Hee Soo is "at Jang's villa" (lured by Kwak).
If this was released on OTT, without factors limiting this, people would have rated this much higher and enjoyed…
No, the painting doesn't appear. I guess it's very common for intros to be produced separately and include content you wish was in the show, but it never appears.
Also, the other policemen were harassing her on the way to school every day, and they just seemed like additional bullies. That's why upon being kicked out of school for bullshit reasons, the first thing she does is kick off the police car's side mirror.
At the police station she saw there was no interest in looking into her father's death, which again helps her see the police as accomplices to murder.
She swore absolute loyalty to 'the organisation' and had their logo tattooed onto her chest, so helping to cover up their drug dealing isn't far fetched, which of course is a minor conflict point with Pil Do, whose sister died due to drugs.
I wouldn't say that she "hated all policemen" during her time in violent crimes and after, she rather seemed very good at her job?
(Spoiler-heavy post-viewing rant about the plot here: https://kisskh.at/65391-nemesis#comment-9058111 )
- you wanna get the Reply experience but waste less of your life on the way
- you're playing a drinking game involving spotting the very same tea pot placed into about 70% of scenes
There's another running gag (literally *running* gag) but it's very poor.
During the standoff, Jung pretty much switches loyalties from his three "brothers" to the NK state, and then as a sort of soldier reflex to the Mean Officer being shot, Jung tries to shoot Lee & Nam. During the standoff Nam seemed like he was about to burst from the pressure/stress into full-blown paranoia ("is this a trap?" subtitles). Nam goes on somewhat of a murder spree and shoots an endless rain of bullets into Jung's dead body, and has a sort of "psycho smile" for a moment, but it's Lee who actually kills Jung in the first place, recalling his "NK enemy headshot training" from an earlier scene.
So if you so want, it's misfortune due to the cassette player and radio call going on at the same time, combined with base tensions, combined with the reflexes of soldiers as trained killers.
[In general, I agree with your reasons and your rating.]
I'm not really sure what meaning it has that both Nam and Lee immediately seek to commit suicide when the female investigator Major Jean finds out about their respective deeds. Maybe there's a rule in SK cinema or Asian culture that a Fallen Hero archetype must not survive for a Happily Ever After? I've seen a lot of movies and shows where the protagonist kills various people and later is forced his into death by the screenwriters before the credits are allowed to roll.
There's surely a rule that a good North Korean character may never betray their homeland and defect to the South. You see that here with Sgt. Oh, but also in Crash Landing On You, Steel Rain and many other titles.
The other two Europeans also showcased various struggles with the language, as you wrote, and one (her boss, from the same nation) kept trying to say French-y things to her.
And yeah, I quickly started hunting for a better subtitles file – there is one on OpenSubtitles now, which has the majority of the English subbed.
Currently my award for worst EP1 goes to SBS' It's Okay, That's Love (which I otherwise like).
- The girls' grandparents just disappear from the story entirely. At 40 minutes, grandma tells kid1 to feed kid2, and at 55 minutes grandpa (alone!) seems to be departing with livestock. After that, there's a break in, bird onslaught, poisoning attempt, leaving the house with mysterious money to run away, etc. No grandparents!
- At the end, the bleeding king-demon-stars teleports from one car into the other, silently and all. How does he do that?
------
Why does Twin Sister even die? Because she achieved her dharma?
Is she 'a demon', or to counter the Big Evil?
How does the onset of puberty suddenly make her more human and also capable of speaking?
What's the point of ordering the four adopted clowns to die one by one? It prevents a fruitful law enforcement investigation, but otherwise? Is there a prophetic point to it?
How does the Big Evil overcome death anyway, assumably in his 30s? Does he get corrupted by power later on, or is he evil to begin with?
[Perhaps the Tibetan monk's prophecy makes "his eyes change" (and thus his soul become the evil snakerino).]
Is anyone actually the 'Maitreya'? The scriptures as prophecy source are obviously authored by the Big Evil, so they can't be taken too seriously.
[I guess the Twin Sister is the real Maitreya, and turns the demon-king into a force of good, at which point he "does not fear elephants" and is shot for that.]
the story doesn't make the most sense,
the filmmaking isn't that fantastic (in the club scene early on: completely meaningless ultra-closeups of a beer bottle and a ringing phone),
ML's back story / emotional angle is badly glued in at random points,
the bad guy is just over the top evil and quite boring that way,
and like an IMDb reviewer wrote, Lee Ji Hyuk isn't just the Danny Ocean of this movie but he's Ocean's Eleven all rolled into one person — his two team members have very, very little to do in the actual heisting.
And how ML, impersonating Jang, gets into a four way telephone conference with the two people above Park Hee Soo in the scene when Park Hee Soo is "at Jang's villa" (lured by Kwak).