Reviews

Bondage and Discipline, Dominance and Submission, Sadochism and Masochism

Love and Leashes are definitely entertaining! It's fun to watch. Crazy good chemistry between Seohyun and Lee Jun-Young. The concept of BDSM and love was detailed. Even though BDSM was well explained and how it feels like to have a fetish and be accepted was well detailed, there was something lacking! There could have been more depth to it. Moreover, there are many erotic scenes, that were beautifully layered, especially the editing of this movie is really good. Another thing is that Bondage and Discipline, Dominance and Submission, Sadochism and Masochism, all these concepts of BDSM were so interesting. The way it was shown, not just scenes but the meaning behind it and stuff.

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You will fall in love !!

This movie looked all bubbly in the trailer but it's more than that, it blew me out of the water, the soundtrack was everything. one thing I for sure loved is that you didn't really know from whose perspective this was being told, yes it started with kid ino, however, it was never set the lines of whos it was blurred. IT'S BEAUTIFUL!! him using a mirror for her "color", him learning how to be who he is where he is, him loving her.

I LOVE the ending it feels like it's saying he doesn't see all the colors, just the one in front of him and I gotta adore the way they let him stay colorblind it was very realistic and just perfect.

just one question ..... WHY DID HE SEE RED ?!

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I crush on your eyes ♡

Loved the drama and the movie just made the experience better. I loved how they transitioned between what would've been a break between episodes. Hyunjun and Yoo Jun still gave me all the butterflies and kept me smiling from ear to ear. The friends of course had me smiling, would've been nice to see them a little more with extra scenes. I didn't give it a perfect 10 because like the drama, we don't have info on what happened with Yeon Woo's mom and it would've been great for them to also add extra scenes for it but I understand with Hyunjun not being apart of season 2 and all. The music was of course beautiful, I always have the soundtrack on repeat. These boys will always hold a special place in this story for me, I'll never get bored of it. I love it so much that I lowkey wish to live in such a world minus the dangerous part of it of course haha. Anyways, if you prefer not to have the break between the episodes and want it to all flow together nicely, I recommend watching the movie version over the drama version.

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‘ Dear Ex’; A Surprisingly Heartwarming Film…

Directed and cowritten by Mag Hsu and Chih-Yen Hsu as well as screenwriter Lu Shih Yuan, ‘ Dear Ex’ is a movie which will likely not appeal to everyone with its soap-opera style cliches and setups.

However despite some notable flaws and inconsistencies which could be found in ‘ Dear Ex’, the prominent messaging placed upon real-life issues such as homophobia , love, intolerance, teen-angst and familial relationships, arguably presented a somewhat niche plot line with an air of gritty complexity and heartfelt moments along the way.

After his father Zhengyuan (Spark Chen) dies of cancer, it is revealed that the beneficiary of the will is not Cheng-xi ( Joseph Huang) but Jay (Roy Chu), his father’s gay lover. Embarrassed and angered, Cheng-xi’s mother Liu Sanlian (Ying-Xuan Hseih), desperately tries to reclaim her late husband’s money, in order to afford her son’s tuition and the family’s cost of living — a process that alternately entails coercion and attempted blackmail.

Yet Cheng-xi, fed up of his mother’s manipulation , opts to live with free-spirited Jay instead. As Cheng-Xi and Jay become surprisingly close during their cohabitation, Cheng- Xi soon begins to question his loyalties towards his mother and his previous beliefs .

Directors Chih-Yen Hsu and Mag Hsu present ‘ Dear Ex’ with a melodrama edge. Nevertheless during quintessential moments, the directors aren’t afraid to place emphasis upon the narrative’s complex edges; the deeply fraught family history, Sanlian’s feelings of fury and rage by her husband’s decisions and affair, as well as the tragic decline of Zhengyuan’s health and spirit. In particular Sanlian’s change from the niche archetype of the overbearing mother and wife during her initial introduction, allowed opportunities for the directors in order to flesh-out her character as the storyline progressed.

Despite thematic themes hinting that ‘ Dear Ex’ should be a coming of age movie for Cheng-Xi, Chih-Yen Hsu and Mag Hsu placed greater emphasis upon tragic and ill-fated romances and immense pathos for its array of onscreen characters with equal sympathy. However despite Taiwan’s liberal stance upon same-sex marriage and LGBT rights, the movie still highlighted the presiding underbelly of prejudice within Taiwanese culture and society- homophobia and gay slurs often arising during key moments in order to expose this. In addition to this, ‘ Dear Ex’ also allowed some golden-opportunities for character development. One of the most intriguing and climatic in the movie’s narrative surrounding the rocky relationship between Jay and Sanlian; merging from contempt, to animosity before developing into mutual sympathy.

However whilst the non-linear narrative gave a smoothly edited storyline, ‘ Dear Ex’ could often lean into greater problems of incoherent plot holes. Despite some desperate attempts in order to wrap up certain key plot points, viewers were often left in the dark towards reasons and drive within the narrative. ( In particular the decision for Jay to become the main beneficiary, excluding Cheng-Xi entirely.)

The acting performances of the series are solid. Admittedly there were certain line deliverances which could feel somewhat enforced or lacking tact, the main cast were decent enough onscreen. Child actor Joseph Huang and actor Roy Chiu were particularly dynamic onscreen ; offering surprisingly emotional yet dynamic performances throughout the movie.

The pacing of the movie is slow in parts. Naturally it is arguable that certain scenes had to be slowed down in order to focus and build upon characters. On the other hand whilst the storyline did offer some expedited storyline moments, the inconsistent balance could sometimes limit opportunities in order to patch up weaker moments of dialogue, plot holes and character writing also.

Aside from integrating an array of flashbacks into the narrative, it is undeniable that under the directing reigns of Chih-Yen Hsu and Mag Hsu, ‘ Dear Ex’ is visually aesthetic . The emphasis upon vivid palette schemes are brought to life through emerald, scarlet and ruby red tones- helping to bring to life the emotional scope of the movie’s characters. In particular the usage of childish doodles surrounding Cheng Xi, amateurishly superimposed in parts, undeniably helped to captivate the medium for Cheng Xi’s transition into adulthood alongside his ideologies throughout the course of the film. The OST was notably subtle throughout its usage in the background of scenes; a little insipid in parts, but synchronic nonetheless.

Overall ‘ Dear Ex’ is admittedly a niche setup with seemingly archetypical characters and relationships. On the other hand whilst the movie could often fall into the pitfall of barely fleshed-out narrative points, Chih-Yen Hsu and Mag Hsu’s ‘ Dear Ex’ was a surprisingly exposure into the mindsets of its intriguing array of characters, as well as a societal critique into the clashing traditions of new and old in Taiwan. ‘ Dear Ex’ is undeniably flawed in parts, but is surprisingly heartfelt at times also.

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Slow Build But Great Movie

The storyline has been done before, but I like how it was executed here and that the music didn't overpower the acting/verbal moments. There was drama, action, emotional, cute and raw moments. The ML did really well considering half the time he wasn't allowed to say anything. FL was sweet and yet empowering. They had enough chemistry to make it believable. Incorporating the dog was smart, however not correctly executed towards the end*(at the end of this review I will explain, however it is a spoiler alert). Great MMA/fight scenes, including the training.

Due some parts not really being done well and really slow build of the story, that is why it's not a 10/10 for me. Definitely a good watch, that has scenes that will tug at your heart. 100% Rewatchable.

SPOILER ALERT
*The dog obviously knew him by scent and found the ML quickly. So why, (when she was trying to find Rui again on the street), didn't she take the dog,? It would have dragged her straight to him. Also in the pottery shop, the dog should've been trying to pull her back out the door, while barking.

Also FL sculpted his face from what her hands remembered, so she should've recognized him from that alone at the hospital. Her feeling his back muscles and thinking she knew him, not likely. Feeling his scar, the one she thought was a burn, that would've made more sense. Or even his scent, because she knew it from before due to her heightened other senses, that would be believable.

The part about the sea glass and it's connection to him, the ocean and her, was nice. Same with the song and music box.

All in all it was a great movie and I did enjoy it.

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Compelling genre mix, albeit not without flaws

This movie starts out as your typical high school bullying story, dealing with themes like isolation, destiny and heroism. Don't let that fool you, though. Throughout the whole movie you can feel something is wrong, and once you've reached the half point the story turns into a pretty dark thriller.

I've so much I loved about this, but also a few things that fell flat for me. The first half, although quite predictable, was pretty enjoyable. Mostly because the characters and dialogues were interesting. I thought some of the metaphors they used were quite clever, and the foreshadowing was done well. While watching, you can feel the tension building up.

I enjoyed the atmosphere of this movie a lot. They made some good music choices that enhanced the feeling of uneasiness. The genre mix is definitely one of the strongest points of this movie, and I was ready to give this a higher score. Sadly, the last 30 minutes or so were not that believable to me. Although I enjoyed the magical realism elements, I think they took it a bit too far. It felt like they were trying too hard and it came off rather cheesy than inspiring.

That being said, it was still a great watch. It's certainly not your typical coming-of-age story. It's flawed and I wish they would have made a few different directional choices, but it was an engaging story nonetheless.

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Entertaining road trip musical with somewhat peculiar humor

This was nowhere near as fun as it could have been. Sadly, the humor was my biggest issue with this movie. I just don't get why it's supposed to be funny when a chubby character's only personality traits are being obsessed with food, on top of always acting selfish. How am I supposed to feel for them when they behave like this for the sake of humor? And why are chubby characters often written like that? It's something we've seen in a lot of Hollywood movies as well, and I think this kind of humor is incredibly uninventive.

While I enjoyed the overall themes of accepting yourself for who you are, chasing your dreams and overcoming your fears, the characters were pretty flat. The friendships just didn't have that much of an impact on me, since some characters were not interesting enough and lacked depth.

What I did love about this were the musical parts. Well choreographed and combined with catchy music, they were a joy to watch. Ayaka Miyoshi as Shizuka Suzuki was absolutely delightful. Her performance was excellent and carried the movie for me. You could see her passion and energy. I really enjoyed the humor of the musical parts as well, and I wish they would have focused on that a bit more.

Although nothing special, the story was still entertaining. The strongest points being the wonderful musical performances and Ayaka Miyoshi as a fantastic lead.

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Amazing

Damn! Koreans know how to make a good movie of any genre, where I can't watch Indian or Western romantic movies (most of them are cringy) I loved this movie. It is heart-warming!
Very beautiful directed and actors did a great job along with supporting casts. And most importantly their chemistry! I can’t say enough about these two leads.... their chemistry was amazing!
I hate that some Indians blatantly copies concepts from K dramas n movies (including this one-do lafzon ki kahani) without giving credit.
Amazing Movie, 10/10
Anybody wondering about watching it? I'd recommend 100%

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Little action and bad comedy

I've been a fan of Vincent Zhao for some time and supported his work even through the rubbish with the hopes that one day he will do something that’s worthy. Sadly Invisible Tattoo is not that project. I've sat through some duds such as God Of War and Wudang in which I enjoyed a bit. Then there were Unity of Heroes, Warriors of the Nation and Counterattack which seems like master pieces compared to this. Don’t be fooled by the trailers which presented itself as an action film there’s barely any notable action here.

Chang returning to a broken marriage, his wife's death and his relationship with his daughter could have been the crux of the story but it is skimmed over. Lan hates Chang but they bond so quickly it makes everything that played before pointless. It is mentioned that Chang is a member of the Kylin Tattoo School it means nothing to the overall story, at times there were hints that the tattoo aspect had some greater meaning but in the end it was all needless and it was just one an absurd excuse for our villain to visit our protagonist. Then we have his close friends, one a duel pistol wielding sharpshooter named Ying Yang and another is a fat friend named Lan Lung. Both contribute nothing to the overall story its so forced into the film. One scene sees Chang defusing a problem for Lan Lung in a gambling den but Chang quickly resolves the matter with the gamblers and making friends with them and then they are shot by Ying Yang, it made the whole scene seem pointless and it felt like it was to establish this conflict between Chang and Ying Yang but it never amounts to anything.

Worse of all is the inclusion of a foreign circus performer named Xi Xianghong. The film maker spends a good amount of time establishing her and making her a love interest to Chang but then for her to disappear from the story, then showing up pointlessly once again at the end. Then we have the much publicised inclusion of actor and parkour expert David Belle who has no purpose, he appears midway through with nothing to do just to disappear again and then reappearing during the final act. He does like one or two parkour moves and that's it. Playing the daughter is Chinese child actress Wang Shengdi but the grown up version is played by Eurasian actress Shanti Lu which is jarring and considering how little they resemble each other. Zhao has no chemistry with his daughter in this film and its awkward seeing them bond.

The film is so schizophrenic, as mentioned there are so many random elements introduced and so many pointless characters added to the film which in turn results in an uneven film.

The film really doesn't know what it wants to be but it's definitely not an action film. It wants to be this western, art house, drama, action and comedy film but none of it works. Comedy appears so regularly but none of it is funny.

Then we have the martial arts or the lack of it. There are brief snippets where we see people being taken out with like one or two strikes here and there but that’s it. There was one moment where it looked like it was going to turn into a decent fight scene with Chang acknowledging his opponent saying to him that he must be good at fighter, then they fight and it ends in like 20 seconds. Playing Asano the Japanese villain is veteran martial arts actor Kenya Sawada, whose fought Zhao before in Warriors of the Nation, in this film they do have a final showdown but it doesn’t last very long. The fight were snippets of quality to the fight but not enough to make it worth sitting through all the crap that came before.

The only thing I can commend the film for are the sets and wardrobe which are of a high quality. There's also moments of decent cinematography with some nice usage of shadows but some moments can be a tad over saturated or over colour corrected.

This is probably the worse of Vincent Zhao’s output and there is nothing worth watching here. Skip this film.

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A Low budget Wolf Warrior

Poor old Vincent Zhao he just can’t catch a break, Zhao started his career promisingly filling in the shoes of Jet Li’s Wong Few Hung and starring in a string of pretty decent films like Tsui Hark’s The Blade and Cory Yuen’s Fong Sai Yuk. His more recent stints sadly regulated him to the realm of web films reprising in his most popular role as Wong Fei Hung in Unity of Heroes and Warrior of the Nation. 2021 sees him both starring and directing Counterattack which is described as a military film in the same vein as Operation Red Sea and Wolf Warrior.

Let’s cut to the chase Counterattack is a pretty bad, the plot is so paper thin filled with insanely bad dialogue and poorly implemented set pieces.

The film is filled with many questionable moments like its opening where we see Vincent Zhao donning a jet pack pursuing a speed boat all the while holding a sniper rifle ready to assassinate the person on board. First of there’s no way he can keep a steady aim let alone hold the rifle scoped in, secondly any element of stealth is removed and lastly why shot such a scene when you clearly don’t have the budget in shooting convincing CGI.

The mid section we have Lu and Bai’s romantic relationship but its done with this haphazard montage where it then zones in onto a clock face where the dials are spinning to indicate time lapsing. Not only is all this cheesy but removes any urgency that the film is suppose to have. Within there bonding section Lu teaches Mo how to use a sniper rifle and in a ridiculously short time she is a crack shot. There is a lot of misplaced comedy and Vincent Zhao never feels comfortable with the comedy.

Surprisingly Zhao gives the foreign actors a lot of screen time, the gesture is commendable but not necessarily a good thing considering how poorly written and acted these moments are. Shouldering most of the acting chops is China based foreign actor Diego Dati best known in Jackie Chan’s Vanguard. Zhao himself does try hard but maybe a bit too hard in channeling Wu Jing or even Donnie Yen but he fails to surround his performance with a good script or direction.
I would also like to know why the film is set in a fictional South East Asian country everyone speaks woefully bad English instead of their native tongue. Bare in mind almost none of the actors are native English speakers so you have these awful dialogue sections in English and at times it's incomprehensible.

So let’s talk about the action which they are plentiful but sadly lacking any real punch to them. As mentioned before the opening is an assassination attempt that goes awry and transitions to a shootout but its shot in a very boring manner. Then we have 2 chase scenes through the jungle, one set during the day and one during the night but neither chase provide any intensity or real danger. Midway we get our real fight scene between China based martial artist Myra (From the Scott Adkins film Abduction), her character is pretty bland and have no real threat but the audience can see that she is a very competent martial artist. There fight is framed well and possess some nice impact but it is rather short lived, it is very reminiscent of the Wu Jing v Scott Adkins fight from Wolf Warrior. As the film neared the end I was concerned that they were going to end on a whimper, with of very by the numbers infiltration scene but thankfully we do end with a fight scene that is rather ill fitting to the scene but at least we end with a fight scene. The fight does borrow heavily from Donnie Yen vs Wu Jing fight from SPL, in which both dagger wielding combatants size and test each other out with strikes and slashes. Its a decent fight scene but is occasionally ruined by some odd wire gags. I’m glad to see Zhao managing to shed his more wushu styling and embrace a more popular MMA technique employing grappling into the mix which feels more fitting to a modern setting.

As negative as I was towards the film I feel there is minor enjoyment to be had. I’m a sucker for Vincent Zhao films so I can deem mild enjoyment but to everyone else they can avoid this.

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It looks cheap and is still overstuffed but at least in kind off ties up the story

Despite being a tad more focused than the previous film it still fails to cram the whole host of characters and side stories successfully. Even with the 3 female leads front and centre the film struggles to make their love for Wuji feel affecting this in turn makes there story arch lacking any emotional impact. The aesthetic from the previous film has transitioned over to this film with the cinematography still looking low budget and sets looking cheap, though this is probably due to the fact that the 2 films were shot simultaneously. To highlight how lazy the script is there’s this one moment in the film where there’s this random off screen narration explaining how our protagonists has returned to the mainland but this is a one off and has never been used before or even after. The film does kind of tie off everything but there was always this threat of the government but this is not resolved, so I guess there’s room for a sequel.

While the first film had guest appearances from heavy hitters like Donnie Yen and Louis Koo neither of them returns here. Elvis Tsui who guest appeared as the Lion King in the previous film has a more substantial role but he hams it up big time, his blind man acting is overly exaggerated. Yun Qianqian returns as Xiao Zhao but she is given even less to do, Janice Man also returns as Zhao Min and this time around she is featured more heavily. This time round Man feels like she fits more comfortably in the role this may be due to the fact that she is no longer a leader figure and has more of a relationship with Wuji. Doing a lot more of the heavy lifting this time round is Wong Jing regular Sabrina Qiu as Zhirou, though she was in the previous film she had less to do there, here she has to go through multiple stages of anger, sadness and joy but sadly Qiu lacks the thespian skills to handle these fluctuations of emotion and her eventual turn of character is so left field and forceful. Which brings on more next problem, there is just too much double crossing and triple crossing involved, which would have been fine but things move along at such a brisk pace so things are often glossed over or quickly resolved.

Action wise the film does improve on the first film but only marginally, they are more substantial and does have a bit more hand to hand combat before devolving into CGI overload. Action features more frequently but set pieces are a tad uninspired. Again Raymond Lam shoulders much of the action but there’s little to make him stand out, it’s a case of some hand to hand fighting and then resorting to energy blasts to resolve matters. Jade Leung gets a nice little fight scene albeit brief with Yu Kang, nothing spectacular but more welcome than the CGI fights. There’s a fight midway through that is oddly comical with physiques all ignored, it’s hard to describe but it sees the 3 assailants floating in mid-air in a triangle. Wirework is hit and miss with a sequence seeing various characters free falling from a burning tower and its oddly slow how they fall not helped by the atrocious CGI background. There are way too many times a new powerful technique or skill is introduced just to be just as quickly countered. The ending is so badly staged with all the martial arts masters converging on the villain to rescue someone but none of them do anything with only Wuji having to deal with it. The end does see a fight with martial arts actor Shi Yanneng but as with the first film its more of a show case of energy blasts and chi kung fu.

In fact watching these two films I felt like I was watching episodes of Dragonball or Naruto with everyone’s skill level constantly fluctuating, more powerful characters being introduced and a McGuffin weapon to counteract other the weapons.

The film fails to give sufficient time to all the side plots and a trilogy would probably have benefited the overall story. If you enjoyed the first film that I’m sure you will enjoy this film.

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A beat for beak remake of Wong Jing’s original film but done much worse

Some of you may remember back in 1993 Wong Jing directed a film called Kung Fu Cult Master starring Jet Li. It was meant to be a 2 parter with a sequel lined up but the 1st film failed critically and commercially. Subsequently the film garnered a cult following but there wasn't much demand for a remake. Wong Jing along with Hong Kong DP Keung Kwok Man brings us an updated version of The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber tale, titled New Kung Fu Cult Master 1 as the title suggest this is the first in a 2 parter. The release on streaming platform already tells you about the quality of the film.

The film sees the 6 martial arts schools wanting to eradicate the so called evil faction but each school has their own agenda and wants to be ruler of the martial arts world. We follow Zhang Wuji (Raymond Lam) a child born from the father of the good martial society and the mother of the evil martial society. After years of seclusion Wuji's parents decides to return to the martial arts world but there arrival is met with the 6 martial arts schools who kills Wuji's father in the process. Years pass and the now adult Wuji with his new found friend Xiao Zhao (Yun Qianqian) overhear that all the years of feud between the good and evil factions were orchestrated by the government in secret lead by Zhao Min (Janice Man). During their little escapade Xiao Zhao is injured and Wuiji has to take her to Guang Ming mountain the base of the evil sect but due to a scheme of the 6 martial arts schools those at Guang Ming mountain mistake Wuji as a fraud. During this moment the 6 martial arts school storm the mountain to confront the evil sect and end them once and for all but Wuji manages to prevent this from happening resulting in the 6 schools retreating. Wuji is made the new leader of the evil faction and he goes to warn Wudang members of an impending attack but it's too late and he is confronted by Zhao Min.

The story is actually more complex but it will be difficult for me to cover the large amount of details present in the film. There are just way too many characters even for 2 films to cover. The film is based on the novels by famed Wuxia author Louis Cha whose complex story has been adapted many times before and I fondly remember watching the story unfold on a TV serial, it had so much time to flesh out characters and plot points while this film struggles to effectively juggle so much that's happening often skipping onto events rapidly and introducing characters with no explanation or contribution to the story.

The film is produced by the Shaw Brothers company which owns TVB so we are presented with a host of TVB actors, with Raymond Lam headlining the title character. Sadly Raymond Lam processes little charm and is rather bland in the role. The biggest names are of course Donnie Yen and Louis Koo but both are extended cameos only. Louis Koo looks bored and is killed of near the beginning as for Donnie Yen it felt like he could be played by anyone and appears during the beginning and near the end with little to do. Neither Janice Man nor Yun Qianqian can do justice to what Sharla Cheung and Chingmy Yau did for the roles. Janice Man in particular lacks the authoritive nature that the role demands often coming across as weak.

Budget constraints are apparent throughout with sets looking straight out of TV series and the costumes are just so cartoon. Lighting is not much better again looking like a TV serial just spruced up with some added shadows here and there opposed to the washed out look we get from TVB. It’s troubling when you consider that one half of the directors is a DP of renown for works on One Night in Mongkok and Seven Swords. Then there are scenes with a sparsity of extras and it really makes the scenes look small scale.

Comparisons to the original Kung Fu Cult Master film is inevitable and man does this film pale in comparison. The film almost follows the original film beat for beat. The structure and set pieces are pretty much the same but done much worse.

The fights looks like they are done for TV, they are quick and devoid of any creativity. CGI and wire work is the order of the day. Raymond Lam is no Jet Li but they could have tried doing more with him, instead we get these awkward fight scenes that feels tired and uninteresting. Donnie Yen gets a very mundane fight during the beginning and nothing after that. Then we have set pieces rip straight from the original Kung Fu Cult Master, the original we saw Jet Li versus Cho Wing in an impressive display of kung fu skills, this new version sees Raymond Lam take on martial arts actor Oscar Li where horrible CGI is featured throughout. It then has the audacity to implement the same situation where we see Oscar Li’s eagle claw ripping into the pillar which was something that played out in the original film. The ending is an orgy of CGI, energy beams coming out of the swords and things explode. Even with a host of credible fighters such as Donnie Yen, Xiong Xin Xin, Shi Yanneng, Yu Kang and Louis Fan not an ounce of quality fight choreography comes from this film. There’s also this awkward undercranking that is used occasionally in the film and this also filters into the fights.

One positive is that there’s none of the crass humour that featured in the original version.

I think my biggest enjoyment from this film was spotting celebrities like Elvis Tsui, Mars, Jade Leung, Shi Yanneng, Xiong Xin Xin, Louis Fan but none of this makes the film worth sitting through.

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I almost skipped over this movie when it was showing on a Kaiju marathon. That would have been a mistake. The War of the Gargantuas was absurd monster fun.

Unlike a lot of Toho monster movies where the monsters don't show up for half an hour (Godzilla I'm looking at you), the monsters showed up early and often. The big green Frankenstein/Gargantua introduced himself when he fought a giant octopus at sea. The enormous sasquatches were called Frankensteins because their origins were from a lab. For the millionth time, Frankenstein was the name of the mad scientist who created the patched together monster, not the monster. But I digress. The initial brotherly love between the gargantuas was sweet until the ginormous good guy realized his bro was a man-eating monster.

In one scene, a singer aboard a ship belts out what felt like the longest song in movie history called "The Words Get Stuck in My Throat". An interesting choice of words right before the ship was attacked. Big Green liked to eat people whole and then spit out their clothes when they got stuck in his throat.

The actors were about what you'd expect from a monster movie from 1966. I was surprised to see Russ Tamblyn who starred in West Side Story (Riff) show up as one of Frankenstein's scientists. He looked like it was the last place he wanted to be, and I've read he was difficult to work with. Too bad. The people who came to watch the movie were looking to have fun and he missed out on the party. Ifukube Akira's score, familiar from his work in the Godzilla movies was well done as always even if some of the work sounded as if it were spliced in from other films.

What I was most impressed with were the miniatures. The houses were detailed, the forests were well done as well as the weaponry and ships. At times in these movies, the miniature buildings were obviously cardboard, these miniatures looked well crafted.

The biggest drawbacks were the monster costumes. They were bad, not King Kong (KK vs Godzilla) moth eaten costume bad, but not great. On the positive side, the costumes did allow for greater body movement, so unlike Godzilla and his buddies, the monsters' movements were less stilted. Many of the scenes from the movie featured one or both of the Frankensteins which made this flexibility advantageous.

This is a movie only for people who enjoy these old monster movies. You can't go into it expecting great acting and a riveting, logical storyline. War of the Gargantuas was ridiculous, but fun. As always, I score older niche movies on a curve.

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Standard enemies to lovers movie, but with some open conversation about sex

This movie is like a standard version of the trope mentioned above but there were some sweet scenes and cute moments. It's not super creative in terms of plot aside from the doctors using their medical expertise to insult each other. There's some signature Kdrama elements like parental pressure to get married, a distant parental figure, and a past trauma that needs to be overcome. It does touch on some sexual topics not usually explored like some reasons men may feel unconfident in their ability to perform and women feeling the need to be "tighter" to prevent men from cheating. Because of this, it seems like they knew they'd lose the more conservative viewers, so they decided to go completely in the opposite direction added in some softcore scenes that don't really serve any purpose in the movie other than to show off Ha Joo Hee's body. I was hesitant to mention that in the only review on this movie in case people only watch it for that reason, but it did come out a while ago and a lot of people probably already know. And I think that if people end up watch the whole movie even if just for that reason, they may end up becoming more educated and aware of some of the stigmas related to sex.

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