Reviews

I picked the movie for Xiao Zhan, but it was not his best work. The character seems like a water down Wei Wuxian. I really didn't understand what was going on in the movie. Did the movie ever answer the mystery of who murdered all the people in his village? The plot could be summed like in this sentence: Cook finds a magical stick and may turn into a demon king. There were several scenes where he was so close to kissing his "sister" but he ends up kissing a different woman and saves her. The only cool thing was thousands of kung fu fighters flying on their swords. Not really worth a watch unless you're a hardcore Xiao Zhan fan.

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What I enjoyed:

Lan Sizhui: He has grown more capable and stronger since The Untamed, but remained true to his character.
WWX: I enjoyed the WWX references and cameo
Wen Ning's song: nice to hear his song at the end credit

What I didn't enjoy:
Subtitle: the text was white which made it difficult to read
Wen Ning: He didn't seem like the same character from The Untamed. He's definitely more mature, intelligent, and serious in the Living Dead, but there wasn't much of an explanation about how his development.
Lan Wangji: There were many WWX references, but only 1 for Lan Wangji. I was expecting Lan Sizhui to mention him at least once.

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Akiko Ohku special gift

I feel like I'm constantly telling people how Akiko Ohku has a special gift and eye for capturing anxiety, loneliness, and more. But the women she creates are so damn complex, wonderful, vulnerable, anxious but LOUD! They talk, they are active; they have flaws. Their insecurities, fears, and vulnerability never make them passive characters that just exist on the screen. Women in films and on TV are still to a degree depicted as likable and polite. Even the supposedly powerful women characters are powerful but not too powerful to make others uncomfortable. But Akiko Ohku always pushes those boundaries with the women she creates. She also casts another wonderful actress, Non. Just like Mayu, she is so damn good at her job.

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This is my martial arts dream team-a movie starring Jet Li and Michelle Yeoh directed by Yuen Woo Ping. It has everything you'd want in a kung fu movie: friendship, betrayal, revenge, love, more betrayal and revenge, character growth, good vs evil, and some very creative fight scenes and wire-fu.

When two young Shaolin monks are kicked out of the temple and have to find their way in the world, one chooses evil and one chooses good. The friends' choices, of course, put them on a collision path to betrayal and destruction.

Jet Li handles the fights scenes just as you would expect him to-marvelously. He's fast and believable even in some over-the-top wire scenes. Michelle Yeoh is agile and elegant whether wielding a sword or in a flying table fight. Their characters help each other out in their darkest moments without resorting to a forced romance. It was refreshing to see a friendship built on mutual respect for each other and each other's abilities.

Chin Siu Ho, who plays the friend who chooses the wrong path, does an admirable job of falling down the well into power and greed. The supporting cast of characters were fleshed out enough that I cared about what happened to them.

My only quibble is the comedy/madness portion of the movie which goes on too long even if it results in Jet Li's character developing his new skill set. This isn't a true spoiler for kung fu movie enthusiasts, it's the common formula. Good guy gets beaten, goes off to develop a new kind of kung fu, goes back and confronts the bad guy. In a movie with a high body count, those supposedly funny moments dragged on too long for me.

The cinematography is good but not great. The focus is on the fights and Yuen Woo Ping excels as always in coming up with creative ways to stage fights--even a giant game of kung fu Jenga!

The movie may be dated, but Jet Li and Michelle Yeoh make up for any story deficiencies. Tai Chi Master has spectacular fights throughout the movie featuring two of the greats of the genre, definitely worth the price of admission.

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What the fluff did I just watch?

I dont even really know where to begin. I guess let me first start out by saying if you're reading this review so that you can decide on whether or not to watch this, I'm going to warn you right now.. this movie is not for the faint of heart. Not only is there very homophobic bullying by students AND teachers, but there is also a rape scene. Two of the main characters are pretty much destroyed emotional and physically by this gang and its absolutely heart breaking. I genuinely wanted to hurt some of the side characters in this.. and I'm not a violent person. I will say though, I think the ending was decent enough and the rage scene that happened in the school was actually pretty cool. Every single one of them deserved what they got. The plot was honestly pretty interesting and I didn't really ever get bored of it. I didn't hate this movie, although it has very triggering topics, because I think that sometimes it's important to show this side of things... considering this does happen everyday in real life. Despite that, I dont think I would ever put myself through watching this again. It hurt and this is definitely not the type of BL I prefer to watch. I think its good to watch through once just to get the expierence but it's not going to be something you're going to want to return to.

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an enjoyable sci-fi doomsday film that is energetic, not original, and a bit long

this film is entertaining and worth watching if you haven't watch it already, but be prepared for a 2-hour long experience. some of the enjoyable aspects of this film include, the pace, the CGIs, sound effects, background sound/music, dialogues, various visual treats, and the presence of multiple languages/races. if you are a critical or analytical person, this film also offers various venues for you to critically analyze the logic and facts. this film feels similar to a big budget Hollywood film., but the storyline and plot feel more like an amalgamation of several doomsday sci-fi predecessors.

if you have to rely on the subtitle/caption to understand a Chinese language shows, be forewarned that it might be a bit too fast to read. this can be a bit of juggle and a distraction, in-between watching the film, enjoying the visual presentation, observing, and reading the captions.

also, this film kind of reminds me how Japan's car industry borrow heavily from U.S./Europe, and how Korean's pop culture industry borrow heavily from Japan/U.S., etc. i want to see more of this in the near future, but most of all, i want to see a growing trend of borrowing that either dissipates or turns more into unique/original/fresh creations.

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Sweet sorrow with a twist

This was a beutifull portrayal of love, longing and trying to move on after loosing a loved one,

It was abit slow but it hit very close to home so to be honest I found myself looking away and distracting myself more than once. It has allot of sweet, sweet fluff and a very interesting twits att the end of it.

The acting is good the sidecharacters are okey, there are two people who may bring out ones inner anger but it was only one or two scenes so it did not effect the score much. The ending was just beutifull and not only becouse Park Seo Joon played the kid att age 20. But it was just beutifully made,

If you are looking for something cheerfull you shoul look for something else but if you are looing for something beutifull this is deffenetly worth it.

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Top notch actors & production!

Big Spoilers!!
I like enemy's to lovers concepts but i guess this movie was exactly the opposite. I totally understood the reasons why our lead prisoner killed cop's mom. He trusts nobody. So he didn't trust the cop and wanted him to be his side with nothing on his mind. But his pure good actions leads him to fall in love with the cop. And i know the story was not a game changer but still production, acting skills and little story twists made me a fan of this movie.
To sum up i love love love the chemistry between two male actors. (Seriously did not expect this much)
I loved how our pure innocent cop turns into a revenge machine. ( I am totally on his side)
The cinematography was just perfect. Top notch! I saw some similarities with Branson and Fight Club's color palette here.
Aaaaand slapping scenes made me laugh so hard. I can watch them every single day!
I almost forget how i liked The Last Supper painting reference. Dining at a private restaurant in prison like The Last Supper painting. Aaaah writers are insane!!
Okay lastly, i loved Mafia boss's underwater video too. He could be an idol :/ Such a waste...

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Most symbolic yet satisfying Movie I have ever watched

This movie gained all the respect possible from me. The Main Characters NEVER spoke...at all...yet the story line and the feelings beween the characters were beautifully & perfectly expressed.
Yo...I enjoyed it so much, I say the director and script writer(haha wait...there are no lines...u get my point) have to be one of the best in Korea...
Definetly a great movie I recommend everyone to watch.
Aparently I gotta write 500 words about this movie but it was way to amazing to put into words and explain. Like the characters in the movie, the movie should be shown and not told.

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Bravery

I don't know much about the real folk story told by Thai people, personally I love Thailand but if this is it then Apai Manee did do well, it was hard but he had to.
I mean he was a really good brother but he was also an okay father escaped with his son as well as the mermaid's family.
But then even if he didn't love the sea ogre he should not have cheated on her and included his son also because you could see clearly that she really loved him.
Whiles his humbly and loyal brother searched everywhere for him he was busily falling in love, when his brother was so depressed over him. He had no choice but to make a baby with the sea ogre.
I think she would have not had such a fate if she had not been so jealous.
I still don't understand why Apai Manee left his son with his brother to go with the mermaid. And also his son is such a brave boy. A must watch definitely worth the time

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A sweet but not yet complete love story

I did not watch the series, and also did not know there were added scenes to the original story, when I watched this. I think this a beautiful, short and simple love story. After watching the movie, I read some bad reviews saying that it lacked character development. Another review said there was no conflict in the story line. I somewhat disagree. I think the conflict emerged at the end of the film (both guys may be questioning their feelings) and therefore I am hoping there will be a sequel to this one where we get too see how their love relationship develops.

Yes, we don't get to know much about Sang Yi's background (family, friends, past love affairs), but does it matter? We also could only guess a bit about In Soo's past, when his manager shared about In Soo's character to Sang Yi. Then we find out that his father was the CEO of the company (I had already sort of guessed that In Soo came from a wealthy family, who for some reason left home). Bu it didn't really matter to me not knowing much about their backgrounds, and this would be the very reason why we need a sequel to this movie. It had a happy ending, but I'm curious to know how the main leads continue with their lives.

I loved the music, especially the theme song, I found out that both actors are singers in real life and they recorded the music together. This perhaps explain why the chemistry between In Soo and Lee Sang (Sang Yi) was s great. I also think Lee Sang brilliantly acted his role as a closeted gay guy who was kind of shy, or uncertain about his own feelings. All those awkward moments, like when he saw In Soo passing by on the street, and he chased In Soo who was in a cafe, and the scenes in the company, where he wasn't sure whether he should enter the studio or not, knowing that In Soo was there, was probably something everyone experienced when having a crush for someone else. And in this particular story, it's about a guy having a crush towards another guy. Lee Sang brilliantly expressed the confusion a closeted gay would get when attracted to another guy, especially one who remains mysterious, ambiguous and enigmatic like In Soo. The subtleties in their interactions were really what made this movie interesting, like the casual hug at In Soo's place, the physical closeness they showed while singing together, and finally the kissing scene and the awkwardness they both felt after the kiss.

I liked this movie, even though the story was somewhat simple. The music also helped build the mood to make this movie a memorable one. A sweet, yet not yet complete, love story.

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Going into this movie I thought my first sentence of a review would involve the words---rock bottom. To my surprise, I'm not going to use those words. There were some things to like in this Godzilla movie aimed at a younger audience.

What I liked:
The humans were a more engaging group than usual. The scientists had long time Godzilla actor, Hirata Akihiko, there to help them. An intrepid reporter had parachuted onto the island where the scientists were running tests to try and attempt to control the weather (nothing scary about that!) and he found a young woman who has been marooned on the island since her archaeologist father had died there years ago. The humans ran into problems having little to do with the monsters on the island and it gave them added depth as they had to work together to survive and get along.

Several giant praying mantis lurked in the jungle were a threat to the scientists and sleeping under the ground was a giant spider waiting to go all Shelob on them. The fights involving the giant monsters were all pretty well done and interesting.

If watching with children- Godzilla and his newly hatched son (which raises a lot of questions in and of itself from the mythos) are very affectionate, not scary, so this movie would be appropriate. Instead of frightening, Godzilla comes across as cuddly. There are a lot of loving interactions as Godzilla teaches his son to use his powers and also protects him. Minya protects his papa, too. And for once, Tokyo or some other town is not annihilated. Kamacuras and Kumonga might be too much for small children or those with arachnophobia.

What I didn't like:

Minya's/Baby Godzilla's costume was about as ugly as they could make it and Papa G's didn't look much better this go around. Kamacuras and Kumonga were styled better. Big G has battled far greater enemies and shouldn't have struggled as much as he did with the giant island bugs. Maybe his poorly created face caused him to feel inferior and he fought down at their level.

The sound department couldn't decide what noises to give Minya so they used a puppy, cat, lamb, and even donkey on different occasions to try and make Minya sound cute and helpless. I struggle anytime Godzilla is anthropomorphized to this extent, though it’s certainly not as bad as in Godzilla vs Megalon.

Overall, by setting aside the fearsome, destructive original Godzilla and accepting this era's kinder, gentler anti-hero, I could enjoy this movie for what it was. The humans were more compelling than in most Godzilla movies which helped as well. The truly scariest part of this whole movie was the humans' hubris in thinking they were wise enough to control the weather and not create greater world-wide catastrophes.

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A dark and captivating teen romance that fails to be truly compelling due to poor directing choices

It's hard to know exactly what I think of this, because there were certain moments that I loved, but there were significant issues with the execution, so as a whole it didn't quite work for me.

I think the story was good, despite one plot point that felt a bit conveniently staged. And actually quite beautiful. The relationship at the center feels vibrant and unique, rather than like just another carbon-copy shoujo manga couple, and the conflicts that follow have interesting emotional content. However, sometimes this really failed to come across effectively due to the flawed storytelling. Instead of focusing in on the emotions in important moments, it completely jumped over them with a time skip, which meant I sometimes had to fill in the blanks to understand the actions or feelings of the characters. While I found the portrayal of these youthful, impulsive, and free-spirited teens captivating, the character drama was not nearly as compelling as it could have been. One of the darker scenes really failed to communicate the extent of the emotions properly, while another seemed intent on making the viewer question the reality of what was going on, which was completely counter-intuitive, since this was not a mystery where the goal is to keep the viewer guessing, it's a drama where the goal is to portray the character struggles. I was really not surprised to discover the director, Yamato Yuki, had also directed Hot Gimmick.

The editing was just bizarre. Some scenes were filmed without a single cut, though I really have no idea why. In contrast, at other points the edits were very quick, which could make the story feel disjointed. Sometimes they seemed to be trying to use the frantic edits to create intensity, but it just distracted from the emotions. Only occasionally did it succeed in achieving the "artsy" feel it was going for.

The pacing was definitely a bit strange. At times I wondered why they were spending so much time on a seemingly less important scene, when a seemingly more important exchange had felt too brief. I also think this could have been a little longer, since it was less than two hours despite adapting a longer work. Perhaps they could have left in a few of the important aspects that they cut.

The soundtrack (Sakamoto Hidekazu) was also all over the place. It mixed a number of styles, but was heaviest on the emo rock instrumentation, which wasn't necessarily a bad choice in principle, but the result was music that generally seemed too loud or out of place.

The locations were beautiful. The cinematography (Shibanushi Takahide) itself was just decent. Much of the atmosphere came more from the scenery than the way it was filmed. There were some memorable shots. However, at times they really overdid it with the shaky camera.

The aspect that worked the best for me was the casting. Komatsu Nana and Suda Masaki had great chemistry and they really felt like young teens. Though I did struggle to feel the emotions of the story at points, I blame this on the director, not the actors' portrayal. I felt that Suda Masaki, especially, fit his role incredibly well, as he seemed so striking, and even ethereal, with his blonde hair and almost emaciated body.

Overall, I think this film failed to achieve the emotional poignancy it could have, because it used an (amateurish, teen-feeling) indie-artsy style, when what it really needed was a more mature, raw, and perhaps understated style. Still, I definitely don't regret watching it and would even consider rewatching it, at least in part.

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Well this was certainly interesting. The reveal was a little predictable but the plot still had its twists and turns due to Heo Eun Hee’s style and approach to the film. Some things are purposely messy, I feel. It is said in the film that in a dream, things aren't always clear so I believe that artistic choice was intended here. Alice: The Boy From Wonderland is a film about a woman racked with underlying guilt that she didn't even know she had, on top of the clear mental illness that she's had since early childhood. She goes to this house, meets two people who seem to be familiar with her - one is cheerful and love while the other is not - while her Aunt and a Shaman have their own little journey, which peels back some of the layers and mysteries surrounding it all.

Perhaps the storytelling could've been a tad more poignant and thought provoking, although I do think some of its messages were portrayed well thanks to some rock solid performances from our leading three - Jung So Min (Hye Jung), Hong Jong Hyun (Hwan) and Jung Yeon Joo (Soo Ryun). The plot with the parents is lacking much depth. We don't see much of Hye Jung’s parents and their relationship. We don't see much past the Mum is disabled/Ill and the other likes someone else. Rather hollow storytelling regarding what would be something that's pivotal for the plot. And I'm not really sure that the romance fits well with the conclusion. I'm all for freedom in choices but I don't think it really adds anything. This definitely could've been without seeing them *cough*do it.

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