Apparently I'm on an unplanned Jun Ji-hyun watching streak. Gonna retroactively make it a planned one though, expect a few more logs in the coming day!

It's like Ocean's Eleven cranked up to… well, eleven (...I'll see myself out)

The double-crossing in this movie is something. They live and breathe to one-up each other.

Why is it so Kim Soo-hyun is so expressive here? I dare say he steals the show for a while. What went wrong in the year between this and My Love From Another Star? (He was easily the worst part of that). Who told him that playing an expressionless/emotionless lead was the way to go? His agency? The director? Himself? Not sure. I think it was a terrible idea. However, seeing as he is today's best paid actor in Korea I'm probably wrong. Still think it was a terrible idea lmao

I enjoyed the stacked cast and the way they weaved Hong Kong into the storyline, including the addition of the likes of Simon Yam. The action is filmed well (though the bad guys' clips seemingly have hundreds of bullets in them at a bare minimum), the twists and turns keep on coming, the actors are hella charismatic, the thrills are served one after the other… Entertaining for sure.

But it was missing a little something for me. I guess things fell into place a little bit too much? One convenient occurrence too many I'd say.
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Stunts - 84/100 | Some good stunts sprinkled throughout since we're dealing with heist stuff.

Narrative - 68/100 | Many years ago, being a Westerner, I used to not be able to distinguish between asian languages like Korean, Cantonese, Mandarin, Japanese, etc. Not anymore so now it was really fun to see them switching languages between all 4 constantly and being able to follow who could understand who in the story, because that's kind of important in this case.

Fight Choreography | No fights.

Enjoyment - 72/100 | Still fun and exciting. I'd put it about on par with Ocean's Eleven overall, quality-wise. Recommended if you like that kind of movie.

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Disaster of a movie

It's like a shittier version of Underworld: Evolution, and Underworld: Evolution is already incredibly shitty so I'm not sure what that makes this.

How anyone can manage to make even Jun Ji-hyun bland is beyond me, like at this point it takes special skills to achieve this as I thought it to be impossible.

And then you somehow notice that this is a Hong Kong American French Chinese Japanese co-production starring a Korean actress playing a Japanese girl speaking English directed by a French guy and jesus what even happened to this movie
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Stunts - 57/100 | The CGI blood is bordering on parody quality here and frankly they should have embraced it. Go full Sin City on that movie!

Narrative - 34/100 | That Alice actress must have lost a bet or something. The bet: say the most outrageous things possible with a serious face. No one could have acted this role and made it work. No one. Congrats Chris Chow, your writing talents (or more accurately: lack thereof) shall not go unnoticed. Genius-ly bad script.

Fight Choreography - 46/100 | I like the exaggerated style they were going for with the action and understand what they were trying to achieve, but it's an utter failure of execution regardless with the nauseating editing and crappy shot continuity.

Enjoyment - 40/100 | Look, it's got Jun Ji-hyun in a lead role playing a 400 (500?) years old vampire dressed like a schoolgirl slicing monsters left and right with a katana, with horrendous CGI blood splattering everywhere. Just for that alone 4/10 is the floor here.

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Fade to Black version

I recognize this movie’s faults but it left such a strong impression on me that I had to rewatch it the next day before writing this review. I highly recommend watching it a second time if you’re feeling lukewarm after a first watch.

Hits the right notes for me with the dark humor, deliberate pace, mesmerizing, chilling yet oddly engaging lead performance, personal stakes, and splendid editing through multiple time periods. A second viewing brings to light a lot of hidden details in the early parts of the movie that only matter later, details which you can easily miss the first time around.

I’m seeing these revenge films all out of order but I don’t think it really matters. It’s mostly a fabricated trilogy anyway.

I really like intelligent but damaged characters with a plan, an infallible one perhaps, who are dead set on a mission backed by well defined motivations. I also like how this movie doesn’t glorify violence, and also doesn’t carry a big reveal or anything of the sort.

I think from a technical and stylistic standpoint this is quite similar to Oldboy, but this one worked much better on a personal level for me. The two movies are interestingly similar in a way: in Oldboy, we follow the protagonist against the backdrop of a villain with a vicious plan years in the making. In this movie, it’s flipped around on its head — we follow the protagonist with a vicious plan years in the making. I much prefer this iteration.

Regardless, I need to rewatch Oldboy before I make a final stand on this. I can easily see this movie going up another notch on rewatch a few years down the line.

The way I see it is… this movie is quite simply a striking work of art.

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We are all powerless in the face of senseless evil acts

I’m… oh man this thing is harsh.

Not gonna lie, this movie wasn’t really having me in the first half. It was interesting but I wasn’t too into it.

But, like clockwork, as soon as a Park Chan-wook movie (or any movie, really) begins focusing on Song Kang-oh, it’s like magic happens.

This one is quite sadistic. I’d say so far that it’s this director’s most repulsive movie overall, even felt more genuinely gratuitous than Oldboy to me. As usual the script is well-rounded, the pacing deliberate so we can get really into the characters’ messy heads, and the violence often sudden and brutal. I like the twist with the title, a really nice touch.

But what was lacking to me in this movie compared to his other work was the feeling of going on a journey with the characters. I felt detached a bit, like I was missing a piece of the puzzle. I get that the blind man is dense but why is he so? I didn’t get a good sense of that. While Park Chan-wook’s style was much more pronounced in Sympathy for Lady Vengeance, this felt less distinguished to me. Slightly.

Sounds from my review so far like this movie is not so good but I thought it was great, and I respect it in a weird way, especially from the half-point and onwards. It’s brilliant and unique in a way and Song Kang-oh’s acting was exceptional. The dramatic irony in this movie is off the charts. It stays with you.

I'm thoroughly impressed with this director.

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Masterpiece

What is it with Park Chan-wook that makes him so talented?

The guy clearly understands how to write and frame broken characters in a sympathetic way. It’s a delicate balance to be honest. If my appreciation of his movies are any indication, I should be thirsting for movies with broken characters as leads but... I’m not. In fact, I prefer flawed but ultimately good characters in general, not genuinely broken ones. But he just forces it on you, continuously, then makes it work so well it’s baffling to me. And heart-breaking.

He did it with Sympathy for Lady Vengeance, Oldboy, and he did it again with what I consider his masterpiece, Thirst, a sort of Psychological/Horror/Romantic thriller. A movie about damn vampires of all things! I usually don’t like vampires, or vampire movies. Well, except this one. To say it’s merely a vampire movie would be doing it quite the disservice though. Also, The Handmaiden remains his most erotic movie overall but this is definitely the runner-up on that front.

It’s a movie about abuse, physical and psychological. Return to the primal. And about religion, and faith, and giving back. But strangely enough, there is a melancholic and coming of age aspect to it too—vampire stories often are coming of age stories in one way or another as it can be compared to another form of puberty. And lastly, and most importantly, it’s a movie about power, which drives most of the central relationships.

Song Kang-ho… not much left to say about him. Most people who are remotely familiar with Korean cinema know he’s a legend, and so I have to sing his praises again here. He makes the movie work on a number of levels because of his nuanced performance, what an amazing actor.

But the revelation here absolutely has to be Kim Ok-bin who promptly runs away with the movie. Outright theft in plain sight!

I can already imagine casting agents watching this movie back then going like holy fuck, the range on this one. Stoic, vulnerable, badass, romantic, resolute, in despair, faking all of the above... name it. I was already familiar with her because of The Villainess, and while that was great, this is on another level. The sheer intensity in her gaze at times reminded me of Brigitte Lin, who’s had a much, much more prolific career.

It’s somewhat quite deliberately paced, which may or may not be your cup of tea overall. Watching the beginning after the ending, it does feel odd. This movie is truly a journey of some sort.

And I love it.

Onward to Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance. I don’t think one can watch them more outrageously out of order than I did, but whaddaya know...

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Another pretty good Park Chan-wook movie. No surprises here.

Started off a bit rough, the English parts were painful a bit, but by the time the ending came on, I had almost entirely forgotten about the bland early parts.

This is one unique story of friendship. It can be found in the unlikeliest of places indeed. You can always count on Park Chan-wook to deliver the heart-wrenching moments when it truly counts. He knows where his movie's goods are, and he goes all-in on them.

Song Kang-ho delivers, as do all the actors involved (at least, as long as they're speaking korean). I like how even though this is a mystery movie, it isn't the focus so much. The focus is on the dynamic akin to a "lovers on opposite camps" but with friendship instead, and it's effective. It's a nuanced piece done with respect for the characters and their relationships.

It also feels less like a Park Chan-wook movie than his other, highly-stylized work he would later direct. I must say I prefer the latter.

I would put it above Stoker so far, and under the rest. It did take a while to get going.

If a movie like this sits at the bottom of his filmography for me... damn, that's some consistency

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She's convinced she's a cyborg and runs on batteries, not food. What will it take to make her eat?

So basically, what if Park Chan-wook decided to try his hands on One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest... but without the incredible story developing throughout the runtime?

Not really my groove, this movie is just too weird and idiosyncratic, but I must admit that the ending was really sweet. It's mostly just a series of oddball events shining light on the setting and colorful characters until the inevitable happens.

I need to gush over Park Chan-wook's directing abilities, yet again. Amazing framing and cinematography as usual. Odd of him to make a romantic comedy, but don't take it to mean that this is a usual romcom, as it couldn't be further from the truth. He heavily injects his own style into it, a style I usually love but here only found serviceable.

By virtue of the quality of his filmography this is, as such, my least favorite film of his, but it's not a bad movie. It was decent. Well at least Stoker isn't at the bottom anymore.

I'll be eagerly waiting for his next movie!

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Aims for the stars, doesn't reach them, but a valiant effort nonetheless

Always count on the Koreans to make the most batshit crazy movies these days.

When laying out their space opera story, I suppose the question they asked themselves wasn't whether they could do what they envisioned, but instead, how they were gonna do it. Whether they had too much on their plate doesn't seem to have been brought up on the table at all. And somehow, I'd say it worked for me.

My theory is that they threw everything at the wall and hoped something would stick. The human parts did, at least. As did the set design/production design, which were great. Obviously this movie was inspired by American sci-fi movies. Nearly ripping off them, in fact, but since they added this unmistakable Korean touch as soon as the ship crew were brought into the narrative, we'll let it fly. Off the top of my head, I recognized elements of:

WALL-E
Elysium
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, and just Star Wars in general.
Firefly/Serenity
Guardians of the Galaxy

And add in The Wandering Earth into the pile, although that's not American.

You get all the crazy, shoddy special effects and endless display of ambition typical of Chinese mainland movies, only without the propaganda. What surprised me the most was that the special effects weren't so bad actually. A few cheap shots here and there sure, but there were many gorgeous effect shots throughout this movie, which was surprising considering its low budget. They managed to accomplish a lot with the resources they had. Also it's worth mentioning but I loved the film's multi-lingual aspect. I heard over 5 different languages spoken extensively in this movie, but it's fine because the characters have universal translators so they understand each other. It's purely there for flavor and worldbuilding, and because they could so they did, which I liked.

The wishful thinking behind the movie's ending was unintentionally hilarious though. Oh sweet summer child…

Speaking of child, the "Cute Kid With Superpowers" MacGuffin is starting to become a bit of a tired cliché.

As for the characters, look... wherever Kim Tae-ri goes, I follow. Firefly-style, drunk and down on her luck captain who's hella badass? Quite the change of pace from her role in The Handmaiden that's for sure. She doesn't look the part, AND gives a speech that essentially inspires the whole planet to fight against corporate overlords (who are headed by Richard Armitage?!) and, however cheesy that was, there's no way in hell she wouldn't win me over. Like nick atkinson on letterboxd said, she makes looking cool so effortless.

You know what, in today's climate, a more realistic take on the ending would have been to show the UTS citizens cheering at the mention of the villain's idea of blowing up this shithole of a planet. "Better them than me! The poor can go hang in the dirt for all I care…" Doesn't sound so far-fetched when you think about it. This movie's sense of morality is a bit too on-the-nose for it to be realistic or believable.

Lastly, the robot who wanted to become a woman was also a highlight for me.

Verdict: Fun and ambitious, albeit uneven. Lots of ideas meshed together. Tonally inconsistent and a tad too long. Aims for the stars, doesn't reach them, but a valiant effort nonetheless.

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The Jun Ji-hyun show

I'm hard to please on the love story front so that was great. So refreshing to get away from American movie tropes especially in the later parts of the story.

>>>> Wanna die?

Jun Ji-hyun is so dorky I love it. Her superstardom begins here and would seemingly continue until the end of times. Sure she's mostly a trash person but she's somehow still endearing because her humanity shows through. Also most guys would just bail out with this kind of behavior but he doesn't because he likes her, and that's relatable.

Great ending, great movie, great story, maybe not ethically the best of morals here but it shows something very real.

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[Director's Cut]

So many twists and turns, it's like the filmmakers watched MEMENTO and dialed it up to 11. I hear that maybe I shouldn't have watched that version first from some, but what's done is done.

How dare anyone try to murder Kim Seol-hyun though? That I can't forgive!
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Stunts - 80/100 | Surprisingly good stunts here, and quite a large number of them too.

Narrative - 70/100 | Terrific performance by lead actor Sol Kyung-gu, impressive from start to finish. Really that's one hell of a show he gave in this movie, by far the best part about it, in fact. The rest of the movie was a bit too convoluted for my tastes, especially the ending which introduces a few problems. Unreliable narrators can be a great tool but sometimes they're kind of annoying.

Fight Choreography - 70/100 | Not much typical choreography going on but the final fight is lengthy and brutal, somehow. Good action directing and stunt work, although this is far from an action movie so don't expect Hong Kong choreography here, it's just fighting for survival.

Enjoyment - 68/100 | There's grim and there's this. This movie is like an endless pit of despair. Goes a tad too long.

But South Korean thrillers are always a good choice because they frankly know how it's done.

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Romantic Demolition

Well that was a rollercoaster.

So first of all this movie certifies without a doubt that Jun Ji-hyun's hair is gorgeous and has virtually no equal. It has to be seen to be believed.

As for the story, well it would be hard to pinpoint the genre exactly. It seems to me like this movie tries to balance many different tones, tones that would make the sum of it something resembling a Romance/Drama/Comedy/Action movie (in order of importance according to yours truly).

And I loved that about it. It's not afraid to drastically change tone, and it does so to great effect. The movie does veer into excessive melodrama at one point but apart from that, it's wonderfully executed and the drama packs a wallop. Killer score. The central relationship works really well too.

Needless to say that Jun Ji-hyun knocks it out of the park as is tradition.

Credits to Tim on letterboxd for this expression, but it's indeed a worthy addition to the "Romantic Demolition" genre. Some whiplash to be expected.

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At some point it cuts randomly to a small motorized fish with a mic singing -- I WILL SURVIVE -- and I was just stuck watching the screen in utter disbelief that this thing actually exists, flapping its tail and whatnot.

And then it gets even better. I never thought in my life that I’d ever watch a South Korean movie ending on a Zhang Ziyi cameo flying around Crouching Tiger-style and fighting to the tune of—yes you guessed it—I WILL SURVIVE

Oh my god, YES

Kick-ass movie! And kinda trash at the same time.
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Stunts - 80/100 | When the guy drops Eun-jin at the beginning I physically cringed, especially since I fell this way once and had a concussion from it. It’s like a short blink and you’ll miss it stunt that nobody probably remembers, but it was the most impactful for me lmao

Narrative - 72/100 | What I like most about this movie is just how much the character of Eun-jin grows. There’s a deplorable attempted rape scene in this movie (played for laughs…) but apart from that I was engaged throughout. Might not be everyone’s cup of tea since nothing happens for a while with the plot but I thought it was an interesting character-driven story carried big time by Shin Eun-kyung’s central performance in her role of Eun-jin. Wonderful range of expressions, demeanor, and body language on this one. Oh and a very physical performance too.

Fight Choreography - 81/100 | Haven’t seen the third one yet but the fights in this sequel are a definite step up. I really liked how they just went all in on the wires and crazy stuff, I dunno I thought it fit pretty well with how the character is basically a legendary figure at this point. It was filmed and put together a lot better.

Enjoyment - 82/100 | You can feel the Hong Kong influences here, they’re everywhere, but with this lovely touch of South Korean out-of-place comedy that I very much appreciate as well. I love amnesia-fueled stories. It just brings so much to the table sometimes, as evidenced by how much I enjoyed this, however nonsensical it was at times.

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