UNREAL, PATHETIC AND SPECTACULAR

Korean historical war movies tend to overact with pathetic patriotism and the story about one of the greatest naval victories in Second war with Japan in late 16^th century is one of those scripts.

Also, entire concept and strategy described will stay pretty much doubtful when it comes to the level of reality. Acting will be solid, led by reliable Choi Min-shik, while the show will be stolen by some really innovative action sequences and quality CGI.

„The Admiral” is a true spectacle, but also a one huge exaggeration of historical facts.

THE ADMIRAL – 4/10

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KOREAN „TWILIGHT”

Comedy about the pair of vampires is a dangerous path for every movie industry, except the Korean. Especially when its being driven by Chan-wook Park („Vengeance” trilogy) and when center of the story is built around a young minister.

„Thirst” will dance between drama, comedy and some serious horror from the beginning to the very end. Along that way, the rhythm will be pretty unstable, as well as the sharpness of its satirical blade, making this entire production somewhat non consistent.

„Thirst” is the very first attempt in the world to make vampire genre serious, although only partially successful.

THIRST – 5/10

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ENTIRE GENRE REVAMPED

I thought that zombie horror subgenre was officially dead and I was wrong. I was wrong because Koreans hadn't done it before, at least not in the feature film format.

„Train to Busan” is basically an adapted manga, placed in a bullet train from Seoul to Busan, making it a classic situation thriller. The retarded basic storyline is there, as well as the corny dialogues and cliche characters, but so is the trademark Korean originality when it comes to intellectual subplots and extraordinary micro-action sequences. All of this will be spiced up with minimum CGI and a truly powerful, altough pathetic ending.

„Train to Busan” is probably the most original zombie horror ever filmed.

TRAIN TO BUSAN – 7/10

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TOO STRAIGHTFORWARD

Korean civil war carried on tooking casualties long after it officialy ended, through witch hunts on both sides of the Parallel. Southern Korea pursued real and fictional communist activitists, often resulting in  utter destruction of the lives being prosecuted without any standard procedure.

„The Attorney” follows the path of transformation of a small town solicitor that decides to exchange safe revenues with some social action and justice. Along that way, nothing new will be seen and court scenes and performances will be just too overdone.

„The Attorney” deals with a significant subject in a somewhat non-perusasive way.

THE ATTORNEY – 4/10

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UNDEVELOPED

Overlapping of stories and depicting severe social disturbances are the two key pillars of Korean movie screenwriting, but that does not mean that every single flick with these subjects is the a good flick. On the contrary.

„Poetry” starts very ambitiously, guiding the elder lady through her loneliness and undisputable desire to help her criminal grandson, but fails to deliver a meaningful and completed package.

„Poetry” makers bited much more than they could chew.

POETRY – 3/10

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ARTIFICIALLY SWEETENED

Korean cinematography tends to deal intensively with the Korean war and its consequences, and so did the screenwriters of „Ode to my father”. However, most of the film makers also potentiate the pathetic and semi-realistic way of depicting the given subject.

Not to be misunderstood, there are some truly disturbing scenes in this war drama, especially the opening one, but the rest of this voyage through time will be just plain exaggerating.

„Ode to my father” is one of those war dramas that can be easily circumvented even if you are the genre lover.

ODE TO MY FATHER - 3/10

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AS TACKY AS IT GETS

The one thing being more yucky than the romantic drama is the omnibus romantic drama.

This collection of stories processes in „Sad movie” is just so pathetic that it hurts. Every imaginable cliche subplot will be presented, wishing you never started watching this corniest Korean romantic drama ever.

Even by US standards, „Sad movie” is just too much.

SAD MOVIE - 2/10

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PLAIN BAD UNTIL THE VERY END

Mixing drama and comedy is always a dangerous path, especially when the movie is coming from a Asian cinematography, that tend to overact everything.  In most of the cases, the result will be obliteration of every ounce of quality, and one of those flicks is the „Miracle in Cell No.7”.

Tackling the legal fight of the little girl to prove her mentally challenged father innocent of child murder will stay in between the insufficient seriousness and constrained humor almost through the entire course of the movie. However, the closure and the last couple of scenes will elevate this strange flick a little bit, showing just a crumb of the non exploited potential it beared.

„Miracle in Cell No.7” will grant you some satisfaction if you choose to watch 'till the end, but not much of it.

MIRACLE IN CELL No.7 - 4/10

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TOUR DE FORCE

Let me be clear at the very beginning: I don't like musicals. I hate them. I hate them so much that I can not finish even the  ones that raid havoc on box-offices („Moulin Rouge!”, „Sweeney Todd”).

But, if you offer me a Korean musical, a Korean musical about female inmates that raise a baby inside the prison that must be put to adoption when it reaches 18 months, then, and only then, you have my undivided attention.

Few things in life are less painful than the separation of parents and their children. „Harmony” rides on that wave pretty skillfully, using the musical engine only to lighten up the difficult subject. The inmates attempt to form the prison choir is here in the back plan and that helps to succesfully separate musical from real life drama.

„Harmony” is more than a musical. It's an excellent drama based on a great concept.

HARMONY - 8/10

FOTO: asianwiki.com

HEARTWRENCHING

When it comes to Korean cinematography it's all about the concept. And the concept for the „Oasis” is just so compelling that it will burn your heart out.

Troubled ex-convict (Kyung-gu Sol) continues his path of selfdestruction after the release from prison, but will be seriously questioned to change his ways upon stumbling on a deserted and severely physically challenged girl (magnificent So-ri Moon). The odd couple will fall for each other, but continue to run into a wall of misjudgements and prejudices that culminate at the very end of the movie. The outcome of the story is done in the hardcore Asian traditional way, leaving the average viewer hanging somewhere in between the utter enthusiasm and bitter dissapointment.

„Oasis” is everything but your average love story and a great Asian drama.

OASIS - 7/10

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WELL ACTED, BUT SLIGHTLY NAIVE

Koreans are the godfathers of the modern day thriller and the plots they conceive are far more original than the ones being created in Hollywood and the rest of the world. They also tend to intertwine the basic crime plot with some deeply disturbing family relationships, like the one between a mother and her mentally challenged son.

„Mother” will let you see what a mother is capable of doing when it comes to protecting her son that has been accused of rape and murder. Female lead (Hye Ja-Kim) is so good that she will irritate you all the way to the unthinkable dillemas and twists at the very end. However, the basic plot stays rather thin, downsizing the acting accomplishments.

„Mother” is „just” a solid thriller with a great female lead performance.

MOTHER - 5/10

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FIRST ONE OF ITS KIND

Many Western box office hits were in fact copy-paste reamkes of the Asian movies, and „The Lake House” is no exception. The concept of letter writing and falling in love between two people that shared the same house and magical mailbox in a different time is as corny as it gets, but offers some interesting potentials.

As it is always, the Korean original is more realistic and brutal, but somehow overacted. In the end, the entire subject begins to wear down, with the viewer wishing it should end as quickly as possible.

„Il Mare” is the original concept and it is its biggest advantage. And the only one as well.

IL MARE - 4/10

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MODERN LIFE PARADOX

Depicting total opposites and making them exchange their places is always fun to watch and has some great potentials for developing. When a debt crushed business man ends up his suicide attempt stranded on a deserted river island in the middle of the city, entire modern way of life will be ridiculed in „Castaway on the Moon”. When a sociopathic and agoraphobic girl establishs contact with him, the comedy and amusement will kick in.

Sadly, the script tends to deflate in its bottom half, not giving us the ending it deserves.

„Castaway on the Moon” is a solid piece of criticism with some unexploited potentials.

CASTAWAY ON THE MOON - 5/10

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SOLID BOXING FLICK

Boxing scripts are not very creative, so isn't the parallel story about the troubled young inmate with a complicated family situation (Seung-bum Ryoo)  and the worn down ex-Olympic medalists drowning in debts (Choi Min-Shik).

„Crying fist” won't deviate much from its basic pattern about redemption through comeback and commitment, but will do it a decent and non too pathetic way. Acting is solid, and so are the fighting scenes.

If you are into boxing movies, you should watch „Crying fist”. If not, you can watch it also.

CRYING FIST - 5/10

FOTO: english.triptokorea.com

STABS FROM BEHIND

There are those particular movies that begin slowly, develop rather awkwardly but manage to make it up at the very end with some great twist or just a detail.

Story about human trafficking and a terminally ill Failan (Cecillia Cheung) that accepts hard labour in exchange for a staged marriage to a small time criminal Kang-Jae (everlasting Choi Min-Shik) will make you bored and wishing you never decided to watch it until the very last fifteen minutes of the movie that climaxes in a painful and gory final scene with the video tape.

„Failan” will reward your patience if you choose to watch it all the way.

FAILAN - 6/10

FOTO: hancinema.net

A TOUGH ONE

Now, this is a true drama!

Real life story about family abuse, aggression and its consequences.

Well motivated, nicely acted (unknown Hwan Lee), „Breathless” stuns the viewer with its brutality, consistency and overall sense that these things could've happened to each and everyone of us. Even the slightly overacted and non convincing  female lead (Kkobi Kim) doesn't bother the viewer as he/she is sucked in the story at the very beginning.

„Breathless” is a true genre representative and a really harsh Korean indie.

BREATHLESS - 6/10

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NOTHING SPECIAL

Alzheimer's succumbing a very young woman is something that we already saw recently, especially in the Western cinematographies (e.g. „Still Alice”) Although with a strong potential for brutal and heartwrenching story, „A moment to remember” just fails to deliver a convincing and non-pathetic result.

Script revolves on a uneven pace, with major plots and subplots happening out of the blue and without proper preparation and motivation.

„A moment to remember” falls behind its Western contemporaries significantly.

A MOMENT TO REMEMBER - 3/10

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PLAIN PATHETIC

Bad guy running the affairs for mafia. Good guy filming him. An innocent girl in between those two. All of them being high school friends. Harsh surruondings and relationships all the way.

A well lit path leads „A dirty carnival” from the beginning to the end, not surprising the viewer despite some great potentials of the main concept. It is a well known path and a pathetic one as well.

„A dirty carnival” should've been a much stronger and brutal movie than it is.

A DIRTY CARNIVAL - 3/10

FOTO: asianwiki.com

EXAGGERATED

We all had this kind of stories in our high schools. Some good guys, some bad guys and some of the girls in between those opposites.

„Once upon a time in high school” is a traditional teenage movie, with some exaggerated elements that come with Korean film makers as a default. It won't give you anything new and you will know what will happen next from the first moment on.

If you are into teenage movies, watch „Once upon a time in a high school”. If you're not, don't.

ONCE UPON A TIME IN HIGH SCHOOL: THE SPIRIT OF JEET KUNE DO – 3/10

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KOREAN TACKY ROMANCE

„The Classic” has all the major elements of a tear sobbing romantic drama. Time overlapping, love letters from the past, war and tragedy looming upon a young couple in love, etc.

Maybe that will be enough for an average lover of the genre, but not for me. For me, it's just plain boring, corny and tacky all the way to the very end.

„The Classic” will be loved by housewives in their mid fifties who love to read paperback novels on a summer vaction and not many more.

THE CLASSIC - 4/10

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