Review
Anyone after a dose of disaster cinema whose appetite wasn’t filled by Roland Emmerich’s 2012 or Korea’s recent HAEUNDAE (a.k.a. TIDAL WAVE) could do a lot worse than take a look at SINKING OF JAPAN. Based on a novel (and a subsequent 1973 film based on that book) this recent remake makes the most of it’s incredible special effects and hits every single one of the ‘disaster movie’ beats that we’ve come to expect.
Echoing just about every other natural disaster film ever made, SINKING OF JAPAN features a fairly ludicrous plot – that Japan itself will disappear into the ocean within a year – that nonetheless translates to a fairly chilling prospect. Of course, there’s a scientist who forsees these terrible events – and, of course, he’s totally ignored. Then – unsurprisingly – it all starts to go pear-shaped and it is down to our previously ignored scientist to come up with one hell of a crazy plan that just-might-work in order to save the day. And does he save it? Well, I won’t reveal anything here, but by the time we get to the end of the film its less a case of ’saving Japan’ than saving ‘what’s left’ of Japan. Throughout SINKING OF JAPAN the situation gets steadily worse – which is really a big excuse to show us its amazing CGI money shots and wipe out dozens of people at a time.
With some of the most convincing and large scale destruction seen in a disaster film  – gone are the days of tiny models being blown up and flooded – SINKING OF JAPAN must have a body count verging on the thousands. People are blown up, burnt, drowned and squashed left right and centre in shiny CGI glory as SINKING OF JAPAN lives up to its promises of wholesale destruction. So this is well and good as long as the rest of the story matches, right?
Well, that’s where there are a few problems…

Following the usual pattern for these flicks, SINKING OF JAPAN gives us a flashy opening scene (and a sign of things to come) before heading into the lives of our three main leads. There’s the usual job and relationship issues, forged friendships, misunderstood scientific ideas and no other shortage of attempts to lure us in and feel for both the people and the danger of the situation. It’s the area of the film which fails though, as twenty minutes in you’re waiting for the first bout of destruction and care very little about any of the characters. Luckily the action is intercut throughout the two hour plus running time, so there’s no lengthy wait for the action if you fail to be lulled into the dramatic elements of the plot. For some reason SINKING OF JAPAN never connects dramatically – and even the impressive scenes of destruction can appear so big that they feel distanced – and there’s no humour or subplots to alleviate the standardised plot. There’s bonus points for the scenes where politicians are seen discussing the repercussions of the situation – which include a very well written and acted moment where consideration is given to just allowing the country to disappear into the ocean and sending its people with it – but it’s largely pedestrian.

SINKING OF JAPAN is worth seeking out if you’re happy going with something that’s visually strong but with very little substance. It’s no worse that your average disaster flick in terms of plot – and the acting is decent enough – but as the CGI is so impressive it misses out on the hokey effects associated with these types of films and leaves you expecting something more strongly written. The epic special effects are certainly worth checking out, so it’s just a shame that there’s no connection to the people involved and so it ultimately feels too distant.

Region 2 DVD Review
Released by MVM in the UK, SINKING OF JAPAN gets a decent presentation with a nice sharp picture making the most of all of those special effects, a choice of a stereo soundtrack or a 5.1 mix. There’s no complaints about the subtitles – which are excellent – but for anyone hoping for a bit of ‘behind the scenes’ information to see if they really did destroy half of Japan for the sake of some visually impressive cinema, sadly the screener copy I received contained no special features at all – not even a trailer – so you’re buying this for the film only…

Review

Director Kim Ji-woon follows up his successful debut THE QUIET FAMILY with the unlikely tale of a man finding self-worth and confidence through wrestling. Although the central concept is ripe for plenty of laughs and jokes – and like THE QUIET FAMILY the humour ranges from very broad and slapstick to the more dry and ironic – Ji-woons script also perfectly merges these with the story of a man struggling to come to terms with the direction of his life. Addressing the workplace, the home and one mans dreams through a sense of self found in an unlikely pastime, Song Kang-ho (in his first starring role) is exceptional as Dae-ho and manages to tie both the dramatic elements – which are surprisingly strong – with the constant humour.

While the subject of wrestling occupies a large portion of THE FOUL KING’s running time, it’s a film that is far from brimming with scenes of the sport (or entertainment, whichever way you look at it). The majority of the ‘wrestling scenes’ are saved for a lengthy climactic match, with the rest of the film peppering moments in the ring (real and imagined) with scenes that illustrate Dae-ho’s struggle, determination and commitment to his new interest. In other words, Dae-ho gets hurt alot. This is always counterbalanced with moments from the rest of his life – how he deals with the people around him and how his attitude changes. It’s a clever balancing act, and Kim Ji-woon sneakily hides a fairly conventional drama behind the scenes of the ‘wrestling comedy’ selling point.

One element of surprise in THE FOUL KING regarding Song Kang-ho’s Dae-ho is just how physical his performance is. Although his acting chops have been well and truly proven since THE FOUL KING (although on its release this was the film the made him a bonafide star and proved the he was more than just a great comedy actor), the commitment to the character here is impressive as he performs his own stunts – something which undoubtedly adds to the energy of the film. The rest of the cast is a great line-up, with plenty of recognisable faces such as Park Sang-myun (MY WIFE IS A GANGSTER) as a fellow wrestler and training partner, Song Young-chang as Dae-ho’s bullying boss, Jang Jin-young (SORUM) and the excellent Kim Soo-ro (VAMPIRE COP RICKY) as wrestler Yu Bee-ho, as well as a handful of blink-and-you’ll-miss-them cameos.

THE FOUL KING might sell itself as a wrestling comedy, but first and foremost it’s a coming of age film. Dae-ho’s uneasy journey to becoming the kind of man who believes in and has confidence in himself is all the more striking because Kim Ji-woon’s script takes some cartoonish ideas and gives them a sense of reality. Firstly, Dae-ho himself is a bit of an idiot. It’s to the credit of Song Kang-ho’s performance that he’s as likeable as he is, as he largely veers from being a wet blanket to a misguided  idiot, somewhere along the line engaging with the excitement of life that he usually saves for his daydreams. There’s a similarly broad approach to the supporting characters – they appear larger than life before becoming honed in on them and being given some depth.Dae-ho’s bully boss is a good example: wrestling his employee in the toilets in order to physically assert his position of power, he’s a nasty piece of work. But he’s also well written and well acted so as not to remove the character from the real world – he’s a recognisable type. Just enough weight is also given to the rest of the supporting roles to keep the film from slipping into out and out comedy and keeping the dramatic element intact which makes the finale – which inevitably represents everything that Dae-ho has been pushing himself to achieve – all the more rewarding.

A massive smash on its domestic release, THE FOUL KING is nothing but likeable. With a central performance from Song Kang-ho that blends the comedy and drama – and with a sharp sense of the irony that ties the two together – its a rewarding film that dips just a little deeper than standard popcorn entertainment simply by having well drawn characters and more than just a simplistic approach to a man struggling to find his place in the modern world. Oh, and it’s also a great lesson in why you should be very careful with your ’stunt’ forks…

Review

CHAW is a monster movie with a bloody great boar at the centre of it. While comparisons with the relatively recent blockbuster THE HOST are inevitable, CHAW plays itself almost completely for laughs with an oddball sense of humour and approach that brings the likes of the Kevin Bacon film TREMORS to mind. It’s a tone that may well grate with viewers expecting the full on horror experience that the early Korean trailer for the film suggested, but its one that succeeds in charming you over and overlook just how predictable and straightforward the whole thing is.

With a clunky opening tone that takes a few minutes to settle, CHAW soon gets into its swing as it introduces an unlikely bunch of characters and sub-plots. Central to this is Officer Kim (played by Eom Tae-wong) the city policeman who has been transferred to the country, taking with him his pregnant wife and his slightly mad mother. Welcoming him with not-exactly-open-arms is the villages police force and officials, as well as pilfering City Detective Shin (Park Hyeok-gweon) and Cheon Il-man (Jang Hang-seon) – Grandfather to one of the victims and a retired hunter who suspects that the beast is a bigger problem than anyone realises. Then there’s Baek (Yoon Je-moon) – the big game hunter brought in to take care of the beast. This motley crew argue at every opportunity until they inevitably need to find it in themselves to work together to deal with the monster.

The first half of CHAW is concerned with the inhabitants of Sameri – a village that prides itself on its lack of crime – and there’s only ever the briefest of sightings of the creature that is terrorising the village, however from the halfway mark there’s an animal attack that gives us the mad monster in all of its impressive CGI glory – and some of its poorer CGI glory too. The special effects of CHAW range from pretty good to the down-right poor, but given the tongue-in-cheek nature of the film some of the more rawer effects are more than forgiveable. In fact – as is often the case – when the CGI is half decent it still feels a little flat, and so it is the occasional use of practical effects that, although laughable, have their own cheesy charm.

The second half of the film is more concerned with actively hunting the creature – as well as providing unnecessary explanations for the origins of the creature. This largely mumbled waffle about mixing breeds of pigs and experimentation – it’s totally unnecessary and adds nothing to CHAW. All we need to know is that there’s a big hairy pig eating humans and that someone needs to stop it. Luckily the reasoning is left behind fairly swiftly and we’re given a speedy second half that resembles a chase film. It’s less fun than the first half as much of the humour is left behind, and ultimately the CGI effects start to come into play more but the pace is quick and – a couple of gaping plot-holes aside – CHAW races to its conclusion with gusto and a sense of fun.

While CHAW takes a familiar monster movie formula and utilises it predictably (think of JAWS and you’ve got all of the plot beats), there’s also a few decidedly oddball moments that liven things up. For starters there’s a mad cackling woman (Go Seo-heui) whose sole inclusion seems to be to scare the crap out of everyone who is on the search for the giant boar, as well as some brief quirky storytelling visuals (such as images of the teams descendants cheekily reflecting on their own character) and one or two other fun moments, including hunter Baek having a conversation with his dog. Director Shin Jung-won is also well aware that he’s on well-trodden territory and gleefully references JAWS and JURASSIC PARK as well as what could well be nods to the likes of THE HOST.

CHAW is a whole lot of fun that doesn’t ask to be taken seriously. While THE HOST cleverly played itself out as a family drama with a monster in it, CHAW is primarily a monster film with very little else. If the prospect of a man-eating giant boar terrorising a village gets you excited (and who wouldn’t like that idea?) then it’s worth a look. With only the occasional flag in pace working against it, it’s pure popcorn nonsense and ultimately forgettable – but it’s hard not to be swept up in its playful tone.

Review

Released in 1999 – the watershed year for local Korean cinema which, along with the likes of SHIRI, ATTACK THE GAS STATION and NOWHERE TO HIDE, signalled the start of what would become referred to by many as the ‘New Wave’ – TELL ME SOMETHING is an atmospheric police procedural serial killer story with obvious Hollywood influences that include the likes of SE7EN and BASIC INSTINCT.

The first thing that strikes you about TELL ME SOMETHING is that it is quietly confident filmmaking. With a noticeable polish to the cinematography and performances, director Chang Yoon-hyung is in no hurry to run through the story or to support its slow pace with any unnecessary ’shocks’. This is both to the credit and to the detriment of the film which has in turn some rewardingly careful scenes as well as some badly judged flagging in its pace. What works best about the film is when the politics and procedures of the police department are at the forefront, and it’s when it tries to take a step towards its characters – a largely flimsy bunch of standard issue police, victims and suspects that it falls flat. That’s not to say that TELL ME SOMETHING has a bad bunch of actors at its core, because it doesn’t. Han Suk-kyu makes good use of his role as the Detective down on his luck and with a difficult case to handle. From the outset Cho is never a clean-cut hero as his murky past suggests some bribery, and this suggests that TELL ME SOMETHING is going to be cleverer than a simple black and white tale. It’s to the writers credit that they never let us know whether the allegations directed at Cho are warranted or not, even if the film fails to explore the grey areas that it suggests in the outset. Elsewhere Shim Eun-ha is fine but chooses to play the role aloof an understandable choice but one that makes drops in pace even more damaging.
Marketed largely as an ‘extreme’ flick, TELL ME SOMETHING will probably disappoint anyone looking for stacks of blood and gore. The filmmakers choose to go for atmosphere over gruesomeness although there are a handful of very bloody scenes – including a nightmare journey in a lift – that are all the more powerful for being isolated. The image of a scalpel and an armpit in the opening credit sequence of the film is pretty much unsettling enough to set the darkest of tones for the entire duration, and there’s another small piece of information regarding this scene – which I won’t reveal here – that cements that nastiness.

Where TELL ME SOMETHING falls flat – and the resulting outcome being a film that feels merely average and neither clever or complex – is in the story. It’s never really interesting enough so that while some atmospheric scenes are enough to keep you interested, the backbone of the whole thing is pretty unconvincing. TELL ME SOMETHING opts for a few false moves in order to try to throw you off of its main plot device, but when the final credits start to roll it becomes obvious that, while committed,  the twists and turns themselves haven’t really been too inspired and don’t particularly make sense. There’s also little to show for them except plot-holes – and we’ve also seen them all before.
It’s certainly an average film but it’s also difficult to be too critical of a film like TELL ME SOMETHING because it confidently works through its serial killer investigation and knows exactly where it’s headed, misguided or otherwise. It’s very much weakened as it’s a ‘police thriller’ made under the guise of a ’serial killer shocker’ and so never really feels as direct as it should be. Maybe it was the intention of the filmmakers to side-step expectations, but with five scriptwriters credited the nagging suspicion is that the central concept was maybe spread a little too thinly to try to cover ground covered by the dramas, thrillers and horrors that it touches on rather than digging in to its characters and plot and that they were a little too confident in their over-elaborate finale.

Review
A decidedly old school horror slasher which managed to stand out on it’s release not only because of the exclusion of even one long-haired ghost, but also in it’s unflinching brutality, TO  SIR, WITH LOVE (released as BLOODY REUNION in the U.S. and also known as TEACHER’S MERCY) is a horror film with a capital ‘H’ as it follows through with the blood and guts that its story promises.

With a fairly typical plot – a group of people are reunited only to reveal that they have some secrets between them, largely resulting in a lot of repressed anger and then blood – TO SIR, WITH LOVE is more thoughtful than your average slasher film as it takes the time to establish just who its main characters are and the reasons why everything goes a bit messy for them. While it’s typical to create your characterisation with broad strokes with these types of films, TO SIR, WITH LOVE develops just enough depth so that each of the ex-students are recognisable in their own right as well as giving them each more than enough of their own motives to possibly be the person behind the dead bodies that start dropping. It’s a standard hack-and-slash with regards to finding reasons to separate individuals away from the rest of the group so that they can be killed, but with a few little hooks to keep it more interesting. The first of these is that the story is told in one large flashback – we know from the outset just who has survived these terrible events because the film opens with the police interviewing a survivor in the hospital. Secondly, there’s the multitude of reasons that the students have to be pissed off with both their teacher and each other. As their stories come to light it becomes obvious that anyone here could be the killer, and the inevitable ‘reveal’ of their frustration works in both setting each of them up as a possible killer but also in creating a sense that they’re a victim regardless, that they’re not just a victim if they fall under a crazed killers knife. So they’ve not just lightweight slasher-fodder. Just.

As much as TO SIR, WITH LOVE is a slasher flick it is also an examination of victimisation – each and every person is revealed to in some way to perceive themselves as a victim,and their reasons for doing so are vary from physical illness to physical or mental bullying. Or maybe a lack of love. There’s lots of reasons. By the time the killings begin TO SIR, WITH LOVE suggests that identifying yourself as a victim can be as damaging as the literal taking of the lives themselves. It’s certainly an interesting way to approach the material, but the approach is kept within the boundaries of the genre and doesn’t become high-concept – which means that everything is kept moving fairly swiftly and the whole thing can be viewed as a straightforward horror flick if those ideas don’t grab you.

There’s a decent little cast who inhabit TO SIR, WITH LOVE. Schoolteacher Ms. Park is played by Oh Mi-hee who manges to give a fairly subtle performance as the schoolteacher who may not have been the fine example that she thought she was. It’s an interesting performance and to the credit of the filmmakers they rely on the actress to flesh out the performance with a few looks pauses rather than spell out what is going on in her head. It works well. The rest of the cast – the students – also manage for the most part to pull a little more out of their roles than would usually be expected, recognisable as they each meet their demise rather than largely characterless ideas. Seo Yeong-hee (seen recently in THE CHASER), Lee Ji-hyeon (HOLIDAY), Park Hyo-joon (A DIRTY CARNIVAL), Lee Dong-gyoo, Jang Seong-woon  and Yoo Seol-ah (SSUNDAY SEOUL) make up the students and there’s not a duff performance between, them although for a few of them it’s a lightweight role. As some of the characters reveal themselves to be thoroughly unlikeable you get the sense that director Im Dae-woong is actively tempting you to dislike them, that as a viewer if we’re encouraged to be excited at the prospect of their grisly demise then we’re victimising them as much as anyone else on screen. Which is quite an interesting idea, although ultimately this still conforms to the slasher norm.

Themes aside, TO SIR, WITH LOVE is a pretty efficient little film. There’s few of those horribly redundant ‘fake’ scares that often plague slashers, and the killings are nasty enough to make you sit up and take notice. There’s some very effective special effects too – including one particularly memorable set up showing you exactly how not to use razor blades. The conclusion of the film is also fairly ballsy and will probably divide viewers between those who like their films to end with it all spelt out to them and those who prefer things to be a little greyer. If there’s criticism to level at the film it’s in some of the obvious plot holes which are there if you stop to think about them too long – one sub-plot seems to just be used for a red herring but results in a character going missing from proceedings without explanation, which is just messy. And not in a ‘blood splattering up the wall’ kind of messy, but in a ‘oh, we should have thought that one through better’ kind of messy.

All things considered TO SIR, WITH LOVE is worth picking up. With a few flaws that prevent it from having as much impact as it could have (those plot points) it has it’s fair share of memorable death scenes, and the image of Oh Mi-hee as Ms. Park wondering where she went wrong makes it all the more worthwhile.

The directorial debut for Kim Ji-woon, THE QUIET FAMILY is possibly the least known of his films in the West, however this black comedy was a hit on it’s release in Korea and was remade by Takashi Miike into THE HAPPINESS OF THE KATAKURIS – a film that might be more widely known by the average western film fan. While HAPPINESS took the backbone of Kim Ji-woon’s flick, Miike also injected all sorts of bizarreness into proceedings, including animation and full blown musical sequences. In comparison THE QUIET FAMILY seems a lot more reserved, but once it gets into it’s swing it becomes clear that THE QUIET FAMILY has all sorts of its own cleverness – its a playful comedy that carefully walks the line between drama, horror and fully blown farce.

THE QUIET FAMILY starts gently – although slickly – enough with its hip-hop opening credits and gentle panning around the family hotel before focusing down on Go Ho-kyung as Min-na, the youngest daughter in the Kang family. These few minutes alone give us a clue as to the style of film that Kim Ji-woon will give us – and indeed has continued to give us throughout his career – as he demonstrates a sharp knack for showcasing technical abilities within his films (cinematography and editing are fantastic and razor sharp) along with an acute awareness of space (the house is as much a character as any of the family within the film, as are the surrounding mountainous areas) – and this is even before we meet the family. As sharp as the script for THE QUIET FAMILY is (and it’s tightly plotted and evenly filled with all sorts of ironic, clever and even not-so clever humour) it’s the casting that really compliments everything that has been done right behind the camera. Alongside Go Ho-kyung, the rest of the family consist of Park In-hwan and Na Mun-hee as Mr and Mrs Kang, Lee Yun-seong as the eldest daughter Mi-su, Song Kang-ho as their older brother Yeong-min and Choi Min-sik as bumbling uncle Chang-ku. That’s one hell of a cast right there.

Alongside the dark story (of which I won’t go into details because part of the fun of THE QUIET FAMILY is the twists and turns that fall upon this unlucky lot), there’s a lot of laughs. If dead bodies and family tension don’t sound like a comedy goldmine, then it highlights how well the script is constructed that there’s always something funny about what is happening, even while it may be simultaneously threatening or nasty. All too many of these types of films struggle with the comedy / horror balance and often fall into the pit of trying to push the horror at the expense of the comedy for the second half of the film in order to reach a conclusion. THE QUIET FAMILY makes none of these mistakes and actually manages to push the comedy quota as the plot gets murkier and murkier.

Song Kang-ho (looking very young, yet this was made just two years before his authoritative performance in the amazing J.S.A.) gets some excellent, and the most slapstick, of the comedy scenes – not to mention a fight scene that, well, could go better for him. Alongside him is Choi Min-sik who gets to play a slightly simple and bumbling uncle (OLDBOY this is not!) and the two provide the broadest comedy for the film – and manage to get pretty broad – but never feel like they may topple it over into the plain daft. Kim Ji-woon somehow manages to play the rest of the cast and plot pretty straight as the more bizarre the comedy elements evolve with the increasingly dark plot structure is. With several sub-plots working together the QUIET FAMILY is never too clever but instead keeps on pushing and nudging its way towards an inevitable conclusion. What this conclusion is likely to be is never clear until we finally get there  and although it seems to be a bone of contention for some viewers it absolutely fits with the rest of the film.

While Song Kang-ho and Choi Min-sik get some of the wider comedy in the film, its fairly safe to say that at the core of the piece it’s Park In-hwan and Na Mun-hee as the mother and father of the family that anchor the story. Increasingly willing to do whatever is necessary to keep the family together and make a success of their business, they both play the whole thing completely straight – and Na Mun-hee in particular gets to wring some poignant laughs out of the increasingly uncomfortable situation..

The rest of the cast – Go Ho-kyung and Lee Yun-seong as the argumentative sisters are strong although get less to do than everyone else, and there’s an enjoyable appearance from Jeong Woong-in who plays a visiting developer who stays at the lodge and shows more than a casual interest in Mi-su.

If there’s any complaints directed toward THE QUIET FAMILY, they can only be that the clever plot, comedy and drama don’t allow for too much in the way of characterisation. The family largely remains the same even as all sorts of bad luck falls on them. While the intention may be to show the bond of this family unit in the face of large obstacles (but who argue over the small things) individually they’re underdeveloped, almost as if they’re unaware of the bigger picture. This is referenced at least once – Yeong-min is congratulated in his speed of digging holes – but a little more would have been welcome. Still, this is a small criticism in what never aspires to be a character piece but an ensemble black comedy.

It won’t be to everyone’s tastes, but THE QUIET FAMILY really is a minor classic. Mixing laugh out loud moments with a very dark plot, it’s slick and surprisingly involving with great performances from its cast who make the most of its beautifully crafted script.

Review
Aaah, so there’s a new angle for the, now familiar, story of Northern and Southern Korean soldiers ‘forced to work together and find common ground’ as we take on a time-travel twist. In HEAVEN’S SOLDIERS the North and South are thrown into a pre-civil war time period against a common enemy (Japanese invaders) and given a hero that both sides can duly celebrate – a man called Lee Soon-shin. Lee is a well-known General in Korean history (within Korea this is, outside of Korea the name is probably not widely known) as a figurehead who was instrumental in defeating a Japanese invasion twenty years later than the time period in which the film is set. The history books portray Lee as a strict military man with incredible tactical and weaponry skills. HEAVEN’S SOLDIERS plays with this reputation, giving us a man who is a petty thief with little interest in the military (having failed the military exam) and with few other skills. While much of these jokes may be lost on an audience unfamiliar with the historical figure, the spirit of fun-poking is certainly recognisable and one of HEAVEN’S SOLDIERS’ strengths is in the portrayal of the highly revered man played against the soldiers own expectations.

Of course, the soldiers soon decide that they should intervene in history themselves and try to help Lee reach his potential, but Lee is largely used as a figurehead for the narrative rather than the drive. It’s probably this lack of leadership from the character that lets the script down as it’s pacing is too loosely paced. After a slick opening, the middle section of the film flags as it flits with some North / South drama (watch in surprise as the usual distrust slowly turns to quiet respect) and some broad humour (which works better than the drama) before tightening up again for the last half an hour of the film. HEAVEN’S SOLDIERS is one part WELCOME TO DONGMAKGOL and one part G.I. SAMURAI (the Sonny Chiba flick) without managing to find the pace or the heart of either. Where WELCOME TO DONGMAKGOL manages to show how its soldiers grow together, HEAVEN’S SOLDIERS has characters that are too undefined and underdeveloped for us to follow this same progression. In fact, when the soldiers inevitably unite towards the end of the film (it’s not a spoiler, you know this will happen from the opening credits!), narratively it’s quite a shock as they’ve shown little interest in each other and certainly little respect up until this point.

Director and writer Min Joon-ki certainly sets up an interesting premise with HEAVEN’S SOLDIERS and he’s not short of ideas. Aware of the modern-day comparisons and ironies of the arguments of the soldiers (reflecting political ideologies that are revealed to maybe be fuzzy but not entirely incompatible) as well as wanting to deliver on the action front, HEAVEN’S SOLDIERS is a worthy effort that falls short largely on it’s script.

If HEAVEN’S SOLDIERS has a saving grace then it’s in the humour. The character of Lee Soon-shin gives Park Joong-hoon a rare opportunity to deadpan his way through some fairly obvious but likeable comedy, and I’m sure this works doubly well for audiences more familiar with the character. The rest of the cast (which includes Hwang Jeong-min, Kim Byeong-chun, Kim Ji-hyeon and Kim Seung-cheol) are fine but not really given any opportunity to shine as there’s little definition between them. Other than the obvious ‘North soldier’ and ‘South soldier’ characterisation they’re interchangeable, and even the sole female character is given little to do but reel off some plot exposition in order for the film to ‘explain’ the time-travel element.

As a popcorn flick HEAVEN’S SOLDIERS functions well, if only average. It is, of course, always fun to see a mix of ideas and images and having modern day soldiers fighting against 16th Century armies is a pretty good one. However, given the opportunities afforded by the story-line HEAVEN’S SOLDIERS ultimately plays everything too safe, leaving it too underdeveloped and with the comedy and drama aspects not really hanging well together. The middle section of the film is where it suffers the most – becoming little more than a series of sketches – but a strong finale goes a good way to help make the whole affair mindlessly enjoyable.

Review

A short, sharp slick horror flick that makes only a little sense, SOMEONE BEHIND YOU almost stands out from a glut of average horror efforts by pure energy alone. Luckily there’s some skill to this as well, but it’s safe to say that SOMEONE BEHIND YOU doesn’t want to waste too much time in making you think, or doesn’t want to spend more than a few minutes setting the tone and atmosphere. What SOMEONE BEHIND YOU mainly wants to do is run at you with a knife, shouting ‘Die! Die!’.
Based on a comic book by Kang Kyung-ok, SOMEONE BEHIND YOU is the first foray into horror by Oh Ki-hwan – a director noted mainly for romantic comedies such as THE ART OF SEDUCTION. With an intense premise that places our central character Ga-in in the position of being threatened by anyone and everyone around her, SOMEONE BEHIND YOU starts as it means to go on, opening with a brief teaser which is enough to make you pay attention and realise that this is going to be a pretty quickly paced film. Only a few minutes in and there’s blood on the screen, followed by a scene which literally has the blood pouring up the walls. Think DRAG ME TO HELL without the goofy sense of humour – not in its premise but in its energy – and although there are elements of films like THE GRUDGE, the simple set-up that SOMEONE BEHIND YOU gives itself is refreshingly used in a way that is more urgent, reminiscent of the straight-up slasher format: people are being killed by their nearest and dearest, and you’re next. SOMEONE BEHIND YOU isn’t exactly relentless (it almost missteps in its central section as it flits with the idea of unnecessary exposition and then seems to think better of it), but it barely slows its pace for eighty-two minutes.
Although its totally a ’surface’ horror flick with pace replacing depth, SOMEONE BEHIND YOU certainly has a solid – and therefore sadly underused – cast. Yun Jin-seo is very good as Ga-in and manges to be both strong and vulnerable, while Park Ki-woong and Yi Ki-woo back her up as two male friends trying to protect her. Kim So-eun is decent enough as Ga-in’s sister but given the surface nature of the material its a shame that none of the cast are really given a whole lot to run with, other than adding their own physical energy to proceedings while helping to plow through some of the clumsy plotting.
Occasionally beautifully shot, sharply edited and strobly scored without cheap-shot empty scares in the form of LOUD MOMENTS, SOMEONE BEHIND YOU is certainly a much stronger film than it has every right to be due to some very strong filmmaking productionwise. Sadly the script isn’t the solid backbone that it needs to be – and it pretty much collapses by after a few shaky twists and turns – but luckily the energy of the whole thing carries it through. The sheer filmmaking skill – script notwithstanding – gives the impression that if it was stronger material then this would really have been something very special.
Brutally bloody and violent when it needs to be, swiftly paced and a visually impressive, SOMEONE BEHIND YOU has its flaws but is worth consideration by even the most casual horror viewer. It may not be a classic, but at least it knows when not to outstay it’s welcome and its a refreshing throwback to some of the more bloodier horror films rather than the slow, moodier flicks that have flooded the market over the last few years.

The Film

Recently remade in the U.S. as THE UNINVITED – a film which seemed to slip under the radar of most people, it certainly did for me – A TALE OF TWO SISTERS isn’t typical Hollywood fodder (although I can see the reason for the interest in a remake) as it’s the type of film that is totally reliant on a very skilled director like Kim Jee-woon to successfully deliver. Merging horror and drama – and treating each with a gentle touch rather than succumbing to the temptation to be more aggressive – A TALE OF TWO SISTERS is a delicate balancing act of stunning visuals, impressive performances and intelligent writing. Slow paced in the best way possible, it’s a film that unwinds carefully and on the surface has only a few typical ‘horror’ moments. The type of film that requires concentration throughout, A TALE OF TWO SISTERS stays in the mind for a long time after viewing.

Following two very successful comedies – THE QUIET FAMILY and THE FOUL KING -  stylish director Kim Jee-woon made a complete change of direction with A TALE OF TWO SISTERS, one that at the time appeared quite unexpected given the directors ‘comedy’ credentials. With atmosphere at the forefront there’s nothing much in the film that will have you closing your eyes in disgust, or screaming at the characters to ‘run away’. Instead, A TALE OF TWO SISTERS gently sidles up to you before getting under your skin. I found it creepiest when the film had actually ended, and I was thinking about it. Sound stupid? The reason for this is that you need to watch the film all of the way through to make any sense of it all. There’s a moment in A TALE OF TWO SISTERS – about two thirds of the way through – when something happens that makes you go ‘what?’ It’s from this point that the film begins to seem to start making sense, yet at the same time other parts get more confusing. You’ll have to see it to see what I mean, but it is because the story is dependent on the films actual structure itself. There’s a couple of references in A TALE OF TWO SISTERS to other horror films released at the same time such as RING and AUDITION – although this is a film with much more restraint and lacks the graphic delight / horror of AUDITION, and without the rigid ‘count-down’ structure of RING. The story’s structure in A TALE OF TWO SISTERS is the main key to understanding it. The film is actually loosely based on a Korean folk-tale, and has been previously filmed in various versions at l;east five times before. This wasn’t a story that I was familiar with and so I can’t compare this with any of the other versions, but to me the story seemed fresh and continually interesting.

The performances throughout A TALE OF TWO SISTERS are excellent from the whole cast. The two girls, played by Im Soo-jung and Moon Geun-young, hold the film with ease and manage to make sure that you can’t tell if you’re supposed to sympathise with them or if there’s something more sinister underneath. Yeom Jung-ah as the step-mother also gives a strong performance in a difficult role, and with A TALE OF TWO SISTERS she marked herself out as an actress to keep an eye out for in the future.

Ultimately A TALE OF TWO SISTERS is a gothic horror film and being so the backgrounds and surroundings in the film (largely the house) take on a character of their own. There’s lots of long tracking shots which really give you the sense of the space, but also make you worry about what may be around the corner. It’s beautifully shot and every scene seems to have been carefully planned with an artist’s eye, and A TALE OF TWO SISTERS is still the most striking Korean film that I have seen visually yet.

It won’t be to everyone’s tastes, but A TALE OF TWO SISTERS will stick in your mind. I have been intentionally vague about the way the plot develops here, but this is because it would be easy to give away the story to a film which impresses with its subtleties and originality. If you do like A TALE OF TWO SISTERS (you probably will!), you’re likely to want to see it again to work out its hidden layers.

So the Korean gangster flick turns its gaze towards the high-school comedy. It’s unsurprising really given the popularity of gangster comedies in general, and the back-to-school film has always been a popular  with the likes of Stephen Chows cleverly titled BACK TO SCHOOL series and Rodney Dangerfields film of the same name, as well as the likes of Adam Sandlers BILLY MADISON. Hell, we’ll even throw in Schwarzeneggers KINDERGARTEN COP for good measure. It’s proved to be a winning formula – MY BOSS, MY HERO proved such a hit on its release that it spawned two sequels and a Japanese television series.
Taking a wild plot (no-one is going to criticise a poor excuse to stick a gangster back into the classroom), some stock but nicely used ‘gangster’ types and throw in some comedy and romance and you would expect MY BOSS, MY HERO to be another exercise in rolling out yet another flat rom com. The thing is, MY BOSS, MY HERO has a great cast, some great jokes, likeable enough characters so that you actually care (a bit) about the relationships – and a whole lot of slapping. To say that MY BOSS, MY HERO puts the slap into slapstick would not only be a corny (lazy?) review line, but would also be an understatement. Pretty much everyone here gets a slap at some point – and many of the characters get what feels like dozens of open hands. And here’s the reason for bringing it up – MY BOSS, MY HERO is well put together and well performed, but a lot of the humour can boil down to whether or not you find it funny to see someone get slapped. Again. And again.
The cast of MY BOSS, MY HERO is sturdy throughout. Jeong Jun-ho is excellent as Duo-shik, managing to flit between the two personas – high-school and gangster – with a sense of fun and keeps it light throughout. It’s largely down to Jeong Jun-ho that we buy the central premise of the film. Then there’s Jeong Woong-in who provides sturdy support as Duo-shik’s friend and right hand man – and produces the most disturbing karaoke performance I’ve ever seen, and Jeong Un-taek who turns in a funny perfomance in what is often the most unfunny role in these types of films – the ‘hilarious’ gangster sidekick. Each of these three manage to hold their own, but also work very well together, keeping MY BOSS, MY HERO together as a whole.
The biggest strength of MY BOSS, MY HERO is in finding just the right tone so that it manages to fire off enough cheap gags so that you barely have time to stop and think too much. Along with the obligatory romantic sub-plots, it succeeds in its likeable mix of daft plotting and hammy performances balanced with some (very) light characterisation that won’t make you invest much in the film, but will keep you interested enough to see how it all pans out for everyone.
Having said this, MY BOSS, MY HERO is not a film for anyone who dislikes holes in their filmic logic. Where plotting has become the death knell of many a frustrating comedy, MY BOSS, MY HERO makes little attempt to paper over the gaps in commonsense – for example: why exactly would a gangster let high-school students hit him continously? The answer: it’s funny. The plot leaps all over the place and largely ignores anything that gets in the way of a good gag. Interestingly though it’s a formula that works – with only a few exceptions during dramatic sub-plots that threaten to derail the whole thing, for example the irony seems missed during a ‘dramatic’ sub-plot regarding a student who becomes a hostess, and other nods towards melodrama seem weak. Other than these few missteps MY BOSS, MY HERO plows on – even putting together a big finale where everything comes to a head and the two worlds that Duo-shik is living in come together in a violent clash. Thankfully this also manages to stay fun (gang members ‘tagging’ each other so that they can avoid a fight), while working very well as a ’showdown’ and tying everything up nicely.