Category Archives: Korean

Returned a Single-Legged Man 2 (1974) Review

Director: Lee Doo-yong Cast: Han Yong-cheol, Bae Su-chun, Kim Mun-ju, Im Eun-joo, Elton Chong, Park Dong-ryong, Cho Chun, Kim Wang-guk, Hwang Jang Lee, Han Tae-Il Running Time: 88 min. By Paul Bramhall The taekwon-action genre is one that’s largely faded into obscurity both in the west and in its native Korea, a combination of lack of availability, and the titles which are available usually being heavily bastardized from their original versions. … Continue reading

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Concrete Utopia (2023) Review

Directed: Uhm Tae-Hwa Cast: Lee Byung-Hun, Park Seo-Jun, Park Bo-Young, Kim Sun-Young, Kim Do-Yoon, Park Ji-Hu, Lee Seo-Hwan, Kang Ae-Shim, Lee Hyo-Je, Lee Sun-Hee Running Time: 129 min. By Will McGuire Concrete Utopia, South Korea’s nomination for Best Foreign Feature at the upcoming Academy Awards, is a tense thriller, a particularly honest class commentary, a leap forward for special effects work in the Korean cinema, and twenty minutes too long. … Continue reading

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Badland Hunters (2024) Review

Director: Heo Myung-haeng Cast: Ma Dong-seok, Lee Hee-Jun, Lee Jun-Young, Roh Jeong-Eui, Ahn Ji-Hye, Park Ji-Hoon, Jang Young-Namm, Park Sang-Hoon , Ahn Seong-Bong Running Time: 107 min. By Paul Bramhall Badland Hunters marks the latest entry in Korea’s burgeoning fascination with post-apocalyptic settings, a spin-off from director Eom Tae-hwa’s Concrete Utopia, which saw a group of survivors living in the last standing apartment block after an earthquake razed Seoul to … Continue reading

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Alienoid: Return to the Future (2024) Review

Director: Choi Dong-hun Cast: Ryoo Joon-Yeol, Kim Woo-Bin, Kim Tae-Ri, Lee Ha-Nee, Yum Jung-Ah, Jo Woo-Jin, Kim Eui-Sung, Jin Sun-Kyu, Wi Ji-woong, Lee Si-hoon Running Time: 123 min. By Paul Bramhall Korea’s premier blockbuster director Choi Dong-hoon returned with a bang in 2022 with Alienoid, a time travelling sci-fi genre mash-up that threw in everything from Shaw Brothers references to a John Woo homage. Shot as a 2-parter, the second … Continue reading

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Ghost Station, The (2022) Review

AKA: Ghost of Oksu Station Director: Jeong Yong-ki Cast: Kim Bo-ra, Kim Jae-hyun, Shin So-yul, Obon, Kim Kang Il, Kim Soo Jin, Kim Kwang Hyun Running Time: 80 min. By Henry McKeand “Write a provocative article with a clickbait headline!” This is one of many pieces of questionable advice given to Na-Young, the journalist protagonist of Jeong Yong-Ki’s The Ghost Station. Played by Kim Bo-ra, she’s the standard cinematic reporter: … Continue reading

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Hunt (2022) Review

Director: Lee Jung-Jae Cast: Lee Jung-Jae, Jung Woo-Sung, Jeon Hye-jin, Heo Sung-tae, Ko Yoon-Jung, Kim Jong-Soo, Jeong Man-Sik, Lim Hyung-Guk, Jung Kyung-Soon  Running Time: 130 min.  By Paul Bramhall As a leading man Lee Jung-jae has been a consistent presence in the Korean film industry ever since his debut with The Young Man in 1994 at 21 years old. While many actors harbour a curiosity to direct, it’s still a rarity to … Continue reading

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12.12: The Day (2023) Review

Director: Kim Seong-su Cast: Hwang Jung-min, Jung Woo-Sung, Lee Sung-Min, Park Hae-Joon, Kim Sung-Kyun, Jeong Man-Sik, Jung Hae-In, Nam Yun-Ho, Jeong Dong-Hwan Running Time: 141 min. By Paul Bramhall When a country goes through a period of turmoil and trauma, it’s always interesting to see how much time passes in order for those feelings to be collectively processed, arriving at a point where the events in question lose enough of … Continue reading

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Believer 2 (2023) Review

Director: Baek Jong-Yeol Cast: Cho Jin-Woong, Cha Seung-Won, Han Hyo-Joo, Oh Seung-Hoon, Kim Dong-Young, Lee Joo-Young, Kang Seung-hyun, Jung Joon-won, Tzi Ma, Andreas Fronk Running Time: 114 min. By Paul Bramhall The decision to remake Hong Kong auteur Johnnie To’s 2013 crime thriller Drug War as a Korean production would prove to be a winning one when Believer was released in 2018. While the original was To’s first venture to … Continue reading

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Ballerina (2023) Review

Director: Lee Choong-Hyun Cast: Jeon Jong-seo, Park Yu-rim, Kim Ji-hoon, Kim Mu-yeol, Shin Se-Hwi, Park Hyoung-Soo, Kim Young-Ok, Joo Hyun, Jang Yoon-Ju, Park Geun-Jeong Running Time: 93 min. By Paul Bramhall At the end of my review for director and writer Lee Chung-hyun’s 2020 feature length debut The Call, I noted how its success “owes a lot to Jong-seo’s edgy performance, but also marks Chung-hyun as a director to keep … Continue reading

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Dr. Cheon and the Lost Talisman (2023) Review

Director: Kim Seong-sik Cast: Gang Dong-won, Huh Joon-ho, Esom, Lee Dong-hwi, Park Myung-hoon, Lee Jung-eun Running Time: 95 min. By Paul Bramhall  The latest family friendly blockbuster to arrive in Korean theaters, Dr. Cheon and the Lost Talisman offers up a big screen adaptation of the webtoon Possession, which revolves around the adventures of a fake exorcist. Sustaining both himself and his assistant through uploading their elaborately staged exorcisms to YouTube, … Continue reading

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Gangnam Zombie (2023) Review

Director: Lee Soo-sung Cast: Ji Il-joo, Park Ji-yeon, Choi Sung-min, Jo Kyung-hoon, Jung Yi-joo, Tak Teu-In, Song Yeon Running Time: 80 min. By Paul Bramhall There’s a scene in Gangnam Zombie where the manager of a Youtuber agency pranks a staff member in an attempt to create content, and describes the video he’ll make from the footage as “What happens when a zombie attacks a backup for the national taekwondo … Continue reading

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Summer Time (2001) Review

Director: Park Jae-Ho Cast: Kim Ji-Hyeon, Choi Cheol-Ho, Ryu Soo-Young, Song Ok-Suk, Jeong-yun Bae, Choi Seong-Min, Yoon Yeong-Geol, Jang Sung-Won, Kim Sun-Hwa Running Time: 103 min. By Paul Bramhall Holding the distinction of being the only time that Korea would remake a Filipino production, 2001’s Summer Time used Peque Gallaga’s erotic classic Scorpio Nights as its source material. Released in 1985, Gallaga’s production set itself against the backdrop of martial … Continue reading

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Point Men, The (2023) Review

Director: Yim Soonrye Cast: Hwang Jung-Min, Hyun-Bin, Kang Ki-Young, Park Hyoung-Soo, Ahn Chang-Hwan, Jeon Sung-Woo, Lee Seung-Chul, Jung Jae-Sung, Seo Sang-Won Running Time: 108 min.  By Paul Bramhall In recent years the film industries in Korea and China have seemingly stumbled upon a new goldmine to extract source material for their cinematic output – true stories involving their citizens either being kidnapped and/or placed in danger in troubled faraway lands, … Continue reading

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Moon, The (2023) Review

Director: Kim Yong-Hwa Cast: Sol Kyung-Gu, Do Kyung-Soo, Lee Sung-min, Kim Hee-ae, Jo Han-chul, Jo Seung-yeon Running Time: 130 min.  By Paul Bramhall The Korean film industry is having somewhat of a love affair with science fiction in the 2020’s, a genre which had remained largely ignored since the Korean Wave era of the early 2000’s. In the past 3 years we’ve had dystopian visions of the future presented in … Continue reading

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Ransomed | aka Unofficial Operation (2023) Review

Director: Kim Seong-Hun Cast: Ha Jung-Woo, Ju Ji-Hoon, Kim Eung-Soo, Park Hyuk-Kwon, Im Hyeong-gook, Burn Gorman, Marcin Dorocinski, Nisrine Adam, Faycal Zeglat, Walid Sam Running Time: 132 min. By Paul Bramhall There’s been a new kind of genre offering that’s emerged in Chinese cinema over the last 5 years, one which usually involves its military being sent overseas to rescue its citizens from troubled lands (translated: somewhere in Africa or … Continue reading

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