Video Fridays: Hope & Adjusting to Korean Alien/Monsters

This movie is the epitome of the adage, “You can’t please everyone all the time.” It’s an over-the-top monster-romp set in a remote Korean town on the edge of the border with North Korea in the 1990s (conveniently before the explosion in digital/mobile communication… something that would spoil most monster romps). Then, after chasing or being chased by these giant seemingly indestructible humanoid monsters for two-thirds of the movie, the tone shifts and we hear the monsters speaking to one another (subtitled, of course) decrying the tragedy as they witness a huge space ship carrying their beloved emperor, on fire, come crashing to earth. And we find ourselves in some kind of epic space opera, with a queen and assumed dead emperor, and military defender of the court… Wait, what?

Most complaints are about the tonal/POV shift that to, dare I say, to Western viewers, appears tacked on and presents far more unanswered questions than answers. Most reviews assume that this non-ending ending is on purpose, in an effort to require a sequel (if not franchise!). Duh. I’d also observe that not having everything spelled out, for, let’s say, non-Western filmmakers, is a feature not a failing. Think Korean soap opera and it should all now make sense (or any ethnic soap opera for that matter…). I have to say that I loved the humor and the running gag that every hunter and villager seemed to have access to military-grade weapons which are highly illegal and that so much of the beginning of the movie is the police chief running on foot all over the town trying to catch up with the action and then at the end of the movie running back to town after watching the giant alien ship crashing and assuming that the earth is being invaded. I loved the action, pacing and the humor, and realization that this is a very small window into a much larger world. Enjoy.