MovieChat Forums > Joeun nom, napun nom, esanghan nom (2008) Discussion > Disappointing

Disappointing

posted 16 years ago by colmailbe
24 replies | jump to latest

I thought this was a very disappointing film.

It certainly is a good looking film, and has some great set pieces.

However, if you're going to invoke the name of an epic like The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly, then you're going to have to be prepared to measure up to that film. The Good, The Bad, The Weird doesn't measure up at all. It's like The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly made for teenyboppers.

There was no chemistry between Yoon Tae-goo and Park Do-won. I do like Kang-Ho Song as an actor, was great in the host, but his character here was a one-note buffoon. Didn't have 1% the sympathy for him as I did for Tuco, who may have been a buffoon at times, a cold hearted bastard most of the time, but at least showed a bit of humanity too. The Good and The Bad were equally one note, and charisma free.

I think because people go to the effort of reading subtitles they are far less critical of Asian or Foreign language films as they would be with Western films.

[–] colmailbe 16 years ago

oh ... and I found the score to be irritating at times with it's constant riffing on Ennio Morricone's work.

[–] park0725 16 years ago

I disagree. I think the Weird (Song, Kang-Ho) is incredible in this film. But maybe it is because I watched it in Korean. I couldn't find any english subtitles so I have no idea how the translation was done, but the scene where the good and the weird are camped outside and are talking to each other lying down was one of the best scenes in the movie.

Although the film is a tad on the long side and the plot could have been tweaked a little so it doesn't seem forced, but overall it exceeded all my expectations. you're not alone on the soundtrack though. Although I loved it, my roommate was irritated by it. Seems like its a love it or hate it thing..

[–] 16 years ago

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[–] siluro 16 years ago

BS
The movie rocked so hard, I felt the urge to actually applaud what was going on screen on several occasions, and that rarely happens

[–] antony-kwok 16 years ago

Haha, loads of people clapped on several occasions when I saw it at the Leeds film festival!

[–] Eloron 16 years ago

I loved the movie, gave it a 9, even if i think it was worth a 8.5

[–] sweatypalm 16 years ago

Gotta agree with OP, huge dissapointment for me. I had high hopes for this one because i think Kim Ji-woon is a really good director. All his previous work has ranged from good to brilliant in my book but this one...naah...it was just "meh".

It actually took me three sittings to finish the damn film. No Story what so ever, one-dimensional characters and add boring action to that and you got a complete dud. And now i maybe nitpicking but why make Lee Byung-huns (the Bad) character looking like an EMO with that ridiculous haircut.

A 4 out of 10 for me.

[–] dempcy 16 years ago

Well if you started where you left off each time, then it's not a fair judgement. Gotta watch the movie all the way through from start to finish to feel the pacing. And I thought it hardly dragged at all until the end. Usually I find that action movies start very exciting, then drag towards the 2nd act (the infamous slow 2nd act), and then pick up again towards the end.

While watching this, after the first scene I thought to myself "no way can they keep up this momentum, the film will be boring in comparison to the first scene." Boy was I wrong! While the first scene is one of the most notable, the film maintains momentum for a long time, only really dragging during the grand finale where it turns into a "war" movie for a while. I didn't like that, nor did I like the anti-Japanese sentiment (notice how the bad guy looks Japanese, and Japanese army are depicted as cold hearted killers who murder without discretion, or in the beginning the main character kills 4 Japanese soldiers who did nothing wrong and it's no big deal). But besides the slow "war" scene and somewhat anticlimactic ending, I was blown away by the cinematography, over-the-top camera tricks, tasteful CG, attention to detail, and especially the visual language. So much is conveyed through objects, gestures and things being revealed to the viewer if they are paying attention.

This film is unapologetically about form over function, style over substance. It isn't a period piece, in fact it has a rather anachronistic blend of fashion and hair styles. It isn't "deep" and not even really a buddy movie-- the relationship between The Good and The Weird is rather bland. But it more than makes up for it in panache. The over-the-top adrenaline rush action style with body theatrics reminds me of a big budget Hong Kong film. The Weird does quite a few Chow Yun Fat moves like going on his back with dual pistols sliding down the stairs, and there are also quite a few theatrical moves (flying on ropes, slapstick ala Jackie Chan). The visual style is more similar to Wong Kar Wai if I had to compare to a Hong Kong filmmaker-- highly saturated, sometimes druggy visuals with great atmosphere and attention to detail.

I gave this movie a 9 out of 10 as I think it is really a historic event. I have been following Korean cinema for years, and this film is second only to Old Boy in my books (which gets a 10/10 from me!). I call it historic because this is the first Korean film I've seen which "out-Hollywoods Hollywood". It's so over the top and such an unabashed popcorn flick, I'm amazed this isn't out nationwide in theaters in the US. I hope it sees a large release and people give it a chance, because this is more enjoyable than 99% of the action films coming out of the US these days.

[–] 16 years ago

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[–] beisserchen 16 years ago

I enjoyed the movie immensely as I think that the director simply seems to be a fan of the old spaghetti western. I spotted many scenes from classic westerns, especially Sergio Leone westerns. And I also liked the score, a reminiscence of Mexican music and Morricone music. It was fun to find so many familiar scenes and characters appearing in the classic westerns. I was quite impressed with the costumes, I must say. Quite some mix of styles, very interesting.

[–] bumfromkorea 16 years ago

Yep. It was just supposed to be a fun movie full of references and cool-looking action stunts. Did anyone catch the Oldboy reference, btw?

I think the director also made sure to clash the East-West elements of the movie. How many movies do you see where the train conductor gets kebabed with a spear, then see a guy get shot and fly out of the train by a shotgun? (followed closely by someone getting thrown out of the train by a warhammer.)

[–] leminh_amd 16 years ago

and the Mauser C96 (?), almost in all Westerner film it is all about the Colt :D

[–] 16 years ago

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[–] bumfromkorea 16 years ago

The bad guys were

Park Chang Yi and his gang (Mostly Koreans, one or two Manchurians)
Byungchoon and his gang (Manchurian leader, Korean lieutenant, mixed, mostly Koreans)
Japanese Army (Japanese)
Manchurian Army (Manchurians under Imperial command)
The opium dealer (Korean)
The guy who hires Park Chang Yi (Korean)

The good guys were

The Weird (Korean)... kinda...
The Good (Korean)... kinda...
The Ghost Market gangs (Manchurian)... kinda...

Nope, no anti-Japanese bias there. And the four soldiers you mention are Manchurian soldiers under Japanese command, not Japanese soldiers. Notice that the officer next to Kanemaru speaks Chinese.

And the Japanese hardly kills anyone who's innocent. They kill couple of Byungchoon's gang members (the bad guys) and some of Chang-Yi's gang members (once again, bad guys). They functioned little more than as a plot device... and I thought Capt. Ishihara was hilarious - "Damn vicious Koreans!" "Maybe he's some kind of a pervert?"

And even if they did kill innocent people - it's a western for crying out loud.

[–] TobyCharlesDavies 14 years ago

I really enjoyed A Bittersweet Life and I Saw The Devil, both from the same director, but this film did nothing for me.

The story was too long and rambling, the characters were just caricatures and the action set pieces didn't even get me excited.

This is the first Korean film I've seen and not really enjoyed.

6/10 ... dissapointed indeed.

[–] mavruda1977 16 years ago

Hello ,

Maybe the idea of that kind of movies is to show respect to the old classic movies. Everything within shows that - the director probably is a fan of that movie and made something different. Tarantino does the same- Kill Bill 2 is a reference to all of the old Hong Kong movies - those with the fake beards and funny long eyebrows of the masters. First Kill Bill is a bloody reference to all of the japanese samurai slash movies ever done. So every director wants to show his point of view. There is not a place of comparement of the two movies: this one is good because has asian actors- that mean different look, has different plot - to find oil is a real treasure and of course the chasing with horses and old moror bykes ! Ive seen that kind of chasing only in Indiana Jones movies - and I found I missed those from a long time. I did not expected to see that in a korean movie. SO my vote for that movie is just briliant !

No need to be dissapointed. Maybe the realy big mistake to all of the industry is that they shows us too many movies in a same genre. The example was:

Saving private Ryan - when I first saw that movie I was shaken and I like it. Couple of weeks later I went to see Thin Red Line, expecting to see a similar war battle scenes and realistic action. Oh my god ! How I hated that movie! And that was realy stupid, because I had different expectations. And thats a drama, thats not dynamic movie, no suicidal missions , no heroic acts. Just simple human reactions and thoughts. Couple of years later Ive seen the same movie and found it beautifull and good. Same was for the Mel Gibson's Brave Heart and a month later I've seen The Patriot. Similar plot, same actor - but did not liked the second one, because it camed after the first one. Now I like both of them, because they are different. Same is here for this korean movie. Yes , the herohad a iron plate under his shirt - like Clint Eastwood had, but that guy was funny and does it look weird. So I could say we watch a different movie.

[–] Radalan 16 years ago

I had no expectations for the film.

I basically just saw "The Good The Bad The Weird" and noticed that Kang-ho Song was in it so I decided to watch.

Then I noticed that "Wow, isn't that Byung-Hun Lee from Bittersweet life" and "Holy *beep* It's Woo-sung Jung from Volcano High". And not only that but after seeing the really awesome action scene in the beginning I was hooked.
Awesome movie.

[–] w_taps 16 years ago

I thought it was amazing.

[–] jeethjohnp 16 years ago

Brilliant....
and all those who are criticizing...take the film lightly....and you will enjoy it...
I am pretty much new to the korean film scene.,and i sat down to watch this film with zero expectation....and boy was i given a treat....had a brilliant time....whacky stuff.....even if there was no chemistry , i liked the entire stuff.....somehow it kept me glued to my seat...
Kudos to all the people involved in the project.....

Everything happens for a reason.

[–] Dragon_Eye_Morrison 16 years ago

I also felt that the movie pretty much chokes itself having too much action and hardly a single interesting character. This is not the fault of the cast, it's the script that is pretty much invisible. Seems that Kim Ji Woon got so carried away with the action sequences that he forgot to write anything to would make the characters not look like one dimensional cartoons.

The film is not a total waste, but hardly anything memorable. Even with it's flaws Miike hit the spot better with Sukiyaki Western Django.

''Never trouble trouble till trouble troubles you."

[–] 16 years ago

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[–] jeffscsr 16 years ago

i loved it
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[–] sillyspaghetti 13 years ago

I'm at the opposite end of the spectrum. I was expecting a good film and ended up finding one that I really loved! Sorry you were disappointed. :(

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