MovieChat Forums > Hwanghae (2011) Discussion > Started Out as a 10 and then Slowly Decl...

Started Out as a 10 and then Slowly Decline 2 a 7

posted 13 years ago by mikeyflatley
11 replies | jump to latest

Grate story-tellin process and i wuz invested da whole way. Luv how he slowly analyzed his situation and then somethin wrong happenz which derailz him. 1st 2 chapterz were solid and getz a 10 but da next 1 slowly goes 'hollywood', wid outrageous chase scenez and just unbelievable fight scenez. Makes Jean Claude Van Dam or Bruce Willis look tame. Last chapter felt like it wuz tryin 2 stretch it or dir not knowin how it shud end but endin wuz rather unsatisfyin and felt like a drag. In all, wat started out as 1 of best action moviez I ever seen 4 quite a while 2 just slightly above-avg fare.

I live, I love, I slay, and I'm content

[–] i_am_reinard 13 years ago

fully agree with you.... I'm a bit lost about the whole story... I think I need to watch it again to understand more :)

[–] thestreetlighter 13 years ago

I agree. For every scene of gritty realism there were many scenes of over-the-top ridiculousness to the point it devolved into a cartoon. And whether or not the story made sense I thought it was still very poorly executed.

[–] OmnicidalManiac 13 years ago

Hear hear, yes a cartoon! Couldn't have said it better:), ridiculous.

[–] HitneyBlau 12 years ago

If it declined 2 it would have ended up an 8.

[–] mikeyflatley 12 years ago

i only post here. im not a maffamatishun

Werd 2 ur mudda, bruddafvcka

[–] 12 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Der_Schnibbler 12 years ago

The fact that you are obviously an illiterate American imbecile aside, I agree with you. By the time the film reached the halfway point, I hardly cared what was happening anymore.

Korean films tend to be longer, around the two hour mark, and delve into characters more deeply, which is what I appreciate about them. Sometimes, however, they get bogged down, such as the same director's other film did, 'The Chaser'.

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"Den Gleichen Gleiches, den Ungleichen Ungleiches."

[–] William_Hunt 11 years ago

For me it started out as a 6 or 7 and ended up as a 1/10. It was cheesy, had over the top violence and a hero who can jump from a building on a car and still shake everyone off. The times he escaped from impossible situations are countless up to a point that it becomes so ridiculous. This was just a silly action movie with n depth.

[–] tvandfilmbuff 11 years ago

Completely agree. And how many ax scenes were there? The director needs to learn to "pick his spots" and that one perfectly executed scene is greater than a dozen over-the-top action scenes in a row. I got numb to axes and knives getting hurled around when there was still about 40 minutes left to the movie (which contained at least 20 minutes of knife and ax scenes). The same problem was present in The Chaser, but it wasn't as extreme with that one, and was still enjoyable.

I really loved the first 45-60 minutes. I wound up rating it a 4/10.

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"I might be a Gung-Fu expert... but I need cash!"

[–] svenrufus 9 years ago

So good to see that I wasn't alone in thinking this. My score declined from a solid 8 at the start, down to a meagre 5 by the end - although if the whole thing had been as poor as the last sections, it might well have been a 3. Messy, cheap, made with little thought. I'd love to see the movie that the first half suggested. The last half was a stinker.

[–] SherlockVonEinstein 9 years ago

Exactly. I loved the director's previous movie and the one he did after this. However, the endless foot and car chase scenes really brought this one down. I too rated it a 7 in the end. Still a great movie, but could've done without those sequences, at least not in their final length.