The Good the Bad the Weird (2008)

An avowed homage to Sergio Leone (with references to quite a few other westerns, martial arts films and other films thrown in), with Morricone-imitating music, the film goes on for much too long, despite some beautiful shots and well-directed action scenes- which go on for too long as well. The central characters just aren't interesting, original or convincing enough to carry the plot- such as it is- and the final revelation about one evokes neither astonishment nor comprehension. All the same, if you just sit back and let it wash over you without thinking except to count the thefts, references and clichés you'll have an enjoyable couple of hours.

Fmovies: Okay, I've just seen the movie yesterday and I think I've had a fair amount of time to digest it. As of now in Korea, opinions about this movie are almost completely divided. Half of the people love this film, despite its errors; others are rather disappointed by its lack of plot. Me? I'm dwelling somewhere in the middle.

There are some good parts of the movie ...

• The desert scenery. Magnificent. Whoever was in charge of the cinematography did a really good job.

• Sets & props (particularly costumes). Also with the cinematography, I think the people who built the set and came up with costume ideas deserve some serious credit. The sets and props really added to the movie's visual appeal.

• The actors, particularly Lee Byung-Hun. All three actors were pretty good in their roles, and Jung Woo-Sung looked ridiculously good looking, but Lee really shined in his new "change of role". There was a strength in his eyes that almost literally jumped off the screen, and his character was chillingly convincing.

• Did I mention Jung Woo-Sung was hot? I'm a heterosexual guy in his 20's, but even I couldn't deny how ridiculously good looking he was. Despite all of his character's insane, ridiculous stunts (which I, for those of you who understand Korean, would like the refer to as "gae-pom"), I eventually ended up with the same conclusion: "Man, that guy look COOL!"

• The action scenes were pretty decent as well. Had to put that in.

Then there's the bad ...

• It's complete lack of plot. I mean it, not much plot.

• I'm kind of tired of seeing Song Gang-Ho in the same role AGAIN! I mean, I know the guy's a decent actor, and he really did a good job in his role, but didn't we see this guy in the "The Host"?!

• Violence does not equal comedy!! Not saying that the movie is really violent, but ... Ugh, you'll get what I mean after watching the movie.

Which leads me to my weird overall impression of the movie:

I'm quite PERPLEXED. I was pleased while watching the movie, and the film is rather enjoyable to watch, but leaving the theater, I was sort of like "Um... okay..." An odd, WEIRD feeling of satisfaction mixed with a sense of being robbed.

To give you a sense of what it was like, it's kind of like a Western Korean version of "Pirates of the Caribbean". There's a lot of action, nice characters, cool setting, rather enjoyable, but you leave the theater a bit perplexed. And while PotC leaves you perplexed and confused because of its abundance of plot, "The Good, the Bad, and The Weird" leaves you perplexed and confused because of its lack there of.

To sum it up, I think it's a decent, fun-to-watch movie (Nice effort, to say the least!). Good to kill time or just watch on a Friday night. But if you want something more serious or concrete, I'd recommend something else.

My expectations for this film were through the roof. It's basically a Korean all-star game: directed by Ji-woon Kim, he of A Bittersweet Life and A Tale of Two Sisters fame (not to mention The Quiet Family), and starring three of Korea's finest (or at least most popular) actors, Woo-sung Jung, Byung-hun Lee, and (one of my favorite actors, Korean or otherwise) Kang-ho Song.

The production values are top notch, the direction creative and self-assured, the special effects worth the time and money spent on them. I love the kill scenes as directed by Kim, especially one of the first ones where a guy is running from train car to train car, bursting through doors like they don't exist and then BAM! He's five feet behind where he was. You have to see it to appreciate it, I guess. The timing and the focus on the result instead of the impact makes the impact seem more impactful. Whoever edited this film did a great job.

Woo-sung Jung plays the Good, and he's a cute guy who oozes goodness, so that's good. His character is perhaps a bit under-played/under-developed but that's the nature of Good, isn't it? Byung-hun Lee as the Bad has a little bit too much contemporary in his swagger and look. He's more arrogant than Bad, but we're supposed to dislike him so that's good too. Not surprisingly, it's Kang-ho Song, as the Weird, who steals the show. He runs through this movie like a chicken or a turkey with its head cut off but never misses a beat. He's having a good time and makes sure that we do too. He's able to do things that many other actors are incapable of like delivering predictable lines with equal parts sincerity and irony so that we won't even think of groaning out loud. He's so adorably slightly plump and likable that even when ... well, I don't want to give it away ... we like him. We really do.

Caught up in all the fun and excitement I almost forgot that, with very few exceptions, movies with lots of gun fights are stupid.

The Good the Bad the Weird fmovies. Off-kilter Korean neo-western "The Good, the Bad, the Weird," is a frenetic genre mash-up packed with visceral, loopy violence. That isn't a complement so much as it is a description.

Suffice it to say, if you're into a modernist, freewheeling foreign take on Leone's "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly," with cartoony characters and outrageous action, you're going to have a blast; if you're looking for a substantive or meditative reflection on the period or the original film, you're in the wrong line.

Personally, I'm caught between the two perspectives. I appreciate the pure Peckinpah punch of the gunplay, but was in equal parts bored and bewildered by the overall film. Perhaps the principal flaw in writer/director Ji-woon Kim's script is that he indulges in too much of a good thing. His action sequences are a lot of fun, and the über-stylized retro/modern aesthetic delivers bizarre and inventive visuals like a gunslinger in a deep-sea diving helmet.

But the deafening sound effects and quick cutting style wear thin if not appropriately paced, and "The Good, the Bad, the Weird," is almost relentless in its drag race to the final showdown. I'm loathe to draw a comparison to "Transformers" here, but Kim proves that even good action has a threshold, and there are times in his film where it's easy to let your eyes glaze over.

In its more quiet moments, the story, a very loose retelling of "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly" follows a band of misfit thieves who come into possession of a treasure map sought by both Chinese thugs and the Japanese military. What's maybe most interesting about the film is seeing the conventions, chronology, and geography of the western customized to fit eastern ideology, and China's Taklimakan desert stands in for Manchuria circa 1940.

The tone is played as loose as the history, however, and Kim is never bogged down by self- seriousness or the oft-stringent requirements of a period piece. "The Good, the Bad, the Weird" is closer to a gleeful "Kill Bill" in tone than South Korea's own operatic, ultraviolent "Oldboy," and benefits from it. Kim easily leapfrogs from hard-hitting shoot-outs to charming comedy, a phenomenon that has everything to do with his incredible cast. Each of the title characters, Park Do-won (Good), Park Chang-yi (Bad), and Yoon Tae-goo (Weird), brings with him a distinct tonal octave that lends the film some much-needed variety. My lone gripe in this department is that it would have been nice to get to know them a little bit better. As it stands, their rifles seem to have far more to say.

And for many, that won't be an issue. I've no question that there exists a very appreciative audience for this film—I'm just not it. Nevertheless, I'm only too happy to report that everything basically works. The cinematography is frequently gorgeous, the performances are stellar, and the action is kinetic—There's just too much of it. By the end of the two-hour engagement, what should be a satisfying, visceral finale comes off as extravagant hoopla.

As viewers we shouldn't be conditioned to expect non-stop action, because once you pass the threshold, there's a diminishing return on adrenaline, impressive as any sequence that follows may be. "The Good, The Bad, The Weird" gets all its forward momentum right, but could benefit from applying the brakes more frequently.

I was lucky enough to see this film in a big cinema complex in the centre of Seoul, South Korea, yesterday. It is surprisingly difficult to find big Korean releases with English subtitles, so seeing Jin-Woon Kim's new film, which i have been looking forward to for well over a year, was a pleasant experience. Unfortunately everyone in the west will have to wait a little longer...

As with all of Jin-Woon Kim's films i have very little criticism to give this film, from its fantastic and totally relentless action opening to the suspenseful ending, i was completely entertained.

The cast, as expected from three of South Korea's most most talented actors were superb with in my opinion exceptionally notable roles from Lee Byun Hun and Song Kang-Ho. Lee Byung Hyun pulls off a villain superbly and fills this role with style and terror without fault. Song Kang-Ho in my opinion is the main force of the film, pulling it along with humour and perhaps the most interesting story as the film progresses. Woo-Sung Jung plays his 'good' role well but feels like the character with least depth. The film contains fantastic make-up and costume design, notably in my eyes, Lee Byung Hun's character, who looked fantastic and the on screen presence of this smart darkly dressed character set against the sandy desert was stunning.

The cinematography in this film was superb with plenty of great flying panoramic desert shots, high octane action camera maneuvers, fast cuts and perfect editing as expected from the director of such fantastic action/thriller films.

The soundtrack is fun and reminiscent of old western films with a new, modern twist to keep things up to pace. Although the story has been noted as being weak, the film really does not offer itself as an in depth period drama in the first place. The film is exactly what it calls for... Fun, fast and funny entertainment and what you can expect from some of the finest noted stars and workforce in South Korean cinema.

Of the few Korean films i have seen , the best word to describe them all is eccentric and The Good The Bad & The Weird certainly lives up to that. This movie looks fantastic , almost epic like and you can see a lot of money was spent on the set . It really does have the feel of a western and the three main characters are all very interesting in their own right. The story is a simple one , three men ( and their cronies) are after a treasure map and they will do anything to get hold of it. The minus points of this film are that its half an hour too long and that at times it's to frenetic. Because of the constant action you get a little bombarded with it after a while. On the whole i enjoyed this film but im not too sure i would ever watch it again.