Hwang-ya

So, I went into this expecting a Korean take on Mad Max. However, I was pleasantly surprised by the different direction the Korean creators decided to take. Rather than a cheesy parody of a killer road movie, they transformed Seoul's ruins into a North Korean re-education camp, which wasn't half bad, to be honest. I won't deny that I had some fun moments here and there. Sometimes, I found myself genuinely enjoying the ride, while other times, it left me wanting more. I think the film could have benefited from ditching the attempts at humor, which often felt forced and fell flat. Instead, it could have focused on further developing the mutants, who showed real potential. It was a pretty undemanding but decently enjoyable watch. / Lesson learned: No need to knock when you're packing a loaded shotgun. 3*+ (05.05.2024)

I originally thought it was a TV series, but in the end I'm glad it's a movie, and a fun post-apocalyptic romp at that. It is supposedly a sequel to Concrete Utopia, but the only things it takes from that movie are the single tower block and the fact that there was some sort of earthquake that destroyed the world, so there's no need to watch that talky, boring utopia. It's everything I expect from a quality post-apocalyptic film. There's a mad scientist, a Korean Mengele, super soldiers, mutants, zombies, a street gang, a pretty interesting scientist with a vision of the future, decent gore, and likeable characters. Ma Dong Seok is always incredibly likeable and when he gets going a shotgun, a machete or his fists you can't help but jump in joy. It was great to see the warrior girl doing some decent martial arts stunts. Overall, the final 40 minutes are a really decent action inferno with good choreography. As a bonus, there is a nice catchphrase every now and then, and they even chop-up a crocodile. I had a great time. A brutally entertaining Korean romp. 80%. (29.01.2024)