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Directed by: Ji-Woon Kim Starring: Jeong-min Hwang, Yu-mi Jeong, Ku Jin I saw this movie in the "intelligent action movies" thread, and decided to see it. It started out okay, seemed a little clichéed, but I was expecting it to get better. Alas, apart from the action, most of the movie was pretty boring. It told a half-assed story, and it lasted for two hours. What pissed me off the most about this movie was that almost every bad thing that happened to the main character was his own drat fault. He could easily have gotten out of it, but he persisted to make everything as bad as it could be. The plot "twists" were very predictable, and I wasn't emotionally engaged at all during the entirety of the movie. There were a few attempts at humour, and they were all successful, however. It wasn't bad, it just wasn't very good. Or intelligent, for that matter. It tried to be Oldboy or Kill Bill, but failed. Still, I think the director might make good movies if he stops writing his own screenplays. RATING: 3.5 PROS: Good action, when there is any. Good cinematography. CONS: Weak plot, not very engaging ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0456912/
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Jul 20, 2006 00:56
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| # ? Apr 27, 2024 12:12 |
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A Bittersweet life is unfortunate in that it takes half the movie getting to a level- both dramtically and stylistically- that would have served it well from the beginning. Up until roughly the mid-point, the movie is plodding and fairly predictable (with the exception of some unforseeably awful decisions on the part of the main character). It is unclear exactly where the impetus for most of the plot (Him deciding not to shoot or report the girl as he was instructed) comes from; if it is a romantic sub-plot than it is one of the least-developed in cinema history. Truthfully, I was very close to giving up on the movie and cutting my losses. And then, without warning, I was enjoying it. At the moment when the protagonist claws his way up out of the earth, it is as if the film is doing the same, and from this point on my attention was fixed- right up until the end credits. It truly seems like A Bittersweet Life realized halfway through what kind of movie it was: An oriental revenge flick in the highest tradition. The fights (minimal up until this point) are well choreographed without being overly-stylized, the pacing picks up considerably, and Ji-Woon Kim even managed to surprise me once or twice. It is a shame that the first half of the movie is so starkly mediocre, especially when the pay-off is such an impressive one, but if you've the time and inclination, I reccomend waiting around. You shouldn't be disappointed. 3.5/5
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Jul 24, 2006 04:39
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http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1801800
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Aug 8, 2006 00:17
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