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X-Men: The Last Stand * *

2006-05-29T10:31:00.000-07:00

Released: 2006
Runtime: 104 minutes
Rated: PG-13 for intense sequences of action violence, some sexual content and language.
Language: English
Country: USA
Directed by: Brett Ratner

Tagline: Take a stand.

In the land of comic books, I was always more of a fan of lone heroes like Batman and Spiderman. The ensemble cast of The Uncanny X-Men didn't interested me until they hit the big screen. Now I can't get enough of them and their allegories of social intolerance and search for acceptance. While the first two movies developed a compelling storyline with sympathetic characters, the third film unfortunately rises like a Dark Phoenix bent on destruction.

If you're familiar with the story up to this point, you know that Jean Grey has apparently died leaving Cyclops and Wolverine heartbroken. Xavier and the X-men seem to have made progress with the Government. There is a Secretary of Mutant affairs played by Kelsey Grammer (a.k.a Beast) who works directly with the President. Society, while not openly embracing mutant kind, has begrudgingly developed a live and let live policy. But as usual a threat emerges when a team of doctors are able to use a young mutants powers to provide a "cure" to those afflicted with mutant abilities. This sets up a show down between the good mutants led by Xavier and the bad mutants led by Magneto.

One of the bigger problems with X3, is that it lacks a strong central villain. Magneto has spent too much time jumping sides between the good mutants and the bad. Are we supposed to hate him, feel sorry for him, I don't know. While his fear of society and its attitudes towards mutants are not unfounded, he obviously overreacts just like the normals. Meanwhile, Dark Phoenix/Jean Grey could have been left at the bottom of the lake, she spends most of the runtime standing in the background pouting. Again, our feelings toward her are mixed leaving us not quite satisfied with the final conflict. X3 could really have used a character or two as straightforward as Colonel Stiker. Superhereos need supervillains and they seem to be missing in action here.

Another problem with X3 is that it doesn't flow very well. It jumps around trying to include a host of new mutants while losing focus with the central story. The movie is clearly geared for the teenage fanboy special effects crowd rather than people who emotionally connect with the characters. What has made X-Men enjoyable on an adult level is the social commentary about prejudice in modern society. Much of this is simply lost in the blizzard of explosions and mutant powers. I wouldn't call X3 a total failure but it certainly is the weakest film of the three.

Blade Runner: Final Cut

2006-05-26T16:19:00.000-07:00

According to a Variety article, Ridley Scott is due to release his version of Blade Runner after a long uphill battle with rights issues. A limited theatrical release is planned for 2007. Following that is of course the DVD release which is alleged to include the three previous versions plus the new Ridley approved Final Cut. Sounds like a Blade Runner geeks wet dream...of course I'll be buying it.

We really need to cut down on greenhouse gas emissions.

I wish I could quit you Roy.

Human, Replicant, who cares.

Have you ever dated a raccoon before?

Bowties never go out of style do they Gaff.

Saw II * *

2006-05-17T15:02:00.000-07:00

Released: 2005
Runtime: 93 minutes
Rated: R for Grisly Violence and gore, terror, language and drug content.
Language: English
Country: USA
Directed by: Darren Lynn Bousman

Cast:
Tobin Bell...............Jigsaw
Shawnee Smith..........Amanda
Donnie Wahlberg........Eric Matthews
Erik Knudsen.............Daniel Matthews
Franky G.................Xavier
Dina Meyer...............Kerry

Tagline: Oh yes, there will be blood

The original Saw appeared just as horror films were coming back into the mainstream. It was the first gore flick to get a real media buzz since Scream appeared back in the 90's. I was psyched about it weeks before hand and mildly disappointed on opening night. Naturally, I stayed away from Saw II until it hit DVD and I can't say I regret the wait.

The movie picks up with the Jigsaw still at large and spreading his own twisted brand of enlightenment. This time, instead of grisly scenarios spread around the city, everyone is trapped in a funhouse of death. It's like an outward bound weekend gone bad with the ropes course made out of barbed wire and the pits filled with used hypodermic needles. The participants are an eclectic group of low lives who all have something in common besides they fact they were kidnapped and poisoned. The clock is ticking and their only hope is to survive the Jigsaws traps to reach the antidote in time.

Saw II's biggest problem is that we could care less about the victim's survival; none of them are very interesting or sympathetic. There is nothing all that creative about the plot or the traps, its like a gorier version of Agatha Christie's "and then there were none" but with all the mystery torn out. While Donnie Walhberg has proven himself to be a decent actor, all he gets to do here is chew scenery as the clichéd troubled cop. Ultimately we're invested in this movie long enough to see how it plays out with the characters survival rates only to be somewhat meh about the big surprise ending.

Oldboy * * * *

2006-04-09T00:13:00.000-07:00

Released: 2003
Runtime: 115 minutes
Rated: R for Strong Violence and Sexuality
Language: Korean with English Subtitles
Directed by: Park Chanwook
Cast:
Min-sik Choi...............Dae-su Oh
Ji-tae Yu...................Woo-jin Lee
Hye-jeong Kang.............Mi-do
Dae-han Ji.................No Joo-hwan

Tagline: 15 Years of Imprisonment...5 Days of Vengence

Sitting in a jail cell, Seoul Businessman Oh Dae-Su explains that his name means, "Getting through one day at a time". Beneath the alcohol fumes, we can smell the fermenting odor of misery and desperation. He is a man who would get drunk and arrested on the night of his daughter's birthday. Clearly it’s not just the day he’s having trouble getting through, it’s his entire life. Finally, after he begs, bargains and rages at the police, they release him into the custody of his friend No Joo-hwan.

Soon after being released from one cell, he is kidnapped and imprisoned in another. One of the major themes in the film is whether Oh Dae-Su has been in a prison his entire life. His past is never completely revealed to us so it is impossible to answer. What we do see is how his imprisonment in the film completely alters him. The one thing we are sure of is he will never be the same man again. After fifteen years of captivity and teetering on the brink of madness, he awakes on a rooftop, apparently a free man. He is soon informed however, that his captor has only loosened his grip. Oh Dae-Su is given five days to find out why this has happened to him and who is behind it.

Oldboy is a stylish blend of film-noir, action, mystery and morality play. The story combines the clichés of revenge within a cat and mouse game that should tell you, if you didn't already know, how big a Hitchcock fan Park Chanwook is. But there is nothing truly unique here; you’ve seen many parts of Oldboy in other movies. It’s a competent work that recycles familiar pieces into to an entertaining whole. Ultimately, the film hinges on the performance of Min-Sik Choi, and he doesn't let us down. As Oh Dae-Su, he is believable and sympathetic, creating a surprisingly deep sense of humanity. If I were only allowed to recommend one thing about Oldboy, it would be for Min-Sik Choi. Take him away and the film would not be nearly as good.

Fight Club Redux

2006-04-08T10:41:00.000-07:00

Three...Extremes * * * *

2006-03-25T17:08:00.000-08:00

If you like a good spicy Asian meal, then you’ll enjoy this little number served up in three terrifying courses. It features an all-star line up of directors, including Hong Kongs Fruit Chan, Koreas Chan Wook Park and Japans Takashi Miike. Unlike most American Horror Films, these short works shun the tired supernatural themes for more modern psychological chills. While genre is the only thing they seem to have in common, there is a malevolent undercurrent at work that makes them all fit perfectly together.

Dumplings by Hong Kong director Fruit Chan may be the most disturbing of the vignettes. Lacking the usual supernatural conventions, it is a meditation on our obsession with youth and beauty. The story follows Mrs Lee, an aging actress with a failing marriage, who is desperate to turn back the clock. In a run down apartment complex, she meets a strange woman called Aunt Mei with an even stranger beauty secret. Out of all three, this was definitely my favorite. It is also the one most likely to disgust and offend.

Cut is another of Chan Wook Park's disertations on the human condition. Best known in the U.S. for his 2003 tale of revenge Oldboy, Park delivers the most violence and gore of the segments. It concerns a professional movie "extra" who feels that life has been extremely unfair to him and all too kind to a famous director. Held captive on the set of his own movie, the director is given a lesson he won't soon forget.

Box is Takashi Miike's dream like story of death and regret. It tells the story of a woman named Kyoko who is haunted by the loss of her sister in a tragic fire. Miike is known for his graphic violence and gore but here he shows a great deal of restraint. The use of color and style is in some ways reminiscent of Dario Argento's Suspira. And, like a dream or more aptly, a nightmare, it is a disjointed narrative that will often have you wondering what's real and what's not.

The Hills Have Eyes (2006) * * *

2006-03-12T14:00:00.000-08:00

No desert road trip movie would be complete, in my opinion, without homicidal nuclear mutants.
(Really could nuclear mutants be anything but homicidal?)
In this 2006 remake, Alexandre Aja gives us grotesque deformities and scenes of blood-soaked violence the likes of which Wes Craven could only dream of back in '77. Instead of the originals savage inbred hillbillies, Aja opts for an irradiated freak show living on an old government test site. With the help of a local gas station owner, they lure unsuspecting victims off the main road to their doom.

I get the top bunk!

Mmmm, left-overs!

It's hard to get a good workout in the desert.

4th of July Mutant Style
My reaction to this film was pure old-school horror enjoyment. Simple plot, great make-up effects and buckets and buckets of movie blood. The Hills Have Eyes is a big slice of B-Movie Cheese and I mean that in the most positive sense possible.

Swimming with Jessica Alba

2006-03-11T11:20:00.000-08:00

I really didn't care whether Into the Blue was good or bad, as long as Jessica Alba kept swimming. Clearly, the woman could do an instruction swimming DVD and it would fly off the shelves.

It took many grueling hours of training to swim like "The Man from Atlantis".

One of the few scenes where Alba's butt was not in frame.

Being a less than talented B-Movie actor does have its perks.

Diving for treasure never looked this good.

Beauty and amazing lung capacity.
Not that it really matters, but Into the Blue is a rip-off of another soggy sea adventure called The Deep (1977). That film starred a younger, and less homeless looking Nick Nolte, as well as a bikini clad Jacqueline Bisset. They play a pair of young lovers on vacation who simultaneously discover a sunken treasure and a lost shipment of drugs. It didn’t hurt that the screenplay was written by Peter Benchley (Jaws) and Directed by Peter Yates (Bullitt). As you'd expect with all this creative talent and beautiful underwater cinematography it was obvious that Jacqueline Bisset should be as naked as possible throughout the film.

Jacqueline Bisset increasing The Deep's ticket sales.

The Bald Women of Sci-Fi

2006-03-04T12:30:00.000-08:00

In the upcoming "V for Vendetta", actress Natalie Portman loses her locks during an on-screen head shaving. At the Berlin Film Festival, she told reporters she was even looking forward to the transformation:
"I was really excited to get to shave my head -- it's something I'd wanted to do for a while and now I had a good excuse, it was nice to shed that level of vanity for a girl."
Portman isn't the first actress to play a bald Sci-Fi heroine, it seems future has yet to solve the riddle of female hair-loss.

In the Lucas Film "THX 1138", Maggie McOmie plays LUH 3417. Her character is a faceless cog in an uncaring social machine. When she stops taking the Government issued medication, she begins to notice romantic feelings for her roommate, Robert Duvall's character THX 1138. After the films release, McOmie decided not to pursue a career in film.

The late Indian Actress Persis Khambatta played the bald Lt. Ilia in "Star Trek The Motion Picture". Her character, a navigator aboard the Enterprise, was killed and replaced by an android double. Khambatta began her career as a model and was crowned Miss India in 1965. Through out her life she starred in numerous Hindi and Hollywood films including Nighthawks with Sylvestor Stallone.

Feminist icon Lt. Ellen Ripley crash lands in the much-maligned "Alien 3". Set in the future on a prison colony called Fury 161; all residents are required to shave their body hair due to a persistent problem with lice. Begining with the original 1979 "Alien", Signourney Weavers portrayal of the headstrong Ripley paved the way for other actresses to play strong female leads.

In "Minority Report", Samantha Morton plays a psychic named Agatha whose visions of the future allow police to stop crimes before they happen. As a "pre-cog" Agatha doesn't get out much, her life is spent floating in a special pool while technicians monitor her brain. The British born actress then went on to star, still close cropped, in the Sci-Fi Romance "Code 46".

R.I.P. Kolchak

2006-02-26T13:39:00.000-08:00

Darren McGavins death is sad news for all of us who grew up watching the original television series Night Stalker, as well as the classic holiday film A Christmas Story. McGavin was 83 at the time of his death and reportedly in poor health over the last several years.

Dr. Who coming to Sci Fi Fridays

2006-02-25T09:39:00.000-08:00

Hold on to your Sonic Screw Drivers! Starting this March the Sci-Fi Channel is set to dominate geekdom with another high profile show. The BBC's 2005 update of the classic Dr. Who series has been a runaway hit over there, much like Sci-Fi's BSG is here. The first season is thirteen episodes long and will tie in with the DVD release later this summer.

The new Doctor is played by British Actor Christopher Eccleston. If American audiences find him slightly familiar, its because of his roles in films like The Others, 28 Days Later, Gone in Sixty Seconds, and the cult hit Shallow Grave. His on-screen intensity will make for an interesting 21st century incarnation of our favorite Time Lord.

Check out the official Doctor Who site for more details.

From the Director of "Dog Soldiers"

2006-02-25T02:01:00.000-08:00

A team of explorers trapped underground and hunted by strange predators doesn't sound all that inventive. However, given Neil Marshall's cult hit "Dog Soldiers" I'm willing to extend him the benefit of the doubt. Look for it to hit the U.S. sometime this fall, in the meantime check out the official movie site for more details.

Hostel (zero *s)

2006-02-04T14:35:00.000-08:00

Watch out Paul W.S. Anderson and Uwe Boll, theres a new hack director in town and his name is Eli Roth. I didn't think it was possible for Roth to make a worse film than his 2002 big slobbery fanboy kiss to 80's Horror, Cabin Fever. I was wrong, very wrong and only ten minutes in I was wishing I had gone to see Munich instead.

To start with, the plot suffers from Roth's screen writing. Usually you'd like your audience to connect with, maybe even care about the characters on screen. Roth gives us little information beyond the obvious - a cardboard cutout trio looking for sex in Amsterdam. Paxton is the over confident ladies man, Josh is the sensitive brokenhearted geek, and Oli is the funny foreigner. By the end of the film, thats still all we really know about them.

The first forty minutes drag by as our intrepid threesome smoke dope and look for women in Amsterdam. C'mon, are we really supposed to believe in a city full of prostitutes and drugged out partiers even these three can't get enough action? When they finally do end up a brothel, they all decide to use the services of the same woman. Yeah, whatever. I don't know how Roth did it, but he was actually able to make gratuitous nudity and sex seem uninteresting. Eventually, just as I was falling asleep in the theater, they hear about this hostel in "Slovakia" and the film ominously switches gears.

I perked up a little at this point, thinking finally things will start happening. Another tedious twenty minutes later they do. Given all the hype, I was a little unsure of myself. Normally, I'm not sqeamish about gore, I find it interesting in a detached sort of way. With Hostel, I felt sympathy for the first victim and the rest I could've cared less. For all his self-promotion as the ultimate horror fan/director, Roth blows through the carnage like he was running out of film. As the credits rolled, I walked out of the theater thinking "that was it?"

There must be some type of demonic pact involved with this film. Otherwise, it would have gone straight to video, circled the drain of late-night cable and then disappeared forever. The only thing I know for sure is I won't be paying to see his next masterpiece. If you're smart you won't pay to see this one.

House of Wax * * *

2005-11-06T21:24:00.000-08:00

Given the all the worthless remakes lately, I had nothing but the lowest expectations for House of Wax. The fact that they hired publicity prostitute Paris Hilton almost convinced me to avoid it entirely. However, the lure of seeing her tortured and killed proved too strong an incentive. Something I'm sure the filmmakers were counting on. Luckily, the film has a lot more to offer than the mansion-trash princess being sliced & diced.

The 2005 version bears little resemblance to the original starring Vincent Price. It actually has a lot more in common with 1979's Tourist Trap, which featured a creepy Chuck Conners living in a town full of Mannequins. Both films involve a carload of kids breaking down and one by one meeting a horrible fate.

The only connection the remake has to the original is the killers’ love of dripping wax on people and then displaying them in his museum. Otherwise its teen-slasher plot structure 101 - isolate the victims and then knock them off one at a time. I won’t go into detail but I will say they did a nice job with the ending. All that wax, it must have been an incredible mess to clean up afterwards!

House of Wax is a return to good old-fashioned B-Movie Cheese. For most of us horror fans this is meat and potatoes, with a bloody scoop of Paris Hilton for dessert! Whats not to like...

Capote * * * *

2005-10-22T15:15:00.000-07:00

Like William H. Macy in Fargo, Philip Seymore Hoffman has come into his own. Over the past decade, Hoffman has made a name with small but memorable performances. He has played everything from unlikable frat boys to cross dressing piano teachers. In Capote, it's impossible to see anyone else in the title role. Hoffman disappears so thoroughly into character; we completely forget he is there.

Capote takes the novel, In Cold Blood, and turns it 180 degrees showing the man behind the masterpiece. A character who is possibly too brilliant and talented for his own good. The inner conflict between literary ambition and personal attachment to his subjects ultimately undoes him. After their execution provides the books necessary conclusion, Capote sets about on his own path of self-destruction.

The film captures the skeletal Kansas landscape with a suitably dour sepia look to it. Otherwise, there is nothing remarkable about the photography. The cameras focus stays mainly on Hoffman as it should, but when it does stray, we see a fine supporting cast. Most notably is the underrated Clifton Collins Jr. who gives an excellent performance as the needy killer Perry Smith.

While Capote may not bring the biopic back to the big screen en masse, it shows they don't have to remain shoddy made-for-TV affairs.

Haute tension * *

2005-10-16T01:01:00.000-07:00

This is a frustrating movie, because it's entirely too good to be ruined in the last ten minutes. Even twist endings have to remain true to the stories logic and unfortunately, High Tension doesn't. This is no Sixth Sense or The Others where you can connect the dots as the credits role. High Tension has more than just vague inconsistencies, several events could not possibly have occurred given the "surprise". The sad fact is that a kick-ass slasher film like this didn't need to resort to such a clunky gimmick.

Playing like an homage to 70's horror, High Tension has so much going for it. Dare I say there is a certain brilliance at work behind the camera. Aja and co. have a perfect understanding of how to lead the audience without being conspicuous. The special effects for the most part are very realistic. The film has just the right ratio of tension to gore, so it never degenerates into a laughable splatterfest. This is a solid movie right up until the ending drops out of the sky.

The story itself is threadbare, two beautiful college girls study for an exam at a lonely farmhouse. We overhear just enough conversation in the car ride to flesh out their relationship. Alexia is popular with the boys on campus, whereas Marie seems a little jealous. This breadcrumb trail of information begins to lead you towards the movies twist, but that abruptly ends when the killer knocks on the door.

The characters French name La Tueur translates to "The Killer", and there is little else we know about him. He is a "shape", as John Carpenter would say, that swigs whiskey and has an attraction to dark haired women - seemingly the only reason for his appearance at alexia's family home. After the killing starts, the film evolves to an effective cat and mouse game between Marie and La Tueur...right up until, yeah, you get the idea.

For a first outing in the genre, Director Alexandre Aja shows a great deal of skill. High Tension aggravates me because I absolutely love ninety-five percent of it. I'm really looking forward to his upcoming remake of The Hills Have Eyes and a ghost story called The Waiting. In the mean time, if you're willing to overlook the surprise ending, give High Tension a shot, just don't say I didn't warn you.

Unleashed * * *

2005-10-15T16:22:00.000-07:00

Unleashed (aka Danny the Dog) is a film behaviorist B.F. Skinner might have enjoyed. It's about a Chinese boy named Danny, raised to be a human attack dog. Skinner, if you're unfamiliar, is the psychologist that urban legends claim raised his own daughter in a box (untrue). This may well be where Luc Besson got the idea from, I don't know. What ever the case, Unleashed is a better than average martial arts movie and probably Jet Li's best English speaking performance.

The film opens with Hoskins and Li making the rounds on the financially irresponsible. Hoskin's character Bart explains that he expects to be paid and paid on time, otherwise the collar comes off. Lucky for us these deadbeats don't understand the beating their in for regardless of how many goons they employ. Jet Li is arguably one of the finest martial arts performers working in film today. The initial fight comes off looking the most natural and Li is nearly growling like a human pit-bull.

Further into it the action starts to get more contrived and while you may never see the wires, you get the sense that they're there. The unrated DVD includes extended fight scenes but they really don't improve the film in my opinion. It changes the pacing and looks even more artificially choreographed.

Danny, as you may know, gets away from Bart and ends up staying with a blind piano tuner. There is a real sincerity in Li's performance which elevates the film above mindless action. Morgan Freeman does a nice job here as a blind man used to taking care of other people. Although it seems a little unrealistic that your average person would take in a stranger with no social skills, the movie pulls it off.

Unleashed has its moments of cheesy silliness, as in the underground fight club scenes. Fortunately, there is enough heft in the performances to lift it out of Van Damme territory. Besson didn't surpass Leon (aka The Professional) but at least he made amends for The Transporter.

Thumbsucker * * *

2005-10-10T16:24:00.000-07:00

This is the type of movie that I almost never catch first run in a theater. Maybe because it's a little movie, and doesn't lose much in the transition to DVD. Maybe because it won't be shown outside of the aging, uncomfortable art houses downtown. And maybe because I'm lazy and have a narrow criteria for what I'll traipse out to see in a theater. This time, however, all those reasons didn't stop me...because I got free movie passes.

In your typical Hollywood coming of age story, the main character needs to lose his virginity to become a man. In Thumbsucker, High School Student Justin Cobb needs to understand why he still sucks his thumb. Thumb sucking is long considered a replacement for the mother's nipple, and Justin feels the pressure to outgrow the habit. In fact he becomes so desperate that he allows his Orthodontist to use hypnotherapy. The cure unfortunately opens a floodgate of teenage angst. So much so that his emotional outbursts drive family and school officials to discuss treatment options.

Justin's parents are somewhat self-absorbed. His Father wants to be called Mike, because Dad makes him feel old. Mike is far too guarded with his feelings and doesn't know how to connect with Justin. His Mother Audrey wants to win a contest to meet a well-known Television actor. She goes on shopping trips to find outfits for their eventual date. She says she wants a diversion, but what she really needs is validation.

For an indie flick, Thumbsucker has a fairly weighty cast. Both Tilda Swinton and Vincent D'Onofrio are excellent here. D'Onofrio is well known for his intense psychotic characters, but is just good playing it subdued. Keanu Reeves, surprisingly, gives an effective performance as Justin's new-age Orthodontist. He is both a catalyst for Justin's journey and also his adult echo. It must be a welcome change for Reeves to do something other than sullen super heroes. Vince Vaughn, likewise, steps away from his usual type casting to play a self-conscious debate coach.

The movie asks questions about who we are, and why should we be so driven to change ourselves. It's a solid film that won't get a lot of press and it'll be in and out of the theater before you can finish reading this review. When it comes out on DVD I would highly recommend picking it up.

The Amityville Horror (2005) *

2005-10-09T14:12:00.000-07:00

It's okay to scream...when another iconic horror movie has been slaughtered by a tremendously bad remake. The original, while not necessarily great filmmaking, was far superior to its modern retelling.

The premise, if you're not already familiar, is about the Lutz family who move into a house where a gruesome multiple homicide occurred. As supernatural things begin to happen, the household falls into increasing dysfunction.

The performances are at about the level you'd expect for a B-movie horror flick. Ryan Reynolds portrayal of George Lutz is the only really remarkable one. He has a good deranged intensity during the scenes where George mistreats his stepchildren. So much so, that I could see him playing an abusive father in a Lifetime Channel movie. Beyond that, I think he's much better suited to comedy.

Overall, the film has a synthetic feel which never allows you to step over the threshold of believability. The thing that seems most lacking in modern horror films is the understanding of what scares us. The things we cannot see, the sense of dread and anticipation of what might occur are the most effective tools in the horror film masters arsenal. While the original 1979 version may have been less technically sophisticated, but it had a much better understanding of how to create atmosphere.

My opinion is, unless your completely bored, skip this movie...

Save the Green Planet * * *

2005-10-05T16:31:00.000-07:00

Byeong-gu is either a freedom fighter trying to save the planet from alien destruction, or a serial killer whose lost touch with reality. From the outset we’re not too sure of his sanity and for good reason; he kidnaps a local CEO (Kang Man-shik) dressed in a homemade anti-telepathy costume and nearly bungles it. You see Byeong-gu, and to some degree his girl friend Su-ni, believe that Kang is going to be in contact with the Prince of Andromeda during the next lunar eclipse. What transpires at that meeting could well determine the fate of the planet Earth, thus requiring Kangs interrogation.

Korean Writer-Director Jun-hwan Jeong freely mixes black comedy, heartfelt drama, serial killers, and morality tales of global violence. While threaded neatly down the center is Byeong-gu’s life story, which effectively works our sympathy even as we increasingly believe he is insane. Conversely we’re not given much information about Kang, and this where the movie falters a bit. I would have cared more if Kang had attempted to appeal to his captor’s sense of compassion or shown a little humanity. From beginning to end, he remains the angry two-dimensional head honcho you see chewing out the heroes in other films. You’d think Kang would bring up his wife and kids, or the sad yearning to end his estrangement with his older brother, something, anything, even if it’s made up.

Save the Green Planet is an odd film that’s some how able to be funny, horrifying and sad all at the same time and pull it off. If your not afraid of subtitles and in the mood for something strange this might be for you...