A Minecraft Movie (2025) ☆☆(2/4): A goofy beginning

Posted on April 27, 2025 by kaist455

I must confess that I am not a target audience for “A Minecraft Movie”. Even when I was young and wild, my mind was mostly drawn to movies and books instead of playing video games, and, yes, I am not changed much even at this point. As a matter of fact, I have rarely touched video games during the last three decades, even though I occasionally check on the current trend of video games via the reviews written by others (Being out of touch is the last thing I want, folks).

While there are a number of goofy comic moments for my little amusement, “A Minecraft Movie” did not engage me a lot mainly because I was often frustrated with how shallow and predictable it is in terms of story and characters. Sure, it simply wants to have much fun with its video game world, its world is not very interesting and refreshing to me, and I simply followed one narrative stage after another as being more aware of my dwindling interest in the film.

Nonetheless, its target audiences will definitely be delighted by all those familiar stuffs unfolded onto the screen right from the opening part, which shows us how a plain dude named Steve (Jack Black) happened to enter a fantasy world called the “Overworld”. Although he is quite baffled by this odd world at first, it does not take much time for Steve to learn how to wield his creative power onto this world, and he certainly becomes much happier compared to when he was just a middling salesman.

However, the Overworld is subsequently threatened by Malgosha (voiced by Rachel House), the evil ruler of the Nether. Using a certain magical object obtained by Steve, Malgosha tries to conquer the Overworld, but, before he eventually gets captured and then imprisoned, Steve manages to hide that object thanks to his royal wolf, which comes over to Steve’s world and then hides it somewhere inside his house.

And the movie shifts its focus onto several other main characters in the story. Following their dead mother’s wish, Natalie (Emma Myers) and her younger brother Henry (Sebastian Hansen) move to a little town in Idaho, but Henry is not particularly happy about this as your average nerdy kid. Right from his first day in a local elementary school, he feels more like a loner, and then he inadvertently causes a big trouble for both him and his older sister.

Meanwhile, Henry happens to befriend Garrett “The Garbage Man” Garrison (Jason Momoa), a former video game champion who has been struggling to run his shabby little video game store. Among Garrett’s recently acquired stuffs, Henry notices one strange object, and, of course, that turns out to be that magical object belonging to Steve. Once Henry activates that object, he and Garrett get themselves pulled into the portal to the Overworld, and Natalie and her real estate agent Dawn (Danielle Brooks) also come to follow them by coincidence.

Meanwhile, Steve returns to the Overworld because Malgosha demands that he should retrieve that magical object for her, but he soon joins Henry and his group for stopping Malgosha. As they move onto one stage after another, they certainly face a number of challenging situations, and Steve sometimes functions as their guide and instructor.

Now this is pretty much like what we previous saw from “Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle” (2017) and its following 2019 sequel, but “A Minecraft Movie” fails to generate enough interest to hold our attention mainly due to its deficient storytelling. While the drama involved with the strained relationship between Henry and his older sister is half-baked to say the least, the unexpected comradeship between Steve and Garrett is mostly used for a series of cheap gags, and a subplot involved with the school vice principal by Jennifer Coolidge feels rather distracting. At least, Coolidge, who has always been game for anything funny, goes all the way for this redundant part, but I think several little audiences around me did not get much of her blatantly silly moments in the film.

In case of several other main cast members in the film, they fill their respective roles as much as possible, and some of them acquit themselves well. While Emma Myers and Sebastian Hansen do not have much to do as being stuck in their thankless straight parts, Danielle Brooks, who deserves better considering her recent Oscar-nominated supporting turn in “The Color Purple” (2023), manages to bring some extra humor to the story, and Jack Black and Jason Momoa willingly go over the top for more silliness. Both of them are certainly no stranger to looking goofy and exaggerated, and Momoa, who also participated in the production of the movie, gleefully and shamelessly chews every moment of his from throughout the film.

On the whole, “A Minecraft Movie” left me without much to remember, and that is a considerable disappointment compared to the previous works of director Jared Hess. I did not like his breakthrough work “Napoleon Dynamite” (2004) that much, but I sort of understand its offbeat charm to some degree, and I was subsequently delighted by “Ninety-Five Senses” (2022), a weirdly funny Oscar-nominated animation short film from him and his wife. Considering that it has been earning a lot more than expected, there will surely be at least one sequel, and I sincerely hope that I will be more entertained by whatever may come after this mildly ludicrous product.

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Bullet Train Explosion (2025) ☆☆☆(3/4): A Thriller on Bullet Train

Posted on April 26, 2025 by kaist455

Japanese Netflix film “Bullet Train Explosion”, which was released on this Wednesday, provides enough fun and thrill along as your typical disaster film. While its course is predictably bumpy to say the least, the movie diligently and excitingly rolls its conventional story and characters from one expected moment to another, and that is more than enough to compensate for its several weak aspects.

The movie does not waste any time at all as quickly establishing its story premise. Not long after a Shinkansen, which is also colloquially known as Bullet Train in English, bound from Shin-Aomori to Tokyo departs, somebody calls the train company in Tokyo. It turns out that there is at least one bomb on that train, and the bomb will be exploded if the train is slowed down under 100 km per hour. Once it becomes quite evident that the train is indeed in serious danger, everyone at the control center quickly responds to this emergency, and they are soon joined by several other figures including a detective assigned to the case and a haughty government official. 

Now you may be reminded of “Speed” (1994) and some other similar action thriller films, but the movie is actually a sequel to the 1975 film “The Bullet Train”. Although I have not seen that movie yet, the movie thankfully shows several clips from that movie as the detective and his men compares their ongoing case to what happened in that movie, and you may be amused a bit as observing how that movie looks rather dated compared to its slick junior.

Anyway, the figure who planted the bomb on the train later demands the ransom, but the demand baffles the people at the control center a lot. While the ransom is no less than one hundred billion yen, it should be collected from the individual donation from every person in Japan, and that certainly feels preposterous, considering that there is not much time for the train and its passengers from the beginning.

For buying more time, the people at the control center, led by its confident general manager, clear the course for the train, and its driver slows down the train as much as possible, but, of course, there comes one obstacle after another for generating more suspense along the story. There is a nail-biting scene where the train must change its track while maintaining its high speed as before, and everyone at the control center naturally becomes quite nervous as bracing for what may happen in the worst case.

In the meantime, the movie also focuses on what is happening inside the train. Its unflappably dedicated train manager tries as much as possible for preventing any unnecessary incident of panic among his passengers, but, of course, it turns out to be quite difficult for him to get more than 300 passengers under control, and the passengers get more anxious as the time keeps running out for them minute by minute.

And we get to know a bit more about some of the passengers as expected. They are 1) a prominent politician who wants to leave behind her recent scandal as soon as possible; 2) a popular online influencer who becomes quite active for gathering the ransom money from all the people in Japan as quickly as possible; 3) a rather suspicious dude who does not want to be recognized by others; and 4) a quiet and introverted high school girl who got on the train along with her teacher and a bunch of schoolmates. 

Occasionally giving some attention to these and several other characters in the story, the movie keeps rolling during its first half, which eventually culminates to a very risky rescue attempt which surely demands a lot of precision from everyone participating in that. I will not go into details here for not spoiling your fun, but I can tell you instead that director Shinji Higuchi and his crew members including cinematographers Yusuke Ichitsubo and Keizō Suzuki did a good job of making this moment look as vivid and realistic as possible. As a result, we are more engaged in what is happening across the screen, and that leads to more excitement and suspense for us.

However, I must point out that the second half of the movie is relatively less gripping than the first half. After the identity of the bomber is finally revealed (You can easily guess that in advance, by the way), the movie slows down itself to some degree for some extra melodrama, and that is where my level of interest began to decrease. The mood becomes tense again as required when several main characters are thrown into an impossible circumstance, but that is not compelling enough mainly because its main characters are mostly broad archetypes without much human depth. Fortunately, the movie eventually regains its speed along with the train later, and the following climactic sequence will certainly not disappoint you.

 In conclusion, “Bullet Train Explosion” is not entirely without flaws, but it is still one of the more entertaining products from Netflix during this year. I would like it more if its second half were shorter and tighter, but its overall result is fairly good enough for recommendation, and, above all, it touches my soft spot a bit. Yes, I love fun train movies such as, say, “Train to Busan” (2016), and I must admit that, despite some distracting bumps on its course, the movie is a little better ride than I expected.

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Havoc (2025) ☆☆(2/4): Merely bloody and violent 

Posted on April 26, 2025 by kaist455

Gareth Evans’ latest film “Havoc”, which was released on Netflix yesterday, is merely bloody and violent without bringing anything new to its familiar genre territory. If you simply want a lot of extremely brutal action and mayhem, the movie will probably not disappoint you, but, folks, I want more than that, and that is why I became more distant to whatever is happening on the screen.

Tom Hardy, who also participated in the production of the film, plays Patrick Walker, a police detective working in some big anonymous city. During the early part of the film, the movie emphasizes how messy his professional and private life has been, but that is quite typical to say the least. Yes, he has some shady past about which he feels quite guilty. Yes, he has been estranged from his family as well as his colleagues. Yes, he hates himself as often reminded that he cannot do anything about his messy status. And, yes, he is not so nice to a young female cop who recently becomes his new partner.

Meanwhile, a mass shooting incident occurs at a spot belonging to a big Chinese criminal organization. As already shown to us at the beginning, it is involved with a bunch of young criminals who stole a large amount of drug for this criminal organization, and one of them happens to be the son of a prominent but corrupt businessman who has incidentally been running for the mayor of the city. Because he previously did some dirty work for this businessman, Walker immediately goes to him, and he makes a deal with this businessman in exchange of finding and then saving his son.

As Walker tries to retrieve the businessman’s son, the situation gets more and more complicated than before. One of the victims of that shooting incident was the only son of the female boss of that criminal organization, and she is quite furious to say the least. Right from her arrival in the city, she vows for revenge for his son, and she certainly has a bunch of ruthless thugs willing to do anything under her command. In addition, there are some other dangerous figures looking for the businessman’s son, and they are also quite ready to find and then kill him by any means necessary.

Needlessly to say, Walker soon finds himself pursued by both these two dangerous groups, and what follows next is a series of remorselessly brutal action scenes which often get quite gory and bloody. This is not so surprising at all if you remember how extremely violent Evans’ previous films including “The Raid: Redemption” (2011) are. I admired “The Raid: Redemption” to some degree mainly for its technical competence, but I was often distracted by its superficial handling of story and characters, and this problem was only amplified further with more blood and violence in its 2014 sequel.

At least, both of these two very violent actions films have some ambition and style, but “Havoc” is seriously deficient compared to that while looking surprisingly cheap and bland. For instance, the opening vehicle action sequence is drenched in so much CGI that it actually looks more unrealistic than whatever we saw from recent Fast and Furious flicks at times. In addition, the city in the film also looks quite mediocre without generating any real urban atmosphere, and I must say that the wallpaper of the desktop computer at my workplace has much more style and substance in comparison.

In case of the physical action scenes in the film, I certainly appreciate how Hardy and many other performers throw themselves into a lot of intense physical action, but, alas, the overall result is not particularly memorable. The performers surely shoot or fight a lot, but there is not much thrill and excitement as the movie hurriedly moves onto one action after another, and we are only left with some bad aftertaste as observing how many figures are casually eliminated like your average video game extra figures.

Above all, the movie lacks the characters we can care about. Hardy is an engaging actor who usually brings something interesting to observe to his movies, but his efforts are unfortunately undermined by thin characterization and sloppy writing. The dramatic arc of his character along the story is so predictable from the very beginning that there is not much narrative momentum to hold our attention, and we are only bored more even when the movie goes for more blood and violence during its expected finale.

Furthermore, the movie seriously wastes several other notable performers besides Hardy. While Forest Whitaker and Timothy Olyphant are thoroughly wasted due to their flat supporting roles, Luis Guzmán, who has been one of the most dependable character actors in our time, manages to bring some spirit to his thankless part. As the fearsome female boss of the Chinese criminal organization, Yeo Yann Yann quietly chews every moment of hers in the film as demanded, and she actually leaves a bit more impression than many of the other main cast members.

In conclusion, “Havoc” is disappointing because it virtually has nothing to offer besides its extremely violent action scenes, and it actually made me wonder whether I was too unkind to “The Raid: Redemption” and its sequel. While both of them aimed high at least, “Havoc” is just another Netflix product to be consumed and discarded, and I was already quite ready to move onto the next film to watch when it was finally over. No, I do not mind the extreme violence in the movie, but I was quite dissatisfied with how it is presented on the screen, and it is simply not worthwhile to watch at all in my inconsequential opinion.

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I Am Not a Witch (2017) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4): An absurd drama about African witchcraft hunt

Posted on April 25, 2025 by kaist455

You will not easily forget Rungano Nyoni’s 2017 feature debut film “I Am Not a Witch”. Following the plight of one little girl accused of witchcraft, the movie presents a somber but powerful contemporary story about an outrageous social injustice inflicted upon many unfortunate women out there in Africa, and the result is alternatively absurd and harrowing with a little but precious touch of magic realism.

The movie, which is mainly set in a rural area located somewhere in Zambia, opens with several tourists stopping by a spot where “witches” are presented in front of them. All of the witches, who are mostly elderly women, are tied to each own large spool of white ribbon, and you may roll your eyes when the guide explains the reason to those tourists.

 We are subsequently introduced to a little quiet anonymous girl who is later named Shula (Maggie Mulubwa). Just because they are disturbed by her mere presence, many people in the area come to believe that she is a witch, and she is eventually taken to a local police station. While many of them willingly accuse Shula of witchcraft, a female police officer tries to handle this situation as sensibly as possible, but a government official named Mr. Banda (Henry B.J. Phiri) soon comes, and that is followed by another absurd moment in the film.

In the end, Shula is “officially” confirmed as a witch, and then she is promptly sent to a camp belonging to the witches. She certainly does not want this at all, but she is already tied to her own spool of white ribbon, and she gradually gets accustomed to her changed circumstance. Just like the other witches, she is often forced to work on fields, and there is a darkly amusing moment when Mr. Banda eagerly announces that he gets a new big truck to carry them to the fields.

The situation becomes more absurd for Shula when Mr. Banda decides to use her more as a “government property”. At one point, she must help him on a little case of theft, and she will have to pick out the culprit from a bunch of suspects. Thanks to some advice from her fellow witches, she manages to accomplish her tricky task, and Mr. Banda is willing to use her more for his own benefit. At one point, he presents her in front of many audiences at a local TV show, and we are more saddened as observing how her thoughts and feelings are casually ignored by him and everyone else around her.

Meanwhile, we get to know a bit more about the witches as they and Shula go through their hard reality day by day. When the daughter of one of the witches drops by their camp, she is not welcomed much by her mother for a good reason, but the other witches are willing to buy what she offers to them nonetheless. In case of the wife of Mr. Banda, she turns out to be a former witch, but, not so surprisingly, she still cannot hide her social stigma as shown from one brief scene later in the story.

The story becomes a bit tense when the area and its people come to suffer a rather long dry season, but the movie takes its time as before, while looking closer into its young heroine’s inner conflict. As exploited by Mr. Banda in one way or another, Shula feels more miserable and discontented, and she naturally begins to show some defiance, but her spool of ribbon constantly reminds her of her limited status. She may cut it if she wants, but she is told that she will be turned into a goat if she ever does that, and it seems she really believes that just like the witches. 

That is certainly a silly superstition for many of us, but the superstitious belief of the characters in the film feels strong to us nonetheless, and this often makes a contrast to how much the area looks modernized. Despite considerable modernization, many people in the area still stick to their longtime tradition and superstition, and so are the witches, who had no choice but to stick together as social pariahs from the beginning.

I must confess that I have no idea on how much the story actually reflects the reality in Africa, but I can tell you instead that Nyoni did a commendable job of filling the screen with vivid mood and details to be appreciated. After being inspired by several actual stories of witchcraft accusations in Zambia, she did some research as visiting a real witch camp in Ghana, and her efforts are clearly showed from the considerable realism of the film. In case of the main cast members, most of them are non-professional performers with no movie acting experience, but they give unadorned natural performance under Nyoni’s skillful direction, and Maggie Mulubwa’s earnest lead performance is supported well by several substantial supporting performers including Becky Ngoma and Becky Ngoma.

In conclusion, “I Am Not a Witch” is a modest but undeniably impressive debut work by Nyoni, who recently made her second feature film “On Becoming a Guinea Fowl” (2024). While it requires some patience due to its slow narrative pacing at first, the movie is a very rewarding experience on the whole thanks to Nyoni’s confident handling of mood and details, and I was particularly touched by how it shows some little hope coupled with an unexpected moment of magic realism during its rather ambiguous finale. In my humble opinion, this is small film is too good to be overlooked, and I assure you that it will linger on your mind for a while after it is over.

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The Iron Claw (2023) ☆☆☆(3/4): It’s a tough family business…

Posted on April 22, 2025 by kaist455

What a tragically pathetic family the Von Erichs are. While they attained some fame and recognition in their sports field, whatever they achieved during that short period came with a lot of pain and misery, Sean Durkin’s latest film “The Iron Claws” is often harrowing even as calmly and clinically examining how they rose to the top and then fell hard to the ground.

The story, which is set between the late 1970s and the early 1990s, mainly revolves around Kevin Von Erich (Zac Efron), the second-oldest son of Jack “Fritz” Von Erich (Hold McCallany). As shown from the prologue scene, Fritz was once a promising professional wrestler, and he has driven his four sons into sports in one way or another while running his own professional wrestling business. While Kevin and his older brother David (Harris Dickinson) are already working as professional wrestlers, his younger brother Kerry (Jeremy Allen White) becomes an university athlete, and Mike (Stanley Simons), the youngest one in the bunch, shows some potential even though he is more interested in playing music.

Fritz initially tries to promote Kevin more, and Kevin is surely willing to prove himself more to his stern father. However, his important match for attaining the WWE championship turns out to be not as successful as they hoped, and Fritz subsequently recruits Kerry, who has been quite frustrated after he and many other American athletes cannot go to the 1980 Moscow Olympics due to a political reason involved with the Afghanistan War.

Once Kerry joins his two older brothers, it seems that they and their father will finally be closer to what their father has hoped for. After they become a lot more successful than before, David is chosen as the one going for the WWE championship, and Kevin does not mind this at all despite some disappointment, but there unexpectedly comes a devastating incident not long after he marries a young woman named Pam (Lily James).  

After that point, the mood becomes moody and disturbing as several other unfortunate incidents happen upon the Von Erichs. Kevin and several other family members certainly come to struggle a lot with the resulting shock and grief, but they do not get much help or support from Fritz, who is your average macho dude who does not allow himself and his sons to be emotional at all. Still occupied with making any of his sons gain that champion title someday, he pushes Kevin and his other sons harder than before, and they must obey him as enduring his constantly disapproving stare.

Although he begins to sense more of what is wrong with him and his brothers, Kevin still finds himself quite helpless under the toxic male influence from his father. Unlike his brothers, he has the wife willing to stand by him for more emotional support at least, but Pam eventually becomes quite frustrated with how her husband often fails to open himself more to her.

Considering his two previous films, Durkin is certainly no stranger to toxic personal relationships. His first feature film “Martha Marcy May Marlene” (2011) is about a young woman struggling to recover from the virulent influence of a charismatic cult leader she unfortunately got involved with. His next film “The Nest” (2020) observes one plain family gradually getting angry and frustrated with its patriarch’s another irresponsible financial plan, and you may see some parallel between the family in that film and the Von Erichs.          

You will probably be disappointed to see that the movie presents a number of wrestling scenes without much thrill or excitement on the whole. Instead, Durkin focuses more on what is being exchanged among Kevin and several other main characters, and their growing pain and frustration become palpable to us even when they do not express much on the surface. We are not so surprised when Kevin finally decides that enough is enough, and it is poignant to see when he is later reminded that it is really okay to show more emotion to the people close to him.

Durkin’s screenplay stumbles more than once as hurriedly moving from one incident to another during its second half (It also omits another son in the Von Erichs, by the way), and it has a little too many characters to juggle during its 132-minute running time. As a result, some of its main cast members are often under-utilized to our dissatisfaction, but they all give solid performances on the whole. Zach Efron surely tries a lot here for distancing himself from his usual image as much as possible, and his strong acting holds the ground to the end. While they are often limited by their underwritten characters, Jeremy Allen White, Harris Dickinson, Stanley Simons click well along with Efron, and they and Efron are always believable as brothers who have really been close to each other for years. Although they are stuck with their respective thankless supporting parts, Lily Collins and Maura Tierney hold each own small place well, and the special mention goes to Holt McCallany, who does a fabulous job of embodying toxic patriarchy and masculinity.

Overall, “The Iron Claw” is another interesting work from Durkin even though it is less successful compared to his two previous films. I wonder whether it could be a richer and more complex human story if it were a TV miniseries instead, but it is still fairly engaging for Durkin’s competent direction and several good performances, and that is enough for recommendation in my trivial opinion.

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The Boys in the Boat (2023) ☆☆1/2(2.5/4): The rowing underdogs

Posted on April 21, 2025 by kaist455

George Clooney’s latest film “The Boys in the Boat” is a typical underdog sports drama which does not have much surprise for us. As a story about one underdog sports team which surprises everyone as going up and up against all odds, it has almost every necessary element to be inspiring, but these elements in the story somehow do not row that well together in the movie compared to those boys in the boat.

At first, the movie starts with the introduction of Joe Rantz (Callum Turner), a plain lad studying at the University of Washington in 1936. Like many other people during that time, Rantz is quite poor to say the least, and we see his daily struggle between his college study and his frequent hardships outside the university. While he really wants to graduate and then become an engineer someday, he is constantly reminded of his current economic status everyday, and things become more desperate for him when he must pay more money for his college education.

While looking for any possible option for him along with his close friend, Rantz comes across a notice on the tryout to be held by the rowing team of the university. Mainly because of the considerable economic benefits from becoming a rowing team member, Rantz and his friend decide to apply for the tryout without much thought, but, what do you know, the competition turns out to be quite stiff, and they and many other young men are soon subjected to a series of arduous physical tests conducted by Al Ulbrickson (Joel Edgerdon), the coach of the rowing team.

Although he is your average unflappable coach, Ulbrickson knows too well how important the upcoming season is, and he and his staff members are ready to try their best as much as possible. At the end of their tryout, 8 young men including Rantz and his friend are selected as the junior group of the team, and then Ulbrickson and his staff members embark on testing their new team members more. As carefully checking up the strong and weak points of each of their new team members, they must find the right arrangement of the boys on their new boat, and it is naturally followed by a series of trials and errors before Ulbrickson comes to realize what is really necessary for his boys. They need a really good coxswain who can lead and boost them for more power and strength, and Ulbrickson knows the right one, though that person in question is a bit too headstrong for him at times.

Once everything clicks well together for Rantz and his colleagues, his team starts to surprise not only their coach but also everyone else. In their first official competition, they beat one of their main competitors, and this surely excites everyone in the University of Washington. After observing how the boys excel a lot more than expected, Ulbrickson comes to have much more confidence on them than before, and he eventually decides to do a rather risky gamble with them, though his bold decision is not welcomed that much by many people in the university.

It is not much of a spoiler to tell you that Ulbrickson and his boys come to distinguish themselves more as the surprising underdog team of that year. However, Mark L. Smith’s screenplay, which is based on the nonfiction book of the same name by Daniel James Brown, simply sails on their athletic advance without much development in terms of story and character, and that is the main disappointment in the film. While Rantz and many other main characters including Ulbrickson are more or less then broad archetypes, the movie does not delve that much into the human aspects of Rantz and several other colleagues, and a romantic subplot involved with Rantz’ girlfriend is redundant at best and superficial at worst.

At least, the movie does not disappoint us in case of the competition sequences, which are certainly its main highlight as expected. Clooney and his crew members including cinematographer Martin Ruhe and editor Tanya M. Swerling did a good job of bringing enough tension and verisimilitude to these key moments including the climatic one unfolded in the 1936 Berlin Olympics, and the actors on the boats are mostly convincing with their sweaty efforts vividly shown on the screen.

The main cast members of the movie try their best in filling their respective roles. While Callum Turner humbly holds the center as required, Peter Guinness, Jack Mulhern, and James Wolk have each own moment along the story, Joel Edgerton, who has been one of ever-dependable character actors during last two decades, ably imbues his very typical character with a bit of life and personality. Although we are not so surprised when his character gives a big motivation speech in front of Rantz and several other team members around the end of the story, Edgerton deftly handles this clichéd moment with enough sincerity, and the result is a little more dramatically effective than expected.

On the whole, “The Boys in the Boat” is a conventional sports drama film which will not impress you that much especially if you are a seasoned moviegoer like me, and you may also want to check out the two better movies directed by Clooney. After making a promising directorial debut with “Confessions of a Dangerous Mind” (2002), he seemed to advance further with his second feature film “Good Night and Good Luck” (2005), but his next several films including “The Monuments Men” (2014) were not particularly memorable in comparison, and neither is “The Boys in the Boat”. Considering that his prime period seems to be over these days after he won two respective Oscars for “Syriana” (2005) and “Argo” (2012), the lackluster result of “The Boys in the Boat” is not so surprising, but I sincerely hope that he may do better in the next time.

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And Your Bird Can Sing (2018) ☆☆1/2(2.5/4): Three free spirits

Posted on April 20, 2025 by kaist455

Shô Miyake’s 2018 film “And Your Bird Can Sing”, which happened to be released in South Korean theaters several days ago, seems to be merely following the aimless daily life of its three young protagonists, but it turns out to be more than that. As these three main characters interact more with each other along the story, we come to sense more of the genuine melancholy behind all those youthful moments among them, and this compensates for the rather superficial plot and characters of the film to some degree.

At first, we are introduced to a nameless young man, who is simply named “Me” (Tasuku Emoto) in the end credits. “Me” works as a part-time employee at a local bookstore in his neighborhood, but he is not exactly someone to be chosen as the employee of the month, and we see him going through another drinking night along with his friend/roommate Shizuo (Shôta Sometani) instead of doing some work at that local bookstore.

In case of Shizuo, he is no better than his roommate. He has depended on unemployment benefits for some time, but he is not particularly interested in getting employed, and the only trouble in his daily life is his problematic mother, who usually comes to spend some time with him whenever she is not with his older brother. As he simply listens to whatever she babbles about, it is quite apparent to us that there is some distance between Shizuo and his mother, though both of them are not so willing to recognize that.

Meanwhile, there is some little change in the daily life of “Me”. After letting down a young woman also working in his workplace, he subsequently gets himself involved with Sachiko (Shizuka Ishibashi), another young woman in his workplace. Although it later turns out that Sachiko has been actually in a relationship with their boss, “Me” does not mind that a lot, and Sachiko is willing to get more involved with him just because, well, she can always have some fun time with him besides sex.

Needless to say, it does not take much time for Shizuo to discover what is going on between his roommate and Sachiko, but he lets her spend more time at his and his roommate’s apartment, and we accordingly get something not so far from François Truffaut’s “Jules and Jim” (1962). Just like the three young main characters of “Jules and Jim”, Sachiko, Shizuo, and his roommate come to enjoy each other’s company as spending more time together, and the movie gives us a series of spirited moments as these three main characters casually throw themselves into more fun and excitement.

Needless to say, all of them want their fun time to last as long as long possible, but there always comes another day – along with the reality they have to face in one way or another. While Sachiko must decide where her heart really lies, “Me” comes to realize that he does care much more than his constant laid-back attitude suggests, and Shizuo also becomes a bit more serious about his life after one unexpected incident involved with his mother.

However, Miyake’s screenplay, which is based on the novel of the same name by Yasushi Satô, often spins its wheel in case of plot and character development. As the movie sticks to its calm and distant storytelling approach, we never get to know enough about its main characters even in the end, and that is the main reason why a few dramatic turns later in the film are not as impactful as intended. For instance, the last shot of the film could be more effective if the movie delved more into its main characters’ feelings and thoughts before that narrative point.

At least, there are some strong points to be admired and appreciated. Miyake, who also did the editing of the film, and his cinematographer Hidetoshi Shinomiya did a competent job of capturing the daily atmosphere surrounding the main characters of the film, and you will observe Miyake’s considerable potential as a burgeoning filmmaker. After this film and “Wild Tour” (2019), he advanced further as making “Small, Slow But Steady” (2022) and “All the Long Nights” (2024), and he is now regarded as another new exciting Japanese filmmaker to watch.

Miyake also draws the good natural performances from his three principal performers. While Tasuku Emoto brings some likable human qualities to his rather elusive character, Shizuka Ishibashi imbues her character with enough warmth and spirit, and Shôta Sometani holds his own place well between his two co-stars despite his relatively under-developed character.

In conclusion, “And Your Bird Can Sing” is one of the minor works in Miyake’s filmmaking career, but it is not wholly without interesting stuffs to observe at least. To be frank with you, many of Miyake’s works are an acquired taste for me, but I still admire how effortlessly they bring a considerable amount of realism onto the screen, and “And Your Bird Can Sing” is no exception. Yes, I often felt impatient and distant to its story and characters, but I also got the glimpses of Miyake’s undeniable filmmaking talent, and now I see more of how much he has steadily advanced since he made his feature film debut with “Playback” (2012). Is he really going to be as widely known as, say, Hirokazu Kore-eda or Ryusuke Hamaguchi? We will see, folks.

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Revelations (2025) ☆☆☆(3/4): A grim religion drama full of madness and despair

Posted on April 16, 2025 by kaist455

Compared to many of his notable live action feature films such as “Train to Busan” (2016), South Korean filmmaker Yeon Sang-ho’s animation feature films are a lot more unnerving and uncomfortable. I still remember how disturbed I was as watching “The King of Pigs” (2011), and I hope I will never have to watch again this truly disturbing story about bullying at school. I also remember how unnerved I was as watching “The Fake” (2013), which struck me really hard with its grim and gritty religious drama of cruelty, hypocrisy, and despair.

I have often wondered when Yeon will actually make a live action film as dark and despairing as those two animation films of his, and now there comes an answer via his recent Netflix film “Revelations”, which was released several weeks ago. Mainly revolving around several different kinds of delusion, this gloomy piece delves deep into the madness associated with the hypocrisy and cruelty of the South Korean church system in one way or another, and what we are going to behold is pretty unpleasant and uncomfortable to say the least.

At first, we are introduced to Min-chan (Ryu Jun-yeol), a young married pastor who has struggled for getting promoted from his rather shabby church to a bigger (and more expensive) church someday. At the beginning of the film, we see him supervising another prayer meeting at his little church, and that is when he happens to notice a rather suspicious guy who does not even seem interested in joining the church. He is Yang-rae (Shin Min-jae), and, what do you know, Min-chan soon comes to discover that Yang-rae is actually an ex-convict recently released after serving some time in prison for his heinous sex crime.

When his wife notifies him that his young son is missing not long after that, Min-chan certainly becomes quite frantic. After getting the address of where Yang-rae’s current residence, Min-chan instantly goes there, and then he decides to follow after Yang-rae after witnessing Yang-rae in the middle of doing something very suspicious.

After that narrative point, the screenplay Yeon and his co-writer Choi Gyu-seok, which is based on the online comic book series of the same name written by them, takes several dark plot turns as things become more complicated for Min-chan. When he eventually finds himself in a very serious trouble, he happens to see a sort of religious sign, and that is the beginning of his gradual descent into more madness, hypocrisy, and self-justification. Believing more that his God gave him a divine sign, he becomes more like your average loony zealot, and he gets all the more convinced when there comes a couple of reversals of fortune on his way.

In the meantime, the movie also focuses on Yeon-hee (Shin Hyun-been), a young female cop who has been obsessed with Yang-rae for a painful personal reason. Around the time of Yang-rae’s disappearance, a young girl happened to be gone missing, and it is quite possible that she was kidnapped by Yang-rae. As she and other policemen hurriedly look for Yang-rae, Yeon-hee also begins to suspect Min-chan, who happened to try to call the police when he witnessed Yang-rae at that time.

And we get to know more about Yeon-hee’s own troubled state of mind. Still angry about not only what Yang-rae committed but also how he was released rather early, her mind is often haunted by what is supposed to be the ghost of Yang-rae’s victim, and that certainly makes her feel often conflicted about her investigation. She still hates Yang-rae as before, but she really needs to find him alive for saving that kidnapped girl as soon as possible, and then she later finds herself quite tempted by a chance for going all the way for revenge instead.

The movie stumbles more than once during its last act, and the following resolution is delivered a bit too easily in my humble opinion, but the movie keeps us engaged even though we usually observe its three troubled main characters from the distance. It is quite uncomfortable to observe how willingly Min-chan goes down and down into his pit of madness and self-justification, and you may think some of his key scenes are too exaggerated, but, folks, I have seen many South Korean Christians showing such loony behaviors like that in the name of God or whatsoever. While Yang-rae turns out to be a deeply damaged figure who simply cannot help himself in front of his dark impulse originated from his unspeakable childhood trauma, Yeon-hee turns out to be more troubled than expected, and it is poignant to see how she eventually grabs an unexpected opportunity for salvation with some common sense.

The three main cast members are well-cast in their respective parts. Ryu Jun-yeol surely has a number of showy moments along the story, and he deftly delivers these dark moments with enough irony and absurdity under the surface. Shin Hyun-been’s low-key acting is an effective counterpart to Ryu’s more extroverted performance, and Shin Min-jae ably balances his tricky role between repulsion and pity.

In conclusion, “Revelations”, which is incidentally produced by none other than Alfonso Cuarón, is a darkly compelling genre piece which demonstrates that Yeon still can unnerve and disturb us as he did in “The King of Pigs” and “The Fake”. This is definitely not something you can casually watch on Sunday afternoon, but the movie is still worthwhile to watch for its grim but striking drama about belief and madness, and it will probably leave you something to think about after it is over.

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The Book of Clarence (2023) ☆☆(2/4): A middling biblical satire

Posted on April 15, 2025 by kaist455

Jeymes Samuel’s latest film “The Book of Clarence”, which is currently available on Netflix in South Korea, is a middling biblical satire disappointing us in more than one aspect. While its story setup and premise are fairly amusing on the surface, the movie is unfortunately too shallow and deficient to work as a satire or a drama, and it is pretty much like a one-joke comedy feeling too long after quickly running out of its comic momentum.

Set in Jerusalem in AD 33, the story is about a young small-time Jewish hustler named Clarence (LaKeith Stanfield). He and his friend Elijah (RJ Cyler) are currently in a big trouble due to owing a lot of money to a local gangster boss, and they must find any possible way to pay their debt within 30 days for not getting killed by their ruthless creditor.

After several attempts and failures, Clarence comes upon a seemingly good idea. Watching how a certain well-known figure and his 12 apostles including his own twin brother exert considerable influence on the people of Jerusalem, Clarence decides to be another apostle of his, and we get a little amusing moment when he approaches to those 12 apostles for proving himself. After seeing that they do not regard him that seriously, he chooses to do his own religion business instead, and Elijah willingly joins his business scheme along with Barabbas (Omar Sy), a hulking gladiator Clarence managed to liberate at one point.

Clarence’s first attempts of speaking out in front of the crowd are not exactly successful to say the least, but, what do you know, he soon gets to learn more of how to engage and motivate the crowd more. As a result, besides quickly getting a lot of money within a short time, he finds himself as widely regarded as another possible Messiah in the town, and those 12 apostles are certainly not amused to say the least.

Of course, things soon become all the more serious as Clarence comes to draw more attention from those Roman soldiers and rulers, who are already ordered to eliminate any possible Messiah in Jerusalem. In addition, as observing his growing power and influence on those people believing in him, Clarence naturally feels conflicted about his religion business, and that ironically makes him quite serious about faith and religion later in the story.

However, the screenplay by Samuel, who also serves as the composer of his movie, does not provide much wit or substance to the story. Yes, it is sort of refreshing to see a biblical film filled with black cast members, but the movie does not go that far from this interesting setup, and we only get a small laugh from the unexpected cameo appearance from a certain prominent white British actor, who incidentally looks quite unrecognizable under his heavy makeup at first. 

Above all, the movie often seems confused about how to present and regard its hero. On one hand, it just wants to laugh for a number of absurd moments around him, but it does not reach to the level of sheer absurdity and hilarity in “Monty Python’s Life of Brian” (1979). On the other hand, it also wants to be quite serious about its hero’s growing inner conflict along the story, but his bumpy quest for recognition and redemption is frequently marred by plot contrivance and superficial characterization.

LaKeith Stanfield, a wonderful actor who has steadily advanced during last 10 years since his breakout supporting turn in “Short Term 12” (2013), surely tries as much as possible, but his dual performance in here in this film surprisingly lacks spirit and interest compared to his recent better works including that Oscar-nominated performance in “Judas and the Black Messiah” (2021). Although he is effective to some degree as having some goofy fun early in the film, he is somehow not that convincing in Clarence’s spiritual transformation later in the story, and, above all, his two characters somehow do not click that well with each other during several scenes of theirs in the movie.

Furthermore, the movie also criminally wastes the talent of its various cast members. While RJ Cyler, Omar Sy, Micheal Ward, Babs Olusanmokun, David Oyelowo are hopelessly stuck in their thankless supporting parts, Alfre Woodard, Teyana Taylor, Anna Diop, and Marianne Jean-Baptiste manage to come and go with their dignity remaining intact, and James McAvoy gladly chews every comic moment of his while looking totally serious as Pontius Pilate. As a matter of fact, considering how effortlessly McAvoy can be both funny and loony, it is really a shame that the movie does not give him something as hilarious as that outrageously uproarious scene with Michael Palin as Pilate in “Monty Python’s Life of Brian”.

In conclusion, “The Book of Clarence” is two or three steps down from the considerable potential Samuel demonstrated in his previous film “The Harder They Fall” (2021). Although I did not like that film enough for recommendation, I admired its bold variation on many familiar genre elements, and that is the main reason why it is really disappointing to observe numerous failures in “The Book of Clarence” As reflected by its boldly anachronistic soundtrack, it certainly wants to do something really different, but it does not work well enough to hold our interest in addition to not surpassing anything in “Monty Python’s Life of Brian” at all, and I think you should watch that classic biblical comedy film instead – especially if you really want to be tickled a lot while also having some stuffs to reflect on.

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Mr. Robot (2025) ☆☆1/2(2.5/4): A modest SF animation film from South Korea

Posted on April 13, 2025 by kaist455

If it had come out around, say, 20 years ago, I might have been more generous to South Korean animation feature film “Mr. Robot”, which should not be confused with that popular American TV drama series of the same name. As watching it early in the morning at a local theater, my mind instantly compared the film to a bunch of similar works ranging from “Real Steel” (2011) to “The Wild Robot” (2024), and I was a bit dissatisfied mainly because the film is no more than an assembly of numerous familiar genre stuffs.

Set in a futuristic version of Seoul, the story quickly establishes its background via its opening action scene. When a robot suddenly becomes quite dangerous due to some malfunction problem, a special police squad is quickly dispatched to take care of this serious situation, and we soon meet its leader Tae-pyeong (voiced by Park Sung-young), who deftly and swiftly gets things under control once he and his squad members spot and then corner that malfunctioned robot.

Meanwhile, we are also introduced to Nana (voiced by Kim Yeon-woo), a young girl who has felt quite lonely and discontented mainly due to the constant absence of her parents. While her scientist father is usually busy with the ongoing research at his big robot company, her mother is mostly occupied with handling her own big business day by day, and Nana is quite disappointed for having to spend her birthday alone by herself again as only surrounded by her servant robots.

On that day, Nana’s father is going to present the prototype of the latest robot model from his company, but something quite unexpected occurs not long after that prototype robot is presented in front of him and others. The robot suddenly begins to target him for no apparent reason, and Tae-pyeong, who happens to be there with his several squad members just in case, instantly tries to stop it, but he only gets himself seriously injured before it was finally stopped.

Tae-pyeong’s unconscious body is taken to a hospital, but another unexpected thing happens. When he wakes up some time later, he is surprised to discover that his consciousness was somehow transferred to that prototype robot during that incident, and then he gets himself involved with Nana, whom he happens to save when she is in a serious danger due to a villainous figure responsible for her father’s death at that time. While still confused about his current status, Tae-pyeong instantly decides to run away along with Nana, and they are immediately pursued by not only that villain but also Tae-pyeong’s colleagues.

While staying at Tae-pyeong’s little apartment for a while, Tae-yeong and Nana get to know each other bit by bit. While treating Tae-yeong like any other robot in her possession, Nana comes to sense something special about him, and Tae-yeong becomes more protective of her because, well, she reminds him of his lost daughter as reflected by the occasional flashback scenes. As continuing to run away together, they depend and care about each other more than before, and there is a sweet little scene when they come to have a sort of father and daughter moment.

Of course, things eventually become more serious and melodramatic later in the story, and the film naturally pours plenty of action upon the screen. Although our robot hero looks rather simple and blunt on the surface, he is equipped with numerous different tools and gadgets inside his metallic appearance, and these tools and gadgets surely come handy during a number of action scenes in the film. In case of that villain, this nefarious figure has a big factory where hundreds of robots can be easily produced within a short time, and his robots, including a lethal female robot clearly borrowed from “Blade Runner 2049” (2017), are certainly ready to strike upon our robot hero at any time.

The overall result in the film is fairly competent on the whole, but I could not help but notice some deficiency in its technical aspects. For instance, the digital animation of the film sometimes feels too flat and bland, and the human figures in the film actually look more robotic than various robot figures in the film. As a matter of fact, this further emphasizes the superficial characterization of many of the human figures in the story, and I must point out that Tae-pyeong is relatively more expressive as a robot compared to when he was just a stiff human character early in the story.

At least, I cared about the unlikely relationship between Tae-pyeong and Nana along the story. As your average plucky little girl, Nana surely brings some spirit and charm to the film besides being more than a mere damsel in distress, and her bouncy personality is complemented well by the unflappable attitude of our robot hero, which looks gradually softened somehow as he shows her more of his human side.

In conclusion, “Mr. Robot”, directed by Lee Dae-hee (He previously made “Swimming to Sea” (2012), by the way), does not surpass its source of inspiration that much, and it feels instead like a modest test run for whatever may be achieved by the people behind it. Considering not only its relatively small production budget but also how rare it has been for me and many other South Korean audiences to watch a local animation film at theater for many years, the film does deserve some attention, but I still think it could be more creative and imaginative, and I sincerely hope that Lee will entertain me more in the next time.

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