Honest Candidate 2 (2022)

Still funny and entertaining as the first movie. But honestly, this can already stop here.

It was as if Sang-sook (Ra Mi-ran) has already changed for the better, but old habits just die hard. Until karma hit her again, and this time, much harder than before.

I was initially apprehensive for this sequel, since the first movie was already adequate with its story and ended with a closure. This time, I am glad that it was still able to retain the foundations of its predecessor that made it funny in the first place, for the most part.

Sang-sook was as kooky as ever, and Hee-cheol (Kim Mu-yeol), as loyal as he is to her, was just as entertaining as well to watch. Their dynamic was explored more here, and it, being this story's core, was one of the better points of this movie, if not its highlight. Individually, they were already funny, and together, it was truly comical.

One thing to note is that the comedy this time was more superficial and toned down compared to the first one. Maybe it was because it was set on a provincial setting which is not as robust as the capital Seoul, but it was still enjoyable. I just laughed with their foolishness at the beginning, then towards the "return of the curse" at the middle, until the "plot twist" at the end. Also maybe, because I was just in the mood to watch a mindless comedy film in that this movie just clicked with me.

The pacing and story direction were satisfactory as well. New characters and settings were introduced here, and it was quite good how it was drawn out. Pony (Park Jin-joo) could've been more fleshed out, since the actress really shines in comedic dramas. Her character could've been given a bigger role on the story.

In terms of pacing, there weren't filler scenes all througout the movie, but since the story events were already predictable, the screenwriter and director had to bank on proper comedic timing to really make this sequel as interesting as the first one, and they were mostly successful on that aspect.

In terms of production, I was amazed on the CGI effects on one scene about the long term goals of a certain entity (I have to make this spoiler-free hehe). There weren't really standout production and screenplay value here, but nonetheless, it was coherently done.

The ending was more or less the same, bringing up again the possibly of another sequel. I, for one, though found this one to be still funny and entertaining as the first movie. But honestly, this can already stop here.

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