Gil Bok Soon is a woman of focus, commitment, and sheer will

Gil Boksoon brought one thing to mind when I saw her "John Wick is a man of focus, commitment, and sheer will".

This movie reminded me so much of what I love about the John Wick franchise: the assassins, the organizations, and the rules that govern their anarchy. I'm a massive fan of seeing groups that work so far outside the law being acquiescent to their own rules that combine their obscure forms of morality with their own back alley justice. The movie was undoubtedly an 8/10 for me and here's why.

Pros:
I live for action and the action scenes and sequences were immaculate. Slowing down the scenes to give you a better view of the fight added to the intensity of the moment where you clearly saw the characters fight for survival.

Her struggle with being a mother while living this life made you relate to the character more. She wasn't just some impossibly amazing assassin, she was a single mother who had to struggle with raising a teen (a task no parent would ever say is easy). But, the mother-daughter relationship was truly the heart of this film. Every choice Boksoon made and everything she did always seem to come back to her daughter. You could see how she struggled with balancing a career she loves and her daughter that she loves.

Each character played their role very well. I felt that I liked who I was meant to like based on their portrayal and I hated the characters I was meant to hate as well. Boksoon's daughter was also an interesting character. I couldn't say I was ever really sure what she was thinking nor was I certain at the end of the movie exactly what kind of person she is but she made me curious. At this point, I want to know what becomes of her character and what choices she would make moving forward, especially given what she now knows.

I thoroughly enjoyed Lee Jae Wok's cameo.

Cons:
I felt like some of the characters' stories could have been fleshed out more. I understand that it would have made the movie much longer, maybe even needed a second movie, but much of the stories felt too short. A backstory for Han Hee Sung or even Kim Yeong Ji would have added to the story. Side characters felt trivialised in the story, they had moments where they could have opened a dialogue to learn more about these individuals but they were just ignored. Fingers crossed this is to build momentum for a second movie...

Overall, I think it's a great watch if you enjoy action with a bit of real-life mixed in. I know it just came out today but I could see this easily becoming a franchise similar to John Wick. While it's reminiscent of John Wick, it still maintains its own identity. I'm definitely rewatching it!

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A few times okay, but mostly BAD

I went into this movie understanding very little and came out understanding even less.

The trailer convinced me it was another movie from the revenge genre I have grown to love in Korean cinema. But this trainwreck felt more like a bad Kill Bill and Sin City crossover. Actors whom I am truly fond of and generally enjoy their work, were pigeonholed in this contrived, overdone, mess of a movie.

I won't deny that there were some action scenes that I really enjoyed that gave me hope for this movie, but they were ruined by this plot that made no sense. The movie truly started out promising in the first scene, I thought I was in for a treat. But it devolved into disconnected stories, a protagonist whose motivations were unconvincing, and side characters who added nothing to the film. The plot armour in this film was about as thick as 4 megalodons.

It's watchable to an extent, especially if you like these actors. But I think without them, there would be no reason to even entertain the thought of opening Ballerina.

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Action over logic?

I will start by saying action thrillers are among my favourite genres, and The Villainess is one of my favourite movies.

However, Carter was a swing and a miss for director Jung Byung Gil.

The trailer immediately caught my attention initially, and the plot, while a familiar trope, held some excitement as I was eager to see that Korean twist I have come to love. Regrettably, the execution of Carter left me sorely disappointed. Nothing about it made sense or made an effort to. At some points, I found myself laughing at the sheer ridiculousness of the fighting scenes. I don't usually watch movies for their realism; that's just not what movie magic is. But the disconnected plot and overdone fight scenes were just too hard to accept. I tried to follow the storyline to no avail, and the end left me annoyed rather than curious as I assume was its intended purpose. The foreign actors playing the CIA were frustrating as it seemed they were acting bad on purpose. Their lines felt forced and their movements robotic, like some weird caricature.

I had hoped for the best with Carter. I went in with average expectations but left feeling disappointed. Had I watched it solely for the action and had no expectations for the storyline or plot, this movie would have easily been an 8 or 9. But, I have seen far better movies and dramas with a similar premise that have both action and story to satisfy the senses. But, for lack of a better phrase, this movie was not it.

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A MUST SEE!

It was a rollercoaster. I went into the show with minimal expectations. Initially, I thought it would be a simple story of revenge and reuniting a family (LJS and Yoona), but it was so much more. Almost every episode of Big Mouth gripped me from start to finish, I admit the first 2 episodes start off somewhat slow, but once they get the ball rolling, it is non-stop. Each week I would rack my brain, and reasses the clues laid out in the previous week's episodes to try to predict what will come next. I came close once or twice but never could I have guessed those twists. The mystery, intrigue, the suspense, the uncertainty, the reveals. Everything was so expertly done. The pace of the reveals was perfect, at no point did I feel as though I had too much or too little information. I often thought I knew just enough to suspect everybody of being Big Mouse. With this cloud of suspicion hanging over them, the way the characters were set up made it almost impossible for Big Mouse to be who they were. Even after the reveal, I still doubted whether that was their true identity but looking back, it fit so perfectly and that person was on my list of suspects but at some point, I had crossed them off for lack of motivation. What could they gain from being Big Mouse? Why carry out this elaborate scheme just to get to the even more mysterious paper? The dots connected and the picture it painted was one of longstanding grudges and revenge. I loved every minute of it!

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An easy binge...but..

Birthcare Center was a relatively easy watch. The comraderie among mothers, the highs and lows of motherhood, abd the harsh realities of conception and childbirth. It was all a joy to see and easy to digest.

However, I'm still uncertain if i was meant to like the protagonist? I empathised with her struggle of wanting to return to the working world and be a mother to a newborn. I imagine making that choice can't be easy. I also imagine that maternal instincts don't always kick in like magic and some people may be in a state of shock or disbelief for longer. However, the self centered nature of the protagonist, where she could not look outside of herself for more than 1 minute was overbearing. At one point I found my self rooting for Sprout's mother to take Glue Stick. I get that the narration is from her perspective but she rarely thinks of how things affect others. It was all her.

Apart from this very annoying plot point, the drama was enjoyable and i was able to watch it in an afternoon. Would i rewatch it again? No. But do I regret the hours I spent watching it? Also no. I'd recommend watching it on a free day when you're not quite sure what to watch.

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Unexpected story

I usually enjoy the zombie genre and All of Us Are Dead was no exception. The plot progression was good and the musical score helped to improve the intense moments in each episode. There was some well-timed humour that was unexpected but helped cut some of the seriousness of the scenes.

However, the characters quickly became overbearing. The constant theme of "sacrifice" showed how immature the characters were. The slow reaction to life-threatening situations was frustrating and the fact that no zombies reached them in the time they were there wasting standing around was unrealistic. I had a great time binging but apart from Su-Hyeok, Na-Ra and Ha-ri, I can't say there was a single character who I consistently rooted for.

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