Ah, Korea. Land of cheap second-rate knockoffs. Can't afford a Honda? Get a Hyundai. Can't afford an Apple iPhone? Get a Galaxy phone. Can't afford a high end appliance? Settle for something from Samsung. You get the idea.
And so it was with their monster movies, too. "Space Monster Wangmagwi" is a cheap second-rate knockoff designed to compete with Japan's much higher quality Godzilla films. But honestly, there's no competition. It's not even in the same ballpark. Even the worst Godzilla movie is a masterpiece compared to this.
If you were to ask a 4 year old to draw a monster you'd get something like Wangmagwi -- a man-shaped monster with gigantic triangular teeth that protrude from an oversized lumpy head. It's hard to believe adults designed it and thought it was great because it's so juvenile and ridiculous. At least Godzilla had a cool lizard body with a long tail and breathed fire and stuff. Wangmagwi is just a dude walking around in an ill-fitting baggy suit, blinking his eyes and waving his arms menacingly.
There is also far too much attempt at comedy, which falls flat every time and goes on far too long. And all the scenes of the running screaming townsfolk never have Wangmagwi looming over them in the background like Godzilla does, either, which is very off-putting and confusing. Plus the boy with the knife, who I suppose is meant to be the hero, is annoying and hyperactive and psychotic. He sneaks into the monsters ear canal, slices through his eardrum (ouch) and somehow ends up in its nose. These scenes are so random and disjointed you watch them and just think "Huh?".
I have to admit that the miniatures and buildings in the city rampage scenes were first-rate! There were many times I thought the buildings and cityscapes and street scenes were real, that they relied on low-angles or forced perspective in an actual town. But nope, they were just well-lit and well-built miniatures that looked very real and impressive. As did the scenes of the boy and bride rolling around in the fake hand "high above" the city. Those looked very real, too. Guess the filmmakers took the prop hand to the top of a tall building, put the actors in it and shook it around, and filmed over the edge to convey height, much like Harold Lloyd did back in the 30's. Very clever and pretty darn realistic!
All in all "Wangmagwi" is a weird little monster movie, but not in a "so bad it's fun" way. Stick with Godzilla.
