KPop Demon Hunters

When your 13-year-old starts humming the soundtrack before the credits roll and your 11-year-old immediately asks "Can we watch it again?", you know an animated film has struck gold... even if that gold comes with some familiar copper underneath.

Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans' KPop Demon Hunters is genuinely delightful visual candy that marries supernatural action with infectious pop sensibilities.

The genre-bending animated film borrows from pop music and action cinema, creating something unexpectedly charming. Sony Pictures Animation continues their innovation streak with gorgeous visuals that make every demon-slaying sequence pop like a music video, whilst the soundtrack absolutely slaps... proper earworm material.

The film's greatest strength lies in its sincere embrace of K-pop culture without descending into parody. It's endearing, beautifully animated crowdpleaser, with a dorkily sincere love for the pop culture phenomena it embeds itself in. However, beneath the stunning animation lies a disappointingly predictable story that feels like we've seen this particular "misfit teens save the world" template countless times before.

The fighting is not horrible but is bad, and the action sequences, whilst visually spectacular, lack genuine tension or stakes. It's humorously subversive and a funny but brutal commentary on its own industry, which adds clever meta-commentary that adults will appreciate.

Who'll Love This: K-pop fans, animation enthusiasts, families wanting something fresh, and anyone who enjoyed Spider-Verse's visual innovation.

My kids were absolutely transfixed: the 13-year-old appreciated the meta-commentary whilst the younger one was purely there for the demon-slaying spectacle. Teen girls will worship at its altar.

Rating: 7/10 (Gorgeous spectacle that prioritises style over substance, but what magnificent style it is) Probably 8/10 for my kids.

Who knew that a movie dedicated to K-Pop can turn out really something special? K-Pop Demon Hunters is a highly unique movie that takes the music genre and turn it into what's truly epic. From every minute of my viewing, I was stunned on how Sony Animation would make something that's one of their best since Spider-Verse. The story is highly intense, the animation is spectacular, the characters are all beloved, the songs bring the best moments, and the action are at their greatest. If you love K-Pop or just action movies in general, this is absolutely a must watch. And I'm sure that even non fans of K-Pop will definitely get hooked into this movie with all the epic moments and all the intensity this will have to offer. I am aware that K-Pop has been going popular from the past years. Based on my experience with this movie, I think I can start to understand why. This review is something the movie can consider a music award from me.

I'm more of an animation fan than a kpoper, so KPop Demon Hunters was offering a fresh idea, but I was not prepared.

The colors are gorgeous. The constant pallette choice of cold colors are pleasing in the eyes and well-coordinated, it's breathtaking. Fluid movements during fights, Sony nailed it over and over.

Albeit story-wise is formulaic, the casts are wonderful and easily loveable. Jinu has the most generic looking facial feature for a character but his personality definitely sells his character, I love him. The trio is an icon, they are all different in their own ways and it's what made their interactions very enjoyable!

Last but not least, the tracks. Banger. It gave me chills, especially the last to close up the story. I'm not familiar with KPop songs, so this is all very new to me, but the tracks in this movie definitely hook me up, and I now see the appeal of KPop songs. Brb while I binge the tracks.

My favourite animated movie in a long time. Very refreshing and original idea. It was much deeper and meaningful than I thought it would be - I originally just anticipated to watch a surface level kids show but this is not that. I love the characters and the plot. The songs were so good too!! Let's not forget the amazing lyrics. The humour too! The only flaw is that there's no part 2 😭

If you're looking for a light hearted but meaningful movie with bangers to jam to, then this is the movie. All the songs are in my Spotify now haha.

I also would love to chat more about the underlying and subtle meanings about the kpop industry in general. I think this show is like a metaphor for what's currently going on there. Really great.

The movie offers a great explanation and reassurance that your insecurities and your mistakes do not make you who you are. It has some of the best twists I've seen in a long time. It allows a great look into Korean pop culture and the songs not only help with the plot but also aren't a typical Disney song. The animation is stunning and beautiful. My only complaint is the lip sinc for some of the songs don't quite match up but to have a complete original movie that can be enjoyed by all audiences and never lags in plot, storytelling, or animation is what makes this movie so great. Also this movie took 9 years to make. People have put their blood, sweat, and tears into it. I just wish it was more available on other platforms.