Jung_E

I'm completely baffled by all the horrible reviews. Did those reviewers even watch the same movie I watched? Is this the best sci-fi I've ever watched? No. But it's pretty decent. The visuals are fantastic. The CGI is convincing. The acting is solid. The storyline is bittersweet and, in some ways, unusual. This is a far-future robot AI sci-fi that has the love between a daughter and her mother at it's core, with no romance (refreshing!). Yes, there are some plot holes. For example, why are they working so hard to make a combat AI robot who keeps failing in simulation when the police AI that society already possesses is so advanced? Still, it doesn't deserve such atrocious reviews and I hope you won't let yourself be put off from trying it.

I love Korean made movies. Especially the sci-fi stuff. However, the only thing that I wish would happen is they get more gritty and realistic. People do not interact like they write into these movies. Dispense with the goofy material in a serious movie. It's not a comedy. Flipping from super serious to goofy comedy side characters is like cars crashing into one another. The transition is tough to deal with. People like serious movies. They also like comedies. But you gotta pick one. This one should have been all serious. Dispense with the dopey science assistants and improve a bit on the sci-fi effects, and you've got an 8-9 hit! But I don't want to detract from the general story which was still very good.

So JUNG_E has some very exciting action and some great visuals, a great lead performance from Kang Soo-yeon, (Rest in peace). The film is clearly taking inspiration from other Si-Fi futuristic movies such as Blade Runner, Blade Runner 2049, and I Robot. So the inspiration shown is very interesting to see but the film doesn't live up to those expectations at all as the story is pretty forgettable and feels like we've seen the film a hundred times before. There's also some annoying characters here such as the director played by Ryu Kyung-soo. So cool action and visuals but forgettable story 5/10.

The S/VFX were all top shelf in this film, but it had two downfalls; one was the constant cheesy and annoying attempts at humor which became cringeworthy fast. The other was the convoluted screenplay. The conceptual story was actually decent, but it ended up all style with very little substance. It was riddled with plot holes, and incohesive and incoherent dialogue. Even the normally comfortable 98 min runtime felt much longer with all the infantile dialogue, terrible humor and some of the long, dragged out and unnecessary scenes. Writer and director Sang-ho Yeon should have made many edits and scene cuts after seeing the final version to at lease create better cohesion. It's a generous 6/10 from me, mostly for the very impressive visuals.

Soon to be cult classic South Korean Sci-Fi where once again corporate thuggery is at work, taking advantage of the earth's depleting and chaotic system. This time dealing with Combat AIs injected with a high level brain function from a deceased woman soldier, who happens to be a mother to one of the chief scientists working on the project (only in Korean movies)! This connection creates the emotional bond between robot and human, giving this movie a surprising depth that has you cheering them all the way.

The action scenes are a gamers joy, and handled well without being too convoluted, like most movies where one never knows what the heck is going on. Production value is high, and the pristine quality cinematography a bonus.

This little gem of a soon to be cult classic is a grand send-off to Kang Soo-youn, with her top-notch subdued performance as the chief scientist, Soehyun.

So gather your nerdy friends, find a big screen, and give it a midnight screening!