I am posting a review for this film, both because it was a lot of fun to watch and because I don't think it deserves to be represented solely by a one star review. I, myself, have only seen around 400 Korean movies but could easily name 20 of them that are MUCH worse than this one. I am assuming that the previous reviewer was objecting more to the style and content of the movie rather than the quality. Why namedrop heavy critically acclaimed dramas in a review for a lighthearted teen comedy about high school fashion. Because that is what this movie is. And that is all it is trying to be. It's obviously not shooting for a Grand Bell.
The movie follows sad-sack nerd Woo Ki-myung who is so badly bullied that his mother moves him to Seoul to get away from his daily torment. Entering a high school where fashion is highly important, Ki-myung (with the help of an outrageous best friend and an underground fashion designer who is selling knock-off brand names on the web) reinvents himself as one of the trendy kids and is successful enough to come under fire from the school's fashion king. Their conflict, while moving the story forward, is not the heart of the movie as this is really a film about what makes a person truly stand out from the crowd. Do the clothes make the man or the man make the clothes.
This movie has some very familiar teen tropes--nerd becomes cool becomes nerd, ugly duckling smart girl becomes beautiful swan, etc. But this film presents them in a fun, kinetic and unique way so they don't seem tired or re-tread. Won Joo is quite good as the tormented teen who still has a quiet self assurance about him, even as he is being humiliated. Seong-oh Kim is fantastic as the hungry fashion designer turned mentor. I quite enjoyed this film and found it, not only funny, but charming. It doesn't take itself too seriously and is intentionally goofy at times but that only adds to the fun of it. Plus, I hear all the dope kids like it.
