Natural City

so i was watching NATURAL CITY the other night... and right from the beginning it smelled like Blade Runner, Equilibrium & Returner. So far, not so bad and thats what this movie is all about: its "not so bad".

set in a futuristic Korea its the story of a special forces officer falling for an artificial girl whose chip is about to expire. as we watch NATURAL CITY, we witness his attempt to fixing the "expiration matter" while having the worst days of his life at work (mind you, he is eliminating replicants for a living).

i wont go more indepths as the rest of the story is as thin as ice & i don't wanna spoil too much. for most fans of the korean action cinema this flick definitely was a slight letdown- and its getting apparent to everybody watching the flick..... as there is nothing we aint seen before.

on the positive side NATURAL CITY offers decent acting, above average cinematography, some tense sequences (god knows, i prayed for more of them) and subliminal impulses to have a thought or two bout what the director may have wanted us to reflect upon. a good 60 % rate would be appropriate, I'd say.

Although the plot and storyline were a little predictable, I was really impressed by some of the acting, camera-work and better than Hollywood graphics and visuals. The CGI was nicely done and contributed seamlessly to the movie. The acting wasn't bad either. This movie was clearly a labor of love considering the attention to details and overall look. Ignore the obvious plot and story development, just sit back and enjoy this one as a pretty picture, knowing that all good things don't always have to come out of Hollywood.

I saw a screening of this film recently at the Milan Fair and I'm inclined to say that, while it was rather interesting, I would not suggest it to anyone but hardcore fans of SF. In a way the concept is reminiscent of Bladerunner: The (male) officer of law falling for the (female) cyborg/clone/android that has an 'expiration date', while on the other hand, he is fighting the rebellious cyborgs/clones/androids. There are a number of twists in the plot that add interest, the photography is very good, the acting is fine and the action scenes are typical Asian. All in all, quite interesting but not fulfilling...

Natural city

While Natural city gets often compared to blade runner, I think it is a comparison is not quite fair to Blade runner. Don't get me wrong I don't think NC is a bad movie, but it is not the ultra paranoid Phillip K dick style future noir. The film looks great and shows a dirty, unhappy view of korea's future like Blade runner.

I admit I got a little lost and bored at times but the film has great visuals and for the most part the story is a interesting take on cyborgs robots and the like. The gun battles and the various martial arts action scenes were well done(except for a minor overuse of Slo-Mo).

Worth a rental. If you're a Sci-FI addict it should be on your list.

..... in fact, a lot better than expected. I watched both trailers before the movie to see if it looked any good, and it did. It looked stunning, just a bit empty. On watching it, i found it to be very accomplished, it put most Hollywood films to shame. In saying that, though, there really aren't any US equivalents to this. Yeah, it borrows from plenty of other movies, but none of them would be so daring or have such a sombre tone. This is quite bleak and nasty stuff. Highly recommended, just don't expect a happy ending or any humour. If great, Blade Runner-style visuals are your thing, you'll find plenty to enjoy. Four out of five.