Necrotongue

Jun'ichi Okada already liked me in Hell Dogs, so I was curious if I would have just as much fun this time. I didn't. Well, I did, but not as much. I haven't seen the Korean original, so I couldn't compare, but in my opinion, the Japanese handled the theme quite decently, and my first impressions of Detective Yuji Kudo's bad day after the first ten minutes basically sum up this joke: / A man is walking along the river bank when suddenly he comes across a ten-year-old girl sitting on the shore crying. "What happened, why are you crying?" he asks. "Both my parents drowned in the river a moment ago," the girl cries. "Girl, let me tell you, you are having a bad day," says the man and unzips his pants. / If it wasn't clear from what has been written so far, Detective Kudo would be the unfortunate little girl in this situation. Well, and when it comes to humor, I have to mention that this thriller made me smile several times because it occasionally blurred the line between thriller and comedy, and in this case, I don't consider it a creative flaw. On the other hand, I consider the Terminator insert in the last roughly twenty minutes a creative flaw, if it weren't for that, I would give it a weaker four-star rating. / Lesson: If you're having a bad day, it's better to stay at home. 3*+

This movie was right up my alley. The filmmakers really pulled out all the stops and made a film zipped by like blood on an autopsy table, the story made sense, the plot was just right, the cast was solid, and I got a kick out of watching Linda's transformation. And those morgue details? Morbidly fascinating. I rarely enjoy a German thriller, but this one had me hooked. Sure, there were a few hiccups along the way, like the annoyingly clichéd finale or the landlines not working except for the one in the morgue, but I'm giving it a solid four stars. / Lesson learned: With the right motivation, you can achieve almost anything.

My recent dive into Asian cinema has been quite the journey, prompting me to wonder, "Where will it end?" It's hard to say, especially when gems like Kim's film catch my eye and keep me thoroughly entertained. Why rush back to the familiar territory of European or American cinema filled with political correctness? The Koreans here played with my expectations, and I fell for their tricks hook, line, and sinker. Initially, I was grumbling about the apparent lameness of a Korean take on Face/Off after twenty-six years, but the creators swiftly proved me wrong, humbling my overconfidence and leaving me pondering the value of humility. However, let's not overlook the fact that the script stumbled over its own rules at times. Despite this flaw, it was an entertaining (albeit far-fetched) piece that kept me engaged throughout. None of the Korean actors overacted wildly, making for a comfortably enjoyable experience. / Lesson learned: Where physical force fails, chemistry takes over. 4*-