Brief Story Line
In the year 2194, humans had to live in shelters as the earth was no longer inhabitable. Unfortunately there was civil war between the people. To end this war, scientist Seo-hyun (Kang Soo-youn - Juri etc) with her team and together with their head of research, director Sang-hoon (Ryu Kyung-soo - Hostage: Missing Celebrity, Glitch TV series etc) were given the task to create super soldiers. The experiment involved the legendary mercenary captain Yun Jung-yi nicknamed Jung_E (Kim Hyun-joo - Hellbound TV series, Trolley TV series etc).
However it did not really go as planned. So what would happen to Jung_E and how would the story conclude? You could find out in this movie.
End of Brief Story Line
Before I watched this movie, I decided not to read the synopsis at all to give me more pleasure if there was any surprises. And so after first few minutes that felt quite intense, I was pretty shocked by that particular scene which most likely I would not be if I had read the synopsis earlier. It was a good surprise but subsequently, I realized that it was not exactly what I was hoping for. What I had in mind (especially with the opening narrative) was one thing, but it ended up to be completely different.
As the movie progressed, it turned out to be more like a sci-fi drama instead of the explosive action type. It was not a bad thing if that was what I was looking for, but I guessed I would prefer it to be more action. However, the visual effects of the dystopian world was wonderful enough and the special effects of the experiments were quite amazing. One of the good attribute in the movie for me was definitely the musical score. I felt that the action sequence were more exciting due to the awesome background music.
The story itself did not seem to be too original as it has been told many times. There was a scene that reminded me a lot of I, Robot. I felt the focus here was more on the use of science in human survival and its moral implication. The main cast were very good to my opinion especially Kang Soo-youn who was very convincing, while Kim Hyun-joo was great doing the fight scenes and Ryu Kyung-soo was providing humor with a bit of slapstick style. There were also few minor roles and I think one of them was quite famous (though I was not familiar). When I finished watching the movie, I was surprised to see the words "In Memory of Kang Soo-youn" and after reading about it, I just found out that she passed away in mid 2022. So this was sadly her last movie (RIP).
The movie was written and directed by Yeon Sang-ho whose prior experience including Train to Busan and its sequel. He also directed the series Hellbound which starred Kim Hyun-joo and Ryu Kyung-soo as well. So it was probably like a reunion for the 3 of them. I am not too sure if this movie was based on anything as it was not mentioned in the opening or closing credit. So credits have to be given to Yeon Sang-ho for his creativity. Btw it had a duration of less than 100 minutes which felt a bit short for such genre.
Overall to me, the movie was OK in term of story. But because I was hoping for an all out war kind of film where I would be fully entertained by the nonstop action, this one did not really satisfy me in that area. It was a good thing that the film ended with a bang and I enjoyed the intensity and suspense in the last twenty minutes or so. For fans of cyberpunk, this one should be interesting enough with the cool special effects and looked like it had high production value. So if you are looking for sci-fi drama with good visual effects and few good action sequence towards the end, then you should be able to enjoy this. However, if your preference was like me, then possibly you will not be too satisfied.
Mike's movie moments rating: 3 out of 5 stars
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