largu

This is a hard one to review since it's deliberately bad made. The story reads a lot like a teenage manga - a young couple on a killing spree through present day South Korea, murdering cliché bad-guys they meet in unlikely ways.

There is nothing post apocalyptic in the story and I can't see why it's in the description, unless of course you consider present day to be post apocalyptic. If you are very generous the story could be about an alien invasion - It's implied and there are a few nods towards "Slaughterhouse Five" by Kurt Vonnegut (the title being one). But there are a lot of things implied, like in the writings of a pretentious teenager. How old is the director anyway?

There are also scenes with a serene beauty, the audio and music is well made so I won't give it a 1. Still, it's bad, deliberately or not, and in my opinion not so bad that it's good.

And I don't mean the story alright? The artistic choices are downright baffling in a way that made me continuously ask myself "why". Why go through all this trouble to tell this story? Why this story? Why the odd language solutions? Why the anachronism? Is this about colonialism? I ought to be about colonialism because these people are terrible right?

I try to relax and enjoy the cinematic experience but experience what? The photo is good, the costumes are nice, the parts from modern day east Asia could have worked in a documentary. It's soup and meatloaf and dessert mixed as one dish. I would have liked it more if it was just abstract. Now I'm just annoyed, provoked and thinking whether I'm thinking too much or not thinking enough. At least the story will lead somewhere, right? Whelp, never mind.

I was thoroughly sceptical going in on this one. I like the comics that it is based on and we can all agree the the trailer fell deep into the uncanny valley. Now, that being said I really did like Rodriguez/Cameron's take on Alita. The transition of manga into "real" is jarring at first but as you get used to it you see the meticulous work that's been put into the visuals. Dare I say love, because there is a lot of stuff going on in the details here and it is good.

Story-wise it's not amazing. The movie is stitched together from the vast base material and it's taking some very generous liberties at times. It's too over the top and cringe-worthy at times but that brings me to my main point. Have you read the original work and if so, how long has it been since you read it? Gunm (the manga) is decidedly silly and super over the top at best and that is a quality. It's been around for quite some time and have already inspired numerous sf-works. Rodriguez/Cameron know this and have to some extent made an adaptation for the fans. Will the fans get it? Perhaps not, but on the other hand everyone will get a lovely fest for the eyes with a not-to-bad story tied to it.

Now to wait and hope for the sequel...