The Good the Bad and the Weird (2008) Review
May 14th 2011 13:14
I have the same relationship with Korean Film that I do with the Cleveland Browns. I want to love the Browns, Josh Cribs is fun to watch, and almost every season seems promising, but they always disappoint. In the same way, Korean cinema always looks pretty awesome, the trailers show beautiful cinematography, and intriguing stories, but once I see the film, they usually seems overlong, dry and boring. Sure their beautifully shot, and
Korean actors are some of the best in the world, but the movies are more dramas than they are action films and lack the flash and spectacle of the movies from Thailand, Hong Kong or the States. While movies like “City of Violence” came close, it always seems Korean films are just to culturally different, and appeal to too specific an audience to really give me the thrill other movies do. But damn it, I WANT to love Korean films, they always look so cool, but I never had a “wow” experience with a Korean Movie. . . . until Now. Honk Kong has “Legend of Drunken Master” America had “Kill Bill” Chile has “Kiltro” and now, Korea has “The Good the Bad and the Weird”.
Director Jae Woo Kim, like many Korean directors is known for his Crime Dramas and sappy love stories, but still considered one of the best in the world, a director I've always thought promising. The film takes place in 1930's Manchuria, an area that, at the time was very similar to the old west. Firstly, the area was vitally lawless, thanks to territorial disputes between the Japanese and Chinese, and it was the point of immigration for Koreans, Russians and some Japanese making it a very culturally neutral area, much like 1870's Texas. The story of the film focuses on a trio of misfits, a Thief, a Gangster, and a Bounty Hunter, thrown into a three-way battle for a mysterious Chinese map the leads to a treasure cryptically marked as “Great amounts, buried below” the story is thin as toilet paper, the exact opposite of most Korean films. Most Koreans movies are a deep story occasionally interrupted by action, this movie is about deep action occasionally interrupted by a story.
That's not the say the story is BAD, it's a good vehicle for the show stopping action sequences. “The Good the Bad and the Weird” is all about the wacky, off the wall shootouts. The action sequences come one after the other, like a one-two punch, and the movie's wild west gunfights are as fun as they are amazing. It goes from being like a Sergio Leoni sequence to a Buster Keaton sequence, to nothing less than a live-action Anime that hardly ever pauses to let you catch your breath. Unlike most Asian films, there really no martial arts tied up in the action, but it does do gunfights like I've never seen them done before.
The films climax grabbed me by the scruff of the neck and didn't let go, it was a 15-minute chase scene involving motorcycles, horses, jeeps, camels and an artillery strike. Now, it's my job to come up with words to describe things, and I'm ashamed to say that this stunning scene makes it impossible to do my job, I'm at a loss for words. I just sat there watching, with wordless, slack jawed wonder. It's possibly the perfect action scene, and it just kept on going, getting better and better with ever second.
When “The Good the Bad and the Weird” was screened at the Canne's film festival, (which is something like a Hell's Angel going to a royal ball in London). It predictably got not so much bad as condescending reviews from the snooty independent film lovers who complained about the movie's lack of story and cheese-ball acting. But these people are used to crappy art-house monstrosities, they wouldn't know a good action/comedy flick if you hit them over the head with it. I like working man's movies, mindless action is the sea I swim in, so trust me when I say you can pretty much throw out 90% of these snobs' reviews. It's sort of like a restaurant critic from Paris reviewing the newest sandwich at Burger King, it's just not a fair rating.
The cinematography, beautiful, the costumes, beautiful the acting was stunning and the action was some of the best I've seen anywhere. The Samurai can't recommend this movie enough, see it and enjoy it.
Ignore those Sundance style Palm Leaves, Rest assured this isn't a crappy Independent film.
The films climax grabbed me by the scruff of the neck and didn't let go, it was a 15-minute chase scene involving motorcycles, horses, jeeps, camels and an artillery strike. Now, it's my job to come up with words to describe things, and I'm ashamed to say that this stunning scene makes it impossible to do my job, I'm at a loss for words. I just sat there watching, with wordless, slack jawed wonder. It's possibly the perfect action scene, and it just kept on going, getting better and better with ever second.
When “The Good the Bad and the Weird” was screened at the Canne's film festival, (which is something like a Hell's Angel going to a royal ball in London). It predictably got not so much bad as condescending reviews from the snooty independent film lovers who complained about the movie's lack of story and cheese-ball acting. But these people are used to crappy art-house monstrosities, they wouldn't know a good action/comedy flick if you hit them over the head with it. I like working man's movies, mindless action is the sea I swim in, so trust me when I say you can pretty much throw out 90% of these snobs' reviews. It's sort of like a restaurant critic from Paris reviewing the newest sandwich at Burger King, it's just not a fair rating.
The cinematography, beautiful, the costumes, beautiful the acting was stunning and the action was some of the best I've seen anywhere. The Samurai can't recommend this movie enough, see it and enjoy it.
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