Gwoemul (2006) Directed by Joon-ho Bong

The foremost reason why this movie worked out was because it successfully managed to blend comedy with some classic monster movie ingredients. It's unfortunate that the movie is not as great as it potentially could had been but overall it's still being a pretty good watch.

Some people just seem to absolutely love South-Korean movies and consider the comedies to be some of the funniest ever. Well, not me. I really do like Korean cinema but its comedy really isn't my thing. The way it comes across to me; it often wants to be witty and seen as clever social satire but they do this by often inserting forced and over-the-top comedy, that also too often comes across as lame to me. I have still yet to see a South-Korean movie that truly makes me laugh out loud.

Still the comedy also remains one of the movie its greatest strength, as strange as that may sound. It helps to keep the movie light to watch, which causes you to never look at this movie as a serious monster movie and this also tends to make you more forgiving toward the movie. Since after all, the movie and its story are in essence very formulaic ones, in which only small details and little touches help to make this movie distinct itself from other, similar, genre movies.

You could definitely watch this movie as a social satire and I did get all of that but I just don't feel it was a very strong one as such. It's just referencing stuff but it doesn't make a good point about it or tries to make a statement with this movie. It's not really a movie that makes you think- or reconsider things, so to speak.

I was also really missing something in this movie, which was hard to put my finger on. I guess that it was action and entertainment. There are large portions in this movie in which its monster never appears. The movie is also lacking some good and spectacular set pieces, in which the monster gets attacked or is attacking itself. Basically there only is a 'big' action scene at the start and at the very end of the movie but I definitely wanted to see some more in the middle of the movie as well.

No doubt this had everything to do with budgeting reasons though. Of course this is not the most expensive movie ever made, which unfortunately does show at times. I'm not just talking about the lack of action at times but also about the look of the monster. The CGI is definitely lacking in parts, which really did took me out of the movie at times. It really never looks as if it's a 'real' monster that is attacking here. He does like right and good in the scenes were he appears alone but as soon as he has to 'interact' with human characters it becomes painfully obvious how fake the effects are looking.

I also did wish that the movie would had had a more likable and 'normal' main character in it. I don't know what it is with Asian cinema of this sort but they often really seem to like to turn their character into an almost mentally challenged person, who becomes the unlikely hero of the movie, by the end of it. Really, no normally functioning person is as stupid and socially backward as the main character in this movie. Guess that's what Asian people like to see; watch the underdog rise and become the one to save the day. I'm not Asian though and I definitely prefer to see a more 'normal' person as the movie its main character and hero.

Sudennly I'm starting to sound all negative about this movie but that's just because I did have some problems with the movie and most definitely was not as in love with it as some people still seem to be. I'm not saying this is a bad movie and I definitely did still liked this movie more than I didn't but I don't think it's one I'm ever likely to watch again. There just isn't enough in this movie for me, though it obviously tries very hard.

It's still a nice blend of comedy and monster movie ingredients, which does indeed makes this movie perfectly watchable.

7/10

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