마녀
Regie:
Hoon-jung ParkScenario:
Hoon-jung ParkMuziek:
MowgActeurs:
Da-mi Kim, Min-soo Jo, Hee-sun Park, Woo-shik Choi, Jeong-woo Choi, Mi-hee Oh, Byung-ok Kim, Gi-yeong Lee, Tae-won Gwon, Woo-rim Jeong, Da-eun Jung, Min-Si Go (meer)Samenvattingen(1)
A nefarious agency has been genetically engineering a race of children with unique abilities. Under the cover of night, cold-blooded assassins descend to shut the program down and exterminate the kids. One telekinetic girl, Ja-yoon, escapes and goes into hiding, eventually finding refuge with a loving adopted family. Ten years later, Ja-yoon (now played by newcomer Kim Da-mi), who has no memory of her past, appears on a national talent show and lets her powers slip. Unfortunately, the high-school girl is spotted by the tenacious bad guys, who have been hunting her all this time. Within moments, Ja-yoon becomes prey for both her similarly gifted peers and a vicious hit squad (Choi Woo-sik). But she won't give up without a fight? (Fantasia International Film Festival)
(meer)Recensie (2)
Park Hoon-Jeong is a solid director who has made films like New World, The Tiger, and V.I.P. He also wrote the screenplay for the excellent I Saw the Devil, so he’s a clear guarantee of quality, and he's probably made me the happiest with his new effort. The Witch: Part 1. The Subversion is a gritty, suspenseful and visually breathtaking supernatural thriller about a little girl who massacres the entire lab that has been conducting strange experiments on her and escapes into the woods, where she begins a new life when a new family "adopts" her. Kim-Da is no ordinary little girl to me though, she has supernatural abilities and is proficient in things like telekinesis, but unfortunately she also suffers from amnesia so she doesn't remember the horrors she has committed. The problem comes when she shows what she can do live on a TV show and this is noticed by some very bad people who are eager for revenge and to get the little girl back. The first hour is a bit slower and comes across more like a drama, but from the second half onwards it's a decently frantic action ride with dangerous bad guys, a decent amount of violence, excellent action scenes (I've never seen such brisk and innovative action filmed anywhere before), and the finale is one of the best that Asia has produced this year. There are a few unexpected solid twists in the story as well, so there's a bit of everything. Big praise also for the lead young actress,who gives an Oscar-winning performance, her transformation of an innocent sweet girl into an uncompromising killing machine was delicate. So yeah, and considering this is Part 1, we may be in for a very wild trilogy.
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This was pure madness :D What drew me to watch it was mainly the director's name, as he's behind several absolutely excellent films from the past (I Saw the Devil, New World, Night in Paradise, etc.). But Manyeo decided to go in a slightly different direction. Sure, you'll get the bloody South Korean action you expect, don't worry about that, but I'm not used to the sci-fi element of human enhancement in films from this region. The lead actress definitely elevates the film. When the second half hit its stride, I thoroughly enjoyed her psychopathic grin. What an incredibly talented girl! Familiar faces like Woo-shik Choi, known from Parasite, are also a delight. If the beginning had picked up faster, I might have rated it higher. But honestly... I didn't expect such an adrenaline-pumping finale, even in my wildest dreams. I haven't seen such a visually striking and brutal spectacle in a long time. We'll see what the second installment brings. It's truly an interesting series with solid potential. I give it a 7/10.
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