Movie Review: The Good, the Bad, the Weird

I just saw the Korean movie The Good, the Bad, the Weird (2008) by director Kim Jee-woon. It is a postmodern mix of American style Western and Oriental kung fu movie. The setting is Manchuria, sometime during the Japanese occupation of Korea. The plot involves a treasure map and a myriad of groups interested in it.

While the weaving of Western and Eastern motifs into this Oriental Western is successfully accomplished, and the movie is visually grand, the story began to bore me after a while. Lasting two hours fifteen minutes, I started to get somewhat irritable after an hour and a half.
The movie has a slight steam-punk feel to it which is quite enjoyable.

The leading actors include Jung Woo-sung who I first saw in the tragic movie A Moment to Remember (2004). If someone were to ask me what is the saddest movie I’ve ever seen, I would have to say A Moment to Remember. I’ve never cried so much in any movie. Song Kang-ho plays another leading character. As typical of him, he often plays the comedic role. I saw him before in the celebrated movie, The Host (2006); as well as in Secret Sunshine (2007). Lee Byung-heon plays the third lead. His somewhat dysfunctional character probably required the best acting of the three. I first saw Lee in the highly praised movie, Joint Secure Area (2000), which, although quite fictional, is well worth seeing. In fact, if you are interested in Korean cinema, they are all worth seeing.

And so too for The Good, the Bad, the Weird; probably one of the better movies from 2008. It is full of action, complimented by accomplished cinematography. Just a pity about the length.