FILMBRATS - REVIEWS

A US official at a military base’s lab orders his underling to dispose of a large amount of formaldehyde. The bitter commanding officer forces the younger recruit to dump the toxic chemicals down a normal drain. The drain leads all the way into the Han River. Years later, Park, his misfit middle-aged son Gang-du and Gang-du’s daughter Hyun-seo are running their shore-side snack shop just like every other day. That is until a giant creature emerges from the water and begins wreaking havoc on the river bank. The monster destroys everything in its path, kills and eats people and ultimately takes Hyun-seo back underwater. Convinced that his daughter is still alive, Gang-du must find a way to avoid the authorities blocking off the area and rescue his daughter, with the help of his family of course.

Rarely does a film like this come along. Director Bong Joon-ho has done a marvelous job in creating such a stylish, effective, intelligent monster movie. It’s tough to find a film that can, without any apparent effort, walk the line between horror/suspense, family drama, comedy and political/social commentary and do it successfully. It’s a great family story that’s both funny and touching (sometimes in the same scene, like when they’re rolling around crying on the floor). Plus it’s a great monster movie with a creepy disgusting fast menace of beast that is as silent as it is quick, making for some tense moments. It’s not really scary, but it is a wonderful mix of genres that’s just an utter joy to watch.

While the movie is able to balance the genre elements well, it had a lot of difficulty keeping the flow between different characters’ stories. I found myself wanting to know what’s happening elsewhere often. That’s not to say I was getting bored watching them – far from it. Rather it’s that I was anxious or excited to know how a different family member was handling their situation, too. That’s not a bad problem to have. And you know that no matter what you’re seeing is going to be beautiful. I can’t recall another horror film that has such incredible cinematography (Kim Hyung-ku, “The Warrior”). The entire picture is handled with an artist’s touch which wonderfully complements the monster.

The creature just looks cool. It’s a great design that’s a nice mix of all kinds of aquatic monstrosities all rolled into one. This thing has it all and uses all its various parts and abilities throughout the course of the film. Again, he’s not all that scary, but it looks great and is just a whole lot of fun to watch. And that’s true of the whole picture. The only real negative aspect is a really bad CG effect at the end. I guess the plot is a little predictable, but it shouldn’t effect your enjoyment. After all, you’re out to see a monster running around terrorizing a city. The amazing cinematography, the interesting characters and the well-constructed, perfectly paced story is a bonus.

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