Moderator One Armed Boxer Posted October 1, 2013 Moderator Share Posted October 1, 2013 Jang Joon-hwan, the director of cult favorite 'Save the Green Planet', returns with only his second full length feature a full decade after his first movie. The tale of a boy who's kidnapped as a baby and raised to be an assassin by a group of five male criminals, at the age of seventeen he's given his first assignment to kill someone. However when it's revealed that the identity of the target might be someone he's connected to, things descend into a spiral of violence and tragedy. Twitch posted the first review of it here, and it sounds like it'll be one worth checking out - http://twitchfilm.com/2013/09/review-hwayi.html Me3JNTmE8VU Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member QueMuchita Posted October 1, 2013 Member Share Posted October 1, 2013 This sounds like it could be very good. I'm not familiar with this director though as I have not seen Save the Green Planet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member yojimbo Posted January 31, 2014 Member Share Posted January 31, 2014 Watch Save the Green Planet.. It stars Shin Ah Kyung who played the mute in Sympathy for Mr Vegeance. It is a well written/acted black comedy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator One Armed Boxer Posted January 31, 2014 Author Moderator Share Posted January 31, 2014 Watch Save the Green Planet.. It stars Shin Ah Kyung who played the mute in Sympathy for Mr Vegeance. It is a well written/acted black comedy. I actually only watched this for the first time a couple of years ago. Despite some fellow forum members who I usually have pretty similar tastes with recommending it to me, I ended up coming away from it feeling it was a pretty uneven mess. The first half plays the black comedy angle perfectly, eliciting several laugh out loud moments, but the shift into more serious territory in the second half with the whole tourture of the 'alien', and the flashbacks of Ah-kyung's bullied childhood, simply didn't sit well for me with all that had come before. 'Hwayi' (you just know this is going to get a re-title in the US!) looks to have completely abandoned all the quirky elements that made 'Save the Green Planet' stand out, and for me that may actually work in it's favor. However I have a gut feeling I already know what the twist is going to be with the character he has to assassinate, I mean it can really only be one person right based on the plot? This kind of makes me hesitant to bother checking it out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator One Armed Boxer Posted February 15, 2014 Author Moderator Share Posted February 15, 2014 The Korean DVD is now up for pre-order with a release date of March 18th - http://www.yesasia.com/global/hwayi-a-monster-boy-dvd-2-disc-first-press-limited-edition-korea-version/1035160222-0-0-0-en/info.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member yojimbo Posted March 18, 2014 Member Share Posted March 18, 2014 Watched it. Interesting premise but somewhat predictable. I just didn't feel that the story elements worked well and flowed well enough together. Also, shoddy CG for specific scenes that the director felt necessary was distracting for me. It didn't feel like it worked. Felt like going into a meal and everything looks great. Come out and still not 100% full and something feels amiss. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Superfly Posted March 18, 2015 Member Share Posted March 18, 2015 I also watched it and liked a little more than you. Not a Perfect film. But an incredible performance by the young actor. Solidified this as a thumbs up for me. I will be reviewing this film in my upcoming Asian Film podcast starting later this month. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member ToryK Posted March 19, 2015 Member Share Posted March 19, 2015 I actually only watched this for the first time a couple of years ago. Despite some fellow forum members who I usually have pretty similar tastes with recommending it to me, I ended up coming away from it feeling it was a pretty uneven mess. The first half plays the black comedy angle perfectly, eliciting several laugh out loud moments, but the shift into more serious territory in the second half with the whole tourture of the 'alien', and the flashbacks of Ah-kyung's bullied childhood, simply didn't sit well for me with all that had come before. 'Hwayi' (you just know this is going to get a re-title in the US!) looks to have completely abandoned all the quirky elements that made 'Save the Green Planet' stand out, and for me that may actually work in it's favor. However I have a gut feeling I already know what the twist is going to be with the character he has to assassinate, I mean it can really only be one person right based on the plot? This kind of makes me hesitant to bother checking it out. What One Armed Boxer said. I love Korean cinema (as well as Hong Kong cinema, obviously), so I was super-psyched to see after years of reading the hype, but it didn't quite measure up to my expectations. I certainly didn't hate it, but it was most definitely uneven. The second half is what did it. But then again, I can't say I can agree with the part about ditching the quirky elements. Uneven or not, that's what made Save the Green Planet, Save the Green Planet, and that's what made it Jang Joon-hwan's movie. But, I'm interested enough to give this one a look. I wasn't in love with Five Deadly Venoms, but then I saw Crippled Avengers, and now I'm in love with those guys' stuff. Same with Sono Sion's films - my first of his didn't exactly set my world on fire, but I LOVE Sono's stuff now. Long and short, if I see something of a spark in a director's work, I'm more than happy to give them a second try. I'm hoping I'll get similar results here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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