Moderator One Armed Boxer Posted August 6, 2022 Moderator Share Posted August 6, 2022 How on earth has this movie not been mentioned on here yet!? Jung Byung-gil, the director of 'Confession of Murder' and 'The Villainess', is back in 2022 with 'Carter', which hit Netflix on Friday. His biggest, most action heavy flick to date, the story focuses on a North Korean agent who wakes up with no memory, and is given a mission to find a girl who holds the secret to curing a zombie like outbreak ravaging the Korean peninsula. I gave it the full review treatment over at COF - https://cityonfire.com/carter-2022-review-korean-action-netflix/ 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member laagi Posted August 7, 2022 Member Share Posted August 7, 2022 Oh it's been on some members mind... Thanks for the review. Interesting that you seem to have enjoyed it A LOT more than most. I'll give it a shot by next week. But this definitely has my attention now. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Drunken Monk Posted August 7, 2022 Member Share Posted August 7, 2022 This film blew be away and has cemented a spot in my top films of 2022. Is the plot nonsense? Yes. Is there atrocious CGI? You betcha. But it’s so utterly unapologetic that I couldn’t help but love it. Carter asks you to strap yourself in and go on one fuck of a ride. I smiled for its entirety. Not only is the action tremendous to look at, it’s utterly perplexing in a “How did they shoot that?” way. And this is a GOOD thing. There’s something magical about this film. It throws al its chips on the table and walks away with the whole kitty. An absolute triumph of action cinema. Don’t even think of this as a film. Think of it as an experiment. That’s exactly how it feels. A very successful experiment. My only small gripe is that it does outstay its welcome. Perhaps by as long as twenty minutes. If it was just a little bit tighter, it could have been even more special. As it is, it’s still VERY special. A true thrill ride. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member D1 Ma Posted August 7, 2022 Member Share Posted August 7, 2022 I gave up after 20 min. The movie looks so cartoony with those hectic camera movements, very obvious cuts unsuccessfully hidden by smoke and lens flares. It's like a kid trying way too hard to get attention : "Hey, look at me! Look what I can do!" It's more about gimmicks rather than telling a story and showcasing the action Although I liked some ideas, like the exploding phone for example 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member laagi Posted August 10, 2022 Member Share Posted August 10, 2022 Have you ever wondered how a Michael Bay production would look like on steroids? If the short answer is Yes go watch Carter right now. I consider The Villainess to be one of the best female lead modern action movie of all time, period! And while the trailer for Carter didn't do much for me I was looking forward to it. Despite the mostly negative reviews. In the end what I got is some truly exciting action! IF you can actually see it. And what a chore that is at times. I mean Jesus Christ! The camera is literally all over the place all the time. If I'd feel malicious I'd say there's probably 10 minutes in the entire movie where the frame is just steady. Going into a bit more detail as far as the action goes. If you've watched The Villainess there's a good chance a lot of it will feel awfully familiar. Starting with the opening scene, which to me was the highlight and ending with the rather repetitive motorcycle or car chases. My biggest issue is that director Jeong Byeong-gil took everything that made The Villainess great and felt the need to crank it up to 11. That would be fine as long as there's some sort of story holding everything together. Unfortunately outside of the action Carter is nothing short of a incoherent mess. And at least to me not in a "it's so bad that's it's good" way. Not to mention the movie has way too much horrid CGI in it. Not sure what happened there but at times it looks like it never saw post-production. Which I'll admit made for some good laughs. Another problem Carter has is its runtime. The whole movie could've been easily cut a good 30-40 minutes. In the end this works more as a action-reel of what can be done. Exhilarating at times sure but that's about it. I'd probably look out for these scenes on YouTube because truth be told everything else is just not worth your while. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator Karlos Posted August 11, 2022 Moderator Share Posted August 11, 2022 Halfway thru and it's a fascinating mess, simultaneously awesome and absolutely terrible. 3 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member laagi Posted August 11, 2022 Member Share Posted August 11, 2022 Credit where credit is due. I didn't expect the parachute scene to be real!? Insanity and beauty at the same time. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Yihetuan Posted August 12, 2022 Member Share Posted August 12, 2022 I was also on the Carter hype train. I saw this a few weeks ago and some scenes are still stuck in my head. The frenetic visual style of this movie will not appeal to all and I can see some action purists would be adverse to this style but I thoroughly enjoyed it. As much as I enjoyed it, it still had too much untapped potential which prevented it from really sealing its legacy as a watershed Korean action thriller. I just shudder to think what this film would've been with a real budget, tighter script and a DoP who knew what they were doing. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator One Armed Boxer Posted August 12, 2022 Author Moderator Share Posted August 12, 2022 3 hours ago, Yihetuan said: I just shudder to think what this film would've been with a real budget, tighter script and a DoP who knew what they were doing. I actually thought the camera work was some of the most innovative and creative I've ever seen. Sure it was frantic, and some of the post-stitching together of takes was a little stuttery, but overall I'd say this took action cinematography to a new level. Every shot had a clear purpose and was constructed purely to being in service of the action onscreen. This is probably one of the few movies where the camera operators were putting themselves in danger just as much as the stuntmen onscreen, but it was 100% worth it for the sheer number of breathtaking shots they achieved. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Super Ninja Posted August 12, 2022 Member Share Posted August 12, 2022 What must be one of the most anticipated Korean action films of the year, next to The Roundup, The Killer and The Witch part 2, turned out to be a spectacle in its own right, cranking up whatever seen in Byung-gil's former actioner The Villainess to insane levels. Carter is fascinating and there's no denying the hard work invested and the level of innovation present in the movie throughout, especially in the camerawork. The skydiving gunplay sequence deserves special mention in this regard. There's hardly anything left for the sequel that hasn't been done here, but out of everything on display, this scene is the most unique. Now.. am I happy to see guys from Seoul Action School making big waves in the industry? Absolutely! Am I happy to see today's action movies looking like a live action video game? No, not really. Jung Byung-gil's film should come with a warning alarming people it can cause nausea and trigger a seizure. It's really like one huge, relentlessly marching action scene in which the dialogue is a welcome break that explains the little story there is; even a flashback scene is incorporated in a way not to break the one-shot gimmick. Carter is all about action and that action is of Byung-gil's recognizable style, with frenetic pacing, POV shots and innovative camera. It might not be everyone's cup of tea, but it deserves recognition nonetheless. However, as much as I enjoyed Carter and found it to be a fantastic piece of contemporary action cinema, I hope it'll remain an exception rather than become a role model for the new age of action filmmaking. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Yihetuan Posted August 13, 2022 Member Share Posted August 13, 2022 20 hours ago, One Armed Boxer said: I actually thought the camera work was some of the most innovative and creative I've ever seen. Sure it was frantic, and some of the post-stitching together of takes was a little stuttery, but overall I'd say this took action cinematography to a new level. Every shot had a clear purpose and was constructed purely to being in service of the action onscreen. This is probably one of the few movies where the camera operators were putting themselves in danger just as much as the stuntmen onscreen, but it was 100% worth it for the sheer number of breathtaking shots they achieved. I thought they were using drones for those shots? Or overusing them. the same perspective and same angles used over and over especially in the box car and helicopter scenes. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator One Armed Boxer Posted August 13, 2022 Author Moderator Share Posted August 13, 2022 6 hours ago, Yihetuan said: I thought they were using drones for those shots? The short making of clip that @laagi posted showed that there was plenty of manned camera operation as well, so definitely not 100% drone filmed. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member BLfan Posted August 14, 2022 Member Share Posted August 14, 2022 I am a person who feel sick when playing first person shooting games. Carter gave me the same feeling 🤣. The camera feels jerky and some of the camerawork does not help. Not a movie I will watch again but commend the director for developing the style. 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Yihetuan Posted August 15, 2022 Member Share Posted August 15, 2022 10 hours ago, BLfan said: I am a person who feel sick when playing first person shooting games. Carter gave me the same feeling 🤣. The camera feels jerky and some of the camerawork does not help. Not a movie I will watch again but commend the director for developing the style. In hindsight, I ultimately enjoyed Hardcore Henry more than this Korean knock off but it is a one trick pony as the director can never go back to this style again. Having said that, I enjoyed it but like you, I will in all likelihood never watch it again. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member ShaOW!linDude Posted October 25, 2022 Member Share Posted October 25, 2022 Finally watched this over the weekend. This movie is insane. It's like a hybrid of Hardcore Henry, Train To Busan, and the John Wick & Mission Impossible franchises. That's a lot to mash together. (Or mesh together. Player's choice.) Once the movie starts, it don't stop. The camera and stunt work were wild and captivating at times. I found myself laughing out loud with incredulity at some of what happened. The fights are sloppy and brutal. For me, the car fight in The Raid 2 has always been the benchmark for that setting. This movie ramps that up, not to 11, but to 20. It's crazy, but not as stylish. Yeah, the CGI is a little obvious at times. As long as it ain't pixelated or amateurish, I don't care. The plot was simple, and the twists weren't anything unexpected. I'd watch it again for the sheer spectacle of it, because that's what this movie is all about: spectacle. However, I found myself checking the run time more than once because it clocks in at well over 2 hours, and you're almost hoping it would just end already. It is bonkers with action. Honestly, this could've been 2 films. Personally, I kind of liked it. I thought the closing scene was a punch in the gut. In a good way, even. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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