Ashfall

The goods: -CGI is decent most of the time. -Byung-Hun Lee is amazing as usual. -Destruction scene is great overall. -Character speaks better Mandarin than Hollywood movies. -Funny scenes are generally funny.

The bads: -Cramming in too many genres in one movie. -Trying to do too much at the same time, ended up doing nothing particularly good. -Editing is atrocious, there are at least 4 instances where it feels like it skipped 30 seconds or more of the movie for no reason. -Character makes illogical decisions. -Inconsistent tone. -STOP JOKING WHEN THE SCENE IS SUPPOSED TO BE SERIOUS. -Dong-seok Ma is criminally underused. -Physics makes little sense most of the time. -Inconsistent and forced character development. -Although given an urgency of time, but the pressure is not felt. Character has time to joke around. -Side characters are insignificant and can be discarded at any time. -Movie falls apart somewhere in act 2, and gets worse the longer it goes on.

Verdict: If you are not particularly critical about movies and love some korean blockbusters, go for it. Or else skip this and save some money. Not recommended overall.

It not only is a disaster movie, it is also part comedy. The CGI, and there is a lot of it, it decent and the movie is not sloppy. But it seems Korean movies have to throw in a lot of subplots, and this is no exception. A major volcano erupts, followed by a major earthquake. In the country is an American scientist who is studying the mountain, and he points out below the magma chamber that erupted, there are two smaller ones, but below those is a huge magma chamber, and it is erupts, it will be devastating for the entire peninsula. His plan is to detonate a powerful bomb placed in one of the mining shafts in the mountain which will divert the pressure that is building. Of course, since he cannot guarantee success, it is rejected. Also, it would require nuclear bombs, and it so happens there are six nuclear warheads in North Korea that are about to be surrendered to the US making the peninsula nuclear free. But someone believes in him, and an off the books operation is mounted. Two planes, one with commandos and one with the scientists. En route, one plane crashed, leaving the scientists to do the mission. Naturally, the person who knows where the warheads is Ri, a North Korean held in prison. So he has to be liberated, taken to where the warheads are. And the US gets wind of the operation, and is determined to stop it. And the subplots only are getting started. Still, it is entertaining enough.

If this movie was solely made for destruction and action escape sequences like most of Hollywood movies does with no logic this movie did it bad. i watched this movie solely for the story line and expected a lot but all ended with a whimper.

So, after the Korean take on the zombie genre, we now get the big disaster popcorn movie. The basic plot is what you'd expect: Big Bad Thing happens, but Even Worse Thing will happen if the heroes and scientists can't save the day by a dangerous mission. Luckily, the movie still provides many of the factors that make Korean cinema so entertaining. There is almost effortlessly good character chemistry(an art big Hollywood flicks seems to have lost somewhere along the way). There are the big sentimental brush strokes. There is a brisk pace and some twists and turns, and the added factors of the US military, North Korea, and some marvelously sleazy Chinese add some complexity and real world problems apart from the volcano itself. The heroes are ragtag and humorously flawed(another fun factor Hollywood has done away with in the age of Dwayne Johnson chiseled supermen), and hurtle along as best they can without ever really being in control of the situation.

Now, being a popcorn flick it obviously won't reach the amazing heights that Korean arthouse cinema spoils us with. Most notably, there are some bits where the editing is a bit rough, and some transitions are so abrupt it's chuckle-worthy. And plot, as mentioned, does not stray too far from your usual disaster movie formula.

But those small flaws doesn't stop Ashfall from remaining entertaining throughout, and isn't that what a good action movie should do? Definitely worth a watch.

Ashfall works where most other disaster film's do not because it mixes the basic premise is a way that's novel and exciting.

This might best be described as a disaster film that's also a military thriller, with a great human interest back story. In terms of pacing, it starts off slowly but quickly gains momentum, adding in layers of excitement and varied action, as it moves to its very emotional climax.

Acting is excellent with characters who have real depth and a story to tell. Its worth mentioning that some of the humour might seem a bit odd and a little slapstick, to European audiences. Its moderately reminiscent of the kind of humour that you find in Hong Kong action flicks, Its not to my taste but then this is a Korean film, pitched at Korean viewers.

My only real complaint with Ashfall is the story is a little too complex at times and deviates in different directions, a little too much. It can be hard to keep up with who's doing what to who and why.

That said, Ashfall is still a hell of a lot better than the basic disaster movies, that lazily reply on exposition and special effects, to carry them.

A well deserved 7/10 from me.