Gangcheolbi 2: Jeongsanghoedam

I'm a huge fan of South Korean cinema and can appreciate cultural differences but Steel Rain 2: Summit is just garbage, complete and utter garbage. A harebrained geopolitical scheme with stereotypical characters and below average acting. But what really ruins this movie is the portrayal of the American president. I have no problem with Trump being mocked, I can understand the sentiment, but the US president in Steel Rain 2 is a pitiful, uninspired Trump caricature that adds nothing to the story arc, it has no comedic relief function, it's just burlesque, in the middle of a movie otherwise trying to be a serious political thriller, everyone else is trying to infuse gravitas in their lines, with varying success. It's like if Thirteen Days had Jerry Lewis scenes sprinkled on it, unwatchable. Let's just hope Deliver Us From Evil lives up to the hype, Steel Rain 2: The Summit is as bad as they come and when you're about half way in even the title assumes a different, lowbrow comedy connotation.

A combination of several things makes this movie entertaining from start to finish. Firstly there is clever biting political satire on the current tensions in Asia and the role of foreign powers. Some of the movie is in English and cleverly incorporates an international element. Next there is laugh out loud comedy involving the personalities of the 3 heads of state S & N Korea and a Trump parody. For the climax there is enough submarine action - too much can be boring. What a pleasant surprise this movie turned out to be. This isn't at all like the first Steel Rain. Jung Woo Sung plays it just right as the S Korean leader. Yoo Yeon-seok plays the N Korean leader and it's great to see him do comedy for a change instead of the villain. Angus MacFayden is quite good as the US President. I don't get the negative reviews - this is a comic masterpiece.

Great analogy of realistic and semi realistic issues. the character representing Trump is hilarious.

Top shelf cinematography and directing. Acting was on point and convincing. Sets and score amazing. My issue was mainly some plot and technical issues as well as the overly long runtime. Thankfully the pacing was decent, but the film needed about 15-20 mins trimmed off. It's a well deserved 8/10 from me.

The story happened in a world similar but different to one we live. So if you can put aside what you know about the leader of the USA, N Korea, and S Korea, then the story makes sense.

The lead actors were great. Supporting actors also did a job. The fight scenes were perfectly executed and convincing. The message was clear. Excellent directing. I totally enjoyed the 2 hours.

Again, you don't need to watch Steel Rain One in order to this movie. They are two different stories. This one is not a sequel. And I like this one better. So go for it.