Alienoid: Part 1

Probably the worst screenplay, editing and directing I've seen in such an eye-candy filled movie. Feels like one screenplay from every genre was shredded and randomly pieced together.

The story lacked continuity, cohesion and most of the attempt at humor was infantile. Even some of the dialog was questionable. Writer and director Dong-hoon Choi failed in giving us a story that made much sense, and instead convoluted almost two and a half hours of story-telling with ridiculous timelines that were riddled with plot and technical issues, and lazy filler with very little substance to the story.

I could edit/cut this down to a 90 min film and even give it a proper ending, and I'd enjoy it more, and I'm not a filmmaker. If it wasn't for the amazing visual effects and decent performances, I would've turned this off after the first time-line jump. I lost interest during every change in timeline because the story kept getting sloppier and lazier.

What's worse, is that after the long dragged out 142 min runtime, there was no reward in the end; we'll probably have to sit through another convoluted 142 mins mess of a story in Part 2, and I'm not willing to make that investment. It's a generous 6/10 from me, mostly all for the visuals effects and decent performances.

Messy but entertaining Korean hybrid-genre from Choi Dong-hoon. Took a while to understand its concept and get to know a lot of characters. Star-studded cast crafted a deft mix of high-octane action and character-driven comedy to kept us all on hold for part two.

I like the movie, even though at the beginning and the middle it was shown 2 different timelines and made me confused, but in the end it was explained too. I like the male and female (i forgot their names) acting, the one who has a mirror. And part 2 will air next year. Can't wait.

There are so many ideas mixed together in this movie and a lot of it does work. But it works mostly when it's a goofy action movie where aliens, magic and time travel come together with all its craziness. Every time the movie tries to be serious, it falters.

The one-note characters and it being just part 1 ending in a cliffhanger is not a big help either. While I did enjoy a lot of it and appreciate a lot of the ideas used, the bad parts were painstakingly bad. I would definitely be interested in a better executed version of these concepts. There's so much in it that is not fully explained and only would be explained in a sequel.

The must see movie of this genre is Fyodor Bondachuk's 2017 Russian movie, Attraction. It's on many streaming platforms. The 2022 Korean Alienoid seems inspired by Attraction. What Alienoid has going for it is very good on-set morale; it's fun. Its verve, snappy dialogue, committed acting and stunts and lots of creative scenes make it watchable TV.

The VFX are stellar. The middle part of Alienoid is a Terminator vs. Terminator battle in a city with impeccable post-production values. There's also a Mission Impossible stunt reference.

As with many foreign sci-fi and fantasy movies, even with very committed acting as you have here, a series of action scenes strung together, does not add up to a blockbuster. To really pop, the characters have to have an arc of development which fuels their passion.