Along With the Gods: The Two Worlds

The CGI can be really mind-blowing at times and some strong performances by the guardians, but what really holds it together is the family drama under the fantasy elements. Definitely worth watching.

Throughout the film, it was just an interesting and pleasing picture, with an inherent style of Asian films. But the last part of the film, surprisingly, turned out to be very strong, and directly pulled the overall impression to a higher level. I highly recommend to watch this movie to everyone, including those who usually bypass Asian films.

What spiked my interest for this movie was this one particular scene I saw on YouTube shorts showing one of the trials and I automatically was like "Yes, this is a must-see." Now here's the problem... I thought this would be like a Dante's Inferno type film or some Squid Game type stuff where the main character has to compete in these different trials against loads of other people and has to beat them bla bla, but what I was given instead, was a hell-court-whatever? And to top it off, a sprinkle of comedy over it.

I do sound a bit harsh, but that is to be expected when one expects something great from a movie but instead gets something... mediocre. But that was the negative. Now to the positive. I thought the comedy aspect they pulled off well. Classic korean humor, I love it. The story was decent for what it was (although they really should've made it more games like) and the actors were great as well. But I really really know this could've been mainstream and huge if it actually followed the recipe I mentioned in the first part of my review. But all in all, pretty fun Korean movie. Visuals were surprisingly good too.

The film focuses on the inner story and the scenery of the protagonist who is transformed through seven trials. When a moment supports the ordinary character, at a certain moment, audiences put themsleves on the life of each person. As a result, this vast fantasy that transcends the boundaries of life and death between the world and hell, takes a leap into the tectonics of human life and death, the meaning of life and death, and the value of a given life.

This film tells the story of a firefighter who dies while saving a girl in a fire in a skyscraper. He is led by three grim reapers who guide him through the seven trials in the Afterlife.

The story initially is predictable, as he breezes though the initial trials. Then the film gets increasingly engaging and captivating. The final trials are not predictable anymore, and there is much suspense. The visuals are great, and there is clearly a lot of thought going into the visuals. The ending is very touching, particularly when viewers understand the Oriental culture about filial duties. Lots of tissues were used in the cinema!