Alienoid

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.

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.

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.

If you are a person who couldn't sit still for more than 2 hours, this might not be your cup of tea! But if you could, all the acts, comedies, sceneries, CGIs, and story-lines won't dissapoint you. I got sceptical at first, but more than satisfied at the end of the movie. I suggest to watch it in the cinema (especially 4D) so you'll have more remarkable experience. Can't wait for Alienoid Part 2!

If you haven't yet seen 'Alienoid' here's a word of advice: rather watch it when you're able to watch Part 2 as well. I didn't realize this was Part 1 of 2 and was very disappointed by the abrupt ending until I noticed 'TO BE CONTINUED'. Had I known that, I would have waited for Part 2 to be available as well so I could watch them back to back. With such a complex storyline and so many characters, you're bound to forget something - or someone - by the time Part 2 arrives.

As I said, this is a complex story. It is set in three different timelines and the film constantly intercuts between these timelines. There are also different characters with different storylines. The only characters who appear in all the timelines are Guard and Thunder, humanoid robots who manages and escorts alien prisoners.

So, what's the story about? Aliens lock up their criminals in human bodies (the brain to be exact), but sometimes these alien criminals can escape for a moment. It is Guard and Thunder's duty to capture and secure these criminals. Their power source is the Divine Blade. When a young mother dies during such a process in the year 1380 A. D., she begs them to take her baby with them. Guard refuses, but Thunder takes the baby without Guard's knowledge.

The film jumps ahead in time and we learn Guard raised the child, Yian, as his own. But now, at the age where she is smart enough to figure things out, Yian realizes Guard is not her father and might be an alien. Her suspicions are soon confirmed, but when she witnesses humans being implanted by aliens, she has to rely on Guard to protect her.

When the leader of the rebellion, called The Controller, is implanted in Detective Moon's brain, and escapes, it causes chaos and destruction and its up to Guard and Thunder to save the day. There's plenty of action and the scene where a car is chased by a space ship is mind blowing!! I have quite honestly never seen anything like it. The visuals are astounding! It looks like a big budget Hollywood superhero movie.

Although the film offers plenty of action and excitement I have several issues with the film. There are way too many characters and too many subplots. This is a very confusing story and difficult to keep track of all the characters and their stories. There's also too much unnecessary humour taking up too much screen time. This significantly slows down the action and could - and should - have been trimmed. With so much going on in one film I found my mind wandering. Several scenes in the film were so similar to 'Woochi: The Demon Slayer' that they seemed copied.

If you're not used to watching subtitled movies, I fear you will be completely lost trying to read AND follow and understand the film. I've seen hundreds of subtitled movies and reading subs has pretty much become second nature for me, but even so, 'Alienoid' was difficult to follow. I'm not sure I can recommend this.