Illang - Uomini e lupi

This was a major flop on release in Korea.... But I found it stylish satisfying and at times genuinely scary! Perhaps not being aware of its background helped. I genuinely enjoyed it.

Out of all world cinema I have to say Korea may well be the one I've always had the best relationship with. They from experience are consistent in their filmmaking efforts and for the most part this is no different.

A Netflix live action adaptation of a Japanese anime series of movies, I went in unfamiliar with the source material. I now look forward to giving the three movies my time as this was interesting stuff.

With a complex plot that's frighteningly realistic, true to life and believable it looks like a AAA Hollywood movie. It is quite frankly a feast for the eyes, the incredibly structured action sequences, cinematic visuals and cinematography. A feast for the mind however? Less so.

I'm not saying this is a brainless action flick because it's really not, in many ways it might be considered too smart for its own good and the plot is hard to do justice in little over two hours.

I would however recommend this to those into their action/martial arts films over anyone really wanting something to get their teeth into. It looks fantastic, the cast deliver but I feel they undershot a tad.

The Good:

Strong soundtrack

Some decent writing

Looks fantastic

Very well choreographed action

The Bad:

Scale isn't done justice

The adaptation of Mamoru Oshii's "Jin-Roh" of 1999 is quite good, it retains the essence of the original animation film directed by Hiroyuki Okiura. I highly recommend this film for action lovers, asian cinema enthusiats. The movie doesn't deviate that much from a possible reality of a reunified north and south korea. The acting is decent, the effects and suits are quite good and the plot flows smootly until the end. Anyone that has seen the original master piece before would find dissapointement in the last 15 min. The raw and "bestial" ending was changed for a more "humane" one. If they had kept the original ending that preserved the nature of the main quote, I would have easily given it a 9/10.

Alright, well why would Korean take on remaking "Jin Roh: Wolf Brigade"? That just eluded me.

Regardless, I found this movie on Netflix while perusing through their Asian section. Having seen the animated movie back during my late teenage years, of course I had to give a live action movie a view, without a doubt.

So how was it? Well in all honesty, I can say that it wasn't all that impressive. Sure, the visual effects and the armors were great, and there were a couple of good gun fights. But the storyline was just so mediocre that it was hard to get immersed into the movie, into the universe and into embracing the Korean remake.

The acting in the movie was fairly good, taking into consideration the horribly weak script they had to work with.

Sure, the movie was adequate for what it turned out to be, and it was entertaining for sure. I had just expected somewhat more from a live action movie based on the classic "Jin Roh: Wolf Brigade" anime. But for viewers not familiar with the 1999 anime, then I am sure this is a mighty fine and dandy movie. But for us already well familiar with the 1999 anime, not so much...

Entertaining and quite intelligent combat and action sequences throughout the movie; however, remarkably dumb reasons provided by the plot to explain the purpose of this combat. I thought all of the fighting and firefights of the movie were incredibly unique and interesting as far as movies go, the setting was also something that I enjoyed. But, it really feels as if the actions of any character become pointless, especially during the third act of the movie.