Sonhos Lúcidos

A mixture of sci-fi with suspense, around the mystery of the missing little boy, his father's love and unconditional determination to find him again, films with people and mainly missing children always captivate me, just because I see the disappearance, the absence without news, the presumed death is eternally painful and doubtful, worse than death itself... The ending became a confused dream, but an excellent film, great South Korean production...

Absolutely nonsense but entertaining nonetheless, "Lucid Dream" takes a not very original idea (what is real, what is not, can we get into our dreams...) and decides to take a page of the action book. The result is an average movie, which repeats itself too much, but is saved, however, but good acting and a pace that doesn't slow down.

Dae-ho sees his son kidnapped in an amusement park. He thinks the culprit is someone that must have a grudge against him, because of his work as an investigative journalist. But, when more than three years pass and he is unable to find a clue about the whereabouts of his son or even if he is dead or alive, Dae-ho decides to ask for the help of a friend and try to find clues in his own dreams, in a state of lucid dreaming.

What follows makes no sense whatsoever. The basis of the plot, the lucid dreams and our hero remembering from his own, is as thin as it comes, and it never sells the idea that it could be a real possibility. However, as Dae-ho, Soo Go sells us the character and his plight. And the direction by Kim Joon-Sung is flashy enough to entertaining the viewer and make us forgive the shortcomings of the movie.

All in all, it is an entertaining time in front of the screen, but empty fun.

The movie is not bad, actually sometimes thrilling to watch him look after the kidnapper. Unexpected twist but the end is a bit dull though. However I recommend it!

Decent film but lacks atmosphere. A rushed start leads to some very good middle scenes but it does then cascade into another rushed final third. The dream segments could have given it more body as you would have thought they would hence the premise but the possibilities within the dream state were overlooked.

I'm really amazed and impressed with the consistency and the quality of many of the Korean films that I've seen. I'm no expert, that's for sure, but you can tell that they really put a LOT of effort into creating an excellent, involving story. The acting, alone, is WAY above the average American film (and I happen to have been raised by and live near San Diego :)

This primarily is a Police Procedural about a father looking for his kidnapped child, but it has some nice, low-key, Science Fiction touches that are integral to the story. You can likely guess what some of these are by the title of the film. But, what I was most impressed by was just how well done the movie was. It honestly kept me in suspense and did an excellent job in maintaining that tension throughout the entire film.

I read one external review where they dismissed this movie as a poor copy of another really well known (and quite excellent) film. I won't mention the title of it because I don't want to give too much away. But, I very much disagree with that reviewer because as masterful and stunning as the other film is that he was referring too, I truly feel that a movie should be judged on it's own as to how well it is put together and based upon the quality of it's story, direction, acting, etc. And, this one I felt was actually quite good. It's not a Sci Fi Blockbuster by any means, so please don't expect 'TRANSFORMERS'-like effects and such. No, this is mainly a powerful Police Drama along with an excellent Mystery as to what has happened to the child. Add in the nice Sci Fi elements that propel the story and I feel that you have a very entertaining movie that does an excellent job in involving the audience in not only the search for the man's son, but also the intriguing twists and turns that reveal themselves as time goes on.

If you like a good Police Drama / Thriller and also enjoy some light Sci Fi elements woven into the story, I think that there is a good chance that you might enjoy this film.