2009: Lost Memories

No, we are not talking about another Matrix-esque film where the world is really a virtual reality dream/nightmare...this is a film that takes a serious look at one of the many great "what if's" in history and shows how the world would have been. One of my favorite things about this film is that it shows the extremes of what people will do to either keep that history or change it. Its race against race; father against son; and friend against friend in a race for a nation's identity. Who will win, who will lose, and who will ultimately decide the fate of the world? Fantastic action sequences that seem almost too real. The bloodshed abounds in this film as we see repeated scenes of terrorists face off against police forces in shoot-outs that can only end with the annihilation of one group or the other. The battle scenes are realistic in that you don't see your standard "good guys never miss while bad guys can't hit the broad side of a barn" routine, these are truly horrific battles with a large casualty count from both sides.

The film, however, isn't all about action. The story itself stands on its own as you try to piece together the jigsaw of clues and dead-ends to find out what in the world is the truth. Even when you arrive at the climax of the whole story you are left on one cliff-hanger after another, wondering if this will be the final bullet to decide it all...and at the ending there is no cliff hanging, the writers have thrown you off the cliff and you wonder what awaits you at the bottom.

Despite this nail biting ending, the film had is draw backs: 1) a plot that progresses like a starting train, VERY slow at first before gaining tremendous steam at the end; 2)lots and lots of blood, not for the squeamish; 3)the ending had a loose end that was never explained; and 4)you will want more character background and insight from the two main characters.

A very good film that had plenty of room for improvement.

I didn't really know what this movie was about when I started it. I wasn't disappointed. The movie takes place in an alternate timeline where Japan owns Seoul and the rest of Korea. Korean terrorists wreak havoc in a fancy building for some as-yet unclear reason, and it's the job of two cops (one Japanese, the other Korean) to find out what's going on. What follows is one hell of a ride. Make sure you're resting while watching this movie, because you wouldn't want to get hurt.

The first action sequence at the beginning of the movie sets the tone for the rest of the flick. The shoot-out has this incredible intensity and never lets up. The rest of the movie follows suit. You don't really know what's going on at first, but you know it's going to be explained, and that it's going to be worth it. The shoot-outs that follow only top one another, which, after seeing the first 15 minutes, is quite hard to believe. They're so incredible. They might not have the scale as 'Heat' or the budget of 'The Rock' but they sure as hell are as intense (if not more), and as good, if not better, than whatever comes out of Hollywood.

As with 'Shiri', the action in this movie rests on one great story. Throughout the movie, the characters become more and more like real people. No one is a hero, no one is Superman here. The characters are thrust into improbably situations, but they always stay rather believable. When they're not shooting guns, the drama part of the story takes over, and you're actually as impressed with what happens. You feel for the characters, and you're actually kind of glad you don't have to make the decisions they have to make. I could kind of see where some of the relationships were going, and I didn't really want them to go there, but I suppose they had to. The story, on the other hand, is a complete mystery. I never knew where it was going.

This movie actually says something, as well. Just like in 'Shiri', it's not action for the sake of action - it's action for the sake of actually saying something. It's slightly on the nationalistic side, but that doesn't really bother me, the message that the movie portrays is definitely worth the moments spent nationalism. It's really not as bad as some other movies I've seen. The movie is insanely political, I was actually very surprised. No Hollywood studio would have the guts to do something like this. I suppose the implications of the movie are universal, but they chose to have Japan control Korea. It's quite refreshing to see a movie, an action movie no less, with a thoughtful story.

The cinematography is gorgeous. I've seen all of 3 Korean movies and they all had this incredible visual style. This one is obviously included. Most of the movie is shot with a lot of blues and grays. It creates this nice, calm atmosphere among the instances of carnage. Add to that some great, invigorating music (which also reminded of the music in 'Shiri', but that's probably due to the fact that the same composer scored both movies), and the entire mood is perfectly set.

An amazing movie with brains and brawn, everybody should enjoy this movie.

The year is 2009, but it's a 2009 in an alternate history to ours, where Japan fought with the US in World War II and won... and still occupies and controls Korea. Most Koreans have accepted the state of affairs after 100 years, but there is still a small band of terrorists/freedom fighters that want to see Korea regain independence.

Our hero is a cop of Korean descent who now works in the Japanese Beaureau Of Investigation, comfortable socialising with Japanese friends and speaking the language as default. After a major attack on an exhibition centre, however, he begins to investigate the terrorists to understand their motives. As he finds out more about their fight, he begins to question the legitimacy of Japanese occupation, and starts to feel the Korean blood flowing stronger in his veins.

Clearly inspired by the box office success of SHIRI in 1999, the producers of 2009: LOST MEMORIES have conspired to produce a slick action thriller with production values that compete fairly well with Hollywood productions of only a few years back. Like SHIRI, the trade off for absorbing some of Hollywood's virtues seems to be acquiring some of its vices too - chiefly, a shallow script with major plot holes and a certain amount of xenophobia. These qualities are worse in 2009 than SHIRI, and to be fair worse than the better Hollywood productions too.

The script for 2009: LOST MEMORIES can hardly be called strong, but it is interesting and not overly predictable, despite the presence of large amounts of cheese (which maybe explains why it's so full of holes?). I did find myself checking the time quite frequently as I watched, but I got through all 130 minutes of the film without feeling too bored. It would have been much harder to say this if it weren't for the action scenes, however, which are of a very high calibre. There are just enough scenes of cool Hong Kong style gunplay to qualify 2009: LM as one of the better action movies of recent years. Also one of the more violent action movies - the body count is huge, and there is no hesitation about showing the damage a bullet can do to the human body.

The production values are mostly very high - some great sets and props (many of which get severely destroyed in the gun fights). Good cinematography, though that hardly needs mentioning for a Korean film these days. The soundtrack is perhaps a little OTT, but then so is the melodrama in the script. Acting is acceptable, though no performance approaches "great".

Overall I was rather disappointed with the film, having heard so many very positive opinions expressed about it. I liked the action, but felt the script could have been a lot better. It's a little too much like a Hollywood movie, which was probably what the producers were aiming for, but isn't what I want when I watch a Korean film. It's bound to be a film that people will be talking about a lot, and may influence the direction of the Korean industry, so any fan of Korean cinema should probably watch it if they haven't already

This is interesting.

The movie got enough materials for a good movie. a gripping story, interesting twist of plot, strong casts, nice action sequences, and powerful ending.

Some weaknesses and plot holes can be tolerate, including some low cost special effects and camera manipulations.

But apart from that, the whole combinations succeed on giving full entertainment and just a simple moment for you to think of all the possibillites in this world.

If you have interest in asian movie, try this one. i strongly recommended this one for story telling and action-drama presentation.

Nice evening movie...

In an alternate time-line, in the near future(with some nifty tech), a young cop finds himself questioning why he and his men are fighting a group of... well, are they terrorists or are they freedom fighters? The story-line is nice and does get resolved, if there are subplots and events that either don't affect anything or, at least to me with my Western eyes, looked strange and unexplained. Maybe it would help if I knew more about Korea, because this is definitely a jingoistic piece on there, from there. Japan has taken over the aforementioned country, and is suppressing their independence. This leads to some melodrama, and though the two hour, 14 minute running time sans credits would be shorter if these instances were mercifully removed, this does really get to you, you find yourself caring and feeling the impact of bullets, and the grip of tension. The acting is pretty good. I watched this with subtitles, not dubbed, and while I had to read along to understand what they were saying, the power of the way they deliver the lines came through quite clearly. The action is all shoot-outs, it's quite well-choreographed, it's stylized(with slow-motion, and "frame-chopping") and it's cool. This has some well-done visuals. The FX are reasonable. There is a lot of bloody violence in this. The DVD comes with 8 and a half minutes of behind-the-scenes footage and four trailers. I recommend this to fans of Asian cinema, and John Woo type flicks. 7/10