Console
best movie i've ever seen.
TrueHello
Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.
Casey Duggan
It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny
horton-2
At 121min this movie may only seem a little longer than the average film but it felt like 3hours. Not much of anything happens throughout. In fact those fantastic fight scenes some people spoke of just did not ever present themselves. The plot was completely predictable and their explanation of his powers were completely weak.I gave it a 4 though instead of anything lower because I'll admit there were some humorous scenes in the beginning. However, after those scenes it's all down hill. The acting from most was fairly good but the material they had to work with made their hard work in vain. The film produced a certain surreal atmosphere that played well to the story but they just relied on this and CGI way too much.
thatpalechick
I thought this movie was pretty okay, as far as Korean high school movies go. I bought the DVD with the American rappers doing the voices, and I was ready to hate the movie by the time the credits FINALLY rolled, but then I watched the Korean version and realized that the rappers had completely ruined it. So much stuff gets cut out or changed until the movie starts to look like they were trying to make fun of cheesy old kung fu movies. In its original form, however, the movie is great. Everything falls into place and makes so much more sense. You find that the characters aren't half as stupid as the rappers make them seem, and the story just works better. My advice to anyone interested in this movie is that they should watch the Korean version first. Watching the rapper-dubbed version may bias them against the original, and then they'll be left thinking the rappers made an improvement on the original
Sune Urth
I felt kinda disappointed when I first saw this, but must admit after seeing it a second (and third) time, that it is actually relatively consistent, in the same way that a manga comic might be utterly confusing, but in the end, after thorough investigation make sense.The argument evolves around this though, whether it is relevant to make an action fling that requires for you to see it two or three times, before grasping the basic content. Hak-rim is falsely accused of poisoning the head-master of the school, but actually it's Jang Ryang and the vice-head-master (is it called that, I haven't got a dictionary here) who conspired to put Hak-Rim and the head-master out of action in a devious and cunning stroke, because they want the scroll for them selves.The entire story evolves around this secret scroll, that will end something by doing something which is never quite clear, but the box for the scroll is empty. Suspense! and then enters the school-fiver, five awesome guys who have real ultimate power. and their leader says: "tell a lion that has never seen a mouse, that the mouse is dangerous, and he will lie sleepless. But it will be a weak lion that scares that easily." So, what he says is that there is no scroll. But then he says that there IS a scroll, and then they all fight. The first 4/5 of the film is great fun. Monumental scenes, for example Jang Ryang getting on his knees for icy jade, to the sound of cheesy '60 rockabilly, will stand till kingdom come, but there are major holes, and basically the storyline is to badly told, though interesting if you take your time. last 5th is too long. like this comment.
harmonixer
I haven't seen what MTV did to my favorite movie- and I think I'd better not!This is an awesome film, even today the special effects look good. Every movie with CGI will eventually look its age as the technology progresses (I can't even watch The Matrix anymore, it's too painful), but this one is holding up well.The original Korean film is a must-see for dedicated action fans, people who enjoy CGI eye-candy and those with a strong interest in other Asian flavored action flicks. People who aren't interested in foreign films at all should avoid this film however, it may leave them feeling like they missed something about the plot. I think it's best enjoyed if you already have at least a little bit of understanding about the culture from which the film originates.If you like this, watch: Gen-X Cops, My Schoolmate is a Barbarian and 2002. Probably Space Travelers as well.
