Along with Gods: the Two Worlds: Good Korean effort

As Lyn pointed out, we could not recall the last Korean movie which we actually paid to watch. To be fair, we first knew about Along With Gods when we were bombarded with the trailer during our trip to Taiwan last year. So naturally it piqued our interest when the movie reach our shore here in Malaysia, garnering fair review from all the medias. Then again, I’ve learnt not to trust so much the reviews in the mass media as they tend to be as diplomatic as possible. 

How should I start this… Along with Gods based on a popular webtoons in Korea. Not manga, not even manhwa, but more like a comic strip. Too bad I could not find the translated version, all I could locate was the original ones in Naver Comics. It largely follows the death of a self sacrificing fireman. Being a noble person, he gets priority to be reincarnated as fast as possible, which is 49 days. To do that, he had to go through 7 different hells which deal with different sins and wrongdoing while being assisted by 3 grim reapers. Although there are some actions especially involving a certain vengeful spirit, many would agree the central theme of the show would be filial piety and wonders of familial love. Yup, I can actually hear many people sobbing while in the cinema. 

Does it work? Mediocre at best. The story is compelling enough for Asian, but for many people who do not understand the basis of Buddhism may find the story too far fetch. A lot of effort is put into designing each hell, and it is very innovative. Acting is top notch, and each play their character well. The action, on the other hand, looks real but not crisp enough. I can vaguely see the creatures from hell during the introduction of the vengeful spirit. The touching moment is reserved at the end of the movie, but like how a radio review put it, the bulk of the movie is focus on other matters, introducing different hells, so when the time it is for sobbing, the impact is much reduced. 

It is definitely one of the better movies from Korea, however, I do find a common problem with Korean movies is many lack common direction, trying to do too much at a time and dragging a movie too long. Except Korean horrors, which exclude the Revenge Trilogy. Train to Busan is one of those who manage to break the mold. Too bad Along with Gods fall back to the mold. 

Ratings: 3 half poink~!

Comments: Entertaining, but minus all the negatives I pointed out, Korean can really do touching moments, like Japanese movies. At least Korean movies has faster pace than Japanese counterpart.