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Sunday, June 6, 2010

[8.00/10] Woochi (2009)


Woochi (2009)

"Woochi" is a rip roaring fantasy adventure taking place both 500 years ago and in modern day Korea and it's filled with humor, spectacular action, and a touch of romance. Woochi is a Tao wizard from the Chosun Dynasty who is wrongly accused of a crime he didn't commit and was banished into a magical scroll and kept for five centuries. He was then summoned in modern day Seoul to help capture the evil goblins that are wrecking havoc on the world. "Woochi" is a breath of fresh air, it's not just a good movie, it's straight out of left field and don't really adhere to any western fantasy standardization. There are no orcs or elves, just the goblins, who don't look like what you'd expect - the three goblins that we see are anthropomorphic animals, that is animals given human features and shape. There's not all that many scenes where we actually see the goblins interact with the humans in their natural forms, but there's at least one stunning fight scene between Woochi and one of the goblins and it's an entertaining, exciting and spectacular fight scene. It's not kung-fu or sword fighting, but more ballet-like action with heavy usage of wire-fu. Overall, the acting is good, there are some annoyances such as the three taoist gods that take up far too much screen time and the actress who serves no real purpose in the movie except to be annoying. But it's worth it for the four main characters of the movie and the story is really gripping. Visually the film is stunning, with the initial scenes contrasting blasts of color amongst a predominantly grey palette, while the scenes set in the past bear a breathtaking use of color and beautiful settings. With its weirdly entertaining story, quirky characters, beautiful visuals and spectacular action scenes, "Woochi" is fun, excitnig and consistantly gripping Korean fantasy flick, that delivers!

  • My Rating: 8.00/10
  • Rotten Tomatoes: N/A
  • IMDb: 7.0/10

15 comments:

DEZMOND said...

sounds charming!

George Beremov [Nebular] said...

It is charming, and even something more than that:)

DEZMOND said...

eh, if the two of us lived in the same town, I can imagine how you would make me watch hundreds of Asian movies with you :)

George Beremov [Nebular] said...

Oh, be sure about that, Dezz. I'm obsessed with Asian cinema .. I was even more obsessed before, because they made better movies:)If only we were lived in same town... We could do so many thing together, but we're unfortunate to be 1000 km away from each other. I'm glad I have u at least virtually though.:)

DEZMOND said...

I propose we move to New York :) You will work and pay the rent (I hear it's just around 1000$ a month LOL) while I cook and update our blogs :PP It's a fair deal :)

Jaccstev said...

Despite Woochi's strengths, it lacks the punch and linguistic inventiveness of director Choi Dong-hoon's previous film Tazza (2006). Ross Chen at Lovehkfilm.com hit the nail on the head when he said that the film lacks heart -- as entertaining as it is, you never really develop any emotional attachment to the characters. And I'm totally agree.

Jaccstev said...

Live in my country and you two will be served with all of Asian tastes til you choked :))

George Beremov [Nebular] said...

@Dezz
New York you say? Hm, I accept your proposal, but I have one condition... which is.... huge apartment in Manhattan! :):D Otherwise, we're going to LA! I'd rather prefer to live on west coast.. nearer to Hollywood :)
It seems I have to work as male hooker to be able to pay the 1000$' rent :D

George Beremov [Nebular] said...

I haven't seen "Tazza", neither heard of it, but I should check it out :)

George Beremov [Nebular] said...

Jaccsy, would you join our movie-lovers lodging in NY? :D We'll live happily ever after :)

Jaccstev said...

Sounds interesting.. May I bring my girl along :)) But i prefer a tropical lodging, Hawaii anyone?? Bali and Thailand also sounds wonderful.

DEZMOND said...

well, you will be paying our rent, so you can freely choose the apartment, but I'm choosing the city. I'm way to posh and refined to live in LA, I was born for NY can't you see that? :))
Well, if I pimp you I'm sure we could get more than 1000$ for your services :)) I imagine you could be a pot of gold in that aspect :PPP

And we'll use Jaccsy's Singapore villa as our summer retreat when NY gets boring :)

George Beremov [Nebular] said...

Jaccsy, of course you can bring your girlfriend with you. The more the better! ;) As for the tropical lodging... well, we'll figure it out ;) Hawaii sounds good to me. We could buy a villa there, too, which has to have huge kitchen and a big modern oven, so Dezz can cook for all of us :)

George Beremov [Nebular] said...

New York has always looked a bit dark and grim to me, so I prefer the sunny state of California and the colorful city of entertainment, LA! But since I have to choose, if I have to live by myself in LA or with you in NY, I prefer the latter :)

Dezz, my dear pimp wannabe, I'm enough self-confident to know that I'm able make more than 1000$ per f**king :D Ha-ha!:)

DEZMOND said...

Oh, I'm touched but there's no way I'd live in a tropical place, my hair curls in a strange way in humid atmosphere :PPP
The kitchen doesn't only have to be huge but it has to look like a space ship, those are my basic standards :) After all I was taught by Bree Van di Kamp!

Off course you'd choose NY, Neb, I mean how could you possibly live without your favourite pimp :)
If you don't get enough money in your NY profession, we could always shoot that movie we were talking about before :) Oh, what a life it would be!!!
And the rain and grim weather in NY has its positive sides as well - imagine all the things you can do inside while it's pouring outside :)