Hey readers! I just finished watching Kim Jee-woon’s newest Korean “Western” movie, “The Good, The Bad, The Weird.” You may be asking what’s the verdict? To watch or not to watch? Well let me tell ya, this movie is definitely a movie that can’t be missed for any action, style, and Western lovin’ aficionado. Of course, this being a movie shot in the setting of the Eastern land, Manchuria, you may be wondering how can this movie be a Western? Well in a sense it’s more of an Eastern Western movie in away. This movie is no doubt a remake/homage to the great classic Western movie, “The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly” by Sergio Leone. What Kim Jee-woon did was basically take the concept of the sphagetti western and mashed it with an Asian flavor. Which tastes great if I might say so myself.
The central plot of the movie is loosely identical to the original “The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly,” so nothing is new here. Where this movie really shine is in the incredible action scenes, along with all the highly stylized directorial takes. The movie balances out great action scenes, that never skips a heartbeat, along with great mixture of humorous scenes sprinkled throughout the film. The lead actors for this movie are perfectly cast. The scene stealer of this movie is, no doubt, Mr. Weird “Yun Tae-gu” played by Song Kang-ho. He is the main source of humor throughout the movie, and it’s no wonder Song Kang-ho is regarded as one of the best actors in Korea. Along with Mr. Weird, we also have Mr. Good “Park Do-weon” played by Jeong Woo-seong. Mr. Good’s scenes are completely badass all around. We often get to watch this guy kick all kinds of booty throughout the movie. Which certianly brings much joy to my western fanboy lovin’ buttocks. Finally we have the blood-thirsty Mr. Bad “Park Chang-yi” played by Lee Byeong-heon. One of the most iconic thing about him is the unique styling of his hair, which definitely helps distinguishes him apart from any other villains from any Western(or in this case Western/Eastern) movies I have ever seen. Mr. Bad certainly succeeds in bringing out that cool edge of a total merciless antagonist. He is so evil and corrupted, that it’s actually quite difficult to not like this guy (ironic, I know, but we liked the Joker didn’t we?). In my opinion, the casting choice could not have been any better then what we got with this movie. Each actor added a different feel and theme to “The Good, The Bad, The Weird” and to have it all in one movie makes this quite an enjoyable experience. No wonder this movie killed it in the box office in Korea.
One of the weaker parts of this movie is definitely the lack of good dialog, there were a couple of memorable lines, but mostly the dialog lacked depth. Another thing about this movie that can be seen as a negative, are the long dragged out action scenes. Although to me, the dragged out scenes were not all that bad. It felt more of a bonus to the viewers then a flaw of the movie itself (figure I note this aspect since it can be interpret differently for different viewers). I enjoyed myself to much and just wanted to take it all in as much as I could during these scenes. At times “The Good, The Bad, The Weird” can become pretty unbelievable, but that’s normal with any kind of high-action movie. So this weakness is very forgivable. Finally the last thing that I felt that was weak in this film was the story-plot. The central-plot for this flick was quite simple and lacked any kind of depth or complexity. Nevertheless, even though this movie may have it weaknesses, the many great things in this movie outweighs these flaws.
“The Good, The Bad, The Weird” was shot with great amazing scenery, which are very reminiscence of the old school spaghetti Western movies. Kim Jee-woon’s attention to detail and visual perfection is definitely noticeable when watching this film. Without ever detracting the viewers, the costume and set designs are spot-on and only assists in adding to the Universe of this movie. “The Good, The Bad, The Weird” will also signal the highest budget (17 Million Dollars) for a movie ever produced from Korea. Quite a hefty amount of cash was dropped into this movie, and I for one welcome it.
To conclude this review, I would suggest any movie-watcher to catch this flick. I would definitely recommend this movie to any Western, high-action, and movie enthusiast. “The Good, The Bad, The Weird” will definitely deliver the high blood-pumping chase scenes (what good action movie doesn’t have this?) and the fierce and gorgeous shoot-out scenes (what good Western movie doesn’t have this?). A truly great remake which doesn’t shame the original film in any aspect. “The Good, The Bad, The Weird“ is a MUST WATCH, I guarantee you will enjoy it.
I give this movie a 8/10! Totally the best Western (Eastern) movie of the year.
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