Film Reviews

The Good, The Bad and The Weird

• Rating:
• Director: Ji-woon Kim
• Starring: Byung-hun Lee
• Details: South Korea / 120mins (TBC)

Anyone who has seen Ji-woon Kim's previous venture A Bittersweet Life will know that a massive amount of suspension of disbelief is needed to enjoy it; The Good, The Bad and The Weird makes the lunacy of that actioner look like a made-for-TV afternoon special. Set in 1930s Manchuria, the plot of this Asian spaghetti western revolves around a map that may or may not lead to treasure. Doing everything (and killing anyone) to get their hands on the map are The Good (bounty hunter Park Do-Won), The Bad (lethal assassin Park Chang-yi) and The Weird (petty thief Yoon Tae-go). Right behind them is a host of other 'groups' - including an invading Japanese army - who want the map for themselves. That's pretty much it, and even though this action movie was never going to be a great film, it'll leave you with a stupid grin on your face and satisfaction that you've just got value for money. The value for money comes in the ambitious action set pieces and they won't disappoint: Ji-woon Kim opens with a long train robbery before heading into a longer shoot out in a village and ends it with an even longer chase sequence across the desert where all the interested parties converge and shoot up a storm. These action scenes, bloody and violent, are also extremely funny, as if Kim was afraid he'd never get to direct again and wanted to put everything he ever thought up into them. It can get a tad confusing and does outstay its welcome, but there's no denying those inventive action sequences and that's the only real reason to watch this.

Review by Gavin Burke