Just watched NATURAL CITY, which I wasn't expecting to enjoy too much after most of the other Korean sci-fi "blockbuster" films of the past few years, but I do think this one is the pick of the litter.
It's an interesting and perhaps slightly muddled film, that mixes sci-fi spectacle and fantastic action scenes with a much more subtle and introspective side that's really the core of the film and probably befuddled the audience a lot. The cyborgs and mad scientists aren't really what the film is about, it's about the loneliness and detachment of the characters in a world where personal relationships have deteriorated even further than in our own. The fact that the acting is "wooden" is arguably deliberate, as the characters have no real emotional lives. It's a bit like Stephen Spielberg directing a Wong Kar Wai script... or vice versa... or something :p There's some Mamoru Oshii in there too.
8/10
It's an interesting and perhaps slightly muddled film, that mixes sci-fi spectacle and fantastic action scenes with a much more subtle and introspective side that's really the core of the film and probably befuddled the audience a lot. The cyborgs and mad scientists aren't really what the film is about, it's about the loneliness and detachment of the characters in a world where personal relationships have deteriorated even further than in our own. The fact that the acting is "wooden" is arguably deliberate, as the characters have no real emotional lives. It's a bit like Stephen Spielberg directing a Wong Kar Wai script... or vice versa... or something :p There's some Mamoru Oshii in there too.
8/10