Huge, sprawling, eye-popping adventure that is a loving ode to the spirit of Sergio Leone's spaghetti westerns, and is definitely one of the best big-screen entertainments of the year. Combining massive sets, vast landscapes, and incredible action set-pieces, this is what cinema is all about. Set in 1930's Manchuria, the story revolves around three very different characters; Park Do-Won - The Good (Jung Woo-Sung), Park Chang-Yi - The Bad (Lee Byung-Hun), and Yoon Tae-Goo - The Weird (Song Kang-Ho), who are all after a legendary treasure map. Close on their trail is the Japanese army, who also want the map, as the possible spoils will help fund their war effort. Featuring several truly spectacular action set-pieces, which writer/director Kim Ji-Woon ('A Tale Of Two Sisters' / 'A Bittersweet Life') pulls off brilliantly, the movie is wonderfully held together by three first-rate performances. Kang-Ho is hilarious as the manic thief, Byung-Hun is strikingly convincing as the villainous Chang-Yi, and Woo-Sung is perfectly cast as the strong, Clint Eastwood-style Do-Won. Like Leone did with his films, Ji-Woon creates a framework for the characters which his talented cast then breath their own textured life into. It's more about character interplay, period flavour, and grandly memorable sequences than a strong, complex story. Ji-Woon may have approached this differently to his previous films, but that doesn't make 'The Good, The Bad, The Weird' any less meticulously crafted. I just wish all big budget blockbusters were as masterfully entertaining as this.
Review of The Good the Bad the Weird
