Ginsengjin Reviews

The Boys (2019– )

Season 1 was tolerable but they missed the mark after season 2 and 3

[2/10 · 8 July 2022]

I really liked the concept of The Boys. Having superheroes as being the villains behind an evil corporation seems like an edgy take on the overplayed superhero genre and I thought there was a lot of potential there. Even the vulgarity of the show added a lot of novelty and as someone who enjoyed shows like South Park, I wasn't opposed to the vulgarity of it.

But the thing about being edgy and vulgar is that you have to be clever with how you use it either to emphasize a point or help connect it to a story line or it becomes very childish and cheap. The problem is after season 2 and 3 they did exactly that where it becomes a cheap parlor trick to try to keep audience entertained instead of using it to drive an element in the storyline.

Also the love storyline.... childish and underdeveloped.

Don't Look Up (2021)

Absolutely brilliant movie. Entertainment and food for thought

[10/10 · 28 December 2021]

This movie is along the lines of Burn After Reading and The Big Short. It's a political satire cleverly written to be comedic while providing intelligent insight into the current American psyche and society. If you're really dense about things like this replace every time they mention "comet" with "covid19" and things will make sense.

It's amazing what this movie has accomplished in capturing American society and trash tiktok / social media culture and its effects on people's politics and ideology of 2019-2021. The movie does this without being preachy which is appreciated but at the same time frustrating knowing what's going on in the real world. It cuts deep to see so much familiarity in a story so ridiculous. What the movie sets out to accomplish it does extremely well without pointing fingers as much as possible.

The Matrix Resurrections (I) (2021)

This movie was terrible. Felt like a cash grab.

[1/10 · 23 December 2021]

It's basically a disney knockoff version of what matrix is. With all the technology and money behind this, they couldn't get proper actors to act and a proper cinematographer for shot choices.

What the matrix trilogy is a philosophical scifi thriller. This movie on the other hand is basically a heist movie just with a loose matrix theme around it. Nothing about the movie is intelligent and similar level as the movie free guy with Ryan Reynolds. The only difference is free guy knows it's an action comedy genre.

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021)

Basically Marvel version of Tokyo Drift

[1/10 · 13 November 2021]

This movie isn't really written that well. It's more hilarious especially if you know what's going on in China and how MMA fighters go around debunking Chinese martial arts and the government is stepping in to censor it for the sake of protecting their pride / propaganda. Shang-Chi basically felt like an extension of that.

The acting is overexaggerated and to be honest the movie forces more stereotypes on Asians than relieve it. At least actors like John Cho plays roles that puts an even footing with their other counter parts. This movie is more of a marvel's attempt to please the Chinese market for profit. Best way to describe this movie is it's 90's nickelodeon kid show acting combined with Tokyo drift level of Asian stereotype. There's not one scene where they're not bringing attention to the fact that there are Asian people in the movie. It feels very California in only the worst ways possible.

Time Lapse (2014)

It's worth a watch but not as good as people say it is on here

[5/10 · 16 March 2021]

I'm a sucker for time travel related movies so I'm giving this movie a lot more credit than it deserves. The premise is very unique and the movie is very story oriented so I give it a big thumbs up for that. However the characters are sooo dumb that it ruins any immersion required to enjoy the movie. They constantly make bad choices and have mood swings that is very unfitting for the character or the situation. For these movies I hold disbelief in favor of more fantasy or what-if type of mindset but the constant unrealistic acting and choices made by the character in the movie really kills the enjoyment for me. It's worth watching, better than the mindless CGI action films these days but a struggle to get through in certain parts of the film.

Birds of Prey (2020)

Fairly Entertaining

[8/10 · 31 March 2020]

The reviews on here are so toxic. A lot of negative reviews here are written by people who have an innate hatred against anything female. As a male I found the movie fairly entertaining. The movie is not trying to be cerebral or particularly thought provoking. It's pure flashy entertainment with a little bit of storytelling and as someone who was expecting the worst, found it an okay flick. It's really a 7/10 movie but I gave it 8/10 to offset all the idiot reviews on here.

The movie does a decent job in storytelling. It keeps the story non-linear while introducing new characters that come together at the end and that's not an easy task handling this many characters in a movie. It's done a respectable job in that aspects and kept the pace of the movie really well to keep things entertaining. It's no masterpiece but a movie worth watching for some entertainment on a boring night.

The Magnificent Seven (2016)

Terrible Film

[3/10 · 19 September 2019]

This movie is absolute trash. There's barely any story outside the premises of the film and no character development or even a character setup on why each of the 7 men join the crew in the first place. There is no motivation given for anything the characters do and in the short scenes where the characters interact with one another is shallow. Because the movie failed to spend any time on developing the character, the audience was not invested emotionally in any of them when they died. I would've gave them one more star if the action sequences were done well but that wasn't done well either as the camera work is very chaotic moving from one scene to another instead of creating a sense of fluidity. Overall, it's a waste of 2 hours that I suggest you avoid. I gave it a chance thinking this might be an underappreciated movie but it is what it is which is a terrible film.

The Accidental Detective 2: In Action (2018)

Pretty terrible movie. Avoid.

[2/10 · 3 May 2019]

I wanted to like the film because I'm a fan of Sung Dong Il from 'Dad where are you going' and Lee Kwang Soo from 'Runningman' but the movie is an absolute mess. The pacing is slow moving from one scene to the next without a sense of flow or establishing a sense of time. The story line is simplistic with the dialogue being very unnatural even for veteran actors to save this movie. What's worse in each scene is the terrible angle cuts of the close ups of the actors and wide establishing shot. There is just a lack of direction in cinematography and the cuts are absolutely chaotic that it's not even pleasant to watch visually.

My advice is to watch a different movie.

Bird Box (2018)

Entertaining movie especially if you're a fan of post apocalyptic/zombie genre

[8/10 · 29 December 2018]

I do agree with some of the critics saying that the movie was too long. They definitely could have trim down the run time in certain places but overall I was hooked to the screen to see what happens next. The biggest strength of this movie is Sandra Bullock whose performance was just as good as her role in Gravity. She portrayed the complexity and flaws of her character amazingly well although character development could have been a little better. The setup of Bird Box feels very similar to Dawn of the Dead by starting out with a group of survivors and it all feels familiar but originality of the premise adds enough suspense to keep the audience guessing and wondering what will happen next. The movie is certainly not perfect and the ending feels a little shallow but it has enough resolution to feel satisfied. I'd recommend it for its entertainment value.

Replicas (2018)

Terrible acting and terrible plot line

[3/10 · 23 December 2018]

There are scifi movies where you can just suspend disbelief because the story telling is so good. This is not that movie. Replicas is filled with glaring loop holes that gets more ridiculous by the minute and the unnatural dialogue in combination with poor acting really makes it hard to be immersed in the story that they've created. In terms of quality, this movie feels like a direct to DVD release and not a hollywood featured film. I really have a hard time believing any of these positive reviews are not paid comments.

Venom (2018)

A hint of depth but mostly shallow movie.

[7/10 · 8 December 2018]

It's a typical super hero movie. The protagonist is a guy the audience feels bad for and we get to see him cope as he discovers changes in his new superhero body. It's all a very generic story wrapped in a new shiny wrapper. The only original part of this movie was the idea of symbiosis and the way venom is trying to make brock whole again even though he seems like the bad guy. I really wish they focused on that part of character development because that is much more interesting than the amount of fight scenes they tried to pack into this movie.

It's entertaining overall and worth watching but no where near a master piece.

The Bourne Legacy (2012)

Not as bad as the reviews make it seem.

[7/10 · 7 December 2018]

The reason that Bourne legacy is getting split reviews is because it just can't be counted as a Bourne movie. A Bourne movie is smart and stylish and although I personally think the sequels got worse and worse they still had originality. Bourne legacy in contrast feels more like an imitation. The movie fails to follow the principle of showing not telling which the previous Bourne movies did beautifully in their cinematography. Bourne legacy drives the plot mainly through dialogue which is poorly written and the overall movie feels generic. However the film is still entertaining if you don't make comparisons to the previous films.

My biggest problem with the movie was actually with Rachel Weisz. I was not at all impressed with her acting. Her character was almost an exact copy and paste performance from Constantine and it really contributed to the generic feel of the film.

Wreck-It Ralph (2012)

Great Movie, Highly Underrated Must See

[9/10 · 17 November 2018]

This is a great movie to see if you're an adult gamer or if you have children who love gaming. The movie's premises is basically same as Toy Story except with game characters that come to life when the arcade closes at night. However this basic premises is the only similarity and Wreck it Ralph has a lot of unique elements in the story line that allows it to stand out on its own. I really think this movie is extremely underrated and there was a lot of twists and turns in the movie that I just did not predict but the movie really pulled it all together. It was a real pleasure to watch this movie and it caters well to older children and adults.

Time Trap (2017)

Low end B-rated teen movie.

[2/10 · 13 November 2018]

This movie is really annoying. The dialogue is brain-dead stupid and the characters spend almost the entire length of the movie trying to figure out what the audience knows in the first 2 minutes of the movie. They bicker with one another saying a ridiculous amount of "dudes" in the dialogue while failing to figure out what any person of below average intelligence could have within seconds. There is basically 2 interesting parts in the movie one of which is the ending but it is not very unique or clever enough to make watching the first hour of it worth it.

If anything they should have started with the ending of the movie and told that story instead. To sum it up it's basically a B-rated teen movie but on the lower end of that spectrum. There's nothing to be gained by watching it in neither entertainment nor artistic value.

Forgotten (2017)

Disappointing movie.

[4/10 · 9 October 2018]

This movie is basically an average quality Korean drama condensed down into 2 hours. The story line would have worked for a Korean drama because the twists and turns of the story line would have been presented slowly with more focus on character development but when it is presented all in one viewing the story is just too much to be believable. The character development is also important for a Korean drama because the viewer feels a connection with the characters (good and the bad) but this is lacking in the movie.

The cinematography is also bland as well as it is just too colorful to fit the gritty story line. They could have started it out colorful and made it gradually gritty near the end reflecting the story line which would have been a much better artistic direction but they just kept it with the typical K-drama look.

I personally would not recommend this movie as you don't really get much out of it. If you are unfamiliar with thriller movies/genre then you might be impressed by the story line but for most people it'll be a forgettable movie.

The King of Pigs (2011)

Not worth your time.

[5/10 · 8 October 2018]

I really like realistic animation films so I really wanted to like this movie but it is just not really worth your time.

The movie's story is about two boys and their experience with bullying during their middle school days. The movie starts from the present when they are adults and uses flashbacks tell the story switching back and forth to break up the film into segments. The movie tackles hard real life issues like bullying in schools and system of inequalities and favoritism in the Korean society.

However the problem with the movie is that it is very derivative of better films like "Friend" and does not present anything new enough to stand out on it's own. The only unique aspect of the movie is the fact that it's an animation but it is clear that the reason this movie is an animation is because of costs. The animation quality is poor and what's worse is the poor voice recording in the film. The sound would often clip causing a lot of distortion in dialogue because they use such poor equipment to record the voice overs. Overall it does not do enough to impress in either the visuals or story and personally I would not recommend watching this film.

The Spy Gone North (2018)

Great movie with excellent cinematography

[8/10 · 26 September 2018]

Gongjak or The Spy Gone North is a spy thriller that looks at the complex political world of North and South Korea and relations during the late 1990's. It is a mix of history and fiction in telling the story of a South Korean spy agent who goes to North Korea under the guise of a businessman through China in order to infiltrate North Korea in search of information about the nuclear program.

The movie's biggest strength is in the cinematography portraying the different locales of China, South Korea, and North Korea in its story telling and in the acting pulling in a cast of well established Korean actors. The camera work and soundtrack is also excellent which work together perfectly in creating high tension key points in the story and providing the movie with excellent pacing.

The story is for the most part is more straight forward than what I expected from a spy thriller. It gets more political after the second half of the movie which is expected due to the nature of story between North and South Korea and it adds a level of complexity. What the movie doesn't do well is explain the motivation that drives the actions of supporting characters. The main character's actions were easy to understand but it was a little bit frustrating not understanding the driving cause of some of the other key characters.

The movie ends with a clear message that will polarize viewers based on their political standing but it does so in an interesting way through the relationship between characters which does tie up the movie fairly well. My biggest critique of this film is that it's too predictable for a spy thriller but it does do a great job narrating the journey.

This Is the End (2013)

Predictable and immature comedy

[3/10 · 28 September 2013]

This movie is terribly predictable and the dialogue didn't have enough wit for me to enjoy most of it. There were one or two scenes that made me laugh but during most of the movie I was cringing and hoping that it would be better. They make fun of how Seth Rogen keeps making the same movie in the movie that's basically same as all other Seth Rogen movies.

This movie must have paid shrills to write reviews because it's way overrated.

Watch "the world's end" instead of this. It's 10 times better and starts off with a very similar premises.

Oblivion (I) (2013)

Deceptively Good Bad Film

[6/10 · 20 July 2013]

The thing about Oblivion is that it comes 80% of being a decent movie and ruins it in its last 20%.

Now don't get me wrong the film is entertaining. It had almost no boring moments and the action was top notch as usual from a Tom Cruise movie. The narrative at least in the beginning was also enough to drive the story and keep the viewer glued to the screen. However, in the last 20% of the film where they had a chance to accelerate the plot and make it into a very good film falls back on itself by creating more loopholes with very lazy dialogue.

I had low expectations of Oblivion due to having read the mediocre reviews online but surprisingly found it better than expected. I would write off movies like this as just as an entertaining action flick but Oblivion takes itself so seriously that I have to wonder what it could have been if they put a little more effort near the ending.

The Impossible (2012)

Supposedly a representation of a tragic story of the tsunami in southeast asia

[2/10 · 9 May 2013]

I decided to write a short review on 'The impossible' because I completely disagree with the average IMDb consensus on this film.

The thing about disaster movies, especially if it's based on tragic real-life events, is that the director needs take discretion in the presentation of violence and gore. However this film hits you with gratuitous amount of gore and nipple showing that I think it takes away from the situation.

Some will argue that the reason they did that was to show how dangerous a tsunami can be, but a tsunami causes thousands of deaths, and they just focused on the mother and the son getting bumped and receiving flesh wounds in the beginning that bordered on snuff film levels. The entire time, I was wondering how this movie was able to pull off a PG-13 rating instead of thinking about how much victims of the tragedy suffered. The mother was also detached through the entire scene, not in the acute traumatic way, but due to bad acting that made the mother seem like GI-Jane through the entire process of getting bumped and wounded.

When you watch a disaster movie, you have to wonder what the director's motive is. Whether the director made a film for the sake of making a film, or if they're trying to accurately portray an event. The fact that they choose to tell the story of a Caucasian family of an event that killed thousands of people in southeast Asia is telling enough.