Thursday, January 3, 2013

Doomsday Book

You have to give writer/directors Pil-Sung Yim and Jee-woon Kim credit for the ambitious nature of their collaboration in Doomsday Book. They’ve come up with three great ideas in one movie, but forgot to figure out a believable way for them all to tie together into a single satisfying cinematic whole. That’s just nitpicking; maybe the connection can be found with repeated viewings. (And you will see it more than once). Of the three, the story about a robot who not only gains awareness, but Buddha-level enlightenment, works the best. It’s not only beautifully shot, but the special effects are so well done that you will think the robot more alive than some of the actors in the story. The story about a little girl who orders a billiard ball online and sets off a chain of events that could destroy the world is fun, even if trying to figure it out leaves you mind feeling like Jell-O. The opening chapter about zombies running amuck on the streets of Seoul is good, just not as good as the other two.

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