When I'm not watching movies, at random, I do other things. One of those other things is play videogames. Currently, I'm playing Saint's Row 2, because it was cheap and is mostly fun, apart from a couple really terrible late-game missions. The most interesting thing about the game is that the characters are clearly awful people who murder other awful people and generally do terrible things. Yet, you root for them, because they're funny, even if they're mostly psychotic insane people. Why is this relevant? Well, Attack the Gas Station has a similar dynamic. You're alternately horrified and amused by the antics of the main characters, the overall plot, and the entire film.
In film, four no good punk kids (Sung-jae Lee, Oh-seong Yu, Seong-jin Kang, Ji-tae Yu) decide to rob a gas station. Then, they decide to rob it again, because they have nothing better to do. When there's no money, they take the gas station over and hold the crew hostages, while randomly kidnapping customers if they annoy them. In the process everyone learns life lessons, everyone finds their hidden talents, and at the end of the day everyone is a better, more well adjusted person better able to confront the challenges life brings.
Self improvement through acts of violence and hostage taking is a decidedly odd premise, especially for a film aimed directly at no good punk kids. The film is filmed and presented as wacky fun, with interludes of the four heroes doing some nasty, unpleasant stuff to their charges because they can and they're asses. A different director and it could easily be about four people who terrorize this station.
But they're funny, so you like them. You especially like them after they force cops to actually pay for gas, and learn that their lives are a source of perpetual disappointment. You hope these abused little puppies stop chewing on slippers and blossom into the beautiful golden retrievers they were meant to be. Then you realize, holy crap, they're beating on people for no reason and are almost trying to induce Stockholm Syndrome in their charges. Wow, they're jerks, why do I like them so much?
Someone with less faith in the intelligence of their average person might argue the entire premise is dangerous - seriously, everyone's lives are dramatically improved, except for the two people locked in a trunk and then never seen again, no word on them - but I'm suspecting everyone realizes that this is just dumb fun. Same deal with Saint's Row 2, it's just letting you into the world of terrible, yet funny people you would never want to meet in real life. It's interesting how by making you laugh, sins can be forgiven.
Showing posts with label Oh-seong Yu. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Oh-seong Yu. Show all posts
Friday, June 4, 2010
Friday, January 22, 2010
Champion
One of the big problems with bio-pics is that they have to compress what is generally a complicated life into two hours, frequently attempting to make a story arc out of something that generally doesn't arc in a predictable fashion. As a result, often things are glossed over and the life no longer resembles what really happened. One of the problems with sports movies is the need to keep people rooting for the preferred team or player. In this case, it means that the good guy is given artificial obstacles and the opposing characters are made out to be unfortunately evil. Yet, combine the two and you'll get something like Raging Bull, the famous boxing movie starring Robert DeNiro and directed by Martin Scorsese which does not fall into the typical traps. Or, you'll get a movie by someone who has watched Raging Bull numerous times, Champion which avoids some of the traps, and falls into others.
Champion is, naturally, about a champion, Korean boxing champ Kim Deuk-gu, as played by Oh-seong Yu. Duek-gu isn't very smart, and at the beginning he's not even that good, but he devotes himself to training and steadily rises through the ranks in Korean boxing to become the Pan Asian champion, and challenges a man named "Boom Boom" Mancini (Matt Phillips) to the world championship. Fans of boxing and/or Warren Zevon might be able to figure out the ending, but that's only a small part of the story. Instead, the film keeps focus on the middle, and the type of person Duek-gu was.
He's an interesting character in that he's not very complex, but there's something very honest about him. He's an admirable figure simply because he sticks to his goal, as though he realizes that it's all he can do, all he knows, and the only way he can make a living. He uses it to better his life, and while he seems to realize where boxing will lead him - as does everyone else, quietly - he continues to do it because he knows that it's something he can strive to be good at.
As a result, we like Duek-gu even though he's never made out to be the explicit underdog. In fact, one of the strengths of the film that, no matter what happens, we're presented with a man who is genuinely good at what he does, or is good at what he does after he gains some confidence. In fact, the climactic match is presented as completely even. We care about him because he came from nothing and has bettered himself. Yes, it does arc conveniently, but his life did aim directly towards the climactic fight, so it makes sense.
Another bonus is that it's a very well made movie. As mentioned before, director Kyung-Taek Kwak has clearly watched Raging Bull several times. There are shots throughout that are directly ripped from the film, and he's clearly inspired by the way boxing was shot for it. I am not complaining, because Raging Bull was one of the best boxing films yet made, partially because of how the boxing was shot, and this just takes it a few steps further. Kwak has a great visual sense, and there are frequently absolutely beautiful shots. While it does have some amazing boxing sequences, outside of the ring it is equally well done, in particular a completely devastating tracking shot near the end of the film.
It does follow most of the beats you would expect from a sports film, but it does it so well, and makes one care about the characters so much, it makes you forget that the beats are there in the first place. Even if it compresses a complicated life into two hours, it makes one care about that life, and about other people who have similar lives and careers. While there were far reaching effects to the fight at the end, there's really only one that's mentioned within the film, and after two hours with Deuk-gu, it's the only one that really matters.
Champion is, naturally, about a champion, Korean boxing champ Kim Deuk-gu, as played by Oh-seong Yu. Duek-gu isn't very smart, and at the beginning he's not even that good, but he devotes himself to training and steadily rises through the ranks in Korean boxing to become the Pan Asian champion, and challenges a man named "Boom Boom" Mancini (Matt Phillips) to the world championship. Fans of boxing and/or Warren Zevon might be able to figure out the ending, but that's only a small part of the story. Instead, the film keeps focus on the middle, and the type of person Duek-gu was.
He's an interesting character in that he's not very complex, but there's something very honest about him. He's an admirable figure simply because he sticks to his goal, as though he realizes that it's all he can do, all he knows, and the only way he can make a living. He uses it to better his life, and while he seems to realize where boxing will lead him - as does everyone else, quietly - he continues to do it because he knows that it's something he can strive to be good at.
As a result, we like Duek-gu even though he's never made out to be the explicit underdog. In fact, one of the strengths of the film that, no matter what happens, we're presented with a man who is genuinely good at what he does, or is good at what he does after he gains some confidence. In fact, the climactic match is presented as completely even. We care about him because he came from nothing and has bettered himself. Yes, it does arc conveniently, but his life did aim directly towards the climactic fight, so it makes sense.
Another bonus is that it's a very well made movie. As mentioned before, director Kyung-Taek Kwak has clearly watched Raging Bull several times. There are shots throughout that are directly ripped from the film, and he's clearly inspired by the way boxing was shot for it. I am not complaining, because Raging Bull was one of the best boxing films yet made, partially because of how the boxing was shot, and this just takes it a few steps further. Kwak has a great visual sense, and there are frequently absolutely beautiful shots. While it does have some amazing boxing sequences, outside of the ring it is equally well done, in particular a completely devastating tracking shot near the end of the film.
It does follow most of the beats you would expect from a sports film, but it does it so well, and makes one care about the characters so much, it makes you forget that the beats are there in the first place. Even if it compresses a complicated life into two hours, it makes one care about that life, and about other people who have similar lives and careers. While there were far reaching effects to the fight at the end, there's really only one that's mentioned within the film, and after two hours with Deuk-gu, it's the only one that really matters.
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