The Good, the Bad, and the Weird

The Good, the Bad, and the Weird

Every once in awhile, my brother Mike tells me to watch a movie and says, "You'll like this movie. I guarantee it." His guarantee carries a lot of weight - growing up, it introduced me to Conan the Barbarian, Princess Bride and to the finest films of James Cameron (both Terminators, Aliens, The Abyss). It had been awhile since he had given me a guarantee, but when he gave me a copy of The Good, the Bad, and the Weird (from now, to be called GBW) for my birthday, he said, "Don't worry, I guarantee it."

Despite the title, this is not a remake or takeoff of Sergio Leone's epic, The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. Instead, director Ji-Woon Kim takes that western classic as his inspiration and launches us into an entirely new and bizarre adventure. There is a secret map with a treasure so valuable that nobody even knows what it is. The Weird (Kang-ho Song) steals the map during a train heist. Hot on his trail are the Bad (Byung Hun Lee) and a bounty hunter, the Good (Woo-sung Jung). These three characters already present a strange problem that the film relishes in - I can't figure out when it takes place. The Good, with his cowboy hat and repeater rifle, has clearly charged in from a Hollywood-style western. The Bad seems like he would be more at home in a 1980s Hong Kong gangster film. And I have no idea where the Weird fits in. Add to that the Japanese army and a gang of axe-wielding barbarians - yes, I said a gang of ax-wielding barbarians - and you've got yourself one helluva strange ride.

And I loved it! GBW creates its own little universe and plows forward with a huge smile on its face. If the film stumbles a bit, it is during one set piece near the end that goes on for just a few minutes too long. It's not bad; it just slows the momentum down right when we need to be barreling into our climax. But that is a small nitpick. For the most part, I was smiling at this movie from the very beginning to the end.

Some have asked me to compare it to the other recent Asian western, Takeshi Miike's Suriyaki Western Django. There is no comparison. Despite some wonderful moments, SWD is a complete mess and is more concerned about its own weirdness to be effective. It's just too self-consciously strange - right down to its meaningless Quentin Tarantino cameo. GBW, on the other hand, isn't trying to be weird. It is only concerned with one thing - giving the audience an entertaining ride. And it 100% succeeds. Mike's Guarantee is still as good as gold. Will you guys trust my guarantee? Just pick this movie up. I KNOW you will enjoy it!

MVP: Tough call. All three of the leads are good. Let's rule out the Good. Jung is very good in the role, but isn't given as much to do except for being good and badass. Lee as the Bad is a little more interesting, giving a odd performance that appears like he is high half the time. This doesn't make him any less deadly, and he really does deal out some real pain in this flick. He is a great bad guy. But I think the movie has to go to Kang-ho Song as the Weird. Song is one of the more versatile actors working in Korean film, ably bouncing from comedy to action to horror without missing a beat. Here, his offbeat shenanigans, his ability to kick butt without knowing what's happening, and his love for his grandmother are just too fun for me not to pick him. Kang-ho Song - the MVP is yours!

TRIVIA: Director Ji-woon Kim wanted this movie to be called a "kim-chi western," after the traditional Korean dish. It is because he said this movie is spicy and vibrant, like the Korean people.

BEST LINE: "Byong-Choon, any idea what is happening here?"