The action loses spectacle with shaky effects and cartoonish staging. The action is bigger, and curiously, there is considerably more English dialogue than there was in the first. The Witch: Part 2: The Other One, at times, feels akin to Colin Trevorrow’s The Witch: Part 2. It honored blockbuster beats while imbuing its narrative with perverse, frenetic, and violent touches. For all its excesses, the first entry was a transgressive, welcome restructuring of superhero mythos. In fact, in many ways, The Witch: Part 2: The Other One feels considerably more commercial than the first. Hoon-jung shifts from present to past and antagonist to protagonist on a whim, stalling momentum with distinctly Western credibility. Timelines are confounding and transitions feel arbitrary. While there is ostensibly a great deal more going on, it lacks urgency. While The Witch: Part 1 was most often maligned for packing its slim narrative to the brim with visceral excess, The Witch: Part 2: The Other One doubles down, ping-ponging between several distinct narrative threads, none of which yield nearly as much interest as the Kyung-hee focal point. Both a direct sequel and not, Hoon-jung returns with The Witch: Part 2: The Other One, maintaining the same self-aware titling while piling on considerably more viscera and excess. The kind of gonzo palate cleanser tellingly dethroned in Korean cinemas by none other than Ant-Man and the Wasp. Ostensibly an amnesiac, Ja-yoon grew into a well-adjusted young woman, only to find the organization that imprisoned her on her trail. Ja-yoon escaped from a lab in childhood and was resultantly adopted by a rural family. But the mythic, good versus evil structure was there. Not that the first film’s protagonist, Kim Da-mi’s Ja-yoon, was strictly speaking a hero. With its uber-violent, horror-tinged take on conventional superhero origin stories, it stood out. The Subversion screened as part of this year’s Fantasia Festival.Park Hoon-jung’s (writer of I Saw the Devil) The Witch: Part 1: The Subversion barreled its way into the superhero canon. The Subversion might be the movie for you. If you’re a fan of both Korean cinema and stylish comic book films, The Witch: Part 1. Kim Da-mi completely kills it as the lead actress, and she definitely deserves the Fantasia Cheval Noir award for the Best Actress category. The Subversion isn’t the best title for the movie, but it still doesn’t change the fact that it’s a really entertaining action thriller with great scenes featuring superpowered mayhem. The SubversionĪdmittedly, The Witch: Part 1. This instalment is an origin story for Ja-yoon, so we know that she’s going to be more powerful and wise in the sequel. While the title heavily implies that this is just part 1 of a series, don’t worry, this still feels like a standalone movie on its own. It really pays off at the end, even if the beginning is sadly choppy at times. However, the third act is definitely the best part of the entire movie that the audience will be waiting to see. The intro does a great job setting up the vibe of the film, but then it starts to slow down in the second act. It is important for the plot, but it can still drag the pacing at times. It does take a while to get going, but then it picks right back up. The lead-up to the epic finale is admittedly slow, as it really takes its time to introduce Ja-yoon’s life to the audience. While the film’s action scenes are incredible, the pacing does have some issues. It’s like a gritty and bloody version of the X-Men, and it feels like a cool comic book origin story for the main protagonist. Known for having deadly violence in his filmography, Park Hoon-jung showcases that aspect of his filmmaking style in The Witch: Part 1. When characters are fighting on screen, you will have a total blast! As she uses her abilities to kill her enemies, it’s extremely entertaining for sure, but it’s also quite brutal. Also, whenever she unleashes her telekinesis onscreen, it’s a lot of fun to watch. As the movie goes on, she turns from a naive person to a force to be reckoned with when she rediscovers her destructive powers. She is absolutely phenomenal as the main character, and she definitely shines from beginning to end. Newcomer actress Kim Da-mi plays the lead role of Ja-yoon, and it’s still hard to believe it’s her first-ever feature role on the big screen.
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