The Good, the Bad and the Weird

Title: The Good, the Bad and the Weird
Rating: 4/5
Genre: Western, Action, Comedy
Starring: Kang-Ho Song (“Thirst,” “The Host”), Byung-Hun Lee (Bittersweet Life, JSA), Woo-Sung Jung
Director: Ji-Woon Kim
Language: Korean

Man-gil: "The bounty on your head is 300 won."
Yoon Tae-goo: "What? I'm only worth a piano? "

It's felt as though its been a while since I sat down to watch a film but when I spotted this on sale cheaply I knew I couldn't let it pass by. From the same genre-hopping director that brought us one of the better horror films to be released this decade, a “Tale of Two Sisters,” and the perhaps slightly disappointing revenge-laden gangster film, “A Bittersweet Life,” comes this epic re-imagining of one of the most revered Spaghetti Western films to date. Except this isn't just Korean's pretending to be Clint Eastwood in the desolate dust-bowl of Manchuria but a non-stop roller-coaster ride of blazing guns and comic timing as reminiscent of “Indiana Jones” as the film from which it derives its name.

Following the tale of the petty thief Yoon Tae-Goo (Song) on a routine plunder of the valuables of the high-class patrons of the Manchurian express, he quickly uncovers a map promising untold riches for those who seek out the long lost treasure it describes; a map that is the target of the local legendary bandit Park Chang-yi and his crew of mercenaries who will stop at nothing to get it back. With bounty hunter Park Do-Won (Jung) also in tow, the three pursue one another across the entire land each with their own intentions, and with news of the map spreading to rival bandits and the Japanese army, whilst everyone may be intertwined by the promises held by the map there can only be one man left standing.

The humour in taking the 'cat and mouse' style of film-making and stretching it out to ridiculous proportions is certainly never lost here; the clumsy thief superbly performed by Song – once again securing my belief that he's amongst the most versatile and competent actors currently performing – constantly running with an ever increasing number of heavily armed men behind him. Jung's 'good-but-apathetic' character plays off well in the mix, quickly assisting the thief against the pretty-boy played by Lee who manages to work a solution to the dilemma, contrasting heavily with his background in his altogether clean-cut and in control mannerisms; a laid back effortless precision to his actions and movements that lends an unpredictability to the scenes in which he appears.

From the opening scene involving almost half and hour of furious gun-toting madness amidst a tight train carriage, you can quickly see that a lot of money has been put into this film, not only in the use of stunts (CGI felt delightfully absent to my eyes) that never cease to present themselves nor the three Korean film stars all pit against one another, but for me it comes most notably in the actual set designs themselves. The train is lavishly decorated in one carriage yet dirt-filled in another, the desert genuinely looks like it was shot in different – albeit similar – locations, not to mention the bustling Manchurian marketplace filled with fire-breathers and hundreds of extras all with an apparent purpose, dragging statues around and yelling at the elephant that's just gotten in the way. More than anything else, the detail and attention given to actually setting the scene and not letting it become another background chore gives this a sense of reverence for the old Western style, rather than simply mocking it. The plot isn't complex but then it was never intended to yield a serious atmosphere. Simply put, this does for Westerns what “The Host” managed to do for horror.