|
|
2009 Lost Memories (2002)
|
|
Director : Si-Myung Lee
Writer : Si-Myung Lee
Cast : Toru Nakamura, Dong-Gun Jang, Ken
Mitsuishi, Jin-Ho Seo, Gu Shin and Kil-gang Ahn.
Synopsis :
What if Japan allied with the United States
during World War II? What if the atom bombs were dropped on Berlin
instead of Hiroshima and Nagasaki? What if the sovereign nation of
Korea never existed? To J.B.I Agent Masayuki Sakamoto these
questions are not the subject of speculation-they're history.
However, during a routine investigation of a terrorist attack upon a
museum displaying ancient cultural artifacts, Sakamoto uncovers a
web of intrigue which leads him to an underground band of freedom
fighters willing to risk everything to acquire an ancient relic
known as the "Lunar Soul." As Sakamoto unravels the mystery,
everything he ever knew about the world he lives in will be turned
inside out. |
Review
by Edward Tang
The Korean
film market has been dishing out goods for the last few years now,
with such hits as Oldboy and Shiri, I hope that they continue their
pace. Their answer to the summer big budget film is 2009: Lost
Memories. Memories is a very good film, a film that intrigues you
from the beginning with its interesting setup and how it unfolds
down the road. It follows down the road with "what-ifs", what if
this man wasn't assassinated? What if Japan fought with the US in
World War Ii? These types of ideas are great and were the right step
in developing the plot. Throughout Memories, there are great action
sequences and some very emotion scenes, but as well there are some
very over-dramatic scenes and just how long this film is. But the
film's length never bothered me, I got caught up in how this film
moved and where we ended up, the typical ending to such a film.
Now to the real goods. I liked Memories because it entertained me,
and it never lacked any entertainment in my book. The plot is great
but how they delivered the answer to our problems seemed a little
cheesy to me. Don't get me wrong, the "time-travel" aspect wasn't
horribly done, it just seemed out of place in this type of film. The
two leads in Dong-Kun Jang and Toru Nakamura were good for these
particular roles, they threw in a few overacting moments for the
book, but were mainly solid for this type of film. The rest of the
cast was good as well, nobody really stood out as "actor of the
year", but hell give 'em a break.
The action was pretty good, but don't expect any such as John Woo
would dish out. People don't dive around and shoot guns, basically
everyone is mowed down. Some of them felt a little choppy, but for
the most part they delivered the goods. The scene in particular, was
the scene in the base, just how all these people were fighting for
their lives was harsh but well done. I liked the score for the most
part, the music fit with the emotional status of the current
situation. I can also say that the main characters were well
developed and you did care if one another died at the end. A what
would happen look and feel to it which mostly paid off.
To say that this film was perfect is wrong, it isn't, and quite the
wasted opportunity. It ends on a nice moment, everything is at peace
(not what I"m complaining about). But everything seemed rushed from
the time of the "knowledge scene" involving the explanation of who
and what happened to make this alternate reality toward the end. The
only thing else I could complain about, was how quickly everything
went by to explain things. I had to watch a second time just to take
it all in. The film was extremely long as well, as I mentioned, the
length can be noticed and does detract some away from the film.
But in the long run, complaints such as these are irrelevant. This
film's sole purpose is give us some entertainment for the long day
at work or so forth. It contains everything you'd expect from a
summer film and maybe a tad more. My final thought on 2009, is that
it had a good plot even though it seemed to get lost in the length
of this film. That might turn you off, but give it a chance, for
what it is, it's a good film that is worth a view.
| Plot : |
 |
| Acting : |
|
| Entertainment : |
|
Overall :
|
|
| Notable Scenes: |
-The final showdown between Sakamoto and Saiko.
-The opening moments (showing the failed assassination and the
events that occurred after)
-The raid of the Korean base |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Buy This Movie at :