An alien society has found a unique way of imprisoning its criminals—injecting them into the brains of humans, spread across various time periods. However, the affected humans are unaware that they are serving as an organic cage for an alien monster. However, sometimes these prisoners manage to escape, and it’s up to time-hopping Guard (Kim Woo-bin) and his robotic shapeshifting partner Thunder (Dae-Myung Kim) to manage these prisoners across space and time. In 2022, a large shipment of prisoners has just arrived on Earth, including the ruthless Controller, who has been leading the rebellion on the alien’s home planet, who ends up in the body of cop Moon Do-seok (So Ji-seob). Shortly after the prisoners are placed in human hosts, a massive alien ship arrives to stage a jailbreak. The aliens plan to alter the Earth’s atmosphere in order to kill the humans and free the prisoners. Outnumbered, the only way for Guard and Thunder to stop this from happening may lie in the past, the Goryeo Dynasty.
Meanwhile, in 1391 a cocky young dosa, who refers to himself as the Marvelous Muruk (Ryu Jun-Yeol), uses his magical powers to capture criminals and collect bounties. While Muruk doesn’t really have any formal training, he has still managed to hone his martial arts and swords skills, and can harness the wind to thrust at his foes. Though sometimes his skills seem more like luck. He has also obtained a magical fan that he can use to summon the help of cats Left Paw and Right Paw, who can take human form to assist Muruk in whatever his latest money-making scheme is. When Muruk sees the massive bounty offered for a dagger called the Divine Blade, he makes locating and retrieving this his new focus. However, there are several others also set on obtaining the blade, including an unusual young woman named Ean (Kim Tae-ri) who has the ability to shoot thunder from her hand, skilled sorcerer couple Madam Black (Yum Jung-ah) and Mr. Blue (Jo Woo-jin), and a mysterious masked man named Jajang (Kim Eui-sung).
Alienoid is a blast from start to finish, seeming throwing everything but the kitchen sink into the mix, blending a modern sci-fi action/alien attack movie with the fantasy world of Korean Taoist magic. It feels like Terminator, Transformers, Independence Day and Back to the Future meets Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon The Monkey King, or Journey to the West. This very unique tone and mashing of time periods and genres doesn’t seem like it should work, but it ends up creating a really fun juxtaposition.
As the film opens we are in the Goryeo Dynasty, and yet there is a jeep and a high-tech robot present, so immediately you know this isn’t going to be your normal period fantasy/martial arts film. Thunder is a little floating robot and also the AI for Guard’s SUV. He provides some levity to the more serious sci-fi, alien attack storyline. Thunder can change his appearance to look like Guard, though with a more flamboyant, Elvis look. In the present, we also have the 10-year-old “daughter” that Thunder rescued as a baby in order to study human behavior, so there is also this My Two Dads/Three Men and a Little Lady vibe thrown into the mix with these alien robots trying to raise a human girl while also trying to stop an alien prison break. The Goryeo Dynasty storyline is much more humor-driven, though with some great martial arts wire work. This storyline is more comedic as Muruk is constantly getting into some scrape and using his powers or dressing up in some ridiculous costume with his feline partners to get by security. There’s also a bit of a rom-com meet cute between Muruk and Ean as they start off as foes both looking for the Divine Blade, but you can tell there is a spark between them. Speaking of sparks, two of my favorite characters in the movie are the sorcerers of Twin Peaks, Madam Black and Mr. Blue, who are constantly making it clear that they are not a couple (though it seems like they are). These two are traveling salesmen, trying to hock their charms or magical wares, but are quite adept at their work. They may bicker, but when it comes down to business, they know their stuff, and have created some really effective spells and magical objects.
I thoroughly enjoyed this film. It is a wild ride that seems to have everything thrown into it, but not so much that it feels messy or overwhelming. The filmmakers do a nice job of flipping back and forth between these two seemingly disparate story/timelines, and it’s not until halfway through that you finally start to see how they are connected to one another and come together. I was a bit disappointed to see those dreaded words at the end, “To Be Continued”. While some of the storylines are wrapped up by the end of this movie, there are definitely many things left hanging for Part 2, which fortunately should be released next year. The filming for this movie lasted 387 days, so hopefully that included both parts!
Well Go’s Blu-ray release includes both the original Korean audio as well as an English dub. I generally prefer the English dub option because it allows me to not have to always be reading the screen, but both tracks are really well done. For the most part the English dub doesn’t sound fake or over-acted, and I actually found the spoken dialogue to be a bit more natural-sounding than the subtitles. They have also done a great job of making Thunder sound like a mini robot. Both tracks provide an excellent, immersive experience, which is especially noticeable in the present during chase scenes, with alien ships destroying buildings, weapons firing, etc. In the past, there is also excellent use of the surround channel to bring the magic spells to life, as well as a more whimsical score. This film has a lot of special effects, and except for one small scene, they all blended in nicely and looked quite natural. The Blu-ray picture looks very clean and detailed, capturing the action in the past and present beautifully. For some scenes, I wondering if this film had been designed for a 3D release as it would have looked excellent.
Well Go’s Blu-ray release includes about 7 minutes of bonus material, all presented in Korean with English subtitles. There is a short behind-the-scenes featurette with the film’s cast/
What’s Included:
Film: (2:22:48)
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Blu-ray:
- 1080p / Widescreen 2.35:1
- Audio: Korean DTS-HDMA 5.1, Korean Stereo, English DTS-HDMA 5.1, English Stereo
- Subtitles: English
Extras:
All featurettes are presented in Korean with English subtitles.
- Making Of (2:51)
A quick look at the 387-day process of making Alienoid. Includes behind-the-scenes footage, and interviews with director Choi Dong-hoon, stars Ryu Jun-yeol (“Muruk”), Kim Woo-bin (“Guard”), Kim Tae-ri (“Ean”), So Ji-sub (“Moon”), Yum Jung-ah (“Madame Black”), Lee Ha-nee (“Min Gaelin”), Jo Woo-jin (“Mr. Blue”) & Kim Eui-sung (“Jajang”). The director talks about finding his love of the fantasy world of Korean Taoist magic while working on Woochi and wanting to revisit that. The actors discuss working with the director, how the film combines two very different genres, the long shoot, and more. - Character Trailer (3:45)
Clips from the film introduce the various characters, including Guard (the one who manages Alien Prisoners), Thunder (the ‘Guard’s partner), Moon (the detective chased by aliens), those chasing the Divine Blade in 1391 Goryeo Dynasty: Murek (the hapless dosa who tries to get the blade), Ean (the girl who shoots thunder), Madam Black and Mr. Blue (the sorcerers of twin peaks) & Jajang (the one in the mask). - Trailer (2:07)
- Previews
- Hansan: Rising Dragon (1:34)
- Emergency Declaration (1:38)
- The Loneliest Boy in the World (2:20)
Final Thoughts:
Alienoid is a fun, entertaining film that takes viewers on a wild ride, mashing up different time periods and mixing up so many different genres, from magic and fantasy, to martial arts, aliens, robots, sci-fi, action, disaster and more. While it’s only part 1 of the story, I still found it very satisfying, and can’t wait to see what happens in part 2. It seems like the filmmakers have pretty much thrown everything but the kitchen sink into part 1, so I don’t know where they will go next, but I look forward to finding out! Well Go’s Blu-ray release looks and sounds excellent, and includes a small assortment of bonus material. The Blu-ray comes highly recommended, but those who subscribe to the Hi-YAH! streaming service can also check out the movie on December 23!
Alienoid
49% Off $29.98 $12.95 (as of October 31, 2024 07:27 GMT -05:00 – More infoProduct prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.)
Alienoid
23% Off $12.99 $9.99 (as of October 31, 2024 07:27 GMT -05:00 – More infoProduct prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.)
