p-stepien Set in an alternate history, where Japan never lost control over its Korean colony and keeps its population under its grip. Its 2009 and Koreans even have Japanese names and in the most part have been successfully molded as part of the great Japanese Empire. The few that oppose this state of things call themselves the Hureisenjin. Two special ops from opposing backgrounds - a Japan and a Korean - join forces trying to break down this terrorist organisation. The movie has a lot going for it. Great action sequences, interesting plot, nicely written script, great twists and some very likable characters. That said the movie tries to be cool too much and in the end self-destructs because of this. Slow-mos are tiresome, whilst the prolonged action sequences with people dying long enough for me to go and make myself a snack, got on my nerve and frustrates strong enough for me to contemplate fast-forwarding. The director fell over stereotypical solutions and brought the movie down with it, in the end not fulfilling the huge promise this movie has.

refresh daemon 2009: Lost Memories has a lot of promise. A sci-fi action/mystery (mild on the sci-fi) set in an alternate universe where Japan sides with the Allies during World War II, Corea never gained independence from Japan and becomes part of the empire. Pretty cool setting, no? In fact, the first half of the movie, despite the occasional logical flub and inconsistency, manages to be quite interesting. And then you hit the midway mark and the film crashes into mindless melodrama and sinks to the point where even its otherwise gorgeous action sequences can't save it.But, it is quite a pretty film. Lots of wonderfully shot scenes grace this film, even if you can see strong traces of John Woo present in many of them. But this picture is cleaner and slicker than Woo's earlier productions. The sets and costumes are wonderful. The lighting and editing however does run a little heavy-handed. And in fact, the film's preoccupation with aesthetics, instead of strengthening its story, sinks the film. There's also a bit of a mood-killing plot twist halfway through the film as well, which really doesn't help.In terms of lighting, the film is shot dark and while it definitely makes things seem fairly "cool", at the same time, everything is so awash in blues most of the time that it's hard to keep believing in it. It tries a little too hard to be cool. There's also the obnoxious abuse of slow-motion and extreme close-up reaction shots. Honestly, during an action sequence, I really don't want to see 15-30 second bursts of watching as characters react to other insignificant characters' deaths. It frustrated me to no end. And then there's the logical jumps. Not only is one character's story not tied up, but it conflicts with itself logically and the film probably would have been helped having removed that character altogether.Because the film couldn't shore up its story and resorted to overenthusiastic melodrama and manipulation, it went from being quite interesting to a bit of a chore. I give it credit for great aesthetics and premise, even if in the end the story becomes chaotic and inconsistent, but the degree of the films abuse of melodrama to substitute for story keeps it from staying afloat. People that can get past story and enjoy the slick presentation and action, might enjoy this. Everyone else should consider giving it a pass. 6/10 (purely on the merits of its aesthetics and premise).

electronsexparty An hour and a half of practically dead air kill an interesting concept in this Korean action-drama. By the last 30 minutes I was looking for a hard surface to bash my head against while yelling at the actors to DO SOMETHING! *SPOILERS*Other than that, I laughed quite a bit throughout the film. It wasn't made to be a comedy, but it turned out that way. Even the WTF plot twist earned a chuckle from me. So this Japanese controlled Korea wasn't an alternate universe, but the work of an evil Japanese family/ corporation and some seemingly inept archaeologists? I don't know why the Koreans hated being under Japanese rule so much, it didn't seem any worse than having to worry about Kim Jong Il and communism. Whatever Korea.I really liked the two main characters police partners/ life partners dynamic (until the fem partner turned into an EVIL Japanese PIG, of course). Oh, and I can't forget the girl/boy/chimp (what was it?!). It was fun to watch everyone mow down everything with guns, but pause during the mayhem so the heroes could stop and grieve, or take a nap, or... just... stand... there... And the end. What? Why did...?Oh, never mind, this movie is just a jumbled mess of WTF moments, sheer hilarity and ZZZ's. Big fans of foreign films or B- Scifi's might enjoy it... but, I doubt it. Rent it to laugh your head off.

drwnutt I picked a copy of the DVD up at the local blockbuster thinking I was in for another "B" sci-fi flick. After watching the film I read other reviews and agree with several points. It wasn't about Japan being on the winning side in WW-II. It was about a pivotal assassination in 1909. Yes, it is hard to see how this lead to Japan being on the wrong side in WW-II, but I suspended my disbelief for this point. The action scenes were well paced and had impact, although they did become a little repetitive. The agonizing the hero went through over the theatric death of the child and his girl friend (who mysteriously came back) were a little over the top. And it was flagrantly nationalistic.However, I did find the film to be well-paced overall, with good action scenes and interesting characters. I liked the method they used to unveil the time-travel scheme. It was good enough that I accepted it as inevitable. It had enough little twists to make it a memorable film and one that I find myself mentally revisiting it. I liked it.