Oh my God did South Korea take a shit on us this year. The bad movies were plentiful, and even the good movies were bad compared to the superior films we have been used to over the past several years. Case in point, the abomination that is 71 Into the Fire. I don't even know where to start. Is it the shitty character development? The fact that yet again some singer got the starring role? The laughable dialogue? I specifically enjoy that they took a real piece of their history to put together a film that makes North Korea seem not so bad. The problem is, they took their $10M budget (high for a Korean production) to produce this epic war film with excessive gunfights and explosions, but then they decided they were really making a drama. This cast is not so much MASH, think more like F Troop. John H. Lee, the film's director, shows us once again he's great at shooting a movie, but still needs to work on content.

Let's move on to Kwon Sang-woo who plays the "badass" Gu Gab-jo. Why is he such a douche? This ain't fucking Rebel Without A Cause here. There's no place for this kind of a character in this type of a film. He needed to die and die soon. The opening credits would have been nice. Or maybe even a foreword. Then there's the "leader" played by Choi Seung-hyeon. Yeah that's right, like I said another dope from a boy band makes his way into movies. Fortunately he barely says anything so I'm going to give this guy a pass. Except he leads his troops with as much fervor as a potato. Could this guy have possibly taken any more shit? Are we supposed to be watching a bully versus his victim or a damn war movie about the brave 71 student rebels? Why are they dickin' around with this movie? Is this Karate Kid? The Spirit of Jeet Kune Do?

Pimp

Anyway, then there's Cha Seung-won who's the fucking shit. This guy walks around like a he's God, tells the Party to go fuck themselves, disobeys orders, wears an awesome white uniform with a kick-ass hat and...wait, he's the North Korean? Are you fucking kidding me? The best character, the best actor, with the sweet threads all the best lines is the goddamn North Korean? Oh they REALLY fucked this up now. How the hell does that happen? That's like if the Persians in 300 were the ones that got to say "tonight we dine in hell" and had all of the awesome armor and abs and shit. This simply won't do. I'm sorry 71 Into the Fire, you may not technically be the worst film, and you sure as hell made a ton of money, but with all the hype and millions spent along with the waste of a true story AND the sad fact that this turd actually got a theatrical release in the US spells out to me the worst South Korean film of 2010. What a major disappointment. Of course, if you like the boy band Big Bang then this is probably the greatest Korean war film ever made. Notice all of the 10 star reviews online clearly left by their fans.

Now remember how I said even the good movies were kind of bad? Well I have evidence for that as well. Secret Reunion was one of the best films of the year. It was expertly shot, wonderfully performed (more so for Song Kang-ho, Gang Dong-weon not so much), had a riveting story and was well worth the admission. Only flaw is they just went way too far with the whole odd-couple thing. I get it, these guys couldn't be more different, yet are in many ways the same. They both miss their families, have career problems, and so on. I saw Plains, Trains and Automobiles so the formula is there. If you want a unlikely buddy movie there you go. It's on top of the mountain. Secret Reunion, however, I don't feel I want to categorize it that way. I enjoyed everything else about the film and I want to recommend it on its strengths, but unfortunately it wants so bad to be a buddy movie and I'm just not as delighted as the film wants me to be. Once you see the ending, which is so corny and below a film of this stature, you too will roll your eyes and ask, "really?" Shame on you Secret Reunion! Bad boy!

Ten years ago Song Kang-ho was in the similar JSA. That film had much worse acting and some amusing buddy moments but damn is that a movie. Once you get to the final frame and the credits roll you know you've seen something outstanding. That's what I was expecting with Secret Reunion and it just didn't happen. I know it's unfair of me to carry such high expectations, but I want so badly to experience Korean films with that magnitude of emotion I once did. I can't let the dream die, but I think it's safe to say that the quantity of important South Korean films have been on a steady decline in the 2000s. I'm crossing my fingers for more powerful films and hopefully their availability and frequency will gain pace again in the coming decade.