Yeon Sang-ho's follow up to his excellent TRAIN TO BUSAN is a different beast entirely, a superhero comedy flick that still manages to pack in the family drama and tragedy. It's a light and quirky affair, made in a genre which isn't strictly my cup of tea, but still engaging enough. As is usual with South Korean cinema, although the film has plenty of special effects in the form of some very good CGI used to levitate objects and people, the emphasis is very much on grounded characters. The humour is a bit abstract and very localised at times, but the plot generally works despite some slow spots here and there. The main actor and the actress playing his daughter are strong enough to invest you in their roles and there are some good, imaginative set pieces scattered throughout.
Plot summary
Seok-heon, a bank security guard, gains superpowers one day after drinking water from a mountain spring affected by a meteor. He then sets out to protect his estranged daughter Roo-mi and her neighborhood from a construction company controlled by the mafia, using his recently-arrived superpower: the power of psychokinesis, and in the process becomes a superhero.
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Quirky Korean superhero antics
I believe I can fly
And do other stuff that is. The premise with someone getting some uber power I think speaks to the kid inside us. Apparently most have dreamt of flying as kids (scientists or some research has found out). So this is an extension almost making a magician out of our main character. But as always, with great power comes great responsibility.
And in this case a lot of cliches. Not that there is anything to say against those things per se, but it also sometimes really takes the wind out of it. You can see where this is going - that doesn't mean you can't have fun with it - on the contrary. This really is something that kids may be able to enjoy, having good and bad, family drama and so much more
A superhero movie that is quite down to Earth...
What initially lured me to in to sit down and watch "Psychokinesis" was the fact that this was a South Korean movie. But the fact that the people behind "Train to Busan" also were onboard this one just sweetened the deal.
I am a big fan of Asian cinema, and South Korea do put a lot of good movies out there. And I will say that it was no different with "Psychokinesis" (aka "Yeom-lyeok"). This was definitely an entertaining movie in many aspects.
First of all, I am the first to admit that I am not overly keen on superhero movies, but "Psychokinesis" took the superhero aspect of the genre and brought it to a whole new place. This was not about people in spandex clothing running around being all invincible and showing off powers left and right without concern for the ordinary man around them. No, this was about an ordinary man with quite ordinary every day problems, whom just happened to get superhero powers accidentally and using them to further his own and his daughters goals. So that whole self-righteous and better-than-thou aspect wasn't here. And that made for a very realistic feel to the movie, especially since you could so easily relate to the main character.
"Psychokinesis" is not a movie about grand special effects, CGI and whoa-effects. It uses some CGI, of course, but it is done with limitation, as not to take over the whole movie (read Hollywood superhero franchise movies here). And the special effects / CGI worked out quite nicely in favor of the movie, as it supplemented the individual scenes well.
The movie had a good cast, which all performed quite well. I wasn't particularly familiar with anyone on the cast list here, but it was a good experience nonetheless.
If you enjoy South Korean movies, then you should definitely take the time to watch "Psychokinesis".