Saturday 9 September 2006

Volcano High (2001)

This is one very weird Korean movie and one which neatly defies categorisation.  Set sometime in the future at a high school for powerful misfits -- kind of an oriental X-men story -- we follow new student Kim as he tries to keep a low profile and fit in, however with his bleached blonde shock of hair he sticks out, and he finds it hard to play down his not inconsiderable fighting skills and Chi.  While it is not based on a manga, it plays like one with fantastic wire work and probably an over-reliance on special effects.  We follow the showdowns between Kim, another alpha male student Jang, the pretty Kendo star that they both fancy, and one of the teachers who tries to dominate them all.  The movie is absolutely gorgeous to look at, shot nearly exclusively in primary blues and reds on a black-and-white background -- which helps to further remove the action from any semblance of reality.  It's not really the kind of film that makes much sense, especially since the lead actor feigns a gormless naivete at times -- but this too adds to the fun.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

sold