The Good The Bad The Weird (2010)

Fun, if unremarkable Korean western that sustains an unremarkable plot with a breezy pace and exciting scenarios. The story is basically a retread of The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly; a drifting badass and a thieving buffoon team up to find a lost treasure, with a traitorous mercenary hot on their tail. While the film apes Leone's story beats, it does not even try to appropriate his style; the long, deliberate takes of Leones are replaced by quick pans and cuts that keep the film moving along quickly enough to look past its faults, namely the soullessness of characters based on better, more nuanced performances. Aside from "The Weird," played by Chan-Wook Park mainstay Song Kang-ho, the central roles are played, for the most part, at face value, with little subtext or mystery present until the final scene, which actually does manage to impress. The set pieces of the film are very well executed, if a tad contained, and the action comes often enough that the hackery of the script rarely catches up with the film. However, even when compared with something like Sukiyaki Western Django, which took its ridiculous plot to even further visual and kinetic heights, it does not make for particularly relevant or compelling viewing for most film goers.

Slightly Recommended for fans of goofy westerns a la Sukiyaki Western Django. This is, as I should've guessed, a clear case of style over substance. If that's your bag, especially in relation to westerns, this is a fun way to spend 2 hours and 10 minutes. Otherwise, there are better movies of the sort worth seeking out.