Byung-hunLee Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Under no circumstances is Ji-woon Kim's The Good, the Bad, the Weird a great movie, but I found myself genuinely impressed with it. The pitch – "Korean comic spaghetti western" – sounded like the sort of ultra-hip, insubstantial, self-consciously campy Asian actioner I've grown tired of; I kept flashing back to Riyuhei Kitamura's much-hyped but totally useless Versus, an acquired taste I haven't acquired. I needn't have worried. Though Kim's western pastiche may be insubstantial, it's anything but a drag. It's masterfully directed, legitimately funny, and legitimately fun, thoroughly enjoyable even at an excessive 129 minutes.

Though you may think you're here to see how Kim (whom you may remember from his terrific horror entry A Tale of Two Sisters) plays with the western genre, you're really here for the action sequences. There are two spectacular ones: the rollicking train robbery that opens the film, and a later all-stops-out chase scene involving several gangs of bandits and the Japanese army. These aren't the sort of scenes that bring you to the edge of your seat, but rather the sort that put a steady, delighted grin on your face. Unapologetically goofy, absurdly attenuated, brilliantly paced, and backed by a rousing musical score, they alone make the film worth sitting through.

Here's how badly I remember the G.I. Joe cartoons I watched daily as a kid: in seeing this new casting headline, I immediately thought the G.I. Joe movie was primarily filling women roles first. See, my bad memory had me thinking Storm Shadow is a female. I guess because the name sounds like Eye Shadow, or is reminiscent of Shadowcat (though somehow not reminiscent of The Shadow) and Storm, both being female X-Men. But now I know. And knowing ... well, in this case it's the whole battle. It is half the casting news, though, and thanks to another great Latino Review exclusive, we hear that Storm Shadow (brother of Snake Eyes) will be played by Korean "Mega Star" Byeong-Heon Lee (aka Byung-Hun Lee). Asian cinema fans might be familiar with Lee from Ji-woon Kim's A Bittersweet Life, Chan-wook Park's J.S.A.: Joint Security Area and/or from Park's segment "Cut" from Three ... Extremes, in which he starred as the film director. He'll also be seen in the upcoming Josh Hartnett-starrer I Come with the Rain. In G.I. Joe he will be playing Japanese; Storm Shadow is Cobra Commander's ninja bodyguard and assassin, though the character has been known to have loyalties to the good guys, too.

As for the other half of the casting news, this one is really a woman. A very beautiful woman, in fact. Playing the hot, red-headed Scarlett (what? you never thought cartoons were hot?), is former model Rachel Nichols, who two or three of you may have seen this year in either P2 or Resurrecting the Champ (she also appears in the upcoming, likely more popular Charlie Wilson's War). Nichols is perfect for the role of G.I. Joe's super-smart martial arts expert, and sometime team leader, as she's not just good-looking. Did you know she graduated from Columbia with a double major in math and economics? Of course, she'll have to adequately pull off a Georgian accent, but really all we care about is that she looks good holding a crossbow -- not that Scarlett would like us to think of her only as a sex symbol; she'd remind us that, "beauty may only be skin deep, but lethal is to the bone."

UPDATE: IESB has received official studio confirmation that the above casting rumor is indeed true. Head over there to read Paramount's statements.

The other day, I posted about David Strathairn getting added to the cast of A Tale of Two Sisters, the remake of Ji-woon Kim's Korean thriller. While some of the director's old work gets the North American treatment, things are being shaken up a little with his latest project. Currently in production, his epic Korean western, The Good, The Bad, The Weird (Well, that sounds familiar!) is getting a new distributor. Showbox, which was distributing and investing in the film, has pulled out and is about to be replaced by a rival studio -- CJ Entertainment. Buzz is now going around that this could be an issue of financing, since the picture has an almost $11 million budget.

The film stars Woo-sung Jung, who was most recently in The Restless, as The Good, Byung-hun Lee of Joint Security Area as The Bad and the slacker son/father/brother from The Host, Kang-ho Song, aptly cast as The Weird. According to this site, the film is set in the 1930's, and the world is in chaos. After the Korean peninsula is taken by Japanese imperialists, some have escaped to Manchuria and become bandits. The Weird is a thief who finds a treasure map, The Bad is a hitman who also wants the map and The Good is a bounty hunter who has been chasing The Weird. You can also check out a strange video here, that's got a poster mixed in with western images. It sounds like it could be a fun flick, even if it is coming with a quite high price tag. Frankly, I'd probably be intrigued by anything Kang-ho or the other Host alum act in, since that film was so great. If I come across more as production continues and wraps, I'll let you know!