Review: This is one of the best movies I’ve ever seen!… Okay now that I’ve gotten your attention, I just wanted to let you know, I’m just kidding. This movie is actually quite the opposite. Last Witness is terrible. I’ve only been bored to tears by a select few movies. Sadly, this is one of them. I heard this movie was bad, but I don’t know what pushed me to check out this film. Maybe it was the eye-catching packaging and artwork for the movie that drew me in like a mosquito to the warm rays of a bug zapper. Even with my expectations almost at rock-bottom, this movie was sleep-inducing. I even found myself scanning forward on my remote a few minutes here and there…something which I rarely ever do, no matter how bad the movie. It’s not that this movie is bad, it’s just very boring. This movie is just all over the place. It starts out as an action movie sort of, and then it’s a romance movie, and then it’s a historic drama, and then it’s back to the romance, and finally back to sappy drama. But the way that this movie was executed overall did not work out very well for me.

Bae Chang-Ho really went all out, wanting to please all audiences with his newest movie. But one thing holds true: You can’t please everyone. This was supposed to be his big comeback from his long hiatus from movie making. He even got government funding for this movie, something which doesn’t happen all too often in Korean cinema, except for big projects. What makes this movie a little hard to follow is that it spans a period of 50 or some odd years. And through these years, so much has happened, it’s pretty hard to follow. I do admit that if I were to have watched this flick a second time, everything might’ve been crystal clear, but I just can’t bring myself to do that, especially with Last Witness. It would be mind numbing torture upon myself that I could very much do without.

Okay, it’s not all bad. I can’t hate this movie completely. It does have some good things going for it though. It’s got some pretty decent cinematography, from buildings burning, pursuits through a bamboo forest, cherry blossoms, or chases through a lush tropical mountain with stunning scenery. I admit, some of it is pure eye candy. But these beautiful moments are too far and few in between.

Another benefit this movie has on it’s side are the actors. Particularly the main male character, Hwang Seok, whom the story follows through the decades. He is pretty convincing as Ji-hye’s love interest. His unwavering devotion to her is admirable, and you can see the passion in his eyes. Particularly the ending scene which I won’t divulge for spoiler purposes. Also worthy of noting is Ji-hye and Han Dong-ju (the guerilla general). They act out their parts as adequately as possible for this movie.