[KFCC] Fun Movie Review

Story: Japanese extremist plots to smuggle in a briefcase of a new brand of explosives into South Korea. They plan to infiltrate the commemoration ceremony of the World Cup games and blow up the North and South Korean leaders and the Japanese emperor. Wait, this sounds so familiar. Hmm . . .

Review: You people remember Shiri? C'mon! I know you watched Shiri. Well, take the whole plot of that sensational film, mix in some hilarious characters, throw in some devilish spoofs of your most favorite contemporary Korean movie, whipped up with some weed, crack, cocaine, and ecstacy and you've got Korea's first ever parody movie, Fun Movie. That should explain the film in a nutshell, huh?

With the abundance of blockbuster Korean films popping up here and there, it was about time the Koreans made a parody movie that would sum up their now booming film industry. Self-proclaimed as the first ever Korean parody, Fun Movie seemed more like a third or fourth installment because it was fresh and undeniably funny. It was a seasoned comedy that wasn't too over-the-top, but still took some shots below the belt if you know what I mean? After all, spoofs need to take some risks that will either have the audience crapping their pants or snoring in boredom. Don't get me wrong, Fun Movie was a great achievement in Korean film making because of its audacity and its jokes will rarely have you snoring. It depends though.

The one simple reason why parodies work is because it takes some of the most memorable moments from any great film and just cracks jokes and pokes fun of it. It won't work if the audience doesn't know what film it's poking fun of; it's all relative. This is the downfall of Fun Movie, but then again it is also its high point. If you've kept up with your Korean movies then Fun Movie WILL be the most hilarious film you've seen so far from that country. It answered this question with a resounding YES: "I wonder if some of the Korean directors smoke weed once in a while?"

No really, Director Chang Gyu-seong must have been eating some pizza topped with gummi bears while drinking some chocolate milk with his joint during the brainstorming session of this film. I mean it is supreme genious how he managed to pull off the opening sequence where it displayed a very unforgettable spoof of Shiri's North Korean soldier training. It's a riot and a reason enough to watch the film. Gyu-seong might as well make a sequel in a year or two because I don't see the Koreans making anything other than stellar films from now on. The way Fun Movie pulled of the quirky and insane appeal is something to behold. I would definitely have it compared to great parodies like Naked Gun, Hot Shots and Scary Movie without the explicit sexual innuendoes of course. All right all right, it did have some of those "sexual" remarks, but it wasn't nasty nor overtly demeaning, it actually worked.

Sure Hot Shots wouldn't have worked if Topper Harley didn't fry an egg on Ramada's hot abs. Same goes for Hwang-bo (Im Won-hwi) and Sangmi (Kim Jun-eun), this movie would have never taken off had it not been for their hilarious relationship and off-the-wall spoof of Gyeon-woo and The Girl in My Sassy Girl. Believe me, it was a smashing train ride. Then there's Hwang-bo's partner, Gap-du (Suh Tae-hwa). This guy is hilarious. His antics are stupid yet creative. It seems like he got thrown in there to make fun of himself because he spoofed a bad boy character from his movie Friend in which he played the lead good guy. It was quite ironic how the Friend scene was introduced, but it still remains the most rewarding part of Fun Movie. I had Chinese Chow Fun flying out of my nose when this scene took place. Man, I'll never eat anything oily while watching a comedy again. And last, but certainly not least, Kim Su Roh's Japanese extremist leader character, Hideo Murakami, is definitely something you guys have to check out. I can't say enough how irresponsible and idiotic his character shaped up to be. His parody of Choi Min-shik's character was a blast to watch because despite Min-shik's serious style, Su Roh brought a sense of serious-to-wacky approach. Murakami was damn near ready to pop a vein at times, but it always seemed funny instead of serious.

As much as I'd like to recommend this hilarious film to everybody, I just can't. I'm not recommending this to everybody because I just don't think everybody will love this movie as much as a person who has watched a considerable amount of Korean films would. You may chuckle here and there, but I guarantee that you will not bust a nut nor will you laugh so hard that chunks of crap seep out of your A-hole. You'll probably end up poppin' a cap on somebody's ass when you realize you just wasted a quarter of a hundred for something that you didn't quite enjoy. So here's the thing, I'm suggesting an all-out rager at Joseph Luster's house. We'll all come down with booze while he'll prepare the grubs, DVD and TV. We'll all enjoy a day of Korean cinema and top it off with the greatest Korean parody the world has ever seen, the only one it has ever seen, Fun Movie. Who's with me?