Review: I know there are a couple of reviews out there that go “Hey, don’t read this review. It’s better that you know nothing about it when you go into it so you can get the most out of it.” Even I’m guilty of stating this in some of my reviews. But seriously, take my word for it: you’ll want to enter this movie bias-free. Don’t pollute your mind before you see this film,

With that warning, I continue…

WINDSTRUCK is directed by the same man who gave us MY SASSY GIRL and also the leading actress is ‘my sassy girl’ herself, Jeon Ji-hyun. It’s inevitable that there will be comparisons between the two films. While those judgments will certainly be unfair, you would think the director would take the extra step and cook up something new to the genre he revived so beautifully three years ago. You would think…..but let’s avoid those connections for now.

Ji-hyun’s performance has really blossomed with each film she makes. WINDSTRUCK really shows the wide range of emotions she can whip out on command and its no surprise she delivers another stellar performance. The surprise here is Jang Hyuk. Even though he’s starred in other films, I could never shake off him being anyone but Kyeong-su Kim from VOLCANO HIGH. But with this flick, he’s proven me wrong. His performance in the first half of the film is an absolute joy to watch. He’s sweet but also just rebellious enough to Ji-hyun’s character that you can’t help but fall in love with him too. In the acting-department, this film gets a well-deserved ‘A.’

Another word of warning: from this point on, potential spoilers may come pop up every now and then. They’re not major, but if you ignored my first warning and still want to have an un-biased view on the film, you REALLY need to stop here.

Although the two actors are convincing, I can’t help but feel their relationship is the Diet Pepsi version of MY SASSY GIRL. The first thing that happens is Kyungjin beats up Myungwoo. It gets laughs but it seems just a bit too familiar. So throughout the first hour, Myungwoo gets beaten, hand-cuffed, beaten some more, and burned. While he definitely puts up a verbal fight, in the end, he submits to Jyung-Hi’s all-too-adorable smile. While it’s certainly entertaining to watch, the two of them just slip into the two prototypical roles that MY SASSY GIRL has set up for most of Korea’s romantic comedies. By no means is it a crime, but you feel a little let down that nothing new was offered for quirky relationships on-screen. Well, the moment the first hour ends, so the clashes of opinions begin.

When the second hour starts, the film doesn’t just take a U-turn, it takes a U-turn and then drives off the road, plummeting over a cliff but then spreads its robotic car wings at the last second and flies into the clouds. We know the lovey-dovey romance the two engage in is in vain because the first thing the film tells us is that tragedy will strike. Knowing that something awful will eventually happen, the audience will probably try and not to become attached to any of the characters, and be ever worrying that the heart-aching situation will just be around the corner. When it finally does happen, the absurdity bar rises.

The film goes from a MY SASSY GIRL clone (a just as sexy clone), and becomes this DRAGONFLY-ish drama (Yes, that awful one with Kevin Costner) slathered with some DIRTY HARRY (Yes, that Clint Eastwood one). Many people may see a girl’s depressingly romantic heartbreak, but I see a girl who is coping with a loss by going a bit crazy. Not only is there a monkey wrench thrown into the story, but also the tone of the film. While MY SASSY GIRL provided a great outlet for the director to explore other genres via the cute screenplays, WINDSTRUCK suffers from a severe case of genre-identity crisis. Kyungjin’s tough but sweet law enforcer turns into a bad-ass detective who doesn’t give a shit about living and abides by reckless methods of enforcing the law (The only thing missing is a drinking problem and messy apartment). Rather than having a messy apartment though, Kyungjin’s apartment is decorated to the brim with origami windmills to sense the spirit of Myungwoo. It’s nice she loves him so much….but it’s kind of creepy. I mean come on, if you walked into a girl’s house and you saw origami windmills everywhere to connect with her old boyfriend, wouldn’t you be a bit spooked?

Everything just takes a turn for the soul-crushingly corny in the second half. From the slow-motion explosion to the numerous takes of Jyung-hi uttering Myungwoo’s name in tears, I thought it couldn’t get any worse. Then the “pay-off” arrives and while I did feel the tiniest water molecule forming in the corner of my eyes, but promptly disappears when I realize how absurd it is. I wanted to laugh, but I was also sad, so the two antagonizing emotions knocked each other out and I just ended up feeling nothing. While I’m recuperating from the resolution of the situation, my attention was suddenly diverted to the ending. Completely unexpected, the ending swept me off my feet. During the moment, I thought it was the coolest thing, but when the credits rolled, something just wasn’t right. What was Jae-Young Kwak’s intention with the ending? Was he reminding us of a better work? Was he trying to connect the two films together both spiritually and emotionally? Was he not confident in WINDSTRUCK enough that he had to go “Hey, remember this? Yea, that was pretty sweet huh?” I don’t know the answer, but the ending is still a treat, albeit if it is somewhat ambiguous.

Many viewers could argue that the film is completely original. I feel its only original in its execution, but definitely not in content. In the end, I was both disappointed and ecstatic. I loved the movie throughout the first hour and the beginning of the second, but something just didn’t sit right with the film as a whole. I walked in this film with absolutely no bias or hype, but still ended up feeling abandoned at the end. I’m usually one to emotionally submit myself to films and with this one, as hard as it tried, brought nothing out of me. The film offered so much but never fully realized its own potential. However, with that said, it’s still a long shot from being a bad movie. WINDSTRUCK is still a film I would recommend, but probably just as a rental.