Plot: A world-renowned K-pop girl group, HUNTR/X, balances their lives in the spotlight with their secret identities as demon hunters.
Review: If you’re a Netflix subscriber, the best animated movie of the year (so far) is within your grasp. KPop Demon Hunters is a perfect storm of sight, song, character chemistry, color, and emotion. It’s The Powerpuff Girls meets BLACKPINK. It’s a kaleidoscope of colors effortlessly rotating from bright to dark in tune to a soundtrack of genuine bangers. It’s another shot in the arm from Sony Pictures Animation, the studio that changed the game by releasing the ground-breaking film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.
Co-directed by Maggie Kang (Rise of the Guardians, The Lego Ninjago Movie) and Chris Applehans (Wish Dragon, Coraline), the film focuses on Rumi (Arden Cho), Mira (May Hong), and Zoey (Ji-young Yoo), a trifecta of demon hunters disguised as the K-pop girl group HUNTR/X. As a trio, their voices lend power to an enchanted barrier keeping Gwi-Ma (Lee Byung-hun), a soul-eating demon lord, at bay. When a rival boy band, the Saja Boys, led by the charismatic and traumatized Jinu (Ahn Hyo-seop), steals the spotlight, HUNTR/X must find a new voice to bring balance to a world consumed by fear and self-hatred.
There are many reasons why your social media is blowing up with talk about KPop Demon Hunters. Firstly, the film drips with confidence. It has something to say, and the filmmakers take every opportunity to deliver something entertaining, emotionally intelligent, and drop-dead gorgeous. The friendship chemistry between Rumi, Mira, and Zoey is aspirational, with each character having a unique energy to add to the movie.
Secondly, the drama is real. KPop Demon Hunters isn’t afraid to grab hold of humanity’s inner demons and shake them loose with infectious grooves and wildly relatable lyrics. Beyond the discord created by Rumi keeping a dark secret from her friends, the film delves into the fickleness of fandom, our inability to let go of the past, and making peace with our imperfections. If you crave romance, the ties between Rumi and Juni throughout the film will play tug of war with your heartstrings.
Visually, KPop Demon Hunters is bursting with color, personality, and pizazz. Like being shot in the face with a glitter cannon, the film explodes with style, creating art that dances between chibi expressionism, Saturday morning cartoon slapstick, and comedic perfection. If you think the music video-style portions of the film are impressive, wait until you catch the action sequence in the men’s bathhouse. The fight choreography in KPop Demon Hunters is wildly entertaining, and how the animators sync the most devastating moves with the film’s music is nothing short of fantastic.
While KPop Demon Hunters excels at offering audiences a feast of visuals, it also shines with inspired performances from the cast. Arden Cho (Rumi), May Hong (Mira), and Ji-young Yoo (Zoey) fill their characters with life, sincerity, and a desire to heal the world no matter the cost. Meanwhile, Ahn Hyo-seop’s (Jinu) aura radiates charm and mystery as a demon torn between the family he left behind and the person he was before making a terrible choice. Ken Jeong delivers the goods, like always, as HUNTR/X’s social media-obsessed manager, Bobby. At the same time, Daniel Dae Kim steals the show for a few unforgettable moments as the buggy-eyed charlatan, Healer Han.
If you’re not a K-pop fan. Don’t worry. You will be by the end of KPop Demon Hunters. It’s impossible not to surrender to the soundtrack created by K-pop producers Teddy Park, Lindgren, Stephen Kirk, and Jenna Andrews, with Ian Eisendrath executive producing, and original songs performed by EJAE, Audrey Nuna, Rei Ami, and TWICE. Not only are the songs genuine bops, but the emotionally resonant lyrics amplify our connections to the characters and story in powerful ways.
Not since last year’s The Wild Robot have I been so overwhelmingly impressed by an animated film as I am with KPop Demon Hunters. Sony needs to announce a sequel immediately. The buzz around this film is more than deserved, and I can’t imagine a world where Sony doesn’t see the excitement and capitalize on it. Do you hear me, Sony? Let’s get it done, done, done!
Source:
JoBlo.com
