Inclubabu Plot so thin, it passes unnoticed.

Joanna Mccarty Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

Nayan Gough A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

Hattie I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

TBJCSKCNRRQTreviews In an alternate time-line, in the near future(with some nifty tech), a young cop finds himself questioning why he and his men are fighting a group of... well, are they terrorists or are they freedom fighters? The story-line is nice and does get resolved, if there are subplots and events that either don't affect anything or, at least to me with my Western eyes, looked strange and unexplained. Maybe it would help if I knew more about Korea, because this is definitely a jingoistic piece on there, from there. Japan has taken over the aforementioned country, and is suppressing their independence. This leads to some melodrama, and though the two hour, 14 minute running time sans credits would be shorter if these instances were mercifully removed, this does really get to you, you find yourself caring and feeling the impact of bullets, and the grip of tension. The acting is pretty good. I watched this with subtitles, not dubbed, and while I had to read along to understand what they were saying, the power of the way they deliver the lines came through quite clearly. The action is all shoot-outs, it's quite well-choreographed, it's stylized(with slow-motion, and "frame-chopping") and it's cool. This has some well-done visuals. The FX are reasonable. There is a lot of bloody violence in this. The DVD comes with 8 and a half minutes of behind-the-scenes footage and four trailers. I recommend this to fans of Asian cinema, and John Woo type flicks. 7/10

refresh daemon 2009: Lost Memories has a lot of promise. A sci-fi action/mystery (mild on the sci-fi) set in an alternate universe where Japan sides with the Allies during World War II, Corea never gained independence from Japan and becomes part of the empire. Pretty cool setting, no? In fact, the first half of the movie, despite the occasional logical flub and inconsistency, manages to be quite interesting. And then you hit the midway mark and the film crashes into mindless melodrama and sinks to the point where even its otherwise gorgeous action sequences can't save it.But, it is quite a pretty film. Lots of wonderfully shot scenes grace this film, even if you can see strong traces of John Woo present in many of them. But this picture is cleaner and slicker than Woo's earlier productions. The sets and costumes are wonderful. The lighting and editing however does run a little heavy-handed. And in fact, the film's preoccupation with aesthetics, instead of strengthening its story, sinks the film. There's also a bit of a mood-killing plot twist halfway through the film as well, which really doesn't help.In terms of lighting, the film is shot dark and while it definitely makes things seem fairly "cool", at the same time, everything is so awash in blues most of the time that it's hard to keep believing in it. It tries a little too hard to be cool. There's also the obnoxious abuse of slow-motion and extreme close-up reaction shots. Honestly, during an action sequence, I really don't want to see 15-30 second bursts of watching as characters react to other insignificant characters' deaths. It frustrated me to no end. And then there's the logical jumps. Not only is one character's story not tied up, but it conflicts with itself logically and the film probably would have been helped having removed that character altogether.Because the film couldn't shore up its story and resorted to overenthusiastic melodrama and manipulation, it went from being quite interesting to a bit of a chore. I give it credit for great aesthetics and premise, even if in the end the story becomes chaotic and inconsistent, but the degree of the films abuse of melodrama to substitute for story keeps it from staying afloat. People that can get past story and enjoy the slick presentation and action, might enjoy this. Everyone else should consider giving it a pass. 6/10 (purely on the merits of its aesthetics and premise).

Mikael This movie has a semi interesting plot. Not very new or original, neither very bad or too obvious. As usual when it comes to South Korean popular movie industry the craftsmanship is next to flawless. The lighting and the scenery are beautiful, the soundtrack is very sentimental and bordering to über-cheese but that shouldn't be a surprise to anyone with the slightest experience in Asian movies. The acting is also good though the English dub doesn't seem to even try to do any lip sync and brings down the overall impression. The special effects are functional but not really that spectacular. Also, the action scenes have way to much slow motion for my taste. Though, I guess this is made in order to boost the sense of patriotism. And, this is where I have my main criticism.It contains about all components of the propaganda the nationalistic parts of South Korean society likes to flatter itself with. Embarrassingly obvious, even more than usual. North and South Korea are united because they really are brothers. No Korean would harm another Korean. Japan is an enemy, has always been and will always be. Japanese people are not to be trusted, not even those you consider close friends. The Korean on the other hand are brave and self sacrificing with a pure heart. The key to the entire plot comes from the superior ancient culture and system of worship from the Korean peninsula. There are so many subtle details that are being pushed in that mean really a lot if you have an understanding of Korean culture, like the Korean main character has become so Japanese he doesn't even eat Kimchi (!).I agree that the patriotism is so much an undisputed part of Korean culture even today that it should not come as a surprise, and I have enough experience of South Korea to be very aware of this when watching this movie. The problem here is that this script is so saturated with nationalistic propaganda that I feel it being written for this very purpose. It can sometimes lead to (umm...) interesting results, though seldom to properly good ones. It's the equivalent of the American action movie where all baddies have a "foreign" accent, smoke cigarettes and the bad guy boss has a hint of latent homosexuality. Just translate those components into Korean values. Enjoy it as no-brainer entertainment for killing some time, or more interestingly for understanding the components of Korean nationalism and the grudge toward Japan in a commercial movie production. If you want to see a really good Korean movie, for there are lots of them, pick another one.

Max Debutante Hollywood has made loads of Asian remakes recently, and this would probably be another contender for their interest... although an American remake might have to be *extremely* bold. 2009: Lost Memories is one of the best Asian action films I've seen... period.First of all, get those Hollywood tendencies out of your head. This is a film whose story, far fetched though it may be, seems to convey some very genuine, weighted, and apparent contemporary sentiment about a significant event in modern Asian history. Since the event and players around which the film is centered are indeed VERY real - make Wikipedia your friend ;) - I would urge people from other parts of the world watching this film to try and imagine if something in their own histories had followed a similar plot; to better appreciate the film from the vantage point of the storyteller. DO NOT watch this film if you're only looking for some John Woo style action. It's really not about the action at all.I'm a typical non-Asian: very limited knowledge of Asian history, and absolutely no implicit understanding of Asian culture, or the mark that such history has had on modern Asian convention. I think this film (among many) offers a few clue-ins about the inward tensions concerning the past between Asians that are completely unknown to the rest of the world. It may seem deliberate as a matter of course to people from the region, most oblivious outsiders would still be guessing. In short, it is about an alternate reality in which Korea never gained independence from it's status as a Japanese protectorate. Now add time travel... and enjoy the film.Although it's a little on the long side, it was fun all the way through. The storyline never dropped or suddenly got slow, and there was nothing that could be completely lost in translation as I find is often the case with a lot of other trans-continental cinema. There's PLENTY of gun action for such aficionados. It was coherent, and very suspenseful from start to finish. Even the music played to great effect; perfect at certain instances like you see in film from time to time. All in all, a fully enjoyable feature.I liked this film, not for the time travel sci-fi, gun fights or adequate special effects, but for letting me see someone else (besides Hollywood) pay homage to their own heroes. In Japan this might be a horror film.