One Paragraph Movie Review: The Good, The Bad, The Weird

Two hundred and seventy-sixth film: The Good, The Bad, The Weird, or ‘Joheunnom Nabbeunnom Isanghannom’ in its native Korean. WHAT an insane, fun time that bolts almost immediately out of the gates with a train heist of cinematographic brilliance and skips along for the subsequent two hours like a stone on a familiar-movie-reference lake. This is a ‘kimchi western’ set in Manchuria, which I found out seconds ago was a region in now north-east China that Chinese, Korean, and Japanese people got cranky with each other in prior to World War II. It is of course (loosely) based on its almost-namesake spaghetti western, it is superbly shot, it displays its impeccably-planned and richly enjoyed film craft in every delicious detail, and it is absolutely bonkers. The Good is a bounty hunter dressed as a Clint Eastwood/Indiana Jones hybrid. The Bad is a conceited bandit dressed as prairie-style Prince who has mastered glowering, just-smelled-a-fart malevolence. The Weird is a bumbling but skilled petty thief (or IS he) dressed as a sloppy motorcyclist with strong sidekick energy. They all have a grudge and a good look at a treasure map, and as soon as you realise you can relax without knowing who absolutely everybody is, it’s an absolute corker. Three and seven-eighths defensive diving helmets out of five.