In 2029, the elite police squad Illang combats a terrorist group opposing reunification of the two Koreas. Illang: The Wolf Brigade picks up five years into the unification plans. . [20], Webtoon writer Yoon Tae-ho penned a prequel titled Illang: Prequel, which took place five years before the events of the film. Overall, though, if you have heartbreaking memories of the original, this one does not deliver the same emotional punch the original possessed. Read all Director Jee-woon Kim Writers Yun-hee tells him how her sister joining "The Sect" destroyed her family. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. The premise was funny in the beginning about reunification. Lim is ordered to kill Yun-hee for being a Sect member and spy for the state security. That whole movie. You can also change your preferences at any time by clicking Cookie Preferences in the footer of each page. Email news@gamespot.com. After the event, significant opposition to the Special Unit forces the group to utilize their iconic gas masks, to hide their identity as well as provide use in case of bio-hazardous threats. Yun-hee turns on the tracking device through which the state security can track them. New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast. If we cut off the narrations intro, the film could still be set in Japan and nothing would really need to be changed. This is a film about political machinations and twists and turns in how people betray each other. As the credits were rolling, I realized what I had really wanted was to see a Korean take the Jin-Roh idea, the extrapolation from the same starting point but divergent from the original in a way that the new film would only make sense to set it in South Korea. It is a live-action adaptation of the Japanese animated film Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade. The film follows Kazuki Fuse, a member of a special police unit set during an alternate history of 1950s Japanese riots. 2023 GAMESPOT, A FANDOM COMPANY. There is also the weird use of the 2029 setting when the futuristic tanks and helicopters from the opening sequence are quickly abandoned in favor of modern technology. Meanwhile, the special unit has already gathered evidence that the sect was financed by the State Security and is planning a coup. See production, box office & company info, Chief Presidential Secretary Park Jeong-gi. The movie looks great, from the cinematography to the locations, so there is some eye candy to savor during the slower moments. Rafael Motamayor (@RafaelMotamayor) is a recovering cinephile and freelance writer from Venezuela currently freezing his ass off in cold, grey, Norway. The human weapons who are called wolves, "Illang" (The Wolf Brigade). Trying to dip into both pools at the same time ends up with an enjoyable, but flawed, adaptation. Got a news tip or want to contact us directly? The movie mentions at the beginning that the two Koreas are slowly pushing toward reunification and earning the ire of other countries, and then quickly explains what's going on internally. The film stars Gang Dong-won, Han Hyo-joo, and Jung Woo-sung, and was released on July 15, 2018. The majority of the story beats and the characters personalities, however, are lifted the whole cloth from the original. However I really enjoyed this movie, yeah the romance part might a bit long but also has some purpose in building the final climax. Perhaps not being aware of its background helped. EDIT 2: I have no idea why the numbers are screwy. A remake of the acclaimed japanese anime Jin-roh this new movie somehow fails to make the impact that one might expect from this director. The original Jin-Roh is a slow movie. That was satisfying! However, fans of the original might find that there are either too few changes to merit watching this over the original, or they might feel that there were too many changes and the film moved too far into action and away from the emotional core that made the original so memorable. However, the intelligence service Public Security, which sees its own influence drop, hatches a plot to annihilate the Special Unit. Running time: 138 MIN. Illang: The Wolf Brigade Photos View All Photos Movie Info. Netflix and third parties use cookies (why?). Released October 19th, 2018, 'Illang: The Wolf Brigade' stars Gang Dong-won, Han Hyo-joo, Kim Moo-yul, Jung Woo-sung The R movie has a runtime of about 2 hr 20 min, and received a user score of 63 . This leads to the emergence of a terrorist group named Sect, which opposes the joint government of South and North Korea. Illang: The Wolf Brigade is a 2018 South Korean science fiction action film. Fuse is distraught, but regardless kills Kei. I am a big fan of Korean films and still possess vivid memories of my reaction to Jin-Roh back in college. Some of the action was too over the top for the serious type of movie this was trying to be. Starring: Gang Dong-won, Han Hyo-joo, Jung Woo-sung Watch all you want. If you were looking for some scrappy, tense fight scenes, though, Illang probably wont do much for you. "[28], Jason Bechervaise from Screendaily wrote that the film "contains moments of stylistic brilliance through some compelling set-pieces. Better simply to go with it, trusting that Kim can take whatever situation that arises as an opportunity to stage an exciting fight, chase, standoff or shootout like the one atop Seouls Namsan Tower, where an elaborate plan to capture and/or kill Lim goes awry, leading to a dazzling escape whereby our hero jumps out the window of the observation deck, scales a scarlet red fire hose the 440 feet to the ground, and proceeds to bash his way out of the parking lot in a stolen Mercedes. The new instruction is to go into the sewers together with Yun-hee. [12], A South Korean live-action remake titled Illang: The Wolf Brigade directed by Kim Jee-woon updates the setting from Japan to a dystopian South Korea, where the plot revolves around plans to unite the two Koreas. Illang: The Wolf Brigade is a (Korean: ; Hanja: ; RR: Illang; lit. Netflix acquired the international distribution rights of the film. But at the end of the day, the shoot-outs are tight, and the action is adrenaline inducing. Illang is based on Mamoru Oshiis Kerberos Panzer Cop, and especially on its 1999 anime adaptation Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade, though Kim relocates the story from post-WWII Japan to 2024 South Korea. The old sergeant solemnly compares Kei's fate to the demise of Red Riding Hood and the triumph of the wolf. The stories focus on the aftermath of one of the unit's members who froze when confronted with a particularly young terrorist and couldn't perform his duty of killing her. The ending being the most disappointing part. As more soldiers join in, the girl detonates the bomb in her hands. He praised it for the beauty of its animation and character designs and the "subtle and crafty twists" in the story, and commented that the differing approaches to production meant directors were freed from needing to appeal to a wide target audience and allowed have a much greater creative control than in Hollywood animated features, favoring the sophisticated productions anime was known for. GitHub export from English Wikipedia. The stories focus on the aftermath of one of the units members who froze when confronted with a particularly young terrorist and couldnt perform his duty of killing her. In 2029, after the governments of North and South Korea announce a 5-year plan to reunify the country, strong sanctions by the world's powerful nations cripple the economy and lead to a hellish period of chaos. That just eluded me. Secondary characters like Cheol-jin and Mi-kyung get thrown into the story and exit without adding any substance. By Disappointing & Forgettable. They provide Fuse with a full set of armor and weaponry, before leaving with Kei in tow. Then he meets Lee Yun-hee (Han Hyo-joo, also wooden), who claims to be the dead girls sister. Nice action scenes. 3. Illang: The Wolf Brigade [3] ( Korean : ; also known as Inrang) is a 2018 South Korean science fiction action film directed by Kim Jee-woon and starring Gang Dong-won, Han Hyo-joo, Jung Woo-sung and Kim Mu-yeol. [10][11] The film competed in the San Sebastin International Film Festival for the Golden Shell, becoming the second South Korean film to do so.[12]. Kei embraces Fuse and sadly recites the dialogue of Little Red Riding Hood, describing the grotesque appearance of the wolf disguised as a loved one. Want us to remember this setting for all your devices? I guess we can just say this movie stories is base in another world or dimension. Certainly, Illang has some random explosions that dont make sense outside of a movie universe, but the fight sequences are mostly easy to follow, while still being dynamic and exciting. Still had a good time watching it, mostly because of where it came from but unfortunately this pretty much murdered any chance to see Jin-Roh content ever again. [27][30] After five days of release, Illang: The Wolf Brigade earned a total of US$5.29 million. This was not the movie that I ended up watching. The story is set in alternate-history Japan in the 1950s following the atomic bombing and subsequent occupation (by a victorious German Reich, rather than the Allies) of the country at the end of World War II and the post-war recovery. The windows in the car he hijacks are obviously easily smashed, but bulletproof when he reverses and gets shot at. Who killed her at that moment? Yun-hee sits down with her brother as the train departs. befitting to our Korean situation and what not Perhaps if I had seen the anime version the other raters talk about, I would have understood what was going on. Talk about the film. The main problem with it is that two and a half hours it's much too overlong and could have done with some judicious cutting, but other than that this is a solid effort. Thankfully, though, this is not something they abuse, and Illang does look different, though perhaps someone not well versed in the differences between Korean culture and Japanese culture might easily overlook a lot of the small nuances. When Lim leaves, Han from State Security seeks out Yun-hee. I would argue that the conflict between the special unit and the public security division isn't well established, as we just see this illustrated in people talking and a few shootouts. By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform. He inquires about Lim. Illang: The Wolf Brigade[3] (Korean:; also known as Inrang) is a 2018 South Korean science fiction action film directed by Kim Jee-woon and starring Gang Dong-won, Han Hyo-joo, Jung Woo-sung and Kim Mu-yeol. Yes they've changed the setting but it's almost a shot to shot homage to Jin Roh in some parts, when Grace Omega started playing I immediately got frisson! Taken on its own, its a decent action movie with a little near future science fiction flavor. But another enemy may be lurking nearby. Later, Kei reveals her role in the deception and suggests they leave together, but Fuse decides to stay. The film's musical score was composed by Hajime Mizoguchi. The sniper? Netflix supports the Digital Advertising Alliance Principles. As the filmmaker wasn't able to produce two films in the same time but didn't want someone else to direct his final episode, Oshii decided that the third episode would be an anime instead. Fantastic and brilliant, with an intense and memorable ending. Anyone that has seen the original master piece before would find dissapointement in the last 15 min. Kim Jee-woon knows what the hell he's doing when it comes to staging and shooting action, and the action sequences here are fluidly shot and feature some really neat choreography. The year is now 2029, and Special Unit forces now patrol wearing elaborate steel-plated armor. JOIN NOW One agent tries to kill Yun-hee, whereupon she joins Lim. Actually, they come off like college art-house films, which is probably why these films aren't well regarded. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Each of them is a one man army, with heavy duty machine guns, steel shields on their forearms capable of resisting hand-grenades, and German war helmets with gas masks covering their faces. Ironically, that makes Illang a rather ideal project, at least on paper. He visits the ashes of the dead girl and meets Kei Amemiya, who claims to be the elder sister of the terrorist and they develop a friendship. Why do so many Korean movies feel like they're in slow motion. EDIT: cause I screwed up my numbers, apparently. Illang: The Wolf Brigade 2018 | Maturity Rating: 16 | 2h 19m | Action & Adventure In 2029, the elite police squad Illang combats a terrorist group opposing reunification of the two Koreas. This movie missed the whole point of the original like alot. The film was financed by Union Investment Partners, with production being announced in 2013. Entertaining and quite intelligent combat and action sequences throughout the movie; however, remarkably dumb reasons provided by the plot to explain the purpose of this combat. What is the English language plot outline for Illang: The Wolf Brigade (2018)? The movie doesn't deviate that much from a possible reality of a reunified north and south korea. In return, she is promised remission of her prison sentence and an operation for her sick brother. The issue is that there are only two action scenes, and they are buried beneath 139 minutes of convoluted storylines and melodrama. Action comes easy to Korean director Kim; its actors that he doesnt always know what to do with. The plodding pace does it a lot of favors, packing a lot of emotion into a relatively short film, but Illang breaks up some slower moments by adding in extra action scenes and extending others that existed in the original. [5] Oshii considered him the most able candidate among the younger staff of the studio and both Production IG and Bandai Visual, knowing about his directing ambitions and his interest in creating a serious drama, wanted him to do his debut for them. [17][22][23], The film was selected to compete at the 66th San Sebastin International Film Festival, which was held from September 2129, 2018. His short fiction has been previously published in Three Crows Magazine, Black Denim Lit and Trigger Warnings: Short Fiction with Pictures. If you have, I'm sure this will be less of a discussion and more reminiscing about how dropped our jowls were by the end credits. As such, this movie exists in a sort of limbo. He knows about Yun-hee's true identity and has expected that the state security would lead them to her. By clicking 'enter', you agree to GameSpot's In those finals moments, they manage to seemingly invalidate the rest of the film; it's quite literally the complete opposite of the anime. The goal of /r/Movies is to provide an inclusive place for discussions and news about films with major releases. The sci-fi bit of the plot is merely veneer over the very Asian politicking. (Also in San Sebastian film festival.) Illang tries for a slightly different emotional tug, but it didnt quite take the time to build it up for me the way the slower, more plodding Jin-Roh managed. He likes writing about horror despite being the most scary-cat person he knows. Quite a number of problems, but the biggest is the anime it is based on is flawed with great ideas but poor execution in the plot. I thought all of the fighting and firefights of the movie were incredibly unique and interesting as far as movies go, the setting was also something that I enjoyed. Entertaining and quite intelligent combat and action sequences throughout the movie; however, remarkably dumb reasons provided by the plot to explain the purpose of this combat. Together they go to the bookstore that Yun-hee owns. Honestly, being released on Netflix is its best hope for reaching a wide audience. Han Hyo Joo is pretty. A year after the formation of the Special Unit, an incident known as "Bloody Friday" occurs, in which the special unit mistakenly fires upon young girls in a suspected Sect compound. GO AND DOWNLOAD WINZI NOW:https://winzo.onelink.me/gu8K/cbd64d7f#WINZO #ENMAY-----. The Wandering Earth. Now I never read the Manga, but I did watch the Anime (Jin Roh). These Wolf Brigade uniforms are truly terrifying, turning normal cops into what look like nightmarish Nazi cyborgs, at least in silhouette: Beneath German tank helmets, a pair or round red eyes glow inhumanly at any who cross their paths, while their standard-issue peashooters have been replaced with heavy-duty machine guns. The main male protagonist, Im Joong-Kyung played by Gang Dong-won, is your usual super-competent combatant, and theres never really any tension about whether or not he will succeed in overcoming the obstacles in front of him so much as how he will do it. The Wolf Brigade is a high powered, deadly force of men whose job it is to crush the sect opposing reunification. My excitement dimmed after I read about how poorly it was received in Korea this summer by both audiences and critics. We are told through a 5-minute-long prologue that fears of an impending war over a territorial dispute between Japan and China caused the two Koreas to launch preparations for unification. However, he refuses, seeing no need for her death. The ending theme (Grace Omega I think it's called) is rolling in the background even as I type this. They make their way to the tunnels once more, where they are met by members of the Wolf Brigade, a secret, deep-cover unit in the Kerberos Corps led by Hajime Handa. Think of the T-60 Power Armor from the Fallout series, but make it 100 times scarier and more evil, and add terrifying round red eyes that glow with the intensity of nightmarish soldiers from hell, and you get the Special Unit soldiers. [1][17] Filming began on August 16, 2017 in Studio Cube, a South Korean filming complex, and completed on March 23, 2018. Contribute to chinapedia/wikipedia.en development by creating an account on GitHub. The project was originally pitched as a six-episode OVA as he knew Bandai Visual was interested in having him do a series for them and his original Kerberos Panzer Cop manga was formed by six chapters. After reluctantly giving up the directorial role, Oshii originally thought on Patlabor 2: The Movie animation director Kazuchika Kise, but he had no interest in chief direction at the time. Man I wish someone did a writing check on this bad boy film. They from experience are consistent in their filmmaking efforts and for the most part this is no different. Gay rights have, 23 min read TAMSYN MUIR is the bestselling author of the Locked Tomb Trilogy, which begins withGideon the Ninth, continues. [24][12], A red carpet and showcase event for the film was held on July 18, 2018 at Times Square Mall in Yeongdeungpo-gu with the attendance of the director and cast. Kim Jee-woon knows how to frame an action scene. I thought the escaped Sect leader would play a major role in this story, but that gets quickly wrapped off at the end (on a news channel scene). [6] Oshii, who characterized him as "allergic to computers", admitted that had he directed the film he would have relied in computer animation just as he did in Ghost in the Shell and no more than 30,000 cels would have been needed. [Edit: typo due to puppy paws hitting my keyboard]. It received mixed reviews and under-performed at the domestic box office, selling around 897,000 tickets against its break-even point of six million tickets. It was Kim Jee-woon's second film to compete at the festival after I Saw the Devil in 2010. This generates significant backlash from the region's powers (the U.S, Russia, China, and Japan) who oppose reunification. "[27], As per Yonhap review, the film "spent so much time trying to recreate the world from the animated movie and remakes it into a big-scale action blockbuster that it never got the simple things right the film falls short of properly delivering the intense inner conflict felt by Joong-kyung. It was released on Netflix on July 25, 2018. Having just watched this, I can say that it's a relatively faithful adaptation of Oshii's source material, improving in some ways and worsening in others. At first the new ending started making me think they were going to tie the plot into something regional/macro, but instead it was some happy ending crap. The unrest generated by the political tension in Asia, economic depression, and opposition to reunification results in a domestic terror group known as "The Sect" to form. The film premiered on November 17, 1999, in France, and Bandai Entertainment and Viz Media licensed the film for an English-language release in North America and Europe. Due to civil unrest within South Korea (Japan in the original), an elite anti-terror unit is formed. Three Crows Magazine Science Fiction and Fantasy Magazine, REVIEW: The Game Weavers by Rebecca Zahabi, Tamsyn Muir Interview: There is a lot of blood on my dance floor., REVIEW: Moon Witch, Spider King by Marlon James, Marvel Presents Northstar Vs the Straight Gaze by O F Cieri, Screenplay: Kim Jee-woon, Jun Chul-hong, Lee Ji-min, Park Jong-dae (based on the oriinal story written by Mamoru Oshii and its animated feature Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade directed by Hiroyuki Okiura), Main cast: Gang Dong-won, Han Hyo-joo, Jung Woo-sung, Kim Mu-yeol, Han Ye-ri, Choi Min-ho, Heo Joon-ho. So not two minutes ago the credits rolled. Go behind the scenes of Netflix TV programmes and films, see what's coming soon and watch bonus videos on. Press J to jump to the feed. In 2014, a plane with 239 people aboard vanishes from all radar. And, in truth, this was my biggest disappointment with the film. Yoon-hee claims a lot of things over the course of the movie, and sooner or later, one would do well to stop believing her, since shes the rebel/spy/love-interest/damsel-in-distress on whom the movies unnecessarily convoluted plot pivots at least three too many times. About the Author Michael Kellichner is writer and poet from Pennsylvania currently living in South Korea. A Rare Dud From Kim Jee-woon. Failing to create any sense of intrigue about its futuristic world, The Wolf Brigade is one disappointing mess that carries bits n pieces of brilliance scattered here n there but the overall product is too weak & uninspiring to sustain the interest and leaves the viewers feeling rather indifferent in the end. The animation is good for its time, and while it flirts with interesting ideas, it moves at such a slow pace and features such a dull main character that I found myself frequently bored. The story of the original is more or less the story of the remake. All stories are accompa. [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] I watched Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade a few months back, and I'm not a fan of it. 2. While it's better paced and isn't as boring, it doesn't make its characters any more emotionally involving, and I don't think it takes full advantage of the world it tries to portray, instead relying on a more expanded yet overplotted story. Visually, I get that director KIM JI HOON had deliberately or not payed a successful hommage to its Japanese predecessor albeit bit of twist in scenario to make it more Pretty good not great. The training part in the building was also lackluster, the action was more over the top but there was no strategy to it, no teamwork and we didn't get to see Fuse (Lim) get re-trained like he did in the original. [32] The number of South Korean film admissions in July 2018 dropped by 21.4% from 2017, to 5.39 million, due to the sluggishness of this film and the absence of intermediate films to replace it. The products discussed here were independently chosen by our editors. Archived post. Reminder: Skip the convoluted plot and jump to 01:05:00 to watch the gunfight scene. Cast: Gang Dong-won as Lim Joong-kyung Han Hyo-joo as Lee Yoon-hee Forget the special units you know - any of them. It has been relicensed in North America by Discotek Media, with a DVD released on April 29, 2014 followed by a Blu-Ray on January 27, 2015.[2][3]. The director of this movie is one of my personal favourites who previously made such modern classics as Tale of two sisters, Bittersweet life and I saw the devil. Deep. Yes, Scream VI Marketing Is Behind the Creepy Ghostface Sightings Causing Scares Across the U.S. David Oyelowo, Taylor Sheridan's 'Bass Reeves' Series at Paramount+ Casts King Richard Star Demi Singleton (EXCLUSIVE), Star Trek: Discovery to End With Season 5, Paramount+ Pushes Premiere to 2024. The main problem with it is that two and a half hours it's much too overlong and could have done with some judicious cutting, but other than that this is a solid effort. Netflix's Maniac: 16 Best Easter Eggs, References, Callbacks And Clues You Missed. Learn more about our use of cookies and information. With the help of the Wolf Brigade's battle suit, he manages to kill everyone, including his former friend Han.