• Nov 13
• TIDAL WAVE (AKA HAEUNDAE): DVD Review
• Posted by Deljhp - 13/11/09 at 08:33 AM

Director: Je-gyun Yun. Review: Adam Wing.

Each and every summer millions of tourists flock to Busan City on the East Coast of Korea, and pretty much every summer, major film studios release a big budget disaster movie onto unsuspecting cinema audiences. Hollywood has made a habit of it, drowning us in volcanic lava, invading aliens and soul-destroying earthquakes. So it’s a big warm welcome from the Busan City tourist board, they hope you enjoy your stay at Haeundae Beach, a popular holiday resort for anyone seeking sun, fun and romance. The Korean Film Board on the other hand, well they just hope you enjoy the mayhem as director Je-gyun Yun delivers one of the most successful box office hits in Korean movie history.

You’ll be hard pushed to recognise any of the disaster movie warning signs in the first hour, because Je-gyun Yun introduces the large cast of characters in slapstick fashion. It’s clearly the area he feels most comfortable in, his previous movies include Sex Is Zero and My Boss My Hero, and he certainly gains points for attempting a fresh approach. There are very few glimpses of impending doom in the opening act; no sign of the millions spent on special effects, what we have here is shouty, slapstick farce and larger than life characters. It’s the usual assortment of characters of course; Je-gyun Yun isn’t that daring, so we have the scientist who saw it coming, the non-believing government types, lots of hapless civilians and a sprinkling of hopeless romantics. They are all present and correct; all that’s missing is the wave itself. The comedy actually works well up to a point, more on that in a moment, and the first hour is arguably the most entertaining part of the entire movie. Korean comedy is like Marmite, it’s somewhat over the top and childlike in places but there is a warmth that grows which should have you rooting for the characters come crunch time...Continue reading review here.

Tidal Wave trailer