Continuing with the theme of water here, we go from Los Angeles, America to Haeundae, South Korea, and we also go from lack of drinkable water to lots of water. Though I wouldn't recommend drinking it. Yeah, we go from a terrorist attack to nature, and we also dive into what is South Korea's (Where it's called 'Haeundae', after the location) first ever disaster film.
I can't really dive into the plot (Pardon the pun) because, like 'Waterborne' and 'Contagion', the film has multiple plot points. They're becoming more and more frequent those kind of films aren't they? The ones I've mentioned, 'Crash (2004)', 'Valentine's day (2010)', and 'New Year's Eve (2011)' as well. It's weird.
Anyway, let's see if I can remember all the plots. But first the introduction. We're first reminded of the Indian Ocean Tsunami which occurred back in 2004. For those who don't know, an earthquake in the Indian Ocean caused a tsunami which hit fourteen different countries and killed nearly three hundred thousand people, making it one of the deadliest natural disasters in history.
In the film's introduction, we're introduced to Choi Man-Shik (Kyung-gu Sol), who is on a fishing boat during the middle of the tsunami disaster. He makes a mistake which causes a shipmate to be trapped on a boat, and Man-Shik is forced to watch him go down with the boat. Okay, now I can go into the multi-plots.
1. The guy who goes down asks Man-Shik to look after his daughter Yeon-Hee (Ha Ji-won). Yeon-Hee fancies Man-Shik and Man-Shik tries to overcome his guilt over her father's death so that he can lover her back.
2. Dong-choon (Kim In-kwon) deals with some shady business with Man-Shik's nephew, gets caught by the police, and gets moaned at by his mother.
3. Kim Hwi (Park Joong-hoon) tries to persuade high leading officials that a mega tsunami which could threaten South Korea is possible. He then comes across his ex-wife, Yoo-jin (Uhm Jung-hwa) and his daughter, and learns that his ex has never told their daughter who her father is.
4. Choi Hyeing-Shik (Lee Min-ki) saves Hee-mi (Kang Ye-won) from drowning, elbowing her in the face at the same time. Angry at this (Though I'm pretty sure it was a cover), she follows Hyeing-Shik around the city. As time passes love blossoms between the two, though they're hampered by a random jerk Hee-mi's sisters are trying to set her up with.
I think that's it.
The plots can get so intertwined with each other that they can be hard to distinguish. You have to really remember who's who. Once you've got the hang of who's who, the individual stories can be intriguing. The problem is that I went into this expecting a serious piece of film, which it does deliver, I can't deny that, but there are slapstick and comedic moments throughout the film. It does seem intentional, such as Dong-choon at the start being knocked down four times by different people, and yes, it is actually funny. But, in a way, it made the film a bit awkward to watch, knowing that the title threat will be hitting this beach resort soon, destroying pretty much everything in its way. Am I supposed to take this film seriously? Am I suppose to find it hilarious? How can I find it funny, knowing that there will be death and destruction later?
But in all honesty, it does add a certain...feeling to this film. It makes you feel more for the characters, it's actually slightly more realistic. No-one is perfect, and that's what the slapstick...um...emphasis's I suppose. But love them or hate them, you can't help but care about them when the great disaster does happen, mainly because when the wave does hit, the characters we don't feel anything for suddenly become heroes. SPOILERS. Dong-choon saves thirteen people after the tsunami, basically surprising everyone and earning a citizen bravery award. Dong-choon however doesn't feel like a hero because his mother died during the tsunami. This was really sad and touching. Hyeing-Shik meanwhile sacrifices himself so that a jerk character is saved, while Hee-mi has no choice but to watch. Alongside that, Man-Shik, after pouring out his heart and soul to Yeon-Hee since he thinks he's going to die, but he is saved by his estranged uncle, which appears to repair the relationship. His uncle is then killed two seconds later. Shockingly depressing scene follows.
That being said, the structure of this film was weird. Most drama films basically put the drama right out there withing the first half hour, and then spend the next hour surviving. 'Tidal Wave', does it the other way round. It spends the first hour going over the characters, and then the tidal wave has come and gone in ten minutes, then twenty minutes is spent surviving the aftermath. This was both good, and bad. It's good because it allows the audience to get to know the characters and care about them. It's bad, because the audience start to wonder where the tsunami is. And then it's gone in a matter of minutes, which is actually understandable, a real tsunami would be halfway inland in ten minutes after hitting the coast. But then after the twenty odd minutes of survival, the film glances over the aftermath. I didn't really like the glancing. Sure, some of the characters it was enough, but then there's others where you want a bit more info.
Let's get to the actual tidal wave now. Again, going into this I wasn't expecting much, mainly because I wasn't expecting a high budget (Apparently the film had a budget in the region of $10-15million), and I hate CGI. I think you know that by now. Oh yeah, a film like 'The Avengers/Avengers Assemble' may come along and make me think "Oh my God the effects are awesome", but most of the time I think it looks too fake. The effects here, aren't actually that bad. Could they be better? Yes. But the effects aren't awful, they're actually pretty damn good, the tidal wave actually looks like its made of water, while the scenes of the city being destroyed are truly immense. In my opinion anyway. A shot of Hwi saving his daughter from being swept out of a window was truly brilliant.
Acting wise, yeah, it could have been better. While I do think the actors and actresses were pretty good at times, they were pretty bland in others. I didn't really find it that bad though, like 'Green Lantern' it was more because of the script rather than the actual actor.
Overall, I love this film. In fact, my DVD collection is slowly being invaded by the Asian market. 'Battle Royale', 'Heaven's Soldiers', and 'Dragon Wars' to name a few. Yes, I like 'Dragon Wars'. But whatever you think of 'Tidal Wave', while the build up was a tad too long, I have to respect the makers behind this film for taking a risk and producing South Korea's first disaster film. I found the film charming and creative, I found the character development great, the effects terrific, the chaos tremendous. Did I go into this film with low expectations? Yes, and that probably helped, but I really did love this film. I'd definitely recommend you to at least see if you'd like it, you may be pleasantly surprised.
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