I’ve watched The Good The Bad The
Weird on several occasions and it is not a new addition to my dvd collection
but it is only now that I feel the need to watch it with a view to reviewing
it.
PLOT: After The Weird (Song Kang-ho) finds a
treasure map he is pursed by The Bad (Byung-hun Lee) who in turn is being
pursed by The Good (Jung Woo-sung). The chase
becomes complicated as Manchurian bandits and the Japanese Army have heard of
the map and want the treasure for themselves.
After a frantic chase across the desert a Mexican Stand-off occurs
between The Good, The Bad and The Weird with the sole survivor winning the
treasure. END PLOT
The plot follows the beats of a “chase
the McGuffin” escapade and there is never any doubt that it would culminate in
a showdown between the three leads. Although
the story doesn’t offer anything new it is great fun to watch the chaos unfold.
The tone is quirky and fun and although
there is a fair amount of violence it is usually handled in a darkly comedic
manner – The Bad’s exasperation at trying to decapitate a prisoner with a blunt
knife is more comical that you would expect.
The action is that of a full on
shoot-em-up with guns blazing noisily and frequently from all sides. The main set piece is a lengthy chase across
the desert in which the three main leads plus the Manchurian bandits and the Japanese
army take part. It is a brilliantly fun
romp although it almost becomes too frantic for its own good as it was hard to keep up with who
was shooting at who during any given scene.
Jee-woon Kim has directed a very
stylish film although he was skirting along the lines of showing off with some
of his bigger shots.
Song Kang-ho, Byung-hun Lee and
Jung Woo-sung are all great in their respective roles as The Good The Bad
and The Weird and they make each character memorable in their own right. I will be honest and admit that I was routing
for The Bad throughout the film (shocker) as let’s face it – he was
badass and also sported a ridiculously exciting and none emo based haircut.
The sexiest person in GI: Joe until the world decided Channing Tatum was cool
The most surprising aspect of the
entire film was the score – it had real Spanish flavour to it rather than an Eastern feel. It was jaunty and frantic
but it suited the film perfectly.
I have found that subtitles can be hit or miss but
for a film set in the 1930’s The Good The Bad The Weird opted for a modern use
of language and at times text speak like “cuz” and “ya” crept in.
The Good The Bad The Weird is
great popcorn entertainment but it too long to be a go to 90min flick and too
complex for background viewing. Like me,
if you haven’t viewed it in a while and are inclined to blow the dust of the
cover and watch it again, it is always great fun.
It gets an 8/10.
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