enterOne - 2006/04/21
흡혈형사 나도열 (Vampire Cop Ricky)
2006 - 2DVD
Director: 이시명 (Lee Shi-Myung)
Cast: 김수로 (Kim Soo-Ro) as Na Do-Yeol, 조여정 (Jo Yeo-Jung) as Yeon-Hee, 천호진 (Cheon Ho-Jin) as Detective Kang, 손병호 (Son Byung-Ho) as Tak Moon-Soo, 오광록 (Oh Gwang-Rok) as the Priest, 이상진 (Lee Sang-Jin) as Detective Lee,
CAMEO: 김인문 (Kim In-Moon)
OAR 2.35:1/16:9, DD5.1, Region 3, NTSC DVD-9, English/Korean Subtitles
FILM: 7
Vampire films are nothing new in the West, but in Korea it's a whole different story. Although there have been attempts in the genre, especially in the past, Korean vampire films have always been few and far between. Even if we add 갈갈이 패밀리와 드라큘라 (Galgari Family & Dracula), a horror comedy by the crew of KBS' standup comedy show Gag Concert and a few elements of the genre in a couple of films, it's still pretty slim pickings. But, be it because of the news Park Chan-Wook was directing vampire-themed 박쥐 (Evil Live) in 2007 (with Song Kang-Ho), or because of the cult sitcom 안녕, 프란체스카 (Hello Francesca)'s success, something like 흠혈형사 나도열 (Vampire Cop Ricky) emerged almost out of nowhere.
Explaining why vampire films don't work in Korea is a little too complicated for a small space like this, but let's just say it goes down to the same reason why Sci-Fi films rarely do well in the country, especially when directed by domestic talent. The industry's longtime focus on realism rarely left space for genre exercises touching the B-Movie sphere, so in that sense Lee Shi-Myung's second film after 2002's 2009 로스트 메모리즈 (2009 Lost Memories) was quite an intriguing challenge. On one hand you have genres which barely registered a blip at the box office in the past, on the other Kim Soo-Ro, whose long and hard rise to stardom is finally starting to reach the heights he always deserved.
The film takes a slightly different approach compared to the usual vampire film: it's not only blood which causes the transformation to vampire for corrupt detective Na Do-Yeol. Whenever he gets an erection then his foes (be it his date or the people he's after) are in trouble. So it's a horny vampire. I mean, how can you not do well with an outline like that? But reality is a little different. Lee's debut started incredibly well, with one of the most fascinating pieces of 'alternate history' seen in recent Korean Cinema. But then all the different genre elements started to clash instead of creating flow, and by the end flag waving and pompous music led the proceedings. Similar problems plague Vampire Cop Ricky (another pathetic English title. Ricky who?). Given to people like Kim Jee-woon or Jang Joon-Hwan this film could have turned into a classic, but Lee shows problems right from the beginning.
The comedy is not funny enough, and it only ends up working because of Kim Soo-Ro's usual brilliance; while the script is actually pretty decent, the film never really gives it justice except for a few sparks of creativity, and you always feel you're getting second best. But then when the film abandons the Vampire flick tropes and embraces a more Korean approach to the superhero genre then things become a little more interesting. Unlike flying CGI in spandex costing hundreds of Million, Do-Yeol maintains his character comfortably at home even when he learns of his new powers. It's not a struggle to accept the fact this vampire superhero (vamphero?) is the only man who can save the world. No, Do-Yeol just learns how to kick some ass, take some names, and restore his dignity with his friends, particularly Yeon-Hee (a not too convincing Jo Yeo-Jung).
I mean, how often do you see a 'superhero' run from baddies while looking at Porno Videos on his mobile phone, to feel the 'force' necessary to beat his foes? The film lives (and sometimes dies) of those little quirks, and the fact the central figures (Kim, and predictably wonderful Son Byung-Ho and Cheon Ho-Jin) give very good performances helps things immensely. But of course the central problem remains: something is missing. Now I'm no big fan of B-Movies (I like certain tropes of the genre, not too often the actual movies), but there's a certain soul to the whole B-culture. Call it style, touches here and there, flow. It's not here. And this goes down to the way the director handles the script.
Director Lee, who grew up under Kang Woo-Suk's wing, only shows an affinity for the genre(s), but he's not able to master their peculiarities. Whereas Lee's first film needed the blockbuster treatment, Ricky needed a little more than average to very good CGI, nice cinematography and a serviceable soundtrack. It needed to focus more on the little quirks (like Oh Gwang-Rok's Priest, for instance) and a little less on all the blockbuster aesthetics. Still, if you approach the film with low expectations, it's actually a fun little flick. Action isn't bad, performances are almost uniformly fine, and the film never falls into the kind of mistakes which plagued Lee's previous effort, keeping a decent pace throughout.
What we can hope, since the box office success of the film will bring us two sequels, is that future installments of the Na Do-Yeol saga will focus more on Kim Soo-Ro than genre tropes the director doesn't seem too comfortable with. Vampire or superhero, the franchise has potential. Now we need a little more effort to take advantage of it.
AUDIO: 7.5
If there's any regret about this audio track is that the film was actually 6.1, so we're getting the short end of the stick in that sense. Still, even without an EX track or even Dts, the track handles all the action and soundtrack quite well.
VIDEO: 8
enterOne's usual very solid effort. Nice colours and skin tones, no other particular problems.
SUBTITLES: 6
This is the kind of subtitles which will leave a different impression depending on your understanding of Korean. At first sight they seem the usual good job, but the translation is extremely lazy, often making up lines of its own whenever something touching the culturally-specific appears. But the second half improves a little, and they're good enough to follow the story. Shame about the details, though.
EXTRA FEATURES: 7.5
Disc 1
- Audio Commentary with Director Lee Shi-Myung, Kim Soo-Ro, Son Byung-Ho, Cheon Ho-Jin [Hands down one of the most entertaining, laid back commentaries of the year. Plenty of anecdotes, but also plenty of fun, with Kim Soo-Ro leading the crew as expected. Really nice chemistry between the four, and it's just a very fun listen]
- After Commentary [A few words by Kim Soo-Ro and Son Byung-Ho]
Disc 2 [~90 Minutes]
Page 1
- Vampire Cop Na Do-Yeol [23:56. A nice Making Of Doc, mixing the usual interviews with Behind The Scenes footage]
- Do-Yeol Story [13:46. A Making Of about all the Special Effect shots in the film, the sets, the Castle and more. Decent]
- Korean Joker [8:40. An interview about Son Byung-Ho's role, including interviews with the actors, director, costume designers, and everyone related. Interesting, with Son stressing the 'Andre Kim' delivery style he used for the role, but too many clips from the film]
- NG/Ad Lib [8:56. This is Kim Soo-Ro's turf, obviously. Some of the best NGs from the film, with the highlight being the Kim In-Moon cameo]
- Deleted Scenes [10:37. Nothing really major, as they're mostly extensions of scenes already in the film, alternate versions, or inserts that add very little. There's a couple of hilarious ones though, especially involving the Oh Gwang-Rok/Kim Soo-Ro line]
Page 2
- Poster Shoot [4:12. Your average poster shoot, with a few comments from the stars and then the shoot itself]
- Still Gallery [4:15. Nice behind the scenes and film stills. Starts in B&W, then moves to colour]
- Trailer Making Of [3:37. Titles says it all: a little behind the scenes clip about the Making for the (teaser) Trailer. A little throwaway]
- Theatrical Trailer [2:03. This focuses more on the sex-related comedy than anything else. Quite fun and well edited, although music could have been a little better]
- Yellow Eyes [4:09. VIP Screening clip featuring Im Ha-Ryong, Shin Yi, Hyun Bin, Noh Dong-Cheol, Jang Dong-Gun, Ha Ha, Lee Byung-Heon, Gong Hyung-Jin, Im Chang-Jung and many others. Kim Soo-Ro is popular in Chungmuro, folks. Fun clip]
- Music Video [4:43. Dynamic Duo feat Paloalto - 파도 (I Know). Ahhh... Dynamic Duo, best group in Korean Hip Hop History, hands down. Essentially, they're what hip hop should be. Great song (part of their second album), and the Music Video is quite fun too. Does the song fit the film? Not really, but hey, It's Dynamic Duo]
- Teaser Trailer [1:14. Builds up all stoic and stuff, like a Dracula film. Then, then... it goes all Kim Soo-Ro style on us. Hilarious]
VALUE FOR MONEY: 7
An interesting concept, and although execution wasn't as good as expected, Chungmuro needs to try more of these films. Kim Soo-Ro completely carries the show, and despite a few trappings in the middle, overall it's a pretty entertaining, mindless fun type of flick. DVD is highlighted by an excellent commentary and enterOne's usual good job in terms of audio and video, but subtitles could certainly have been better. Still, definitely worth a look.
OVERALL: 7.14