When your 13-year-old starts humming the soundtrack before the credits roll and your 11-year-old immediately asks “Can we watch it again?”, you know an animated film has struck gold… even if that gold comes with some familiar copper underneath.
*** I have to, have to, have to…
UPDATE this review here (rest all is original)
I had to sit through this movie a second time! Because my daughter wanted a rewatch! And TBH I didn’t hate it either ***
Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans’ KPop Demon Hunters is genuinely delightful visual candy that marries supernatural action with infectious pop sensibilities.
The genre-bending animated film borrows from pop music and action cinema, creating something unexpectedly charming. Sony Pictures Animation continues their innovation streak with gorgeous visuals that make every demon-slaying sequence pop like a music video, whilst the soundtrack absolutely slaps… proper earworm material.
The film’s greatest strength lies in its sincere embrace of K-pop culture without descending into parody. It’s endearing, beautifully animated crowdpleaser, with a dorkily sincere love for the pop culture phenomena it embeds itself in. However, beneath the stunning animation lies a disappointingly predictable story that feels like we’ve seen this particular “misfit teens save the world” template countless times before.
The fighting is not horrible but is bad, and the action sequences, whilst visually spectacular, lack genuine tension or stakes. It’s humorously subversive and a funny but brutal commentary on its own industry, which adds clever meta-commentary that adults will appreciate.
Who’ll Love This: K-pop fans, animation enthusiasts, families wanting something fresh, and anyone who enjoyed Spider-Verse’s visual innovation.
My kids were absolutely transfixed: the 13-year-old appreciated the meta-commentary whilst the younger one was purely there for the demon-slaying spectacle. Teen girls will worship at its altar.
Rating: 7/10 (Gorgeous spectacle that prioritises style over substance, but what magnificent style it is)
Probably 8/10 for my kids.
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