k-pop theming hunters

I'm going to be experimenting with shorter reviews for movies I don't have as much to say about partially so that I can get more posts out in August and partially because I want to start filling out my lists with real reviews rather than just rankings. This post is going to be the first in that trend, so we'll see how it goes.

You know the trope where a character has a good heart and everyone likes them even though they're shallow and a little bit all over the place? That's K-Pop Demon Hunters. Its visuals are pretty compelling1, the music is good2, and it absolutely doesn't feel soulless; it's just a bit thematically confused. To get into spoilers: I feel like using stereotypical K-Pop idols to tell a story about shame could be interesting, but this movie feels like it ignores the tension inherent in that idea. Correct me if I'm wrong here, but I'm fairly certain that K-Pop (like celebrity culture in general) is infamous for unreachable beauty standards. Having the movie never once mention that while all the main characters have perfect hair, skin, and physiques feels like a missed opportunity at best and outright self-contradiction at worst. Additionally, the fact that the demons are all sealed underground to suffer for eternity once we learned that at the very least a non-zero number of them are humans who feel trapped by their shame is a little discomforting. It seems like it contradicts their desired message, since the solution to destructive people motivated by shame being "let's hide it underground forever so we never have to think about it or deal with it again" goes against everything that has been set up across the entire movie.

If you're able to look past the messy thematic execution there's a lot to love here, alas that is something I find myself continuously struggling to do. Fine.

  1. Although I'm getting a little tired of the low-framerate gimmick. I don't think it's always a bad, but I think it can be a little distracting and I feel like these days it's shoved in every animated movie that wants to be "artistic" regardless of how well it fits the rest of the visual style. Yes I know Spiderverse did it and Spiderverse was very successful, but I feel like we're learning the wrong lessons here.^
  2. People who like K-Pop more as a genre will probably be able to give better feedback, frankly it just isn't my genre. If I'm missing something amazing, feel free to send me a strongly worded email (preferably including the names of some of your favorite K-Pop albums).^