Movie Review: K-Pop Demon Hunters

Look, I know I’m late to the party, but I don’t have Netflix, alright. I had to wait until I was at my dad’s in order to watch it. Don’t @ me. Anyway, short review:

Absolutely worth the wait.

There has been a lot of hype around this movie, both in the online spaces I frequent and amongst friends and acquaintances. So going in, I can’t say that I had no expectations. Which a shame, because great movies are always made better by the surprise of how great they are. But I had a great time with it all the same.

It was, by all measures your bog-standard action adventure kind of story, with the usual tropes of one hero is hiding a dark secret that could (and does) endanger everything, but that purported vulnerability becomes the ground for greater acceptance and personal power. There is also the bog-standard romance trope of hero + villain (who might not be so villainous after all, only it turns out he is, only to have it turn out that he isn’t… you know, your bog-standard redemption arc).

Listen, this story was not breaking any new ground here.

However, it did have some very important themes going on that I did find touching; learning to love yourself, despite your perceived flaws, understanding, forgiveness, sisterhood, found family, redemption… it’s all there.

And so were a butt-load of jokes; many of them visual in a way that only animation is capable of. Unless you’re familiar with this style of animation, it’s really hard to explain. They do it a great deal in anime (Japanese) as well; the size and shape of the eyes will change, as well as the style of drawing, in order to denote something very particular (eating ramen, for example, animated in a style that differs from the usual and indicates that these girls are famished). And it works. Don’t asked me why. But it does. It’s very funny, as was the case where the three girls are sneaking around backstage in order to get the drop on some demons.

And this is to say nothing of the music. Very catchy stuff. Most of it will be going on my workout playlist. Confession: I’m listening to it now.

Imma gear up and take you down…​

Ahem. Anyway.

I had a blast watching this. It was very funny, touching in parts, all too relatable in others. And a great adventure with three kick-ass heroines to boot. I highly recommend this movie if you’re in the mood for great action, lots of laughs, some feels, and great bops.

And also for this little guy: