Film Review.

I am morally certain it was Nate Winchester who referred me to a snippet from the film being reviewed today--for which, many thanks.

Along With The Gods: The Two Worlds is a recent (2017) Korean film, and the Blu-Ray only offers English subtitles, no dubs. So if that bothers you, alas.

For those who are more amenable, AWTG is an old-school crowd-pleaser that offers plenty of Matrix-like action, humor and jerking of tears.

The film is the story of a young South Korean fireman, Kim Ja-hong, who dies in the line of duty. He is then escorted through what is asserted to be the Buddhist afterlife, with his conduct and sins judged by the various gods of the Buddhist hells.

Now, what I know about Buddhism can fit into an authoritative-sounding paragraph, so I am in no position to assess whether the Buddhist Last Things are accurately depicted. However, given (1) East Asia's tendency to smorgasbord the big religions (Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism) and (2) the proclivity of movie studios worldwide for cack-handling of matters religious, I suspect it should not be relied upon as a careful canonical depiction.

In any event, the story works well enough on its own terms.

After he dies, Kim Ja-hong is greeted by his three guardians, who are to escort him through the stations of judgment in the afterlife. He is believed by all three to be a paragon, whose moral rectitude warrants his immediate reincarnation. But he will have to pass the judgement of the Gods of the Hells first--and there are two giddy devil's advocates (to borrow from the Catholic tradition) who are all too enthusiastic about undercutting Ja-hong's alleged sanctity to send him to any of the very-Christian-like Hells.

[Mild spoiler-y warning.]

Along the way, it turns out that the efforts to undercut Ja-hong are thwarted by the determined efforts of his guardians, who manage to show what Paul Harvey fans recognize as The Rest of the Story. 

And the guardians are extremely well motivated, as they will be seriously punished if they try to pass off a fraud as a paragon.

And so it proceeds until Ja-hong faces the last test before the Hell of Filial Impiety.

Here is where things become complicated: Ja-hong's family life was unhappy. His father was absent, his mother is deaf and mute, and his surviving brother loathes him.

A shocking incident is shown, horrifying the Guardians, appalling the final judge, King Yeomra, and making the devil's advocates rejoice.

What happens throughout this portion of the film has to be seen to appreciate it.

So I will give you no spoilers.

From a technical aspect, the film is very solid. The main players--especially the guardians--are excellent. And one of the side characters is not only not exactly what the character appears to be, it is strongly suggested the character is God. Doing what the Almighty does, making sure the scales are just and intervening with nudges to ensure that justice is done. 

It is a worthwhile film, if not flawless. The moving to a side story involving Ja-hong's brother is somewhat clumsily-handled, disrupting the narrative flow. And it tries a little too hard and too often to offer humor where it could have been avoided. Then again, when the humor works, it works well. Finally, there's an interesting look and sin and forgiveness, with Yeomra making sure all and sundry know about the effect of the latter.

Overall, I was pleased to discover it and am happy to recommend it.