Psychokinesis aired on Netflix this month and The Fangirls are here to let you know if this supernatural movie is worth the two hours’ view time.  So come join us as we discuss everything Psychokinesis.

 

Trailer:

SYNOPSIS: After drinking water from a mountain spring, a bank security guard gains telekinetic superpowers, which he must use to save his estranged daughter from an evil construction company, as a superhero (IMDb).

THE PLOT:

Kmuse: Before starting this movie I think I jinxed myself. I was contemplating how odd it was that so many of the movies we review have been really good.  Then I pushed play and our winning streak was over. I was NOT a fan of Psychokinesis. This movie was more interested in doing fun, yet cheesy, special effects instead of developing characters I could care for. You know you are watching a bad movie when being able to move things with your mind is the most realistic aspect of the plot. The relationships were so awkward and forced. The fact that these people would rather watch each other die than give in made me uncomfortable. For that matter, watching everyone’s lack of feelings for human life took me away from the story. It wasn’t just the bad guys who seemed to be missing ethics–everyone was just a little bit off. I get that they were trying to make a stand about society, but for me, it missed the mark.

Karie the Maknae: I’m with Kmuse. Psychokinesis relied heavily on tropes for characterization, enough that it took me out of the movie and made me start wondering about how realistic it was for the construction companies to hire gangsters to evict small business owners and if that’s what constituted eminent domain in South Korea and . . . yes, my mind wandered. Quite a bit.

CINEMATOGRAPHY:

Kmuse: The cinematography wasn’t bad.  Sure, it was super cheesy and reminded me of special effects from the late 80s early 90s sometimes.  But I think that is what the director was going for.

Karie the Maknae: I was surprised at the seamlessness of the CGI. I was expecting hidden wires, but there was definitely more tech going into it than that. Given the odd campiness that passed for humor in the rest of the movie, I figured the effects would be cheap and obvious.

CHARACTER OBSERVATIONS:

Kmuse: There was not one person that I really liked or related to in this movie. The relationships were not realistic and I just didn’t buy all the emotions that the writer/director/actors were trying to create. It felt like they gave the actors a very basic overview of what the emotional moments should be, but not small details to make it all gel together. Also, while we are on the subject of character observations, can we discuss how odd Yu Mi Jung’s character was? She played the bigwig fixer from the construction company and was just bat crap crazy. I was very confused about her reactions to, well, everything. Very confused.

Karie the Maknae: Characters are my bread-and-butter when it comes to a story. If I can relate to them, I will forgive a lot of the weird plot. On the flip side, that means that I want my characters to have depth. I loved the attorney, played by Park Jung Min–he was immediately adorable and relatable and WAAAAY over his head. Shim Eun Kyung had a luminescent quality to her, even when she was angry at her father or yelling at the gangsters. Ryu Seung Ryong did a good job with the little material he was given as the deadbeat dad. Jung Yoo Mi played her character well, even if she came off strong and sociopathic.

Yeah, the more I think about it, we have a collection of decent actors here. The problem lies in the storytelling, not the performance. The backstory leading into the main plot was weak and EVERY character was flat–no nuance whatsoever. Jung Yoo Mi’s weird evil director character could have been played by a male and it would have made no difference to the story. The characters had the weakest of motivations and didn’t really seem to connect well. OH! Except for the neighborhood business owners. They felt like a family, moving together as a group, but they also felt faceless and interchangeable.

 

OVERALL REACTION:

Kmuse: I didn’t enjoy this movie.  Fun special effects can’t fix a bad plot and unlikable characters for me.  I give it a 4.5 out of 10.

 Karie the Maknae: This movie was an odd combination of serious political commentary and over-the-top comedy on Ryu Seung Ryon’s part alone. It wasn’t cohesive and made me question the realistic portions of the plot more than the fantastical parts. Even the fantasy parts didn’t have internal consistency–his power had no limits and didn’t seem to take anything from him, and the learning curve for his ability was remarkably quick. None of it felt like a complete story. I’d give it 5 out of 10, just because I think the actors did well with the very little they were given to go on.

Til our next movie adventure,

The Fangirls

Dramas with a Side of Kimchi