If
reincarnation were easy, everyone would be doing it. Frankly, there is no shame
in laboring for a while in the afterlife. However, a stout-hearted fire-fighter
who dies in the line of duty might be one of those rare paragons, who are allowed
to be reborn in forty-nine days, provided they are acquitted of the sins
represented by the seven domains of Hell. Three Guardians will guide him
through the process and act as advocates on his behalf. They are highly motivated,
because two more reincarnations will earn them their own terrestrial rebirth.
Kim Ja-hong should be a slam dunk, but events on Earth will complicate his
tribunals in Kim Yong-hwa’s Along with
the Gods: The Two Worlds (trailer here), which is now
playing in expanded markets.
During
the maelstrom of the final fire, Kim lost track of how many people he saved.
That is the kind of guy he is—or rather was. Hewonmak and Deok-choon are the
ones to break the bad news to him—but to them, he is good news. As a reputed
paragon, his reincarnation trials should be a snap. However, when they meet up
with their “Captain,” Gang-lim, they discover a vengeful ghost is darkening Kim’s
karma. He is not being particularly helpful either, but it is all due to his
deep concern for his long-suffering mother. Alas, she has more bad news coming,
based on what Gang-lim sleuths out.
Evidently,
Kim’s younger brother Su-hong died shortly after him, but his body has yet to
be discovered, thanks to a cover-up. Su-hong’s ghost has a right to be angry,
but his wrath might also expose secrets that could derail Ja-hong’s
reincarnation.
Reportedly,
AWTG: The Two Worlds and its forthcoming
sequel, The Last 49 Days, are the
first big budget Korean tent-poles filmed back-to-back, presumably to realize
economies of scale. It hardly seems like there was a compelling continuity
justification doing it that way, because Two
Worlds probably has more closure than half the films we covered this week. However,
there is a mid-credits teaser featuring completely new characters that might
make sense to readers of the web-comic it is based on, but will completely
baffle the rest of poor naïfs (although the fact that Ma Dong-seok will play a
substantial part is definitely intriguing).
Basically,
AWTG is like What Dreams May Come (the film, not the book), but with periodic interludes
of high-flying martial arts. The problem is the Guardians are considerably more
interesting than the paragon, but its probably better that way than vice versa,
because there are three of them and only one of him. In fact, Gang-lim is the
real hero of the film, not the whiny and passive Kim. As the Captain, Ha Jung-woo
just radiates steely badassery. He totally walks the walk, even when he is
flying around CGI-style in his billowing black cassock.
Kim
Hyang-gi is cute and plucky as Assistant Guardian Deok-choon, but sensitively
turns some surprisingly touching scenes. Ju Ji-hoon also plays it to the hilt
as Hewonmak, the arrogant and maybe not so scrupulous Guardian. Unfortunately,
Cha Tae-hyun’s Kim Ja-hong is just dull as sawdust. In recent films, character
actor Oh Sal-su has reined in the shtick, but not so here as one of the two
Devil’s Advocates.
Based
on this film, we would assume Gang-lim and Deok-choon will be the focus of the
sequel, which could work out okay, since they are the ones we would have chosen
anyway. There is some impressive world-building in AWTG, but its weird flights of fantasy call out for competing analysis
from strict Freudians and Jungians. Yet, you have to admire its conviction.
Watching it might actually be good for your karma. Recommended for fans of
sentimental after-life movies (Heaven Can
Wait, without the clouds and harps), Along
with the Gods: The Two Worlds continues in New York at the AMC Empire and
it is now playing in the Denver-Metro Area at the AMC Arapaho Crossing.