In theaters from Well Go USA from January 26th, 2024
In this follow-up to Alienoid (2022), the story picks up where the first film ends. We get to see Lee Ahn in the far away past, stuck there, but maybe not, looking for a divine sword and a way home.
This sequel is written and directed by Dong-hoon Choi who also wrote and directed the first film, and it shows. Here, the story has basically the exact same mood and vibe as its predecessor. This is chaos, time travel, action sequences, magic, silly nonsense of the best kind. It’s all over the place and it’s great that way. There is a ton here and most of it will make zero sense unless the first one was watched, or rewatched, recently. There are so many characters, some time travel, some don’t, some come from the first film, some don’t… It’s the kind of film where if you sneeze and you miss something important for sure, but at the same time, it’s fine because you’ll catch up quickly. It’s hard to explain, but it’s the kind of film that will work perfectly to some and absolutely not for others with very few in-between.
The cast here is a mix of returning folks from the first film and new faces. There is a large cast here and it seems like a lot of them are actually important to the story. The talent here is solid and the film works well in big part because of them. One of the leads is played by Kim Tae-ri who is fantastic here, she’s fun to watch, gives a good performance, and isn’t afraid to go for the more physical scenes. Ryu Jun-Yeol gives a fun performance here as well as just about everyone involved in the action scenes. There is also some humor here and the comedic timing is on point.
Just like with the first film, the action here is a bit part of the attraction to the film. Action director/stunt coordinator Sungchul Ryu does great work here and the fights are not only dynamic, but they also look good. The wire work is fun, the weapons are a bit out there at times, there is something here that brings in even more fun than what the story needed.
Adding to the fun is the cinematography which is stunning and gives these beautiful views of the Goryeo Dynasty era village and of modern-day South Korea. The way the film is shot really adds to the story here and to the enjoyment. Of course, there are special effects which are also quite good. Of course, the predominance of cgi instead of practical effects has the risk of aging badly, but for now, it looks great.
Alienoid Return to the Future is a boatload of fun, like pop rock candy of cinema. It has everything from action to humor to drama to a bit of romance and everything in-between. The film will be too much for some, but if you loved the first, you will love this one as well.
