You can call it the year's most confusing western, or you can call it one of the year's most entertaining DVD releases. It's up to you. Korean director/writer Kim Jee-woon calls it The Good, The Bad, The Weird. It centers around a chaotic quest for a treasure map that promises riches so alluring it has half of Manchuria up in arms. It stars bounty hunter Park Do-won (Jung Woo-sung), assassin Park Chang-yi (Lee Byung-hun), and thief Yoon Tae-goo (Song Kang-ho),as The Good, The Bad, and The Weird, respectively.
The Good, The Bad, The Weird, despite it's slightly ominous title, is an all-out fun adventure that exploits the given opportunity for unmitigated lawlessness. Those of us familiar with westerns know that it's mostly a genre where one flawed but handsome and brooding hero battles for the home-front, all the while either chasing, or being chased, by his own tragic demons. Jee-woon strays from that formula completely. Instead utilizing the character most similar to this archetype, Park Do-won, as an agent of progression for Yoon Tae-goo. While Do-won fits the handsome, brooding type, the viewer never gets a chance to really explore his background or fully understand his motivation. He remains a superficial enigma, although he proves a fun element throughout.
While Do-won's ambiguity subtracted from the film, Yoon's antics provided shelter where character development failed. His mischievous smile and child-like wonder masked the hard shell of a well-seasoned thief. It's a demeanor that provided the majority of comic relief in this film, while helping him to create the most memorable role.
Captivating but not quite as goofy is Park Chang-yi, the assassin with a serious attitude problem. This raven-haired bully is vain and more short-tempered than a teething baby. It's clear his character is a psychopath, which gives his scenes an instant atmosphere of nervous tension. Chang-yi provides style and aggression, while the other two stars balance comedy and action for the film.
Judging by The Good, The Bad, The Weird, Kim Jee-woon seems to have a penchant for chaos. From the start, it was difficult to pinpoint the exact time period of the plot. Late1890's? Plausible. 1920's? Probable. 1960's? Highly unlikely but still a possibility. The characters, the props and the settings all seemed to exist on their own separate plane. In fact, in one scene a trucker hat was even spotted. Either Jee-woon was utilizing the theory of parallel universes or he chickened out of a Blazing Saddles ending.
In line with the chaos, was the sheer number of characters who seemed to be introduced towards the end. For most of the film we heard rumors about these individual armies, some of which seemed to be tacked on at the last minute as a ploy for drama. However, as entertaining as it was, this extra element only served to further muddle the storyline. It's not the easiest story to understand, simply because it makes itself that way. As a viewer, in order to enjoy this movie, all you need to keep in mind is that there's a map, and everyone wants it. End of story.
The Good, The Bad, The Weird, is highly recommended, but purely for entertainment value only. In this film, Jee-woon created three separate, superficially compelling characters, and by combining them he yielded a synergistic team that is the basis of brilliance for this movie. Aside from that, it's not big on fluidity or coherence, but it's well acted and well choreographed. The fight scenes are entertaining and quite brutal at times, but the comedy is fun, albeit not too witty. In totality, it's an energetic stylish movie full of flaws, but maybe that's part of why it works.
DVD Bonus Features
This DVD features a behind the scenes look at The Good, The Bad, The Weird sans commentary. There is a Making of #1 and Making of #2 that highlights the production hardships of this film. In addition, there's also an entertaining theatrical trailer and a Cannes Highlight Reel. Interviews with the stars and director round out the bonus features.
"The Good, The Bad, The Weird" is on sale August 17, 2010 and is rated R. Action, Adventure, Comedy, Western. Directed by Kim Jee Woon. Written by Kim Jee-woon, Kim Min-suk. Starring Jung Woo Sung, Lee Byung Hun, Song Kang Ho.
