And it was! A very different kind of film about a monster terrorising the public in Seoul, and in particular one family (as far as the viewer is concerned), but with multiple layers underneath the obvious which the director was making some social-political-environmental statements about - particularly with regards to the American authorities and how they were behaving irresponsibly in Korea.
The monster is a huge kind of fish thing, very imaginatively created, with a head/mouth a bit like Ridley Scott's Alien's, but it also kind of looks like female genitalia as well! It's been created by scientists dumping chemicals in the river. (Anyone seen The Simpsons episode with the 3-eyed fish after Mr Burns had done similar?) Anyway, in amongst much mayhem, killings, rampaging and chaos, the little girl in our family-in-focus is whisked away by the monster and dumped into a secure area of the sewer alongside a few other 'captures' - some dead, some alive, by the looks of it.
The first part of the film is quite comic really as we get to know the bumbling members of the endearing family, interaction with each other and quirks. And funny, they are. When the creature appears and takes the young girl off however, the comic stuff, to some degree, drops away to be replaced by a drama about a determined family in crisis. They creatively break every rule in order to get her back from the creature, battling the authorities along the way who are trying to lock down the public amidst the chaos.
There's lots of thrills, chases and edge-of-the-seat suspense as we're encouraged very much to get alongside the quirky family. They often provide us with heart warming moments as we root for them in their quest! The performances are excellent right across the board but a special mention for dad, played by Song Kang-ho (from the aforementioned Parasite, Snowpiercer and Memories of a Murder, but also A Taxi Driver which I enjoyed very much, too). More familiar faces for those who follow the work of Bong Joon-ho pop up as he clearly liked to be loyal to his regular actors. Byun Hee-Bong as the grandad, Bae Doona as the olympic archer sister (you can imagine) and particularly Ko Ah-sung (Snowpiercer, Life on Mars) as the little girl, who was terrific throughout.
It's a thought-provoking 'creature-feature'(!) which leaps between the terror of what the creature is capable of, moving poinginancy of the impact on a nuclear family in the mix, thrills and spills of the chase, the fight with the authorities, suspense in dark, wet and unwelcoming sewers around a threatening river, a jump-scare or two and a whole ton more to really enjoy. No wonder Tarantino was jealous and wished he'd made it. An entertaining thrill-ride it is with some messages baked-in. I'm not really doing it justice here with my brief thoughts, so do see it! It's available via some streaming services in the UK as I write.
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