User reviews

This is my very first review, so let me introduce myself.

I am half Korean, half Japanese, raised in an English speaking country of all places. I'm a self proclaimed movie maniac who enjoys movies as they are.

Alright, let's move on.

When I heard about this movie and saw the trailer, this reminded me titles like Hancock and Inuyashiki. Perhaps some of you reading this may thought of that too.

Are they similar? I'd say yes, but it takes a surprising fresh take.

The premise of the film is quite ridiculous and the film well knowingly understands it's own ridiculousness. But that is the very charm of the film, it doesn't try to hide it. It's very down-to-the-earth witty in it's own terms. The story is quite simple and cliche, in terms of International standards, heck even in Korea cinema, it's been done before, minus the hero elements. But it's the simplicity of using social issues in Korea that creates the working story. If you have watched the film ''Holiday'', you'd find some similarities that point towards power abuse in the growing economic power in Asia, where weak minorities are given no slack and are simply pushed around like slaves. It's something that as a Korean viewer can easily relate to, which makes the simple story very human. Unlike films like Avengers or Hancock, where the issues are caused by ''inhuman'' plots. Not to take jabs at those movie though, I loved the latest film.

Despite the somewhat dark undertone, it doesn't focus on that as some sort of political statement, but rather a crude satire. The film really doesn't hold back on it's comedy aspects, which a lot of Korean movies are known for. If you enjoy the subtle humor in Korean films, you'll enjoy this one too. I personally laughed quite a bit.

The characters also felt very human, except for one... very quirky business woman. Acting was quite good too and the relationship between the father and daughter was also very well portrayed. Under circumstances, the father left when the heroine was very young and when he did happen to return, there was nothing but awkward tension. It was quite realistic. Though there wasn't much progression in character development between the two, but the story of the film only takes place in a matter of days, so it actually makes sense. Wouldn't expect something like that to be resolved in such a short time. The characters showed doubt, despite everything happening, but slowly tried to understand each other.

Though to note that this is no typical Superhero movie. I'd say that this takes one step less than Hancock did (who eventually did ''charity'' work). The main character is an ordinary middle-aged man, who sucks at is own job and steals toiletries. And despite his newfound powers, he did nothing in sort of using it for good. I'd say he caused more damage than good. Even when it appears he is trying to save ''people'', he is only there to save his daughter. He probably wouldn't have done anything with his powers if his daughter wasn't in any danger. This doesn't really change throughout the whole movie. But that goes back to the previously mentioned point about the film being ''human''. The motives are very simple, everyone is kinda moving for a single cause, or simply for their own gains. I think that this is a unique charm in Korean cinema and it works really well in this film as well. As for the villains... well they are quite simply... silly. Over the top acting, slap stick material goofs. Another charm of Korean films. Some people may find uninteresting, but if you love funny villains, this ones great in that front. Also the very unique business woman, only a minor character, but a highlight. A very sane, but a very insane sociopath. Sort of like a female Tony Stark, if only Stark was a villain.

Overall this was a very enjoyable movie with no downtime. It got straight to the point and didn't really waste that much time. Except it doesn't really get much done by the end of the film? The story is just so simple that it's just a point of time in life, you win some and lose some, then move on. There are no winners, there are no losers. In that premise, it's quite like ''Fly Daddy Fly'', another Korean cinema classic.

If you have some free time and have a Netflix sub, I recommend this a definite watch.

I give this a solid 7.5/10.

Sorry if this ''review'' of mine is a complete mess, it is my first one... anyways enjoy!

What initially lured me to in to sit down and watch "Psychokinesis" was the fact that this was a South Korean movie. But the fact that the people behind "Train to Busan" also were onboard this one just sweetened the deal.

I am a big fan of Asian cinema, and South Korea do put a lot of good movies out there. And I will say that it was no different with "Psychokinesis" (aka "Yeom-lyeok"). This was definitely an entertaining movie in many aspects.

First of all, I am the first to admit that I am not overly keen on superhero movies, but "Psychokinesis" took the superhero aspect of the genre and brought it to a whole new place. This was not about people in spandex clothing running around being all invincible and showing off powers left and right without concern for the ordinary man around them. No, this was about an ordinary man with quite ordinary every day problems, whom just happened to get superhero powers accidentally and using them to further his own and his daughters goals. So that whole self-righteous and better-than-thou aspect wasn't here. And that made for a very realistic feel to the movie, especially since you could so easily relate to the main character.

"Psychokinesis" is not a movie about grand special effects, CGI and whoa-effects. It uses some CGI, of course, but it is done with limitation, as not to take over the whole movie (read Hollywood superhero franchise movies here). And the special effects / CGI worked out quite nicely in favor of the movie, as it supplemented the individual scenes well.

The movie had a good cast, which all performed quite well. I wasn't particularly familiar with anyone on the cast list here, but it was a good experience nonetheless.

If you enjoy South Korean movies, then you should definitely take the time to watch "Psychokinesis".

And do other stuff that is. The premise with someone getting some uber power I think speaks to the kid inside us. Apparently most have dreamt of flying as kids (scientists or some research has found out). So this is an extension almost making a magician out of our main character. But as always, with great power comes great responsibility.

And in this case a lot of cliches. Not that there is anything to say against those things per se, but it also sometimes really takes the wind out of it. You can see where this is going - that doesn't mean you can't have fun with it - on the contrary. This really is something that kids may be able to enjoy, having good and bad, family drama and so much more

Though it wasn't the masterpiece that some reviewers have said, nor was it a 1 star film, it was still enjoyable, especially if you go into it knowing Korean cinema style. Basically its your typical superhero tale. Average guy has a boring and average life until he comes in contact with a life altering substance that turns him into a superhero. He now uses his power to save his daughter from a shadowy organization. So its typical comic book stuff with a little "Taken" in there. Many will find this film to be too silly, but thats the style of Korean cinema, if anyone has seen "Train to Busan" you will see that a movie can still be amazing even with silly acting and borderline slapstick comedy. Unfortunately some people will be turned off by it if they are not used to it, but for this reviewer, it didn't bother me.

So as I said the acting is silly in some places. But this is common place for the region. Some of the serious acting was alright but I found it to be all very average. The cinematography was also hit and miss, some of it I thought was great but most was just average filming. The super hero scene, I did enjoy, though sometimes it borders on "The 3 Stooges" slapstick action. But I still enjoyed most of it. Not a thought provoking piece of cinema, but its still a fun watch if you've got nothing else to watch.

This is a 2018 Korean movie. Very kids friendly and a few good movie. The thing that stood out was - inspire of a really far fetched theme of science fiction, they put a lot of family and humor. Watch with kids for some out of ordinary flicks.

Not too bad of a watch. I normally only watch Korean films when back he but since I'm homesick, I figured why not. It definitely reminded me of Hancock. What I love most about it is he never took a life

Train to Busan is great.. this isn't.. it's too simplistic.. it's almost a kids film. The caricature 'bad guys' are like something out of a 70s disney film. The 'estranged dad makes up with his lost daughter' is a total cliche. The central idea of 'deadbeat dad gets super powers' could have gone somewhere .. but.. it just doesn't.

REVIEW - PSYCHOKINESIS

Last year this director brought us one, if not the best Zombie films called Train To Busan which wone praise world wide so naturally I had very high hopes for the follow up.

PSYCHOKINESIS the power to move objects with your mind and a power which we would all love to have, a normal anti hero manages to acquire this ability and goes about putting his relationship with his daughter to rights.

Korean film with English subtitles this film is enjoyable in many ways, acting by the main baddie is too over the top and the authorities are just brain dead clones but for its target audience being the complete opposite of the Zombie festival last year this film is enjoyable and fun.

You wont see this at any cinema in English but if you do see this or Train To Busan on Netflix give them a try, you may be surprised

Rating 7 out of 10

Downplays it's best character trying to give protagonism to it's main character that is one of the most unreleatable protagonistsI have seen in a film, it worked in Train to Busan because it's main character's flaw was treated seriously unlike Psychokynesis which shows a terrible trait and a terrible person while playing quirky funny music trying to make us like him. The other thing that really bothered me is that the female character was downplayed so bad, it was easily it's best character and also she seemed like the protagonist who's role was stolen to give it to a man, it works in Train to Buscan again... Because the women depicted in that picture were weaker for good reasons, a pregnant woman, a child and a couple of old people. In the film it feels like everyone is trying to force her to like his father in the most convoluted and incredible ways, and when I say incredible I mean I do not believe them and it ruins movie magic.

It is as big of a dissappointment as it's main character, it would of been better if the writers had read the book "Save the Cat" or if the director was Milo's Forman's who's Amadeus is a great example on how to make a terrible person into a great character, in this case it simply doesn't work to anyone who doesn't feel guilty for leaving his wife and kid for 10 years and coming back demanding respect that is actually given to them pretty fast and applauded.

The photography is decent but not anything special, production design is pretty clean and it seems like they had a big budget for this one with all the extras in police costumes. The acting has it's ups and downs the one that shines is the villain that is only seen for a couple of scenes. All in all it is a very underwhelming film considering it comes from South Korea which tends to have close to flawless execution on it's widely distributed films.

Forget DC, put aside Marvel, there is a new superhero in town and he's absolutely fantastic.

Now I had high hopes going in as I have a great history with Korean cinema, in fact the last movie I gave 10/10 was Korean (Train to Busan 2016) but I didn't actually expect Psychokinesis to be quite this good.

It tells the story of an absent bum father who returns after his ex-wife passes away. He tries to get back into his daughters life but meets understandable resistance, that is until he develops super powers and realizes he can use them to help her.

Now let's be clear this is a comedy more than anything, comedy with serious undertones, a decent budget and honestly could be considered family friendly. There is no swearing, the violence is at A-Team level (You know where explosions happen and people go flying but nobody gets hurt), and it's goofy in that really endearing kind of way.

A truly heart warming feel good film I applaud everyone involved. Though there were some aspects of the end I didn't entirely appreciate and would have written differently I can't say they take much away from the film.

This is so very very enjoyable, I laughed, I cheered, I welled up a little bit and walked away very satisfied.

The Good:

Feel good movie

Seung-ryong Ryu and Eun-kyung Shim

The Bad:

Feels a tad incomplete

Bit too goofy a couple of times

The word gosh (Translated) must have been used 100+ times

A comedy that knows not to dwell unnecessarily long on the cliche story elements in its setup and cuts pretty much straight to the fun. I thought especially the first half of the movie was hilarious, although that may also have been partly because of me not being that familiar with the Korean sense of humor to begin with. I thought the movie sort of lost its pace leading up to and following the final 'climax'. The buildup to the ending felt somewhat dragged out and some parts at the end also felt a bit forced. Although none of that killed the movie for me and I still really enjoyed it. Definitely worth a watch! 7/10

The fact that this is a Korean super hero film doesn't turn a turd into a diamond. While much of the acting in it is pretty decent, the main actor is considerably over-the-top. This is most likely the director's fault rather than the actor. The storyline is mediocre. The most interesting role in the film was the female executive, a total psychopath / sociopath. The part was presented and played well.

The special effects are well-done throughout. That's a two-thumbs up.

The climax made little or no sense and the ending was trite and cliche. I'd give it a 5-star "okay" rating if not for the gratuitous language thrown in, which is unwarranted in a film of this kind.

I don't care whether it's Korean, Russian, U.S. or Transylvanian... I rate films by their content, quality and story. This film simply fails to deliver in the aspect of a quality tale. Rather than viewing this with glossy eyed "oh a super-hero movie from Korea!" let's be realistic and simply ask, "Is it a good movie?" Naw, it's mildly interesting but in the clinch lets the audience down. It definitely doesn't rate the high stars we see in some of these overly-enthusiastic (bought?) reviews. So I'm expecting to see a lot of thumbs down on my review from the 10-star shine job film affiliates. ; )

I liked the story how it begins and what missing is meteor came down on earth without anyone notice which is should have been any related story about it but in general great movie I loved it

If you've got some time to kill them this is a nice movie to watch, it's well made and good fun, it's typical fayre with good versus bad, the little guy being pushed around by the big corporation and corrupt cops but I enjoyed it o

This movie is probably not one of those epic moves you will remember for all times, but it has an acceptable nice plot, it takes a little bit of Hancock, without exaggerating and it does not degenerate in a worldsaving superhero movie. On the contrary, the superhero does what he has to do and then pays his debt. The Story flows well, acting was fine, although the bad guy was never really transmitting an evil Mafia like spirit. He was more like a funny caricature of a wanna be bad guy. So probably a little less comedy would have been more impacting from a drama point of view. After all, the story is about tearing down lives of people, most probably a very common situation in strongly developing and speculating countries

Stared by qualified actors, this movie successfully provided a thrilling and entertaining story, especially from start, up to near-end. The story also made the audience felt so emotional.

But, seriously the ending is really a disappointing ending. The evil corporate has done some terrible crimes:

• killing the mom
• taking over the place by force
• taking advantage of police force in corruptive way
• and having the protagonis in jail for 4 years

And the end? Justice didnt show up. The protagonist lost their place, having in jail for 4 years. And the antagonist, didn't even brought to police nor getting hurt in the end. Its just so unfair. But everyone suddenly become happily ever after.

Therefore, at the "ending" stand point, its such like a movie for a weakling. Sorry for harsh wording

It's for pre-teens, it seems, with the "good" laborers vs. the "evil" corporation and police, in a Greatest American Hero style of slapstick.

'PSYCHOKINESIS': Four Stars (Out of Five)

A South Korean superhero movie about a father that discovers he has superpowers, who then tries to use those powers to rescue his daughter. It stars Ryu Seung-ryong, Shim Eun-kyung, Park Jung-min, Kim Min-jae and Jung Yu-mi. The film was written and directed by Yeon Sang-ho (who also performed both duties on the 2016 critically acclaimed 'zombies on a train' flick 'TRAIN TO BUSAN'), and it was released by Netflix through it's streaming site. I really enjoyed it.

The story is about a bank security guard, named Shin Seok-heon (Seung-ryong), who has a troubled relationship with his estranged daughter, Shin Roo-mi (Eun-kyung). He drinks some contaminated water from a mountain spring, and gains super telekinetic powers. He tries to use these powers to help his daughter, who is constantly being harassed by a corrupt construction company. Seok-heon becomes a reluctant superhero in the process.

The film is the first ever South Korean superhero movie, and it's definitely a refreshing change from the American ones (like the new 'AVENGERS'). This film has so much character, and genuine heart and emotion. It's pretty simple in it's action scenes, and villainous threat, which is what's so cool about it as well. The film concentrates on what a good superhero movie should be about, rather than on CGI and other superficial excesses. I really found it to be quite entertaining and effective.

I think the concept here is quite good; the problem is the uneven execution. I love the idea of an exceedingly ordinary (random) guy getting superpowers. The way he starts realizing something has changed (and then starts experimenting) is very cool. However, the idea that this guy abandoned his family seems contrived, and if we are to accept this, there should be more depth than just animosity from his estranged daughter. It also bothers me that the guy walked out; I thought personal responsibility was a big deal in most eastern cultures.

I've seen a few other oddball South Korean S/F films, and there is a standard theme that family is important, but "family" isn't just people you share genes with (or married). Those themes are present here, but they feel a bit superficial and unconvincing -- it's like some realism is missing (such as press coverage, proper scientific investigation of blatant physics-defying abilities, and military interest). The return-to-quasi-normalcy ending seems loosely modeled on The Wizard of Oz, which works great in a old-time rural fantasy, but less well in a modern urban setting.

Jung Yu-mi is fantastic as a psychotic mob-boss and corporate executive, though her screen-time is very limited.

The special effects are good, but the audio volume varies considerably from one scene to another. The music and sound effects are often much louder than the dialogue.

I give this 5.5 stars for the (fresh-but-flawed) entertainment value, with a half-star bonus for Jung Yu-mi. That's six (6) stars total.

I think many of the reviewers may be influenced by some sort of national pride. This truly was not comparable to most of the Hollywood superhero movies. The origin of the hero is ridiculous. The characters are absurd and caricatures. The plot is pretty ridiculous and the ending is just pretty pathetic. The CGI is okay but nothing to write home about. This movie appears in lists of the best action movies of 2018 which is ridiculous or there werent many good action movies that year. It is a lightweight movie that I was tempted to switch off a few times but I persevered until the end but wished I'd not bothered. Dont waste your time.