The Good, the Bad, the Weird

2007 Korean Italian American Western

Rating: 14/20 (Mark: 16/20; Amy: refused to give me a number)

Plot: Everybody was gun fighting. Those cats was fast as lightning. An outlaw, an assassin, and a petty thief fight over what might be a treasure map discovered on a train somewhere in China.

This is thoroughly enjoyable, both with the visually-exhilarating style and the nonstop bursts of ultra-fantastical shoot-'em-up action scenes. Really, it's about as close as you can get to a movie that is too much of a good thing. There's not much new with the story, like a joke it seems I've heard before even if I don't remember the punchline, and the trio of characters weren't nearly as interesting as they should have been, their characterization barely extending beyond their descriptions in the title. The film makes up for it with an addictive creative energy, a mishmash of what must be anachronisms and period detail, and a solid and boggling denouement. There are frequent nods to Leone although it lacks the poetics and subtleties those Clint Eastwood movies, replacing them with frenzy. This is a fun action movie if it's not exactly a great one and a good mash-up of classic spaghetti Western tones with something decidedly modern, just the kind of movie I imagine Tarantino would want to spend an evening with.