ALIENOID – A Review by John Strange
The science fiction film genre takes many forms. Alienoid from South Korea combines “hard” science fiction with Asian-style fight scenes and just a touch of comedy.
The film’s premise has not seen a lot of use in movies (though I have seen it a time or two in various manners in science fiction novels). Aliens are using humans as holding vessels/prisons for their criminals. Why? It works and they don’t see us as being anything more than useful animals.
The other planet uses two robotic entities as guards at this prison. The guards have the ability to change forms and move back and forth in history to deal with “jailbreaks”. The aliens can occasionally extricate themselves from their human vessels but can only exist outside those vessels for about 5 minutes without dying.
The action in this film, the first volume of a two-part story, has the guards and a few humans dealing with a major breakout that could result in the death of every human on the planet. The action occurs in both current times and back in time about 600 years.
The action is good. The fight scenes are excellent. The acting talent is wonderful. The only downside to watching this film is that the ending has a cliffhanger-style ending. Our company, Selig Polyscope Company, pioneered this format during the silent film era in the early years of the last century. It has not gotten any easier to deal with in all of those years.
It reminds me of our friends at Marvel Studios who love making multi-part films. The Lord of the Rings trilogy also comes to mind. Like these films, we can only wait for the next film to give us an ending to this epic story. Worth waiting? I think so.
Director: Choi Dong-hoon
Cast: Ryu Jun-Yeol, Kim Woo-bin, Kim Tae-ri, Shin Jeong-geun, So Ji-seob, Woo-jin Jo, Ryu Jun-Yeol, Woo-bin Kim, Lee Si-hoon, Kim Tae-ri, Jung-ah Yum
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Selig Rating: 4.5 Stars
Runtime: 142 Min.
Release Date: 08/26/2022
Local Release Locations: Cinemark Legacy (Plano, TX), Cinemark Music City Mall (Lewisville, TX), AMC DINE-IN Grapevine 30 (Grapevine, TX), Studio Movie Grill Spring Valley (Dallas, TX)
Language: Korean (with English Subtitles)
Movie Site: ALIENOID Official Website
Trailer: ALIENOID Official Trailer
The Selig Rating Scale:
5 Stars – Excellent movie, well worth the price.
4 Stars – Good movie
3 Stars – OK movie
2 Stars – No need to rush. Save it for a rainy day.
1 Star – Good that I saw it on the big screen but wish I hadn’t paid for it.
