Director: Kang Hyeong-cheol
Starring: Lee Jae-in, Ahn Jae-hong, Ra Mi-ran, Kim Hee-won, Yoo Ah-in, Oh Jung-se, Park Jin-young
Country of Origin: South Korea
Running time: 1hr 59m
If you are bored into oblivion by the everlasting duplications of the Marvel and DC universes, then Hi-Five offers a refreshing antidote.
My interest in any of the countless batch of superhero films evaporated at least a couple of decades ago.
How many times can you regurgitate the same type of movies?
The perpetual cycle of Superman, Batman, and Spiderman blockbusters, as well as those involving all manner of minor and obscure background players represents a deafening, CGI propelled nadir in the history of modern cinema.
Naturally, there are a few notable exceptions – Christopher Nolan’s incredible The Dark Knight (2008) and the groundbreaking Black Panther (2018) among them – but I purposefully avoided anything involving the words super and hero, until now.
There is an undeniable American influence in Hi-Five as it blends a manic energy with a sprinkling of mystique and cartoonish action.
Two key factors separate and elevate it from the Hollywood money spinning conveyor belt: a hilarious and often ludicrous tone and an adherence to South Korean sensibilities.
Even the concept is a unique selling point.
When a quintet of unremarkable citizens undergoes transplant surgery they develop superpowers. The strangers all notice distinctive tattoo style marks on their bodies after leaving hospital before becoming aware of each other.
Schoolgirl Park Wan-seo (Lee Jae-in) is at the centre of the story.
After a heart transplant she gains extraordinary strength, speed, and agility.
A promising Taekwondo player before getting sick she is mollycoddled by her father Park Jong-min (Oh Jung-se). The former Barcelona Olympic Taekwondo gold winning medallist is gravely concerned about his daughter’s health and insists she wear a watch which constantly monitors her heart rate.
Budding screenwriter Park Ji-sung (Ahn Jae-hong) secretly observes Wan-seo as she becomes aware of her extraordinary abilities and is caught in the act by the supersonic schoolgirl.
Although initially apprehensive, Wan-seo is persuaded by Ji-sung to find three other people who also gained exceptional capabilities after transplants.
After receiving a fresh set of lungs Ji-sung can generate a hurricane with a single breath.
Together they track down yogurt lady Kim Sun-nyeo (Ra Mi-ran) – a middle-aged woman that drives a motorized refrigerator selling Yakult’s and other dairy products – who had her kidneys replaced. She fancifully believes that her power is to get prettier before it is revealed she can unify and redirect the powers of the others.
Conceited layabout Hwang Ki-dong (Yoo Ah-in) is a jobless wonder who considers himself too cool for school. After a cornea transplant, he can control electromagnetic waves with a click of his fingers and uses it to nonchalantly play his favourite songs at any moment while turning power on and off at will.
The quartet only meet factory manager Kim Hee-won (Huh Yak-sun) – who can heal people with his hands following a liver transplant – later in the narrative.
Early on it is established that the head of the New God Foundation church Seo Young-chun (the older Shin Goo and younger Park Jin-young) has concocted a nefarious plan after a pancreas transplant allows him to draw revitalising energy from others.
He aims to steal the powers of the formidable five to transmogrify into an impregnable all-conquering deity.
The cult leader’s quest for immortality involves an organized hunt for the other transplant recipients resulting in a monumental final face-off.
Although it’s not exactly uncharted territory you won’t find an extensive back catalogue of South Korean superhero films.
Despite a slight over reliance on fight scenes where bodies catapult across the scene as if trapped in a pinball machine Hi-Five is both fantastical and hilarious.
There are only so many times that you can fly-kick someone off a wall or ram them through multiple layers of concrete, but this is a minor quibble rather than a major flaw.
It’s a precarious balancing act to switch between moments of monotony and improbability but director Kang Hyeong-cheol gets the pacing just about right.
There’s even room for a pointed statement on the influence of evangelical style churches in South Korea – crosses dot the skyline in most cities and towns throughout the country – in segments which question the purpose and credibility of organizations that milk their followers dry.
The comedy emanates from a set of brilliant characters all with their own vulnerabilities.
Lonely Wan-seo – played wonderfully by Lee Jae-in – seeks a sense of belonging and finds it in the group despite the frantic worries of her father.
In a standout sequence she deploys her superhuman strength while moving her injured father around like a puppet to ward off a bunch of New God Foundation thugs.
The overdramatic dad – portrayed amusingly by Oh Jung-se – owns a Taekwondo school and steals an early scene by setting a practice to the sound of Momoland’s “Boom Boom” (a guilty K-Pop personal favourite while I lived in South Korea).
One of the film’s highlights occurs when the young Taekwondo player turns Sun-nyeo’s yogurt cart into a Formula One car in a breathtaking chase scene.
She drives the fridge on wheels like a hyperactive bobsleigh pusher through streets and alleyways with the cult heavies in pursuit. It all plays out in surreal style to Rick Astley’s notorious hit “Never Gonna Give You Up” and is made all the funnier by the fact that the yogurt carts usually crawl through streets like tortoises.
It’s a cultural reference you simply will not find in the artificial worlds of American superhero epics. A middle-aged woman selling Yakult’s is far from an obvious choice for a hero, but the always excellent Ra Mi-ran plays the role persuasively.
Equally the complex world of age hierarchy and honorifics will not feature in any of the mountain of Marvel origins and sequels.
The slightly hopeless Ji-sung is actually a year older than arrogant waster Ki-dong, but it does not stop them bickering about how they should address each other even in the movie’s climactic chapter.
Despite their squabbling the pair also share a laugh out loud moment just when everything seems to be going awry.
It is to the immense credit of Ahn Jae-hong that he makes the hopeful screenwriter so funny. This is a superhero that almost has an accident before he can make it to the bathroom, trips down the stairs and goes the wrong way on a rescue mission.
While Yoo Ah-in’s personal transgressions delayed the film’s release – the filmmakers also supposedly tried to take him out the movie – his performance as a brash no-gooder cannot be ignored. A memorable introduction includes all manner of swagger and bravado as “The Power” by Snap! booms out in the background.
There is also a real sense of self-awareness as the five sit down to give themselves Hollywood style superhero names.
In a suitably tongue in cheek sit-down Nine Girl (Wan-seo), Fresh Girl (Sun-nyeo), Tank Boy (Ji-sung), Bluetooth man (Ki-dong) and Battery Man (Yak-sun) are crowned.
Somehow it all seems to fit in a tale which offsets otherworldly madness with hard reality while never taking itself too seriously.
@skasiewicz.bsky.social
Stephen Kasiewicz 