미국 유명 영화 평론 사이트에서 디워에 대한 평론을 보다가 너무 슬프고 가슴이 아파서 이렇게 글을 남김니다.

제가 이 평론을 보고 슬픈이유는 디워에 대한 대한민국 네티즌의 열열한 지지와 응원이

이 미국에서는 꽤나 유명한 평론가..즉 외국인의 입장에서 봤을때는 ..더이상 말을 이어가기가 힘이 들정도로

기분이 안좋습니다.  

저는 디워의 스토리 영상미 연출력 배우의 연기... 이 모든 중요한 영화적 요소가 부족하다 할지어도

우리나라의 한 코미디언이  자국의cg기술력의 발전과  한국문화를 세계적인 문화로 알리겠다는

취지 하나만으로 모든것을 커버하고 악평들은 단번에 불식 시킬 수 있다고 생각하는 한 사람입니다.

하지만 이 비평을 읽고 조금은 제 자신의 생각이 너무 짧지 않았나 생각해 봅니다.

 그 이유는 디워 700만의 강력한 원동력...앞서 말한 두가지의 감동적인 취지는  우리나라 사람들의

애국심어린 격려만으로는 절대로 이뤄낼 수 없다는 것을 깨달았습니다. 독자적인 cg 기술도

투자가 이루어져하 하는 것입니다. 그리고 한국문화의 세계화...휴..정말 이 비평을 쓴 놈의 혀를 잘라버리고 싶

지만 이 비평에는 객관적인 입장의 외국인이 받을 수 있는 

디워를 통한 한국문화의 이미지 불량화의 느낌이 상당히 들어있었고.. 인정하긴 싫지만 그부분에선 틀린부분이

없었습니다.

제 짧은 의견은 여기서 그만 올리고...

자.. 이 한 외국인의 비평... 읽어보세요.

It's been a long time in the making, but the sci-fi fantasy Dragon Wars -- reportedly Korea's most expensive production ever -- is coming to American theaters. What's more surprising than the fact that it's getting a U.S. release is that overseas, the $70 million film has already turned a sizable box office. Color us impressed!





Dragon Wars, or D-War as it was originally titled, is a Korean film set in Los Angeles, financed with Korean money and helmed by a Korean director (former comedian Hyung-rae Shim), starring a largely American cast. Its plot revolves around TV reporter Ethan (Jason Behr) who discovers that L.A.'s recent earthquakes aren't just natural plate tectonics but the awakenings of a giant ancient serpent -- a Korean serpent -- that he is fated to battle because, well, the 500-year-old spirit of a warrior lives within him. He's charged with finding the reincarnated version of that warrior's soulmate, now a hot girl named Sarah (Amanda Brooks), and defeating the serpent before it becomes a dragon, destroys L.A., wreaks havoc on the world, etc.

Giant Korean serpents threaten Los Angeles in Dragon Wars

We first laid eyes on Dragon Wars at its modestly attended Sunday afternoon panel at Comic-Con. In all honesty, I hadn't meant to sit in on the presentation at all, but a friend was watching and there were plenty of free seats. Producer James Kang sat onstage with three of his leads, Behr, Brooks, and Craig Robinson; they ran a CGI-heavy clip full of bombastic action (Explosions! Screaming humans!) and digitally drawn Imugis (giant snakes of Korean lore who long to become dragons) mostly slithering about. People applauded, but it looked on par with a really cool snake fighting video game, or your average Sci Fi channel monster pic.



So unmoved was I then that I stepped up to the audience microphone to spice up my Dragon Wars panel-watching experience. Mostly, that was to say "Hi" to Robinson, who plays second fiddle to Behr in the film (as his wisecracking cameraman). Fans of good comedy know Robinson from dropping a few performance gems, as the warehouse foreman Darryl on The Office and as the brutally honest bouncer in Knocked Up; I dare say he was my favorite part of the Dragon Wars presentation.



I also asked producer Kang to explain why they were changing the film's perfectly ridiculous Korean title, D-War, to the more serious, spelled out Dragon Wars for American audiences. His response was something along the lines of "the digital age" we live in now -- fine, whatever, but why even bother using such staid and grammatically accurate verbiage for something that would benefit from playing up a more playful angle? Especially when all of the film's promotional materials highlight giant serpents eating cars, creatures flying above a metropolis, a showdown atop a skyscraper helipad -- remarkably reminiscent of Larry Cohen's Q: The Winged Serpent, in which an ancient Aztec serpent-god terrorized Manhattan from high atop the Chrysler Building.

Dragon War character poster; Q: The Winged Serpent

Don't get me wrong -- I have absolutely nothing against the idea of a sci-fi/fantasy dragon flick. I tore through Anne McCaffrey's Pern series as a young, bookish nerd. I was excited about Christian Bale and Matthew McConaughey's Reign of Fire all the way despite its dubious science. And I will certainly give Dragon Wars a fair viewing before officially passing judgement.



Regardless, it was a tad surprising to hear that D-War (as I shall refer to it in the context of its non-U.S. dealings) has raked in massive earnings in its South Korean run -- $20 million in its first five days, and over $40 million total in the two weeks since. Since August 1, a reported 6.14 million tickets have been sold in South Korea, which means roughly one out of every eight of the nation's 49 million people have seen the film.




Pundits predict that at this pace, D-War will easily match the record-breaking run of another well-performing South Korean monster movie: last year's The Host, which currently holds the all-time Korean box office title and got the patronage of nearly a fourth of the country's populace while in theaters. That film's commercial success, however, was bolstered by critical praise (the tale of a Loch Ness Monster-type creature is Certified Fresh with a 92 percent Tomatometer). It's uncertain, but seems unlikely, that D-War will get similar honors. While most critics stateside have yet to review the film (excepting Variety's Derek Elley), a flurry of debate has erupted in South Korea over the film's artistic value, with one critic deeming it "unworthy of criticism."




You'll be able to decide for yourself come September 14, when Freestyle Releasing is scheduled to let Dragon Wars loose on American soil. By then, every man, woman, and child in South Korea may have seen the flick. We'll see how it goes over here.