Review of I'm a Cyborg, But That's OK (2006) by Johnnie A — 10 May 2008

After watching and falling in love with Chan-wook Park's "Vengeance Trilogy," I had wanted to see him branch out into strange, foreign cinematic lands as much as the next guy and to say that "I'm a Cyborg, But That's OK" is about as vast a departure from his previous three films as possible is still an incredible understatement.

This thing is weird.

But weird in a quirky, charming, "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest" as perceived by someone from "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest" kinda way. While it's not necessarily my kind of movie, I thought it was a cute and surreal exercise in Korean cinema with a deceptively sad and complex story.

While I certainly dug it and respect the general aesthetic of Park's work here, it's a hard film for me to rank because I don't think I really connected with it in any sort of meaningful way. (And if you think I'm just a bloodthirsty bastard who wanted to see more revenge flicks, check out my "Speed Racer" review - I'm versatile.) This film was just missing the "X factor" for me and I think I'm still kind of bummed out about that.