Verdict
Summary
Confusing and disorienting, much like the character’s condition in the movie, Spiritwalker is intriguing to be sure, but it lost me at some point and never gained its footing, despite a rousing action-filled finale that called to mind some of the best gunkata scenes from the John Wick movies.
Plot:
A man’s spirit swaps bodies twice daily, and as he tries to get to the bottom of it, he unearths a conspiracy against him.
Review:
A man wakes up, bruised and battered after a car crash and can’t remember who he is. A homeless guy comes to his aide, but this will likely be the last kindness anyone shows him for quite some time. When police arrive to ask him questions, the man – who’s been shot – has a lot to answer for, but nothing makes sense to him, and when at noon the next day he becomes another person (literally), he manages to at least grasp that he is not in control of his spirit. When the phenomenon continues on a daily basis for the next few days – swapping places with another person altogether, his only real ally comes in the form of the homeless man, who tries to believe his impossible story. Men with guns are chasing him, and as he struggles to grasp his condition, he slowly but surely begins to get some outlandish answers (something to do with experimental drugs and experiments, I still don’t really understand), and there’s a legion of guys with guns out to kill him. But when pushed, he doesn’t just sit by and let death come for him, no, he takes up arms and fights back … with a vengeance.
Confusing and disorienting, much like the character’s condition in the movie, Spiritwalker is intriguing to be sure, but it lost me at some point and never gained its footing, despite a rousing action-filled finale that called to mind some of the best gunkata scenes from the John Wick movies. There’s a bunch of villains in the movie, but there’s also way too much talk, and so I tuned in and out of the film as it progressed with all its exposition, confusion, and periodic spurts of action. I wanted to like it, and while I enjoyed aspects of it, I don’t think I’ll watch this one again anytime soon. From writer / director Yoon Jae-keun.
Well Go USA’s new Blu-ray release (it’s also being released on DVD) of Spiritwalker has an optional English language option (which I chose over its original Korean because I had a feeling the movie was going to be confusing), and includes a behind the scenes feature, plus trailers.
