Princess Aurora (2005)

Great Film overall

What a freaking movie. So many twists and turns. Absolutely intense from start to finish.

It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

For all it has going for it--the potential for a good twist, a unique combination of being a vigilante film and being a detective on the scent of a serial killer film, a plot concerning a woman getting revenge upon some real sleazoids that could have reached I Spit On Your Grave or Stiletto proportions, some great cinematography with a dark atmosphere, and an eerie Sybil split personality ending--Princess Aurora nevertheless ends up missing the mark. It's flaw is that is is not very suspenseful. Perhaps something is lost in translation in the captioned version, but nevertheless, the acting is not very emotional, the murder scenes, although unique, don't come as any surprise, and the plot quickly becomes transparent and predictable. For all the good ideas it has, it still just goes through the motions with only one or two true startles.

The movie started out with one heck of an inciting incident, immediately bringing the audience into the story. But after establishing the characters, it went "Hollywood" and downhill.Some reviewers may get caught up with the story and its content, but its execution is over- the-top and silly.***spoiler alert***When the killer drags the lawyer to the dump where her daughter was found dead, police and media show up for a Hollywood circus that's just too silly. Worst still, her ex-husband cop couldn't figure out where she was going until the last possible minute - and he didn't realize his dead daughter's birthday was coming up? Come on!Even worse, after she's arrested and convicted, she ends up in the same mental institution with her daughter's killer so she could get her ultimate revenge. Ludicrous and stupid. Beyond that, unlike her previous victims who've suffered, she merely taps into his jugular and he peacefully bleeds out when her ultimate rage should have shined through.Save your time and avoid what could have been a fantastic film.

Okay, so as a fan of the Korean cinema look I brought Princess Aurora... and I have to say that I was VERY impressed. It is a difficult film to watch at times, and it does take a while for the film to get going.I'm not going to put in any spoilers but if you do not want to know anything at all about the film please just accept that it is worth it and stop reading.Im trying not to sound to geeky but imagine if David Mamet (glengarry glen ross, Ronin) wrote for chan Wook Park (old boy, lady vengeance) and you would know what I mean.OK, so half an hour into the film I thought it was just another murder film, but it really is so much more.It is not perfect by any means. the police seem clumsy at times and the film gel as well as it could, but this is all for a reason, and that reason is shown in the 20 minute finale which is better than anything Hollywood can do. It is the type of ending that has you literally hiding behind a cushion one minute, then jumping up and cheering the next.If you liked lady vengeance or dark water, this is a film for you, if you like good cinema that makes you think then again this is a good movie for you.Park may be the fashionable director at the moment, and rightly so if you have seen his films, but Eun-jin Bang who directed this film is definitely one to look out for. Also, you should watch this before Hollywood remakes it, which no doubt it will at some point.I just liked the movie, and I hope more people give it a go.

From the initial looks of the trailer and the poster Princess Aurora looked like a calculating, comic book-inspired revenge drama. While it's definitely about revenge, I think the screen writers have grown a bit lazy with this particular subject in recent times. ** The following comments contain some spoilers**Story here deals with an on and off lunatic, Jung Soon-jung, played by Jong-hwa Eom. She was a mother once, now left carrying mental scars. Meanwhile she keeps herself busy by killing off random (or aren't they?) mean people. Her deeds challenge the authority as after consecutive killings the only thing they uncover is the sticker of a cartoon character next to the victims. Maybe the investigation is stalled due to her ex-husband, a cop trying to become a pastor, working on this case. Before the film was able to get to the motives of the story I was irritated with a few things. The police work and psychology behind this case was made to look insignificant and felt undetailed and tension free for the most part. The death scenes were formidable, although a bit too easily conceived by the leading lady. The sex scene between the unmarried couple served no purpose, and instead should have focused on telling us something of their past. A particular scene in the spa where a staff member hears a noise, which people even next door couldn't, and after walking an endless corridor misses to see any traces of the killer, was quite dubious. The film eagerly tries to clinch for a deeper impact as Soon-jung captures the lawyer who trialed the serial killer to a mental institution instead of a prison. Jong-hwa displays her acting chops as she dangles him from a crane above the cops and press, while speaking in her daughter's voice. Sung-keun Moon, playing her ex-husband cop, achieves zero to nothing while noting how neglectful he was when the wife asked him to look for their child, to what he suggested that she should file a police report. The film gets down to the mechanics of the story, voyeuristically revealing the day the girl was abducted along with the people who Soon-jung thought were liable for her murder, with moderate conviction. The girl herself was left to brood the busy streets, but instead of going up to someone or getting noticed by anyone for hours, she decided to instead take a cab for which she didn't have enough fare, resulting in her getting kicked out and later picked up by the killer. But the further butchery of probability didn't stop there, as the vengeful mom got sent to the same cuckoo's nest where the killer was kept. Conveniently seated a table away from him to be exact. ** End of spoilers ** In conclusion, Princess Aurora was an unconvincing revenge film which might have gotten some slack 5-6 years ago, but now it gets crushed by the opposition. 2005, which early on seemed like a candidate for a year as remarkable as 2003 and 2004 in Korean Cinema, provided fewer truly remarkable features, but here's hoping for a better, stronger 2006.