Kick the Moon opens in 1983 on a telling and decisive moment during a school field trip performance when Gi-dong, the popular tough guy, kicks the school nerd, Young-joon off the stage. Gi-dong, hearing of another school rallying up a gang, takes command of his own enthusiastic school and leads them into a massively bloody fight that becomes “legendary,” while Young-joon remains on the sidelines.
Years later, the two are in unexpected professions. Gi-dong is now a teacher at his old school, pushing kids to study rather than work for the local gangs. Young-joon, meanwhile, has become a gangster ordered to expand operations into his hometown of Gyeongju for his mob boss. He runs into Gi-dong while visiting, they share a drink and become friends despite their pasts. Soon though, their relationship becomes an all-out war as they find themselves competing for the same woman, a noodle shop owner named Ju-ran.
Kim Sang-jin’s directorial follow-up to his surprise 1999 hit Attack the Gas Station does not quite fit into the comedy genre of his debut, nor any easily identifiable label for that matter. Instead, we have an odd combination of a buddy-dramedy that can leave the audience smiling at a competitive rivalry one minute, and watch someone brutally get their face kicked in the next. The film has a bit of everything in it, but never feels like one of those forgettable Hong Kong flicks that mashes up every conceivable genre at the cost of coherency.
Kim avoids the pitfall by focusing first and foremost on the characters. His maturation is apparent in the three main characters that he manages to develop, while still maintaining his love for a colorful cast of peripheral ones. Cha Seung-won’s Gi-dong is played with a lovable obstinacy, while Lee Sung-jae complicates his Young-joon by hiding insecurities under his calm and cool persona. The two personalities clash splendidly over Kim Hye-su’s cute and abusive Ju-ran--turning this love triangle into the strongest part of the film. These three solid characters (and performances) remain the anchors as the film flows through comedy, drama and even well choreographed action of massive gang battles.
But Kim also feels it necessary to introduce a lively set of side characters and subplots for better or worse. While these one-dimensionals make for great humor and single-note gags, the script occasionally lingers on them for far too long in useless, unrewarding tangents. Twenty to thirty minutes could easily be cut to give the film a tighter focus on the leads we love.
The plot calls out for a recreation of Attack the Gas Station’s structure: a strict concentration on its main group of empathetic protagonists and a steady stream of unobtrusive side characters for added humor. Kick the Moon stretches itself a little too thin for all its ambitions, but it’s still nonetheless a highly entertaining film that shows promise for Kim Sang-jin’s future work.
Reviewed by Tarun
