Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		1.0
Overall		4.0

Alienoid Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman December 6, 2022

Alienoid seems to want to kinda sorta be the Korean version of Everything Everywhere All At Once, albeit with a generous dose of "WTF?" added, as if the Michelle Yeoh film didn't have enough of that particular tendency already. I have been known to use gonzo quite a bit in reviews of films that strike me as inherently nutty, and I have to say in some ways Alienoid out-gonzos many of the others I've utilized that term for. What initially seems to be a "historical" if supernaturally tinged setting in 1380 is almost immediately interrupted by a wormhole delivering a very 21st century looking SUV into a primitive village. Some very brief opening narration announces that aliens have been placing other alien prisoners into human hosts in what might be called the, well, gonzo equivalent of "the sunken place" in Get Out, but occasionally, much like what in fact happens in the Jordan Peele opus, the "tenant" consciousness escapes and needs to be "stuffed back in" or, as happens in the opening vignette, eliminated. It's soon disclosed that a kind of cosmic bounty hunter appropriately named Guard (Kim Woo-bin) has come to deal with just such a pesky alien prisoner whose consciousness at least is being "housed" inside a human body. Now already some might be feeling the ineluctable press of the need for more information, but Alienoid is one of those carnival rides of a movie where it's probably best not to waste too much time worrying about reading the warning signs before you climb aboard. Within mere minutes, we're introduced to Guard and Thunder, who isn't "just" a Knight Rider-esque voice in the SUV, it (he?) can morph into anything and so is the car, and, on occasion, a doppelganger for Guard himself. The two deal with the alien, which unfortunately has less than optimal consequences for the human host, who it turns out had a newborn baby. Against Guard's express orders, Thunder decides to bring the baby along on the pair's journey through time back to the 21st century. Mind you, this is all literally in the first few minutes of the film, so hang on tight.

A few years later in the contemporary timeframe, that baby is now a young girl named Ean (Choi Yoo-Ri), whose childhood memories of being abducted (questionable, since she was a newborn) and her belief that her father is an alien with an AI device named Thunder kind of comically alerts Ean's school administration, who call Guard in for a little consultation. Guard tries to buy Ean off with a "you were just imagining things" gambit, which of course goes nowhere, and soon enough Ean actually reestablishes contact with Thunder, who in just one of many plot points this screenplay leaves elided despite its stuffed to the gills feeling, has evidently been incommunicado with her for years. To make things a bit simpler in the retelling, I'll stick with this timeframe for just a moment with an aside that the film itself ping pongs back and forth between more or less current day times and 1380 at the veritable drop of a hat. In any case, suffice it to say that in this contemporary timeframe, another "hosted" alien may be about to break free, and a guy named Moon (So Ji-seob) is involved.

In the meantime, things are just as frenetic back in the 14th century, with a so-called Daoist dosa magician named Murek (Ryu Jun-Yeol) on the hunt for a mystical blade with the help of two acolytes, with this trio perhaps bringing to mind a somewhat similar magical fantasy cohort that is part and parcel of the many films about The Monkey King. There are a number of other characters in this timeframe, including two sorcerers named Madame Black (Yum Jung-Ah) and Mr. Blue (Jo Woo-Jin), as well as a supposedly mysterious young woman (Kim Tae-ri) who seems to have a somewhat unexpectedly modern weapon despite this being centuries ago. Considering the fact that this film involves multiple levels of time travel, it's not overly challenging to figure out who the woman is even if what she's doing is a bit of a stumper.

It's kind of interesting and perhaps actually helpful to note that in one of the few supplements included on this release, a so-called Character Trailer chooses to focus only on Guard, Thunder, and Moon from the contemporary story and Murek, Ean, Madam Black and Mr. Blue, and another character named Jajang (Kim Eui-sung) from the historical timeframe. But really that's already eight characters at a minimum, and when you start multiplying these characters in different eras at different ages, it starts to become positively overwhelming. That may be one reason why even at close to two and half hours of runtime, this story ends with "To be continued".

Alienoid Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Alienoid is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Well Go USA with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.39:1. The IMDb lists a couple of Arri Alexa models and a 2K DI as relevant data points. This is a fantastic looking presentation virtually all of the time, with typically excellent detail levels throughout both the somewhat more opulent 14th century timeframe, but also the kind of sleek, ultramodern look given to the scenes in contemporary times. Rather surprisingly there's not a ton of really aggressive grading, though a number of the modern day sequences have a kind of cool slate gray tone. Detail levels of practical items like sets and costumes are precise looking. CGI can frankly be just a tad soft at times, but it's often very effective, and while I haven't been able to track down any information, I'm wondering if at some point this might have been planned to be a 3D production, because there are some definite "in your face" moments vis a vis "tendrils" that can shoot out and take control of poor, hapless humans. There are occasional very slight deficits in shadow detail, as in the largely supposedly torchlit opening vignette.

Alienoid Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Alienoid features DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and Dolby Digital 2.0 audio options in both original Korean and dubbed English. I'm always in favor of original language offerings, but I have to say this is one film where I would completely understand some wanting to go with the English track, at least for the first viewing (take my word, you'll be back for another), since having to add reading subtitles into the mix may simply be too much for some to keep track of, considering everything that's going on onscreen. Both the surround tracks offer really substantial immersion in the many action sequences (did I mention there are regular martial arts battles?), and a thumping score also fills the side and rear channels invitingly. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.

Alienoid Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Making Of (HD; 2:51) is a very brief amalgamation of snippets of comments from various participants.


• Character Trailer (HD; 3:45) offers quick introductions to just a few of the film's many characters.


• Trailer (HD; 2:07)

Note: As tends to be the case with Well Go USA Blu-ray releases, the disc has been authored so that supplements follow one another automatically (so that clicking on Making Of is essentially a Play All button. The disc is also authored to automatically move on to trailers for other Well Go USA releases after the Trailer for this film plays. Those trailers for other Well Go USA releases also play automatically at disc boot up.

Additionally, packaging features a slipcover.

Alienoid Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I'm going to be perfectly frank with you and state I still don't have a clue as what to some aspects of this cinematic onslaught mean, but hopefully Part 2 will help bring things into focus. One way or the other, if you can get by without asking too many questions the story has enough puzzle pieces assembled to at least hint at an overall picture, and the assembly itself is often a whirlwind of exuberant energy. Technical merits are solid, and Alienoid comes Recommended.