KPop Demon Hunters

Korean Pop is not something this reviewer is overly familiar with. Going in to a film like K-Pop Demon Hunters, one might think that at least a surface familiarity would be needed to catch certain things within the film. Yet, this animated feature from Maggie Kang and Chris Applehans and requires no prior knowledge in order to be both understood and enjoyed. It is, of course, a visual feast, and as a film geared toward a younger audience, the messages are delivered with a mitten rather than a glove. However, if you let yourself go with it, there are joys to be found within the run time.

Courtesy Netflix

Telling the story of Huntrix, a group of three young women who have been trained since they were very young to fight demons wherever they find them, they have used their music as a weapon, too. Music has certain charms against demons, apparently, and the trio want to stop the ultimate demon Gwi-Ma from taking over the world. They plan to stop this during a Golden Hon Moon, which they hope to accomplish using a special song. Just one set of catches. The lead singer, Rummi, is having trouble, but she is having trouble because she has a secret, which is that she is half demon, and this is conflicting with her lifelong mission. The demons have also launched a counter attack, sending a group to disrupt the trio, posing as a rival Boy Band.

Yep, that’s the setup. It sounds corny, right? It is, yet how it is handled means way more to how the film succeeds and fails. The film’s one flaw is the obviousness of it all, but that is part and parcel of this genre and style. Rummi, Mira and Zoey are mostly likeable, with each having a distinct, if not exactly fully fleshed out personality. This is in no way a character work, and the voice acting is serviceable, intended to convey a tone more than anything else. This is a film that balances, sometimes precariously, between melodrama and outright cheese. It is forgivable largely due to being aimed at teenagers, as a morality play.

Courtesy Netflix

The animation, side characters, plot and music all work to varying degrees, particularly the animation. Indeed, some of the bits of business they have characters like a pet blue tiger paired with a magpie, that make them endearing. Rendered in a CGI-Cel Shade hybrid that is reminiscent of Sony’s Miles Morales-led Spiderman movies, the film is colorful and, sadly, sometimes a bit too noisy. Had the makers of the film been more interested in fleshing out a serious lore for the story, the noise might have signified something special. Instead, it goes for Park-Chan Wook but sometimes only manages a stylized Peter Hyams.

That music, though, will be a make-or-break aspect for many. If you can give yourself to it, in even the slightest, there is massive fun to be had. In fact, the film makes light of this, and knows how corny pop can be, with scenes of people involuntarily grooving to tunes. This is also a musical that, regardless of one’s patience for the music itself, understands how musicals work, because plot, emotion and character all move and are expressed largely through song and dance.

Courtesy Netflix

In the end, this is a fun, well-crafted film that is a bit too obvious, and a bit too derivative, to truly be called original. Yet, it is not without merit. It is in no way one of the great animated films of the past few years, but it holds value for having its heart in the right place, and for its ambition. A potential sequel could be even better, with much of the hard work in lore building and character definition having already taken place. Recommended for the teens.

KPop Demon Hunters is streaming on Netflix.