recommended

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

The first must-see film of the year.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

"Spy Girl" has an inventive first half: it starts telling its story from the male lead's point-of-view, then it switches to the female's, sometimes covering the same events. After a while, however, it becomes clear that despite all the flashbacks, flashforwards, different perspectives, etc. the movie doesn't really have much story to tell. There is a little comedy, a little (goofy) action, but about 80% of "Spy Girl" is really a romance. To the film's benefit, the two leads are very charming. Yu Kong is likable as the nerdy, well-meaning college dropout, and Jeong-hwa Kim is incredibly beautiful, and well-cast as the spy-in-disguise who can draw male looks simply by walking and smiling. But the script meanders without much sense of direction, and there are a few too many "finally! they're together now - oh wait, not yet" endings. Recommended for romance fans, but not for action/spy fans. **1/2 out of 4.

I had recently watched a decent string of Korean movies like 'Over the Rainbow', 'Chaser', etc and I was hoping for a good and relaxing comedy this time. Unfortunately this one turned out to be another one of those slow and terribly scripted movie. The acting was not good and neither was the editing. Half way through the movie, I realized the story had not progressed much! It's like telling a story at one statement per minute and the gap was filled with advertisements. I really felt that the movie tried too hard to be funny. There were moments that I felt could have been good but it was either untimely or not acted out well enough. Give this movie a miss!

Being a strong follower of Asian cinema I have learned to sometimes go against the general consensus regarding certain films, since I believe there's always something worthwhile in Asian movies no matter who directs and who stars in it. 2004 was a good year for Korean cinema and I simply had no time and desire to view a possible candidate for disappointment that this film was billed as by the various viewers. But that time has come.The story here deals with a North Korean female spy being sent to the South to cooperate with established agents in order to capture a man in hiding. She starts working in Burger King where her mark sometimes shows up, but instead of keeping a low profile every male student and teacher falls head over heels for her and slowly start exposing her identity through the net (which never really stirs any trouble). And it's not hard to believe why guys like her and why girls feel jealous, Jeong-hwa Kim is stunning and wholesome to say the least.The comedy kicks in immediately and it's actually pretty good, both in its quality and quantity, however it noticeably lessens almost halfway through the film which made me wonder if the film was about to be overtaken by heavy sentimentality and or sappy romance shtick. The tear jerking effects are not present here at all, which is good since the film had things to reinforce in the department of comedy and romance in terms innovation.Meanwhile one of the students from the school manages to penetrate through the blockade of hungry males and actually scores a date with our gorgeous spy. Now we all know that they'll end up together, no matter how complicated or ridiculous this plot would get, but I was simply waiting for the two leads to spark the much needed chemistry. Their acting isn't bad, it just never goes anywhere. I was waiting for Yu Kong's character to say or do things for me to see why a spy with multiple problems on her hands would find special. At least he wasn't pushy or arrogant and he did wash her feet so that had to count as something, right? Still, this film was consistent in its lightness and didn't sidetrack with unnecessary drama or gross out comedy elements as seen in Sex is Zero. Kim was good to look at, but she was nowhere near as charismatic as Ji-hyun Jun (then again, who is?) or even Na-yeong Lee (Please Teach Me English and Someone Special). Too bad, because this film could have achieved something more beyond the good looks and a few funny scenes. However if you found She's on Duty and Saving My Hubby thoroughly satisfying then you should find Spygirl pleasing as well.

Cute film. But the only reason I gave it 8 out of 10 is because it's extremely enjoyable just to look at Kim Jung Hwa. Not only is she staggeringly beautiful, but she has a graceful demeanour and delightful innocence which makes guys want to marry her and women want to be her. This is the main quality of the film.The cinematography is adequate, the North Korea/South Korea plot is more significant if you're Korean (the old spies pining about the old days are quite funny), the comedy is too safe to be funny, and perhaps most frustratingly, the romance is kinda wack because the relationship never really develops.The problem I tend to find with most Korean comedies is that they rarely actually make you laugh but keep you smiling at best. This is no exception although it has some nice touches.