Facebook Twitter Instagram
    Latest
    • 3627. I Believe In Miracles (2015)
    • 3626. The Man With One Red Shoe (1985)
    • 3625. Ode To Joy (2019)
    • 3624. One Chance (2013)
    • 3623. Falling For Figaro (2020)
    • 3622. The Polka King (2017)
    • 3621. Spies In Disguise (2019)
    • 3620. Friendzone (2021)
    The Mad Movie Man
    • Home
    • Blog
      • All Posts
      • Best Of The Year
        • Best Of 2015
        • Best Of 2016
        • Best Of 2017
        • Best Of 2018
        • Best Of 2019
        • Best Of 2020
        • Best Of 2021
        • Best Of 2022
      • The Decade In Review
      • Box Office Analysis
      • James Bond
      • Oscars
      • RANKED
      • Star Wars
      • The Big Questions
      • Top 10
      • World Cinema
    • Ratings
      • Top 250
      • Top 100 Foreign Films
      • Bottom 50
      • 0 – 1.9
      • 2 – 3.9
      • 4 – 5.9
      • 6 – 7.9
      • 8 – 10
    • Genres
      • Action
      • Anthology
      • Animation
      • Christmas
      • Comedy
      • Crime
      • Documentary
      • Drama
      • Fantasy
      • Film-Noir
      • History
      • Horror
      • Kids’
      • Musical
      • Psychological
      • Romance
      • Sci-Fi
      • Short
      • Silent
      • Sport
      • Superhero
      • Survival
      • Thriller
      • Western
    • Release Year
      • 2020s
      • 2010s
      • 2000s
      • 1990s
      • 1980s
      • 1970s
      • 1960s
      • 1950s
      • 1940s
      • 1930s
      • 1920s
    • Country
      • Afghanistan
      • Argentina
      • Australia
      • Austria
      • Belgium
      • Brazil
      • Cambodia
      • Canada
      • Chile
      • China
      • Colombia
      • Costa Rica
      • Czechoslovakia
      • Czech Republic
      • Denmark
      • East Timor
      • Faroe Islands
      • Finland
      • France
      • Germany
      • Georgia
      • Greece
      • Hong Kong
      • Hungary
      • Iceland
      • India
      • Indonesia
      • Iran
      • Iraq
      • Ireland
      • Israel
      • Italy
      • Japan
      • Latvia
      • Lebanon
      • Laos
      • Malaysia
      • Mexico
      • New Zealand
      • Nigeria
      • North Korea
      • Norway
      • Paraguay
      • Peru
      • Philippines
      • Poland
      • Romania
      • Russia
      • Saudi Arabia
      • Singapore
      • South Korea
      • South Africa
      • Soviet Union
      • Spain
      • Sweden
      • Switzerland
      • Syria
      • Taiwan
      • Thailand
      • Turkey
      • Uganda
      • United Kingdom
      • United States
      • Uruguay
      • Vietnam
      • Zambia
    • About
    The Mad Movie Man
    You are at:Home»Review»1779. Lucid Dream (루시드 드림) (2017)

    1779. Lucid Dream (루시드 드림) (2017)

    0
    By The Mad Movie Man on June 6, 2017 100-109 mins, 2017, 6 - 7.9, Crime, Jun 17, Movies Of 2017, Review, Sci-Fi, South Korea, Thriller
    7.0 A waste of great potential
    • Acting 7.2
    • Directing 7.0
    • Story 6.9
    • User Ratings (0 Votes) 0

    Starring: Go Soo, Sol Kyung-gu, Kang Hye-jung

    Director: Kim Joon-sung

    Running Time: 101 mins


    Lucid Dream is a South Korean film about a father who, after his young son is kidnapped at a theme park, seeks the help of groundbreaking new science that allows him to return to the moment of the crime in his own dreams and search for new clues.

    This film was a real shame for me, simply because it starts so strongly with a mysterious and intriguing premise, and then loses it all when it goes for a more generic, action-oriented plot that doesn’t really make any sense. Despite a strong central performance from Go Soo that holds the film together, Lucid Dream doesn’t live up to a potentially emotional and riveting watch as it grows weaker and weaker as it goes on.

    But let’s start with the positives, most of which are centred in the film’s first act. The great thing about the opening act in Lucid Dream is the fact that you do get a good degree of emotion, character development and intrigue right from the start. Go Soo does an excellent job at showing his character’s protectiveness over and love for his son, and then his extreme devastation following the kidnapping.

    What’s more is that there’s nothing particularly melodramatic about the first act. Apart from a few blindingly obvious hints, the film keeps its cool early on with a composed and as a result emotionally affecting depiction of the kidnapping, setting the film up to be an impressive, intimate and calm story throughout.

    However, the problems start to come thick and fast when everything goes a bit sci-fi. Now, I don’t have any problem with introducing this sort of space-age technology into a contemporary setting, it’s something that films like Inception do very well, but the issue here is the fact that the technology is introduced so abruptly, without enough emphasis placed on its importance in the scientific and crime-solving worlds, that it feels like a completely random and out-of-place addition to the world that the film is set in.

    Another problem is that the ability to jump into these lucid dreams just seems way too easy. While the mystery isn’t immediately solvable, the fact that our main character, as well as a few random other people, just manage to pick up the technology and run with it faultlessly means it’s not at all compelling as a plot device.

    In Inception, the characters wrestle hard with the dream machines from start to finish, even those that are most experienced with the technology, and that makes for an emotionally riveting and very deep watch right up to the end, whereas in Lucid Dream, the seemingly incredible ability to return to past memories and find clues to solve a mystery is really glossed over, and it has absolutely no impact on the emotional core of the story.

    And that’s unfortunately where the film’s biggest problem comes in. As impressively intimate as the opening act was, and as much as Go Soo tries hard to keep the film on that level, Lucid Dream completely loses its deep emotions by the second and third acts, turning into something so much more generic, and so much less interesting.

    The action sequences that arise aren’t all that spectacular either. There’s no compensation for the loss of intrigue with exciting action, and what we get are some very generic, dull-looking and averagely-directed action sequences that are far too loud for the good of the story at hand, and certainly don’t offer anything in the form of popcorn entertainment.

    As a result, Lucid Dream becomes stuck in a painful limbo between its effective emotional core and mindless and dull action. On top of the fact that it often feels way too much like an Inception remake, it doesn’t really take enough time to delve into some of the more potentially interesting elements of its story, and despite its strong start, things get poorer throughout, which is why I’m giving it a 7.0 overall.

    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email
    The Mad Movie Man
    • Website
    • Facebook
    • Twitter

    The Mad Movie Man, AKA Anthony Cullen, writes articles and reviews about movies and the world of cinema. Since January 1st, 2013, he has watched and reviewed a movie every day. This is the blog dedicated to the project: www.madmovieman.com

    Related Posts

    7.1

    3627. I Believe In Miracles (2015)

    5.8

    3626. The Man With One Red Shoe (1985)

    7.9

    3625. Ode To Joy (2019)

    Follow Me Online!
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
    • Tumblr
    New Releases
    5.3
    January 17, 2022

    3620. Friendzone (2021)

    7.1
    January 10, 2022

    3612. The Lost Daughter (2021)

    8.0
    January 7, 2022

    3609. Licorice Pizza (2021)

    7.2
    January 7, 2022

    3608. Lamb (2021)

    7.4
    December 30, 2021

    3599. The King’s Man (2021)

    6.3
    December 29, 2021

    3598. The Matrix Resurrections (2021)

    8.4
    December 28, 2021

    3597. West Side Story (2021)

    6.3
    December 27, 2021

    3596. Gunpowder Milkshake (2021)

    Recommended Movies
    8.4
    Review
    June 5, 20150

    982. Cinema Paradiso (1988)

    8.2
    Review
    February 7, 20200

    2848. Birds Of Prey (2020)

    8.6
    Review
    April 26, 20200

    2937. A Patch Of Blue (1965)

    8.2
    Review
    July 21, 20130

    229. 10 Things I Hate About You (1999)

    8.0
    Review
    November 29, 20200

    3167. To Be Or Not To Be (1942)

    Popular Posts
    7.1
    January 24, 2022

    3627. I Believe In Miracles (2015)

    5.8
    January 23, 2022

    3626. The Man With One Red Shoe (1985)

    7.9
    January 22, 2022

    3625. Ode To Joy (2019)

    7.4
    January 21, 2022

    3624. One Chance (2013)

    6.3
    January 20, 2022

    3623. Falling For Figaro (2020)

    7.5
    January 19, 2022

    3622. The Polka King (2017)

    6.0
    January 18, 2022

    3621. Spies In Disguise (2019)

    © 2022 ThemeSphere. Designed by ThemeSphere.

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.