Along With The Gods: The Last 49 Days - Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Along With The Gods: The Last 49 Days

Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score: ​

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Movie
Along With the Gods: The Two Worlds was one of my favorite Asian films of last year (my review can be found HERE), even though it struggled with some repetitiveness the movie had a novel concept of watching three “guardians” of the afterlife help a deceased fire fighter reincarnate himself. The Two Worlds was a fascinating watch, delving into the Asian culture of penance, redemption, and suffering for one’s actions. I knew from the get go that there was going to be a sequel because it was reported that The Last 49 Days was filmed at the same time as The Two Worlds, and luckily it was only a year wait between films. The Two Worlds is basically the second half of the story, picking up mere seconds after the finale of the first film, and dealing with the reincarnation of the main character’s brother from the first. HOWEVER, there is a big change here. The yin to The Two Worlds yang, this entry delves much less into the trial and sentencing of the newly deceased brother, but the redemption and reconciliation of the guardians themselves, as they are the primary focus of this one. Some issues are still present (mainly being too long), but The Last 49 Days easily lives up to the legacy of the first movie, and even ever so slightly edges it out, in my opinion.

As I said, The Last 49 Days picks up mere seconds after the first film ends with guardians Gang-Lim (Jung-woo Ha), Haewonmak (Ji-Hoon Ju), and Deok-choon (Hyang-gi Kim) protecting the newly ascended Soo-hong (Dong-Wook Kim) from afterlife monsters. As it turns out, these beasts are minions of the Afterlife’s ruler, Yeomra, who has another task for the three guardians. While Gang-Lim must defend Soo-hong’s actions after the nightmare he caused in the first film, Haewonmak and Deok-choon are sent to “ascend” (aka help go to the afterlife) an old man in the slums of North Korea. You see, this old man has been there past his written time in the good book due to a low level god named Seongju (Dong-seok Ma) who keeps fending off all of the guardian’s that Yeomra sends down.

However, upon arriving on earth Haewonmak and Deok-choon find out why Seongju has been reticent to allow the guardians to take the old man’s life. This hold man has seven year old grand son who is about to head off to school, and without him in his life, the boy will be an orphan. Seongju has set up shop down there to act as a protector until the boy has had a chance to fully live, and while Haewonmak and Deok-choon know that they SHOULD ascend the old immediately, they choose to stay around find another way for the boy’s survival so that Seongju will allow his ascension. While there, the two guardians realize that the ancient god knows WAY more about them than they possibly could have imagined. When they became guardians a thousand years ago their memories were wiped, and all knowledge of their past lives is a mystery to them. But with his intimate knowledge of the past, Seongju is veritable well of information of who they were in past lives. Little by little the two visiting guardians unveil their past lives, and are forced to come to grips with the fact that not everything forgotten is innocent and painless.

Simultaneously Gang-lim and Soo-hong are traveling through the afterlife going through Soo-hong’s own trials. Soo-hong is dead certain that his death was an accident, but the tenacious Gang-lim refuses to allow the boy to think that way, bound and determined to prove that he was murdered by the soldiers he was exacting revenge upon in the first movie. But there is an ulterior motive to Gang-lim’s defense. A motive that winds and intertwines itself with past of both Deok-choon and Haewonmak as well, proving that the three guardians are not just partners, but recipients of fate, and the Gang-lim will do whatever it takes to fulfill his mission so that he can reincarnated and have the painful memories of his past life erased.

Honestly, I really enjoyed The Two Worlds last year, and I REALLY enjoyed The Last 49 Days this go around. The second half of the story is a reverse of the first film, as it focuses on the three guardians and THEIR issues rather than Soo-hong and his ascension. Soo-hong plays an important role in the film, but the repetitive trials and tribulations of the afterlife are greatly shortened this go around. Instead of feeling like a supernatural court room drama, this story weaves all of the motivations and past lives of the three guardians together, proving that this is not a story about a deceased fireman or his brother, but rather the life story of Gang-lim, Haewonmak, and Deok-choon more than anything. I won’t give anything away, but the second half of the film is incredibly engrossing, and even though I had some suspicions about some of the “twists” earlier on, it wasn’t overly obvious to the average viewer. The final 5 minutes of the film definitely sets itself up for another sequel (not that I blame them, these two Along With The Gods films have been South Korea’s biggest theatrical hits) and kind of feels like they didn’t wrap EVERYTHING up completely, but the final trial for Soo-hong is probably one of the best scenes in the entire duology.

Acting wise is about on par with the first due to the fact that both films were shot simultaneously. I’ve got to say that I really liked what they did with Haewonmak this time. The first movie had him being an impetuous whiner who played second fiddle to Gang-lim, but with the backstory told by Seongju, we get to see a whole other side to the young (physically speaking) warrior guardian. His past story is probably the most powerful of all, showing the change from monster to hero, and the same goes for Gang-lim. You’re so sure that Gang-lim is the honorable one from the first movie, but his own past shows why he is forced to be the only guardian who lives with memories of his past, and what his purpose was to begin with. Deok-choon also shows a lot of growth too, going from meek and demure to finally understanding forgiveness and the harsher side of life with her own back story. Dong-seok Ma is a PHENOMENAL Korean actor, and while Seongju isn’t the focus of the movie, his role as mentor and wise story teller is a huge boon, as his powerful personality adds flavor to an otherwise thankless role.




Rating:

Not Rated By the MPAA




Video:

The Two Worlds and The Last 49 Days were supposedly filmed together, so those of you who have seen the first film, will be met with a sequel that looks remarkably similar to that one. Both films are great looking, but I have to give the edge to The Last 49 Days as details seem to be crisper on this encode, and banding and other digital artifacts less (though there is banding here and there, most notable on the plains with the raptors). Fine details are excellent across the board, and the CGI itself is actually rather good for an Asian film. Usually Asian films drop the ball with CGI and spend most of the budget on period piece costumes and set pieces, but this one looks very professional and modern for the most part. The black levels are deep and inky and the colors are gorgeously saturated. The bright shades of the afterlife are neon tinted and the color grading switches up depending on the location. The story with the grand son and the old man is much more neutral in color, with a tinge of earth tones and gold. Overall this is a very nice looking Blu-ray and a good encode by Well Go USA.







Audio:

The Two Worlds had a very hefty 5.1 DTS-HD MA track on it’s Blu-ray release, but The Last 49 Days is given an even bigger boost to DTS:X, and the results are jaw dropping. The film is huge supernatural effort for the South Korean film makers, with tons of CGI (most of it really good in fact) and there is a LOT of action going on. The rumbling of the different trials (like the pit opening up in the last trial), or the roar of the different battle all ring true with clarity and power behind them. The surrounds are wildly active, with shrieking winds, the clash of blades in the background, soft footsteps on the ground, and the pitter patter of dinosaur feet running across the plains (yes, you read that right, dinosaurs). The LFE channel is intense and powerful as all get out, filling the film with all sorts of low end, ranging from the thudding of horses hooves, to full on pounding as a giant beasts comes up from the pits of hell. This is a picture perfect audio mix, and a huge upgrade from the 5.1 mix of the first film. Bravo Well Go USA..





Extras:

• Character Introductions
• Production Documentary
• Original Trailers
• Well Go USA Previews

Final Score: ​

Along With The Gods: The Last 49 Days is a worthy sequel to The Two Worlds (both films should really be watched together, as they are actually two parts to the same story, and watching The Last 49 Days without seeing The Two Worlds would be a little bit confusing as it borrows so much from the previous film’s plot to push this one forward), and fun watch if I do say so myself. It has a few problems with pacing due to to being a bit too long (some of the story with the old man and the grand son could easily have been trimmed), but I’m willing to overlook that issue as I had a blast with the three guardians and their back story. Well Go USA has given us a fantastic looking/sounding Blu-ray to enjoy, and while the extras are a bit slim, the movie itself is definitely worth checking out.



Technical Specifications:

Starring: Jung-woo Ha, Ji-Hoon Ju, Hyang-gi Kim, Dong-seok Ma, Gwang Jang, Hong-In, Ki-jun Hong, Kung-soo Do
Directed by: Yong-hwa Kim
Written by: Ho-min Ju (Comics), Yong-hwa Kim (Screenplay)
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 AVC
Audio: Korean: DTS:X (DTS-HD MA 7.1 core), Korean DTS Headphone:X, Korean DD 2.0
Subtitles: English
Studio: Well Go USA
Rated: NR
Runtime: 142 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: December 11th, 2018

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• Michael Scott
• May 11, 2017

Recommendation: Fun Watch

 

[tripplej]

Thanks for the review. Will check out the first one and then this one.