The so-called ‘Korean-style hero films’ that exquisitely blend Korea’s unique characteristics and social aspects into the hero genre are becoming a ‘regular hit material’ for domestic video content.Amid the box office success of the movie ‘High Five’, other hero films are also preparing to meet audiences one after another.

O Korean version of ‘Avengers’ was a hit ‘High Five’

‘High Five’, which depicts the exploits of five heroes who gain superpowers after receiving organ transplants, was released on the 30th of last month and has maintained the top spot at the box office until the 4th of this month, the 6th day of screening.Not only did it break the monopoly of the Hollywood blockbuster ‘Mission Impossible - Final Reckoning’ that was released earlier, it is also recording a cumulative audience of 680,000, which is more than 3 times more than the competing film ‘Soju Wars’ (200,000 people)starring Lee Je-hoon and Yoo Hae-jin that was released on the same day.

‘High Five’ is receiving favorable reviews from the audience for its box office success and for properly capturing the color of the ‘Korean hero’.Examples include the ‘Taekwondo Girl’ who loves Taekwondo being the central character among the five heroes, and the setting of the main meeting place of the heroes as a familiar ‘chicken restaurant’.

The car chase scene with the Fresh Manager’s electric cart, also known as the “Yogurt Lady Cart,” is also considered the highlight of the film, receiving rave reviews such as “an amazing car chase scene that can only be found in Korean films.” The audience unanimously said, “It’s not a flashy supercar or a fearsome battle tank, but the thrill of speed, excitement, and fun are just as good as those in Hollywood films.”

Korean heroes instead of Marvel… Expectations for ‘Resurrection Man’ and ‘Cashierro’

This response reminds us of the success of the drama ‘Moving’, which was released in 2023 and became one of the highest-grossing Korean originals on Disney+.’Moving’ also gained huge popularity by incorporating storytelling that incorporated unique Korean characteristics, such as division, into a ‘Korean-style hero’ character that was different from Hollywood.

In contrast to the continued decline in box office sales of typical Hollywood blockbuster hero films such as Marvel, the domestic content industry is also gaining more momentum in producing hero genre films as the response to novel ‘Korean-style heroes’ is growing.

As evidence of this, public interest in the Korean-style hero movie ‘Resurrection Man’ and the series ‘Cashero’, which will be released in theaters and on Netflix respectively in the second half of this year, is also increasing.

‘Resurrection Man’ starring Koo Kyo-hwan tells the story of a man who is resurrected three days after his death and becomes a superhero, while ‘Cashiero’ starring Lee Jun-ho tells the story of an ordinary civil servant who gains the superpower of becoming as strong as the cash in his hand and uses his salary to save the world.


Reporter Seungmi smlee@donga.com

This article is automatically translated using Google AI. If you notice any inaccuracies, please let us know at allkstar@donga.com.