TV Series Review: The Uncanny Counter, season 1 Netflix

The Uncanny Counter, season 1 
Premiere Date: Nov 28, 2020
Genre: Science Fiction & Fantasy, mystery, thriller
Network: Netflix
16 episodes
Cast: Suk-hwan Ahn, Yoon-young Choi, Se-Jeong Kim, Hye-ran Yeom, Joon-sang Yoo, Jang Cheol Jung
A South Korean television series based on the Daum webtoon Amazing Rumor by Jang Yi.

The Uncanny Counter tells the story of demon hunters called "Counters" who have come to the earth posing as employees of a noodle restaurant in order to capture evil spirits that have returned to earth in pursuit of eternal life. They each have their own special abilities.

My husband and I gave this K-drama (Korean drama) a try because it had a supernatural theme. I've watched some Korean movies and animation and don't have a problem with subtitles. My husband despises subtitles and won't watch anything with them...until... The trailer for The Uncanny Counter was just too good (lots of action) for my husband not to try it, LOL.

We both got sucked into this show quickly. There is a complicated and interesting plot. There is plenty of silly humor sprinkled in with the drama/horror elements. The evil spirits are truly bad and cruel and these four diverse (in ages) characters will have you invested. And there are a lot of fighting sequences between the heroes and the evil spirits who possess humans.

Unlike most Netflix series, The Uncanny Counter releases two episodes each week. Episodes 8 and 9 come out on Dec 19 and 20. There are 16 total episodes. So you can catch up.

4"Uncanny" Sheep

 

SharonS

Movie Review: Kung Fu Killer

Kung Fu Killer (Kung Fu Jungle)
Director: Teddy Chan
Cast: Donnie Yen, Charlie Yeung, Baoqiang Wang, Bing Bai, Deep Ng, Alenx Fong
Producer: Catherine Hun, Alex Dong, Ning Song, Lei Nga-Bok
Genre: Action & Adventure, Foreign
Sub Genre: Martial Arts
Run Time: 109 Mins
Theatrical Date: Apr 24, 2015
Original Language: Cantonese, English
Well Go USA Entertainment http://www.wellgousa.com/theatrical/kung-fu-killer
A vicious serial killer is targeting top martial arts masters, and convicted criminal and kung fu master Hahou (Donnie Yen) is the only one with the skills to stop him. Released from jail and into police custody, they soon have their doubts about Hahou’s true allegiance after a series of mysterious events. Hunted by an unstoppable killer (Wang Baoqiang) and the entire police force, Hahou finds himself on his own, leading to a final battle you have to see to believe in this action-packed, kung fu crime thriller from director Teddy Chen (Bodyguards & Assassins, The Accidental Spy).

If you are a fan of martial arts movies for the sake of the amazing skills and techniques then this is a movie you will want to see. This film is basically a way to showcase the martial art styles: Boxing, Kicking, Grappling, Qi, Weapons. There is a serial killer (Baoqiang Wang) targeting the grandmasters of each style. There are elaborate and realistic fight scenes featuring each style as well as some other scenes of our hero kicking ass. And of course the big showdown between the two at the end in traffic! Amazing skills.

The rest of the film—the plot—isn’t all that interesting. Just a frame work to build the action scenes around. You aren’t going to form any emotional connection with the characters. You’ll just be waiting for the next battle.

This is a limited release so most people will have to catch this DVD or online. Definitely worth a look if you can appreciate martial arts. If you are looking for good crime thriller…not so much.

Side note about the title. The film’s original title is Kung Fu Killer, but because of censorship in China it was changed to Kung Fu Jungle. The government feels the word “Kill” isn’t good for the audience.

Action/martial arts rating: 5

 

Story/acting: 2