NATURAL CITY NATURAL CITY (2003) Directed by Byung-chun Min Running Time 114 Minutes Rated R Review by Douglas A. Waltz Natural City takes place in a future where androids are created to do menial work. From noodle cook to stripper. R (Ji-tae yu) is an officer whose job is to hunt down rogue androids. He also steals their memory chips to sell on the black market. And if that wasn't complicated enough, he's in love with an android. Her name is Ria (Rin Seo) and she is set to 'expire'. What that means is that she must turn her self in to be destroyed or become a deviant on the run. There is a lengthy scene in the beginning that shows what happens to an Android that turns itself over to the authorities and it isn't nice. NATURAL CITY takes a lot from BLADE RUNNER, without the gloomy atmosphere. Even when it is gloomy it's pretty brightly lit. And the main character of R is unlikable and his android heroine, Ria, is little more than a blank slate. She just sort of exists. This makes the main plot of R trying to save her from expiring sort of meaningless. Director Byung-chun Min borrows heavily from the slow motion and moving camera shtick of all of the MATRIX flicks so, there is really nothing new or original to recommend this movie. It does manage to be a science fiction flick for those die hard fans that need another futuristic fix. If this is your bag then NATURAL CITY is for you. If you're like me and have the whole, 'been there, done that' attitude, then I wouldn't bother with this one. NATURAL CITY is available on DVD from Tartan Video under their Asia Extreme banner. You can go to tartanvideo.com or amazon.com to get your copy. |