Reel Tastes & Travels – a light dose of entertainment to wake you up

KPop Demon Hunters is a lot of things – a sleeper hit, a fantasy about hunting demons (duh!), a musical, a redemption story, a hero’s journey to save the world, a story about self-acceptance…but most of all, it is immensely fun and what’s more, original (a rarity in today’s age of superhero movies, reboots, sequels and live action remakes).

It revolves around the fictional K-pop band, Huntr/x, comprising Rumi, Mira and Zoey, which is a global sensation. However, in a world where demons exist and hunt human souls (at the behest of the demon overlord Gwi-Ma), Huntr/x is actually a front for their real mission – to stop demons by harnessing the power of their music to reinforce a shield or Honmoon that prevents demons from crossing realms. Their ultimate goal – a golden Honmoon which permanently severs the contact between the realms. So far, so good but just when it seems their goal is within reach, a demon Jinu shows up with an ingenious plan to weaken their power base by using a demon boy band (Saja Boys) to steal their fans. To further complicate matters, Rumi hides a secret, one that she hopes to get rid of with the golden Honmoon, but which intrudes more and more as things go downhill and as the Saja Boys go from strength to strength. Eventually everything comes to a head and leads to a final showdown between Huntr/x and Gwi-Ma. Since this is a family film and has been playing for a while, I think it’s not too much of a spoiler to say good triumphs in the end as expected. 

Is the movie perfect? No – some of the characters are under-utilized (shout-out to Zoey and Mira) and there are a couple of plot holes (or maybe fodder for future sequels?). But the flip side of that is that the movie is pretty tight, focusing on the key storyline without digressing too much into side plots. And the main story, while straightforward, is also quite clever in several ways. For instance, I like that Gwi-Ma is basically a big head of fire and rarely poses an actual physical threat to the girls. Instead, much more insidiously, he is the voice inside their heads, feeding their insecurities and shame. And that is so relatable because who hasn’t experienced that sense of self-doubt, unvoiced perhaps but no less damning. And I also love the fact that music and the feelings it evokes in its listeners is what powers the girls and the Honmoon. Again, who hasn’t experienced the feeling of being swept away by a powerful piece of music, whatever the genre may be.

But the soundtrack is what elevates the movie. For a story revolving around the power of music to banish demons, it is essential that the songs capture the audience and guide them through the various emotions that the on-screen characters are experiencing. And the KPop Demon Hunters soundtrack delivers in spades, whether it is the surge of positivity around Golden, the earworm quality of Soda Pop which make the sudden ascent of the Saja Boys so believable, or the malevolent quality of Takedown and My Idol signaling the darker turn of events. Leading to Rumi reclaiming her story and facing off against the Saja Boys and Gwi-Ma through the final song, What It Sounds Like. I know Golden and My Idol have been topping the charts, but this is my favorite song of the movie. The lyrics are beautiful, and the song does a great job of capturing the swing from despair to growing hope as the girls come together and the audience slowly shake off Gwi-Ma’s hold on them. Definitely listening to these in a loop on my playlist for the foreseeable future!

Stray Musings

• Celine is most definitely one of the key villains in the story for me. Perhaps with the potential to be even more frightening that Gwi-Ma since her actions are rooted in her narrowminded outlook and strong belief that her way is the right (and only) way, an all-too-familiar personality type in today’s day.
• What is happening in the rest of the world? Are the demons only hunting souls in the one city where Huntr/x live? And if not, how do the girls hunt the demons that make it through elsewhere in the world?
• Are most demons just soulless entities and if so, how does Gwi-Ma keep them under his thrall since Jinu says that Gwi-Ma can’t be fought since he is a constant voice in his head reminding him of his shame. But that doesn’t seem to be the case for any of the other demons. Sure, they’re scared of Gwi-Ma but they don’t seem particularly tormented as Jinu does. What sets him apart?