[Cine Review] ‘Family Glory: Returns’, never come back again

[SPOTV News = Reporter Kang Hyo-jin] The movie ‘Family Glory: Returns’, which boasted that it had “no artistic value”and placed everything on laughter, ran a laughter dehumidifier for 99 minutes and completely dried up the audience’s laughter. If I had to give it a star rating, it would be a waste to give it a star outline.

‘Family Glory: Returns’ (directed by Jeong Tae-won and Jeong Yong-gi) is about star writer ‘Dae-seo’ (Yoon Hyun-min) accidentally spending a night with the youngest daughter of the Jang family, ‘Jin-kyung’ (Yoo-ra), and her family finds out about this. It deals with the process of pushing for a marriage between two people to restore their family’s glory.

The plot is in line with the first part of the ‘Family Glory’ series. There are changes in detailed settings, but overall, it feels like a sense of déjà vu, befitting the name ‘reboot’. In addition, the gender sensitivity and humor code did not surpass the first episode, and only the profanity increased.

If you declared early on that the work was ‘not worthy of work,’ it would be a virtue to at least have a laugh. The production crew and actors say that this movie is closer to the MZ generation, but I wonder if there is a MZ generation who can laugh after watching this movie. The expectation of ‘Still, it will be funny at least once’ is ignored, and absurd body gags continue, such as Jeong Jun-ha, who collapses with his eyes rolled back when someone hits a golf ball from afar, and Choo Seong-hoon, who is in pain after being hit in the genitals by a golf club.

In particular, Kim Soo-mi’s character seems to firmly believe that the intensity of swear words is proportional to the audience’s laughter. She spits out disgusting and vulgar swear words every time she appears, as if dissecting the five organs and six parts. In addition, all comedy points, such as the sexual dialogue between Yura and Yoon Hyun-min while touching each other’s body parts, are overly one-dimensional and unpleasant.

In 2023, it is hard to believe that such old-fashioned dialogue, settings, and development have passed through the filters of numerous production staff and been approved by everyone. It is hard to believe that the movie reached theaters safely after burning a large amount of production costs, known as the break-even point of about 1 million in this recession. It’s unfolding.

Director Jeong Tae-won and the actors appear to have been concerned about this and have made efforts to lower expectations for completeness early on. The actors lowered their expectations, saying, “It’s not worth the work, and it’s ridiculous to even talk about it as if it’s a great work.”Director Jeong said, “It shouldn’t be evaluated from the same perspective as a regular work. We made it because there are audiences who are looking for movies of this genre.”I hit it.

Although it appears to be compared to works known as so-called ‘B-grade movies’, a well-made comedy film that succeeds in making the audience laugh is in itself the same as achieving its own artistic value through the goal of ‘laughter’. This is an area where the ‘family glory’, which neither one nor the other has been able to achieve, can be buried just by rubbing it in.

There is even no consistency in directing. While the first half focused on one-dimensional comedy complete with meaningless swearing and slapstick, the second half removed all comedy points and focused on the romance narrative between the two main characters. Half of the movie was wasted while trying to maintain ‘story integrity’ without even getting a little laugh out of it. It is a departure from the genre that betrays the audience who came to believe in just ‘laughter’. Of course, there is no probability, no expected acting skills, no compelling characters, and no famous lines.

The ‘Family Honor’ series, which was a box office success with 5.2 million viewers in 2002, peaked at about 5.64 million viewers in the second installment. Since then, the number of viewers has been halved one after another as the series continues, including the 3rd episode in 2006 (about 3.46 million viewers), the 4th episode in 2011 (about 2.37 million viewers), and the 5th episode in 2012 (about 1.16 million viewers). The world has changed too much to rely on the series’ cumulative viewership of 20 million. It is a reboot that blows away any memories of the ‘family’. I am concerned that it may lead to the use of ‘new low prices’. I am also worried about what impact the existence of ‘Family Glory’ will have on the slump in the theater industry where even 1 million hits are a success.

15,000 won is a waste, but what is more precious than that is your 99 minutes.

Released on the 21st, suitable for ages 15 and older, running time 99 minutes.

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