One of the films at the upcoming Korean Cultureal Service Free Movie Night in NYC is the micro-budget genre film, Invasion of Alien Bikini directed by Young-doo Oh. As you can probably tell from the title, this is a film I had to get my hands on so I could see what the hell it could possibly be about.
Invasion of Alien Bikini follows our hero, Young-gun (Hong Young-Geun), a virgin vigilante determined to keep his city safe while donning a very Mexican looking moustache as a disguise. One night he hears the cry of a woman and comes to her rescue, but this isn’t an ordinary woman, she’s an alien and after establishing a bond with her, it is revealed that she actually needs his pure sperm in order to have a baby and help her species survive. With his chastity threatened, Young-gun must do everything he can from letting his seed spill while also, for some odd reason, continue protecting Monica (Eun-Jung Ha) from the men who are after her.
Yes, this is as every bit ridiculous as it sounds which also makes it highly entertaining to watch. Young-gun is a hilarious character because not only does he parade around at night in a yellow rain coat and a fake moustache, he literally will do anything to keep his city in good condition i.e. picking up as much litter as possible, and would rather remain naïve then listen to potential criminals tell the truth about why they are attacking a woman. To add to his oddness, he is chock full of extensive and random bits of information that he likes to explain in its entirety. For example, he makes health concoctions and explains the benefits of each ingredient and when he starts playing Jenga he explains the history of Jenga. He’s almost like a stronger and more aggressive Sheldon from The Big Bang Theory.
While the beginning of the film seems like an Asian take on a Mexican hero film, it ends up being reserved only to the beginning as the film takes a big twist once Monica and Young-gun begin to bond. There are some really odd and drawn out scenes, particularly one that tries to build a lot of sexual tension surrounding the playing of Jenga. What makes the scenes funny though is that every time Monica touches him, Young-gun looks like he’s going to prematurely ejaculate. He’s got a look that’s a combination of nervousness and worry, it’s in these moments where he is vulnerable and the only time Monica seems in control.
The bulk of the film takes place in Young-gun’s home and once the alien reveals her true motive, she knocks Young-gun out and ties him up. Her goal is get the sperm out naturally and it’s her torture methods that make this ideal midnight movie worth a watch. I don’t think you’ll ever see another film where a fantastic blow-job by a hot woman is used as a torture tool. When that doesn’t work, Monica tries other weird methods but is unable to succeed
; Young-gun blocks her attempts using angry, repressed memories from his past. It’s the memory of his abusive father that gets him angry and, when he is beaten down, is able to rise up like a phoenix and kick major ass. In fact, one of the strongest parts of the film is the fight choreography. The hand to hand battles were executed really well and I was surprised at the level of intensity the scenes and cast displayed.
One of the weaker parts of the film was the random use of paper cutout animation to explain the background of the alien or the use of CG effects to show space. It wasn’t needed and didn’t seem to fit right with the rest of the film. Also, at first it was difficult to tell if the movie was treating itself serious and injecting a few funny parts in it or if it knew exactly how ridiculous it was and was going all or nothing with the insane humor. Eventually, based on the synopsis, I figured it out but Young-gun was just so serious the line felt really blurred to me.
Though the title is pretty misleading, this $4500 indie film from Korea was a lot more fun than I anticipated. Sure it has plenty of issues, but for such a tiny film I got more than my fair share of laughs out of it and having a really attractive woman play Monica sure didn’t hurt either. If you like midnight films or crazy Asian cinema then I suggest checking out Invasion of Alien Bikini, it’ll be an interesting ride for all that give this Sci-Fi comedy a shot.
Rating: A ridiculous b-rated sci-fi comedy about a woman trying to get sperm from a man who took a vow of chastity (6/10)
If you live in the NYC area, Invasion of Alien Bikini will be screening for free on April 16th at Tribeca Cinemas.
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